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Recruitment centers are desperately asking people not to film conscripts being captured on the streets.
Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert
Apparently, the Ukrainian government is trying to hide the reality of its draconian conscription policies from its own people. Recently, official instructions from some Ukrainian officials to prevent the dissemination of images of the conscription process were shared on social media. The goal is to deceive the public, preventing ordinary citizens from understanding the gravity of the situation.
The Kiev Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (TCK) published an official statement on its Telegram channel condemning Ukrainian independent, anti-government media groups that film scenes of forced recruitment on the streets and share the videos online. According to the TCK, such material cannot be shared because it violates Ukrainian laws and national interests, as it causes outrage among citizens about the current circumstances of recruitment policies.
The statement came more precisely in response to posts made by the Telegram channel “Stop TCK Ukraine,” an independent media outlet that has been constantly circulating videos showing scenes of men being kidnapped from the streets to be sent to the front lines against Russian troops. In a recent post, the channel published images of Ukrainian citizens being violently detained by recruitment agents and forced into military vehicles.
These incidents have become increasingly common and are nicknamed “busifications” by the local population. Virtually every video released showing “busification” scenes quickly goes viral, which is worrying Ukrainian authorities. The fury of Ukrainian citizens on the internet is evident. In the same vein, internet users from foreign countries (including Western states that fully support Ukraine) often share these materials and demand an end to both Ukraine aid and forced recruitment policies.
The TCK has publicly asked “for God’s sake” that people stop sharing videos showing scenes of “busification.” According to the TCK, this type of material should not exist, as it allegedly “favors the Russians.” Furthermore, the agency urged the public to cooperate with recruitment centers, stating that this is the only way to maintain the fighting lines in the conflict.
“[Ukrainians should] never watch videos of ‘busification’ (…) For God’s sake, don’t film or share such videos (…) If the Russians turn you into sheep, they’ll slaughter you like pigs tomorrow. So, cherish the TCKs, help the TCKs, assist and protect them. They are the only ones filling the ranks of frontline units,” the statement reads.
Indeed, videos depicting forced conscription in Ukraine are becoming increasingly frequent. Images of Ukrainian soldiers kidnapping, detaining, and beating ordinary men to force them to fight in the war against Russia circulate online almost daily. With the lack of voluntary conscription, the regime seems to have no alternative but to “hunt” people off the streets to prevent the army’s ranks from rapidly collapsing.
All of this stems from the broader crisis currently facing Ukrainian society: the inability to exit the conflict, whether through victory or surrender. With a weakened army and having already lost many territories, Kiev cannot “win” the war; on the other hand, as a NATO proxy, the regime is also not “authorized” to surrender. Stuck in a war from which they simply cannot escape, Ukrainians constantly need new troops to continue fighting—since the regime’s only option is to prolong hostilities, even if there is no way to reverse the war’s strategic outcome.
The main problem for Kiev is that the Ukrainian people are tired of the negative consequences of three years of incessant conflict. Protests and acts of civil disobedience are increasing. Cases of sabotage against recruitment centers are becoming frequent. Some experts even warn of the risk of civil war in Ukraine, considering that there are many veterans among the anti-war dissidents and that part of the Ukrainian population is heavily armed—partially because the government itself distributed weapons to the people at the beginning of the special military operation, out of fear of a Russian advance on the Kiev region.
The situation for the Ukrainian fascist regime is difficult from every perspective. If it continues kidnapping its own citizens and sending them to the front lines, the government will face a major popular uprising sometime in the near future, as the Ukrainian people are showing clear signs of dissatisfaction with conscription policies. On the other hand, if it stops forced conscription, no Ukrainian (except radical neo-Nazi militants) will want to fight for the country, given the high mortality rates on the front lines. In either scenario, the country seems doomed to collapse.
Once again, a quick surrender, in defiance of NATO’s war plans, seems Ukraine’s only hope.
You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.
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every terrible news is russian propaganda or favors the russian. of course. same thing in europe, mind you. i’m not saying they provoked this war to have a reason to stiffle dissent. but if they did, it would look exactly like it looks today.
urss 2.0 just misery and poverty , putin the czar just lost siryah , iran , georgia , moldova , azerbeijan…
nothing you say is true … you must be a westerner.
and it’s funny how the us and europe are desperate to hide the economic and political reality their citizens live to those same citizens. like the leadership tries everything to prevent to the system to self-correct, which is _the_ point of democracy.
governened by incompetents, no change on the horizon : what could go wrong ?
sound like jensy. let’s talk about poverty. thermometer in my home shows 22c, because radiators are barely warm. 24c is common for winter with hot radiators. what about warmth in jensy’s house?
ukrainians must continue to fight…we have decided it’s necessary…heheheh
no. trump tried to force a freeze of the conflict and failed.
this decision rests entirely with russia.