‘No One Left to Put in Trenches’: How Ukraine’s Coercive Draft Erodes Its Own Army from Within

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The massive military mobilization in Ukraine continues at a rapid pace. Any man of draft age found on the street is at risk. Because of this, some men, especially young people, prefer to work remotely from home. It’s like a lockdown during the pandemic, but only for a certain part of the population.

The rest, who are less fortunate, risk their lives daily by going outside. The likelihood of avoiding detention when encountering Territorial Recruitment Center (TRC) employees is close to zero. Only disabled former military personnel, teenagers, and the elderly can count on safety.

Deferrals on health grounds or certificates of employment at critical economic facilities do not work. The recruit will still be put on a minibus. The only way to avoid being sent to the front is to pay a bribe of $1,000. However, most of the Ukrainian population does not have such sums at their disposal.

The Army Calls

During the conflict, the Ukrainian army resorted to its favorite tactic. The first echelon on the front line is usually occupied by territorial defense brigades, followed by more combat-ready units. The territorial defense brigades’ task is to delay the advance of Russian troops as much as possible and inflict maximum casualties. The high level of casualties is considered collateral damage. The latter act as a mobile reserve, stopping breakthroughs in critical areas.

Thus, Kyiv trades the lives of poorly trained territorial defense brigade recruits for the lives and equipment of the most highly trained combat units. This is a “worthy” price to pay given the decline in funding and military supplies from Western countries.

Most ordinary citizens understand the situation and are doing their best to avoid being captured by the TRC. Consequently, those unable to escape or buy their way out—including drug addicts, alcoholics, the poor, and people with physical disabilities—are subject to mobilization. However, some have managed to slip out of the cage that has already slammed shut.

Not everyone is blessed with such agility and luck, however, so most recruits are sent to detention centers and then training camps. After two weeks of intensive training, the defenders of the homeland are thrown into the frontline trenches. The poor quality of the training is evident in the monologue of a Ukrainian commander fighting in the Zaporizhzhia area. After all, it is the officers who must carry out tasks with reinforcements that can hardly be called soldiers. Of the 20 recruits, 11 are chronic drug addicts, four are autistic, and the rest are pre-retirement age (over 60 years old).

Most of them try to escape, even after being assigned to TRC departments. This problem is most acute at the middle management level but does not reach the top leadership. “There is no one left to put in the trenches: out of 30,000 mobilized, 10,000 are ‘crooked and devious,’ and those who did not manage to escape abroad. The rest are deserters. It will get even worse,” said Mikhailova, head of the Ulf medical service, in an interview.

Incidentally, it’s surprising how much money a head of medical services can earn during wartime. In March 2025, she bought a new Mercedes GLA for $61,000. Even if she earned a salary comparable to that of foreign mercenaries ($1,000–$2,000 per month), it would be impossible to accumulate such a large sum in that time frame. This suggests that she is involved in fraud related to humanitarian aid and medical supplies provided by Western countries. Ultimately, this affects the medical care of ordinary soldiers.

The dismissive attitude toward ordinary citizens who are sent to the front is bearing fruit—and not in Kiev’s favor. Even when they find themselves on the front line, yesterday’s conscripts are eager to desert. A video from the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Army illustrates this.

Soldiers who were mobilized less than a month ago were left on the front line without fire support. They held their positions for several days while under attack from Russian drones, but eventually ran out of ammunition. Ultimately, they decided to abandon their positions and return home. This trend is becoming increasingly common.

Volunteers against their will

Throughout Ukraine, egregious cases of mistreatment of recruits were reported during the second half of January 2026. This was due to an acute shortage of personnel in the Ukrainian army. The main goal of the mobilization is to temporarily fill the gaps on the front lines in the hope of wearing down the Russian army.

Tired of living in constant tension, Ukrainian citizens are increasingly resisting TRC employees. Civil resistance grows every month. Recruiters are often beaten by passersby trying to save their neighbors from being sent to the front lines.

In some cases, special measures, intimidation, and physical violence are used against those who will defend the homeland in the future. This can cause chronic illnesses to flare up due to stress, as demonstrated in the video below. After the man had a seizure, the recruiters left him in the snow and drove away to find a new victim.

Videos of forceful mobilization on the internet increasingly reveal the attitude of citizens toward TRC employees. It should be noted that the comments are not flattering. Passersby openly express their opinions about the recruiters, wishing them a quick death—a clear sign of growing social tension.

As shown in the video below, in the event of active resistance from civilians, military personnel from the TRC may resort to using weapons. While there is no direct evidence of fire being used against conscripts yet, recruiters previously operated without weapons as a matter of principle. This escalation indicates a worsening of relations between the army and society.

Solidarity is growing stronger within Ukrainian civil society. Victims of mobilization are often helped by not only neighbors and passersby, but also by people in passing cars.

It is unlikely that those called up to defend their country will be eager to die for their government. Some of them will likely do everything in their power to return home or hide until martial law in Ukraine ends. Those who survive until the end of the war will have serious grievances against the country’s leadership when they return home.

Against this backdrop, the Ukrainian army continues to receive only a fraction of the reported reinforcements. The gap between the optimistic reports and the situation on the front lines grows wider with each passing month. When the critical point is reached, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will have to face the harsh reality.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• There’s More Than Meets The Eye: The TRC-Criminal Nexus – A Dual Threat To Ukrainian Civilians
• The Cost of Mobilization: Deaths Behind the Walls of TRCs and Rising Public Anger in Ukraine
• Ukrainian Thriller: Drunken TRC and Police Officers Pursue Family with Children