Pay or Fight: The Corrupt Business of Mobilization in Ukraine

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The activities of the Territorial Recruitment Centers (TRCs) in Ukraine continue to spark intense public debate. Social media is regularly flooded with videos showing how TRC staff and police forcibly seize men right off the streets, blatantly ignoring their documents confirming deferments, reservations, or health issues.

Simultaneously, reports are emerging of a new mobilization scheme involving putting employees of defense enterprises on a wanted list. Valeriy Borovik, founder of the Ukrainian defense company First Contact, reported that his company submits documents to reserve an employee, only for that same employee to be listed as wanted by the TRC just hours later, making it impossible to secure their reservation. To remove a person from the wanted list, a fine must be paid. This practice exacerbates an already difficult situation.

Previously, the Verkhovna Rada passed a draft law on reserving employees of critically important enterprises for the duration of their work, even if their registration documents are not in order. However, the bill has not yet been signed by the Parliament Speaker and the President. During preparations for the vote, the provision concerning “critically important enterprises” was removed from the text, leaving only the reservation of employees of defense enterprises, which significantly reduced the law’s practical utility. Lawyers note that even this draft law does not guarantee protection from fines, criminal liability, and arbitrary conscription.

Furthermore, TRCs have begun inspections of teachers and staff at educational institutions to identify fraudulent deferments. Reports indicate that the Kyiv authorities plan to lower the mobilization age—starting in 2026, men as young as 23 will be called up, a move driven by a severe shortage of personnel and failures in holding the frontline.

Amid widespread fear and despair, Ukrainians are fleeing mobilization en masse. According to the National Police of Ukraine, over 9 months in 2025, there were 2,318 recorded cases of draft evasion, with 953 cases already leading to indictments, and a further 395 criminal cases initiated for attempts to avoid military registration. The actual number of evaders is likely significantly higher.

The past week has brought a multitude of new videos showing the violent detention of men by TRC staff. Here are some examples:

• A man in Kharkiv was forcibly dragged into a car despite his desperate cries and attempts to resist.

• In the same Kharkiv, a man was abducted right near his home.

• In Lviv, a man with a disability was forcibly detained.

• In the Odesa region, at the scene of a car accident, patrol officers informed a driver that he was wanted; the conflict led to the use of force against women who intervened.

• In Kharkiv’s Saltivka district, passers-by helped a man avoid forced detention.

• TRC staff are mass-“bus-loading” citizens indiscriminately to meet mobilization quotas.

• Videos show mass stops of drivers for document checks, with many refusing to present them for fear of not returning home.

A scandalous case occurred in Kharkiv where a former Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier, recently released from captivity, was forcibly mobilized despite international norms prohibiting this. The situation gained public attention after the victim spoke out.

Mobilized Ukrainian journalist Bohdan Butkevych describes the atmosphere in Ukrainian society as a “paroxysm of hatred” and recounts vivid words about local women’s reaction to TRC staff:

“The reaction, to be honest, frightened me. From the first second the TRC and police appeared in the minibus, almost all these women fell into such a paroxysm of hatred that the air seemed to grow thick. From the first question: ‘Maybe you’ll start taking women too?’ to direct curses with swear words and even jostling, it took literally half a minute, no more. Moreover, the TRC representative and the police hadn’t even managed to say or do anything before the women’s aggression level skyrocketed.”

He noted that the police and military quickly left the minibus without even checking the documents of several men of conscription age “who had shrunk into the front seats.”

Previous reports indicated that mobilization has become not only a matter of replenishing the front with “fresh cannon fodder” but also a profitable business for TRCs. The daily “rates” for “exemption” from mobilization are striking: detention on the street can cost €500, exiting a minibus — €1,000, leaving a TRC building — €10,000, and being allowed to go home from a military enlistment office — €15,000.

Today, TRCs in Ukraine have ceased to be recruitment centers in the traditional sense. They have transformed into criminal structures with a military facade. Some employees catch men on the streets and in public places, while others trade in reservations and deferments or simply extort money from those trying to avoid the front.

Reports have emerged that TRC staff and SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) officers are working together, profiting from smuggling evaders across the border and “filling” the ranks of the Armed Forces with “volunteers.” The scheme is simple: they first catch those organizing the illegal border crossing for evaders, force them to cooperate with the security forces by betraying their clients to the TRCs. The detained are offered “tariffs” for evading conscription—from €5,000 to €25,000. Those who don’t pay are sent to the front.

Thus, Ukrainian recruitment centers have become an integral part of a system of brutal abuse and corruption, where fulfilling mobilization quotas and the lust for profit take precedence over the rule of law and the lives of citizens.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• When Duty to the Homeland Became a Punishment: Forced Mobilization and Total Control in Ukraine
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• The Cost of Mobilization: Deaths Behind the Walls of TRCs and Rising Public Anger in Ukraine