The killing of a recruiter in Lviv causes a scandal in Ukraine. The difficulties of the recruitment process
The killing of a military recruiter in Lviv, the largest and most important city in western Ukraine, has intensified criticism of the Ukrainian government for its lack of leadership in managing mobilization, a vital process for defense against Russia, but increasingly affected by abuses and the lack of adequate legal instruments, writes EFE, taken over by Agerpres.
Yuri Bondarenko, 37, who was part of a patrol tasked with checking military documents and mobilizing non-exempt men, was fatally stabbed by a 30-year-old man on Thursday during a routine check.
“I am incredibly ashamed that the state, which burdened the soldiers in the military recruitment centers with the most ungrateful and important task, cannot protect them,” Olha Reshetilova, the Ukrainian commissioner for the protection of soldiers' rights, reacted on Facebook on Saturday.
Reşetilova pointed out that military personnel should not be involved in direct mobilization, because this task falls to the executive power, local authorities and the police. But instead of dealing with this, “all these institutions stepped aside and transferred the responsibility onto the shoulders of those who lack the necessary skills”, which, according to Reşetilova, increased the distrust of the population in the recruitment process.
The controversies of the recruitment process
The mobilization process is extremely controversial, and the media reports on frequent clashes between recruiters and civilians. Only in the first ten months of this year, Ombudsman Dmitro Lubineţ received approximately 5,000 complaints.
Potential soldiers are sometimes forcibly detained and held for days in recruitment centers without access to their families or lawyers. At the same time, the system is criticized for prioritizing quantity over quality, and officers often complain that many new recruits arrive with serious health problems and low motivation.
In response to criticism, recruitment patrols are now equipped with body-worn video cameras and exemption procedures have largely been digitized to reduce direct contact with citizens.
However, tensions persist as Ukraine's army needs thousands of new soldiers every month and about 1.5 million men have not provided updated information to recruitment centers despite being required by law to do so.
Analysts point out that no army in the world could wage a war of this magnitude against a much larger enemy relying solely on volunteer soldiers. Although tens of thousands of volunteers joined the armed forces in the first months of the invasion, the state has since had to intensify mobilization, security analyst Oleksi Melnik from the Razumkov Center told EFE.
Potential solutions
However, the government has repeatedly delayed unpopular decisions to introduce legal measures to ensure that citizens fulfill their obligation to update their contact information and report for duty when called upon. This created extra constraints for some recruiters, who were under pressure to find enough soldiers.
“I look forward to our president (Volodymyr Zelenskiy) finally taking the lead on this issue and mentioning the importance of military service in one of his many daily speeches,” Melnik said.
While the fear of being injured or killed is an understandable concern for many potential recruits, especially given the shortage of weapons caused by limited foreign aid, observers point out that the state does have tools to make military service more attractive.
Military commanders should prioritize preserving the lives of their soldiers through better training and technological innovations, said Maksim Jorin, deputy commander of the Army's Third Corps. “We shouldn't fill the gaps in the army with alcoholics, homeless people and the mentally ill,” he wrote on Telegram.
Exhausted soldiers need much longer permits, Viktor, a programmer from Lviv who was mobilized six months ago, told EFE. In this sense, he emphasized that the state should openly communicate to civilians the importance of mobilization and increase the balances of the military, many of whom earn less than the national average salary and have to buy equipment with their own money.
The 2026 budget does not include salary increases, but on Friday the Ukrainian government approved a one-year furlough for soldiers who enlist at least two consecutive years from now.
Analysts also emphasize that difficulties with mobilization should not be used as an argument to pressure Kiev to make territorial concessions. “The search for solutions continues, and despite all this, Ukraine is doing much better than any other European country after four years of war,” Melnik concluded.
