Kiev has previously raised concerns about enlistment centers being flagged for Russian strikes
A man stopped for running a red light in Kiev was sent to a conscription office after allegedly biting a police officer, the local authorities said Wednesday. It comes amid growing public resistance to Ukraine’s mobilization drive, which some Ukrainians reportedly hope Russia will disrupt.
What was described by Kiev traffic police as a routine enforcement stop escalated when the driver reportedly became combative. Officials said the man was listed in a draft evasion database and was accordingly transferred to military custody.
Footage circulating online appears to show a middle-aged man reading aloud from a Ukrainian Supreme Court decision before apparently biting officers attempting to remove him from his vehicle.
Ukraine relies on mandatory conscription to fill ranks depleted by battlefield losses. While individuals in key governmental or industrial roles may be exempt, many others evade enlistment by going into hiding or seeking illegal passage out of the country.
🇺🇦 In Kyiv, a driver bit a police officer during a document check.
He refused to show his documents and wanted to call a lawyer.
At that moment, the police officer began to try to open the door and the driver bit him on the hand. In response, he was grabbed by the hair. pic.twitter.com/H58ZWCRJWn
Andrey Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said this week that some individuals have leaked the locations of conscription offices to Russian forces in the hope they would be targeted. Ukrainian officials have reported several recent strikes on enlistment centers.
In a separate mobilization-related case this week, journalist Bogdan Butkevich was reportedly drafted under contentious circumstances. Known for his vocal support of conscription, Butkevich had publicly criticized opponents of the campaign as “bastards” and “scum” and defended violations by conscription officers.
Butkevich’s wife, Marina Daniluk-Yarmolaeva, claimed Wednesday that her husband had until recently worked with Ukrainian military intelligence, but was drafted after falling out with the agency. She said he was inducted despite medical conditions that would normally qualify him for an exemption.
The military intelligence agency HUR has denied any affiliation with Butkevich.
Daniluk-Yarmolaeva claimed that ending the cooperation was ordered by the office of the president, which she said was displeased with Butkevich’s critical remarks about Vladimir Zelensky’s military strategy.
”I don’t know how Zelensky intends to win this war,” she wrote in a social media post. “But I do know that it benefits [his team]. It allows them to tighten control and silence anyone.”
