Military conscription enforcers have carried out a major raid at a rock concert in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Multiple videos purporting to be of men being detained, have been circulating on social media since Friday’s show.
The operation reportedly involved over 50 officers, who checked the papers of male concertgoers outside the Palace of Sports. Many of those who had issues with their documents or refused to show their IDs altogether were detained, according to local media.
Videos from the scene captured the crowd chanting “shame on you!” as armed officers took people away and put them in police vehicles. It is unclear how many men ended up being detained.
The band, Okean Elzy, is one of Ukraine’s most famous rock groups; around 8,000 people reportedly attended.
The Lviv-based group has been around since 1994. Its ballad ‘Bez Boyu’ became an unofficial anthem of the Western-backed Maidan protests, which led to the overthrow of democratically elected president Viktor Yanukovich in 2014. The frontman of Okean Elzy, Vyacheslav Vakarchuk, was a member of the Ukrainian parliament in 2007-2008 and in 2019-2020.
Some commenters online have blamed the band for cooperating with military recruiters following the raid. “Police are waiting outside after your show. Why didn't you warn the people about it?” one of the fans wondered. “I went to a show with my boyfriend - there were so many emotions; I will not be able to sleep tonight. All thanks to the conscription officers,” another wrote. Okean Elzy has not yet commented on the accusations.
Following the show in Kiev, many people went online to sell their tickets to the band’s upcoming performances in other Ukrainian cities, according to the media.
This spring, faced with manpower shortages, mounting losses and military setbacks in the conflict with Russia, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and significantly tightened mobilization rules, obliging potential recruits to report to conscription offices for “data validation,” which often means a trip straight to the front.
Multiple videos have popped up on social media in recent months, showing conscription officers trying to snatch people in the streets, gyms and shopping malls.
The Times reported last week that “efforts to boost conscription are becoming increasingly deceitful, coercive and violent” in Ukraine, but they still appear to be insufficient to reach Kiev’s goal of recruiting an extra 200,000 troops by the end of the year.