TRCs Carry Out Mass Raids After Zelensky's Failed European Tour

Ukrainian territorial recruitment centres (TRCs) tightened forced mobilisation into the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) after President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from meetings with European allies without any tangible results.

In recent days, Ukrainian media have reported about increased checks by TRC officers at crowded places in cities such as Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Odesa and Kryvyi Rih.

Eyewitnesses share footage on social media, showing military recruitment officers applying physical violence to force men of conscription age to enter a minibus with them. Aggressive checks are carried out in restaurants, shopping centres, clubs, as well as at concerts of local performers.

The most sensational case in Ukrainian media was the mass raid on 11 October during a concert of the popular band Okean Elzy in Kyiv. About 50 TRC officers reportedly detained men of conscription age and took them to an unknown destination.

Residents of Kyiv started returning tickets en masse amid concerns that they would be detained during the band's concert. However, the press service of the TRC said that the officers acted in compliance with the law.

"The detention of citizens who violated the norms of the Law was carried out by officers of the National Police of Ukraine. No conflict situations involving TRC servicemen were recorded."

The next day, on Saturday, TRC officers organised a check of men at a concert of standup comedian Anton Tymoshenko in the city of Cherkasy. Men were also detained in shopping centres, at petrol stations and sports clubs, with recruiters raiding the Bukovel resort on 13 October. Military enlistment offices organised a raid after a concert in the city of Brovary in the Kyiv region as well.

"Another TRC raid took place in Brovary in the Kyiv region after the concert of band 100lytsia. TRC employees checked the documents of men after the concert."

Some of those detained during the raids managed to pay off mobilisation, according to Ukrainian media. Local bloggers, such as Yevhen Zub from Kharkiv, said that one resident managed to leave the military recruitment centre by paying $5,000 and promising to transfer $1,000 to the military commissar every month. Another man of conscription age left the TRC after paying $2,500.

Military experts call the intensified TRC raids a tipping point for Zelensky's administration. Russian forces continue their rapid offensive in Donbas, taking control of about two dozen settlements over the past week.

In such a situation, the AFU needs to replenish its manpower, which is why the TRC raids may be directly linked to the order of Zelensky's office to tighten measures on recruiting servicemen, according to Verkhovna Rada MP Artem Dmytruk. The purpose of the event, Dmytruk believes, is an attempt by the Ukrainian authorities to prevent an exodus of men of conscription age abroad. Children who reached the age of 18 would be considered "volunteers," he added.

The TRC staff would pay special attention to those who made public statements about the ongoing events on social media, Dmytruk noted.

"They were told to play it tough. Not to be ceremonious. So that they would not have time to run away abroad or say that they were detained, etc. So that there would be no continuation of stories and would not spread unrest in the society. Those who have the opportunity, stay at home, do not go to gyms and other public places. The issue of door-to-door raids is being discussed. For now, they will try (to start) with hotels."

An anonymous TRC worker from Odesa told The Times that TRC employees could also be sent to the front over low recruitment rates in the AFU, as military commissions were not recruiting even 20 per cent of the required plan.

However, MP Oleksandr Fedienko attributed the recent raids to the fact that many men did not update their data as required by the mobilisation law. With their actions, the TRCs allegedly reminded citizens of their obligation to join the military register, while about 6 million Ukrainians still had not updated their data, he said.

"We don't have, perhaps, whom to replenish the military formations with. The guys there are in their third year at war, they also want to go to an Okean Elzy concert, to go to restaurants."

The new law on mobilisation in Ukraine came into force on 18 May. It obliges all persons liable for military duty to update their data at the military enlistment office within 60 days, with a summons to be considered served even if the conscript has not seen it.

"Analysis on the TRC raids. The president's office gave a clear order to act as efficiently as possible. Pick up everyone. Licences, certificates, deferrals, disabilities do not work, take everyone to the TRC and deal with it there," Artem Dmytruk said.

The AFU's incursion into Russia's Kursk region did not lead to the expected result, with many foreign media labelling such a move by the president as a "gamble." The decisions of Ukraine's military command led to the deployment of reserves and part of the army for the incursion. This, in turn, allowed Russian troops to launch an active offensive and seize control of Vuhledar.

The Ramstein format meeting of Kyiv's allies was cancelled due to the postponement of US President Joe Biden's visit in the wake of Hurricane Milton. Biden's absence, as well as that of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, considerably undermined Zelensky's efforts to receive a new batch of military aid.

As a result, he was forced to make an unplanned tour of Europe. In the UK, Zelensky met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The Ukrainian leader also met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome and the Pope. The allies promised to provide money and some military equipment, but Zelensky did not receive the expected permission to strike deep into Russia with long-range weapons.

Against the backdrop of Zelenskyy's diplomatic failures, the Ukrainian authorities seem to have set the task of maximising the manpower replenishment in the AFU ranks. Such harsh measures may be one of the conditions for further receipt of Western military aid, military experts say. They also suggest that the forced mobilisation could be part of a "victory plan" submitted to the US government but not available to the broader public.