Draft officers are within their rights to use lethal force in “self-defense” against citizens, a Ukrainian regional enlistment authority warned on Tuesday.
The head draft office of the western Ukrainian region of Volyn stated that officers had already been instructed to use lethal force in situations requiring self-defense.
“All personnel of all [draft offices] have been notified that in the event of a threat to life, lethal force should be used. The jokes are over. You wanted it to go by law? Everything will be according to the law,” the office said in a statement.
The threat comes following an attack on an enlistment office in the city of Lutsk earlier the same day. The facility was targeted by an unknown assailant, who engaged in a firefight with the soldiers guarding it, according to the local authorities. During the skirmish, one of the servicemen received gunshot wounds, while the attacker escaped the scene and remains at large.
All the soldiers involved in the firefight in Lutsk have combat experience and were transferred to the draft office after being wounded at the front, according to the authority. The servicemen were shaken by the incident, stating they had not been expecting to be attacked by “one of their own” so far from the scene of combat, it added.
The apparent greenlight on the use of lethal force in “self-defense” situations with civilians will likely further aggravate what has been an increasingly violent and lawless Ukrainian mobilization drive. Numerous videos circulating online show Ukrainian enlistment officers assaulting potential recruits in the streets, raiding public transport, brawling with would-be soldiers, and subjecting them to other forms of abuse.
The campaign to replenish the ranks of the Ukrainian military was intensified after a mobilization law enacted this April lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25 and greatly simplified mobilization procedures.
In recent months, a growing number of attempts to escape Ukraine have been undertaken by draft dodgers, including large groups teaming up to try and leave the country. According to official estimates, over 100 military-age men try to leave Ukraine daily, while media reports have suggested the figure is at least three times higher. A significant number of attempts to flee are believed to be successful.