Detained on the street – taken as a volunteer: lawyer spoke about the new scheme of the CCC

In Ukraine, there is a practice that complicates an objective assessment of mobilization processes. Men are detained on the streets, forcibly taken to territorial recruitment centers, where they are registered as “volunteers.” Lawyer Serhiy Starenky spoke about this situation.

He noted that not all service members who patrol the streets and detain the CCC are officially employed. Often, these roles are performed by representatives of the Volunteer Formations of Territorial Communities, dressed in military uniforms, which helps create the impression of officialdom. Their fundamental role is limited only to the physical transportation of people to the recruitment center.

Starenky emphasized that these individuals act under the guise of CCC employees and, after their detention, are already considered volunteers on paper.

The lawyer gave an example from Brovary, where representatives of the DFTG detained a person for violating registration rules and took him to the CCC. There she underwent an express medical examination and a military medical commission, and three hours later she was admitted to the training center. Thus, formally, this person appeared to be a volunteer, although in fact she had been mobilized illegally.

According to Starenky, such cases are not isolated but are a systemic problem. The authorities do not respond adequately, since the main emphasis is on the number of mobilized.

From a legal point of view, such actions are a violation of the law. If officers of the CCC participate in such manipulations and falsify information about admissions, this is considered a professional offense. Therefore, official mobilization statistics do not always reflect the actual state of affairs, and the practice of using force to draw people to military centers casts doubt on the voluntariness of the mobilization process.