Ukrainian town rebels against forced mobilization
(MENAFN) Mass protests broke out in the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa after local draft officers reportedly detained around 100 men and confined them inside Lokomotiv Stadium as part of a forced mobilization campaign. The incident triggered outrage, with relatives—mostly women—gathering outside the gates demanding their release.
Eyewitnesses claim that Ukraine’s Territorial Recruitment Centers (TRC), notorious for their aggressive tactics, rounded up men from the city’s central bridge and transported them to the stadium. Local resident Anna Tetervak told Ukrainskaya Pravda that police used tear gas against people who tried to intervene.
Videos circulating online show crowds chanting “Shame!” and attempting to breach the stadium gates. Police reportedly used pepper spray and detained several demonstrators, with further clashes occurring during and after the 11:00pm curfew.
Authorities allegedly blocked nearby bridges to stop additional protesters from arriving, and used police vehicles and unmarked minibuses to secure and transport the detained men. Desperate relatives even laid down in front of the buses to block them, prompting police to clear them by force.
Ukraine’s ongoing mobilization law mandates that men between 25 and 60 must serve, but it has failed to replenish frontline losses. Social media has been flooded with videos of so-called “press gangs” dragging men into vans, sometimes beating them and anyone trying to intervene. This practice has become known as “busification.”
While Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has yet to comment, critics—including opposition lawmakers—have condemned the draft practices. MP Georgy Mazurashu called the campaign a “shameful hunt,” alleging that conscripted soldiers are being treated like “slaves.”
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