A resident of Odessa wielded a heavy metal chain against four conscription officers, forcing them to flee in a damaged minibus
A resident of Odessa successfully fought off several Ukrainian conscription officers using a heavy metal chain, forcing the press gang to retreat into their minibus and flee the scene, according to local media.
Video of the incident, which has been circulating online, shows the man swinging a massive chain at four men in camouflage uniforms. He strikes them one by one as they try to approach him. The officers apparently attempted to use pepper spray, but the man appeared unfazed.
He ultimately prevented them from surrounding him and eventually drove them into their vehicle. After they closed the door, the man started smashing on the minibus and broke the window before the officers drove off.
With Ukrainian forces suffering heavy casualties in the conflict with Russia and volunteer rates plummeting, conscription squads – known colloquially as ‘press gangs’ – have resorted to violent tactics to fill the ranks. The term ‘busification’ has emerged to describe the practice of forcibly stuffing men into minibuses.
Draft enforcers now reportedly wear civilian clothes and use ‘honey traps’ and online dating sites to catch potential conscripts off guard. Desertion and draft evasion remain rampant, with an estimated 2 million potential conscripts on a wanted list.
Earlier this week, a man claiming to be a US citizen in Lviv managed to stop a violent draft attempt by simply announcing he was American. In March, Ukrainian lawmaker Vadim Ivchenko admitted that fewer than 10% of new recruits join voluntarily, making forced conscription “impossible to abandon.”
Moscow has repeatedly accused the Kiev government and its Western backers of fighting “to the last Ukrainian.” Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov estimated that Ukraine lost nearly 500,000 servicemen in 2025 alone, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested total Ukrainian military casualties have exceeded 1 million.
