Within a single week in February, several attacks against enlistment offices and personnel in Ukraine took place, resulting in injuries among both military and civilians. The most striking was the murder of an enlistment officer at a gas station in Poltava Oblast.
A man killed the officer during an attempt to kidnap his acquaintance who had recently been mobilized into the army. The soldier died immediately from the gunshot wounds. Two accomplices were detained later the same day.
"Killing military personnel in the rear is a red line that cannot be crossed," Mykhailo Drapatyi, commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, wrote on Facebook, reacting to the recent attacks.
"We have already seen cases of humiliation and aggression against our defenders, but I have not seen a strong public reaction. Now, we have direct armed attacks. This is how the enemy works," Drapatyi added.
As Ukraine steps up its mobilization efforts, attacks on personnel are becoming more frequent, driven by escalating social tensions as the war drags on. In search of the perpetrators, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) insists that Russian special services are behind the latest incidents.
In the meantime, criticism of the government's mobilization policy, as well as its inability to protect service members is also mounting.
“Everything that was done regarding mobilization was done in the worst possible way,” Andrii Osadchuk, a lawmaker of the Holos faction and deputy chairman of parliament's Law Enforcement Committee, told the Kyiv Independent.
The consequences of poorly organized mobilization efforts have been emotional and psychological, creating a fragility of social relations in Ukraine that Russia is exploiting, Osadchuk said.
Antonina Andriichuk
Russia attacks in rear
Throughout the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has had to confront Russian aggression not only on the battlefield. In February alone, the SBU detained dozens of individuals who it said were recruited by Russian special services and involved in sabotage activities in Ukraine.
Among the detained were both adults and underage citizens who acted on Russia's orders. They reported the coordinates of Ukraine's critical infrastructure, set fire to military vehicles, and organized disinformation campaigns. Two cases were also related to attacks against enlistment office staff.
The SBU and Ukraine's National Police on Feb. 5 detained Russian agents who had detonated explosives near an enlistment office in Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
On the same day, the SBU determined the circumstances of the recruitment of another agent who blew himself up in an enlistment office in the western Ukrainian city of Rivne. The explosives were detonated remotely, killing the agent and injuring six other people.
According to Serhii Andrushchenko, SBU's deputy head, the remote detonation of self-made devices is a new tactic of the Russian special services, allowing them to get rid of the perpetrator of the crime and not pay them the promised money for carrying out an attack.
"Russian special services simply use these people for their purposes as expendable material. An FSB (Russia's Federal Security Service) officer does not care what happens to them after the task is completed," Andrushchenko said.
Russian special services are trying to destabilize the situation with terrorist attacks against the military to discredit enlistment offices, disrupt mobilization, and sow distrust in Ukrainian forces, Andrushchenko added.
Osadchuk echoed Andrushchenko's stance, saying that destabilization inside Ukraine is "an absolute priority" for Russia. The expert stressed that Russian special services have been operating similarly for decades in Ukraine but have been particularly active over the past two and a half years of the full-scale invasion.
Russia’s efforts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine are made easier due to the fact that people are “exhausted, traumatized, and tense,” Osadchuk said. The societal conditions are ripe for these types of crimes, he said.
Illia Krotenko
Internal struggle
Ukraine is continuing efforts to boost the pace of mobilization and increase the number of its troops as Russia advances on the front line.
The Ukrainian government adopted updated legislation on mobilization in 2024, and the Defense Ministry has opened several recruitment centers throughout the country for the Ukrainian military.
Despite attempts to make military service more attractive for volunteers, including the right to choose a post in the army and financial bonuses, enlistment offices still fulfill the main function of mobilization in Ukraine.
"It is true that there is class differentiation in mobilization. But it is also true that no state in the world has ever fought a war and won it exclusively with volunteers."
The reputation of draft offices is often overshadowed by accusations — at times justified — of forced conscription without compliance with fundamental civil rights, as well as ill-treatment of conscripts in recruitment centers. Cases of wrongdoing are exploited by Russian propaganda to fuel negative attitudes toward enlistment officers and Ukraine’s mobilization efforts.
"(Russian) psychological operations do not appear out of the blue. It is true that there is class differentiation in mobilization. But it is also true that no state in the world has ever fought a war and won it exclusively with volunteers," Dmytro Kukharchuk, head of recruitment of the Third Assault Brigade, wrote on Facebook.
"We can argue about the methods of mobilization, justice, and the human element in the enlistment offices. And there will be truth in each of these disputes. But war does not wait for us to agree," Kukharchuk added.
Although Russia officially declared mobilization only once at the beginning of the all-out war, the Russian government has made considerable efforts to replenish its troops. Russia’s recruitment tactics involve offering attractive financial incentives, pardoning crimes, or simply taking people off the streets.
Trying to avoid increasing tensions in society, Russia has recruited civilians from less populated regions and marginalized ethnic minority communities. It has also supplemented its troops by forcibly drafting tens of thousands of Ukrainians in occupied territories — a war crime, according to international law.
Osadchuk insists that the way enlistment offices in Ukraine carry out their work must be reorganized completely to prevent the situation from deteriorating. According to the lawmaker, "Russia or any of its other forms of existence" will not disappear even after the hot phase of the war is over, and Ukraine "needs to learn” how to deal with Russia’s operations.
Francis Farrell
It is also important to highlight the work of law enforcement agencies that detain those who collaborate with Russia, according to Osadchuk.
"We see that the most vulnerable group is young people aged 14 to 18 who are hired through Telegram channels," Osadchuk said.
"They need to be taught simple things. It is a crime. If you fall for the campaign and the promised thousand dollars, you will not get it. Instead, you will get three to ten years (in prison). You will ruin your life forever," he added.
Osadchuk also emphasized the need to change the government's information policy. "It is harmful to promote narratives that encourage relaxation and apathy rather than mobilization and unity," the lawmaker said.
According to Osadchuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky made a mistake by promoting the narrative that the war could end soon, demotivating both civilians and the military.
"No real fact suggests that the hot war phase should stop somewhere. Our imagination wants it, but we are not there," Osadchuk said.
"Everyone should realize that the war is not 'somewhere over there.' It can be lost. We could be forced to retreat from Kyiv. This is not a fantasy or intimidation at all. It can really happen," he added.
Francis Farrell
