Lviv draft riot highlights Ukraine's struggle to mobilize soldiers

A draft riot broke out in Ukraine's western city of Lviv last week, when territorial recruitment officers stopped a man on the street suspected of evading mandatory military service. After checking his documents, they held him at a draft centre for a medical exam. Eyewitnesses said other officers remained on the scene and tried to detain two more men. A crowd of about 200 people gathered and tried to physically stop the officers. One video, which authorities say was taken out of context, showed an officer striking a member of the public. Footage on social media captured the crowd rocking and overturning the officers' army vehicle, stripping one officer of his clothes. A police officer who intervened was also injured.

This is far from the first such incident. Violent confrontations with draft officers have risen sharply as Russia's invasion enters its fifth year. In 2022, police reported just five cases of attacks on draft officers. By last year, that number had risen to 341, according to Interfax-Ukraine. In the first four months of 2026 alone, there were almost 120 clashes, including the fatal stabbing of a draft officer in April. The suspect alleged that officers had beaten him and his brother and sprayed them with pepper spray.

Ukraine has become increasingly reliant on conscription after volunteer numbers dropped following the last major counteroffensive in spring 2023. The US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated this month that up to 635,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed, wounded or missing since February 2022. Under current mobilization laws, men aged 25 to 60 are subject to mandatory service.

A Carnegie Endowment analysis in March noted that "highly visible cases of abusive practices, legal overreach, and selective enforcement of mobilisation have undermined Ukrainians’ perception of the process’s legitimacy." Public unease centers on a tactic known as "busification," where draft officers forcibly detain men on the street and bus them to recruitment centres. Videos of such incidents spread rapidly on social media, often promoted by Russian outlets.

Complaints about draft officers to Ukraine's Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights have surged from 18 in 2022 to 6,127 last year. In the first four months of 2026, 1,657 complaints were registered. Ryhor Nizhnikau, a senior research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said the urgent need for troops has made the state more aggressive in finding people. He added that Ukraine lacks a clear mobilization strategy, fueling a sense of injustice.

In January, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said an estimated two million Ukrainians are evading the draft and about 200,000 troops have deserted, more than 80% during basic training. Fedorov announced sweeping reforms: pay rises for frontline troops, fixed-term contracts of 6 to 14 months, and possible demobilization of long-serving soldiers by year-end. Kyiv is also stepping up recruitment of foreign fighters, who could eventually make up half of high-risk infantry and assault units.

After the Lviv riot, several participants, including teenagers, appeared on camera apologizing to soldiers. One man, who described himself as absent without leave, pledged to return to the front. Another promised to enlist. The videos were posted by military Telegram accounts, including that of Dmytro Kukharchuk, a deputy commander in the 3rd Army Corps and far-right National Corps leader. Kukharchuk said they held "educational conversations" with the rioters.

Nizhnikau noted a clear civic-military divide: soldiers see no volunteers coming in, while civilians avoid mobilization for various reasons. "There’s a huge conflict between different social groups," he said.