The unwilling conscript had been grabbed and showed into an SUV in front of the children
Members of a Ukrainian press gang have been filmed apprehending a man at a kindergarten, unphased by the children witnessing the violent scene, as forced mobilization across the country continues to intensify amid its conflict with Russia.
A video of the incident, which apparently happened in the city of Lviv in the western part of the country, was published on social media on Friday.
The footage captured draft enforcers in military-style uniforms dragging an unwilling conscript towards a black SUV, parked outside the premises of the kindergarten.
A female is heard shouting off screen: “Please stop, there are children here,” but the press gang ignores her request.
The man tried to resist the draft enforces, but ended up being overpowered, shoved into the vehicle and driven away.
In another forced mobilization incident, a man ended up receiving a severe head injury after scuffling with members of a press gang, who drove their mini-bus into the yard of his private home in Volyn Region on Friday.
The local conscription office has denied responsibility for wounding the resident, saying in a statement on Saturday that “the conscript tried running away and, through his own carelessness, hit his head.”
Ukraine barred nearly all adult men from leaving the country when the conflict between Moscow and Kiev escalated in February 2022 and lowered the draft age from 27 to 25.
Ukraine’s conscription drive has become increasingly violent amid Kiev’s military setbacks and lack of willing recruits.
Every day clips of the so-called “busification” emerge on social media, showing military-age men being snatched off the streets, from workplaces, and from residential areas, then taken to recruitment centers in mini-buses against their will, often triggering clashes with relatives, neighbors, and passersby.
Moscow has accused Kiev of seeking to fight “to the last Ukrainian” at the behest of Western powers waging a proxy war against Russia. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov previously estimated that Ukraine had lost nearly 500,000 servicemen killed or seriously wounded in 2025 alone.
