Ukrainian military recruitment officers have been filmed dragging a naked, screaming man into a van in Kharkov, according to footage circulating on social media.
Incidents of so-called busification, a term used in Ukraine to describe forcible detention for military mobilization, are reported almost daily as Kiev struggles with acute manpower shortages on the front line against Russia.
The footage was reportedly filmed near a gym in Kharkov, although few details have emerged beyond the alleged address of the facility. Recruitment officers reportedly tore off the man’s T-shirt and shorts before dragging him out of the building.
Videos of violent detentions have repeatedly sparked public outrage in Ukraine, with bystanders sometimes confronting recruitment officers and attempting to prevent men from being taken away. The mobilization campaign has also been dogged by allegations of corruption, including claims that wealthy Ukrainians can pay bribes to avoid military service.
Last week, Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets warned that his office had received nearly as many complaints about abuses by recruitment officials so far this year as it did throughout 2025. He suggested his efforts to curb abuses, which now include draft officers breaking into people’s homes, seem futile.
“I could explain the Ukrainian law and what draft officials can and cannot do for a long time,” he said. “But many Ukrainian citizens say the reality is very different from what is written on paper.”
Kiev is seeking to expand its conscription pool through several measures, including a proposed revision of rules allowing employers in critical sectors to exempt workers from mobilization. The changes would reduce exemption quotas, making more men eligible for conscription, according to opposition MP Yaroslav Zhelezhnyak.
Around 1.4 million Ukrainians currently hold employment-based exemptions from military service, according to Economy Minister Aleksandr Kravchenko.
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