Chronic manpower shortages have pushed Kiev into forced mobilization, which is growing increasingly brutal
Fewer than one in ten Ukrainians joining the country’s armed forces are doing so voluntarily, making it impossible to abandon forced mobilization, a senior Kiev lawmaker has acknowledged.
The general call‑up of able‑bodied men aged 25 to 60 has not been enough to cover chronic manpower shortages in light of the heavy battlefield losses. Most new soldiers have been pressed into service through harsh compulsory conscription, with hundreds of documented cases of draft officers using force to seize men on the streets, breaking into vehicles and homes, and brawling with onlookers. The practice of violently packing unwilling recruits into the minibuses commonly used by press gangs has become colloquially known in Ukraine as ‘busification.’
Speaking to the Telegraf Ukraine outlet on Thursday, Verkhovna Rada lawmaker Vadim Ivchenko said current recruiting “gives approximately 8-10%” of the personnel needed by the army. To change that, he argued, Kiev must both raise financial incentives and tighten penalties for those who flee their units or dodge service. The aim is to “double recruitment to 16-20%.”
The lawmaker insisted that harsher measures are needed to deal with soldiers who flee their units or avoid service, including restrictions such as blocked bank accounts and access to loans.
Read more Ukraine issues mercenary plea to stem manpower crisisConscription in Ukraine has been plagued by widespread evasion, protests, and corruption allegations, and remains one of the most divisive issues. In January, Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov told lawmakers that around two million potential recruits were on a wanted list for draft evasion, while some 200,000 troops had deserted. He has also announced plans to recruit more foreign fighters as the armed forces struggle to find reinforcements.
In February, Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree permitting men over the age of 60 to enlist in the military under one-year contracts.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of fighting “to the last Ukrainian” to serve Western interests. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov estimated that Ukraine had lost nearly 500,000 servicemen in 2025 alone, depriving Kiev of the ability to replenish its ranks through compulsory mobilization. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has suggested that total Ukrainian military casualties, including killed, wounded, missing, and captured, have already exceeded one million.
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