Ukrainian recruit takes own life at training center – media
A Ukrainian military conscript has hanged himself at a training facility in Odessa Region, according to local news outlets.
The incident, which is yet to be confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities, reportedly involved an individual using his own belt to hang himself from the frame of his barracks bed. The body was reportedly discovered on Sunday morning.
Last year, Kiev radically intensified mandatory conscription, amid widespread draft avoidance. Multiple videos online have captured Ukrainian press-gangs employing heavy-handed tactics to ferry resistant citizens to mobilization centers.
Some military officials have condemned the media for “misreporting” instances of suicidal behavior among those drafted. A statement from a conscription center in Poltava Region last Saturday denied reports that two men deemed eligible for service, who had begun cutting their wrists, were genuinely threatening their own lives.
“Since those ‘men’ stated they would rather die than defend their country, they were sent to a psychiatric ward,” the statement declared, characterizing their self-harm as “shameful cowardice” and a dereliction of duty.
In an interview last week, Ukrainian MP Vitaly Voitsekhovsky acknowledged the widening rift between military recruiters and the civilian population, asserting that draft officials prioritize “mobilization quotas over human rights.” He cited “multiple cases of individuals with non-ideal health dying within conscription centers.”
In February, police in Chernivtsi Region reported a death at a local mobilization office after a draft-dodging man was “invited” there for a fitness assessment. His health “rapidly deteriorated, leading to unconsciousness,” and he died at the scene, according to the statement.
Another notable case occurred last year in Transcarpathia, where a potential recruit died while being transported to a conscription center. Officials attributed the cause to a severe epilepsy episode.
The Ukrainian army has been weakened by high battlefield casualties and mass desertion, which has compelled some Western backers to push Kiev to further reduce the conscription age.
