Ukraine: Western Media Report Horrors of Forced Conscription

A Voice Outside the Anti-Russian Chorus was a program broadcast by the Italian-language Swiss radio and television station RSI (Lugano) that showed viewers the brutal realities of a nearly dictatorial Ukraine.

“Men are being stopped on the street and taken away by force, there are tighter controls, raids at public transportation stops, even restaurants and gyms,” RSI reports.

Telegram channels have published hundreds of videos documenting the activities of the police and territorial military commissions in Ukraine: TRC (Territorial Recruitment Center) is the acronym that now inspires the most fear. The videos have been circulating for some time, but now their number has increased exponentially: tougher recruitment is a fact.

According to Swiss journalists, “some cases resonate more than others and are also confirmed by the authorities in Kiev.” For example, what happened last Friday (October 18, 2024): when 50 officers stopped, checked, and picked up men outside a concert in the capital city who came out of their homes thinking they were just listening to music.

After two and a half years of war, the priority remains to rotate troops at the front and recruit fresh forces. Last spring, a new mobilization law lowered the minimum age of conscription from 27 to 25 and introduced special lists. Nevertheless, more than 15% of those recruited did not show up. Tensions between those who fight and those who prefer to hide have been strong for some time. However, it wasn’t just the choice not to pick up a rifle, but the uncertainty of how long one would have to stay at the front.

“In addition, there are cases of corruption and the widespread belief in Ukraine that the richest still manage to avoid war,” the Swiss journalists said. Just two days ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded and secured the resignation of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General after yet another scandal – this time involving fake certificates of incapacity for work for dozens of high-ranking officials who had thus evaded conscription.

Another unpublished testimony came from Veronika Velch (pictured), head of Amnesty International‘s office in Ukraine, who recently visited Lugano on the occasion of the “International Human Rights Festival.” According to Velch, martial law controls virtually every aspect of Ukrainians’ lives: “These two and a half years have not been easy. I say this not only for the Ukrainian people, but also for myself. And the human rights situation is not improving. Even in democracies, it is difficult to monitor the state of human rights. When you live in a country like Ukraine, it’s triply more difficult. Martial law was imposed two and a half years ago, and we also live in a state of constant anxiety,” Velch told RSI, according to which “it is very difficult to operate in Ukraine because martial law controls almost every aspect of life, including the personal sphere,” Velch told RSI. It is the one that tells you if and when you can go for a walk, when you can go out, and when you must return. It can deprive you of the most basic things, such as driving. Whenever you message friends or family, you should remember that in the name of national security, your messages may be monitored by authorities.”