Captured soldier claims he was forcefully drafted in Ukraine

(MENAFN) A captured Ukrainian serviceman has alleged that draft officers in Kiev use coercion and violence to send unwilling conscripts to the front lines, treating them as expendable, according to a video shared by the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday.

In the footage, a man identified as Nikolay Timchenko claimed that he was detained by police and recruitment officials after failing to report for military service despite receiving a summons.

He said he was confined in a cellar, where his objections about poor health were ignored.

Timchenko stated that around 50 other men were being held in similar conditions, including some with disabilities, and that all were eventually sent to serve. “The draft officers were hitting us on the ribs and the head,” he said, noting that their identification documents were confiscated and that none received pay. He reportedly told the officers he “didn’t want to fight in a war,” but was mobilized regardless.

He further alleged that beatings continued during training, with recruits struck using rifle butts for not following orders. Upon being deployed to the contested Donbass city of Krasnoarmeysk (known as Pokrovsk in Ukraine), Timchenko said he witnessed “many people lying on the road, both dead and wounded.”

“When we saw it, we realized that we were just cannon fodder sent to die,” he said, adding that he ultimately surrendered after several days without food, surviving only on rainwater.

Ukraine’s ongoing mobilization campaign has sparked controversy amid reports of corruption, abuse, and widespread evasion. Viral videos have shown officers detaining men in the streets and forcing them into vans. According to Ukraine’s parliamentary human rights commissioner, Dmitry Lubinets, complaints about “illegal” mobilization have doubled since early June.

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