Ukraine war latest: Over 600 attacks on enlistment officers recorded since start of full-scale war, police say
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Key developments on April 17:
- Over 620 attacks on enlistment officers recorded since start of full-scale war, police say
- Ukrainian forces contain Russian attempts to advance near Vovchansk, military says
- Oil prices plummet as Iran says Strait of Hormuz 'completely open'
- New roads, artillery positions built in Belarus near Ukraine border, Zelensky says
- Ukraine brings back almost 20 children from Russian-occupied territories, Russia over past week
At least 620 attacks against enlistment officers have been recorded since the start of the full-scale invasion, as of April 12, the Kyiv Oblast Draft Center said on April 17, citing the National Police.
Attacks on enlistment officers and recruitment centers have intensified in recent months amid mounting strain on Ukraine's mobilization system and growing tensions around conscription.
"The trend in these incidents is becoming increasingly alarming," the statement said.
The highest number of incidents was recorded in Kharkiv Oblast with 69 cases, followed by Kyiv with 53 and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with 45, according to the data.
Other regions with significant numbers of reported attacks include Volyn Oblast (39), Lviv (37), Odesa (36), and Chernihiv (34). Khmelnytskyi Oblast recorded 30 incidents, while Mykolaiv and Rivne reported 29 each, and Cherkasy and Poltava 26 each. Kyiv Oblast recorded 24 cases.
Further incidents were reported in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (22), Zaporizhzhia (20), Ternopil (17), and Vinnytsia and Zakarpattia (16 each). Chernivtsi recorded 15 cases, Zhytomyr 14, and Sumy and Kirovohrad 11 each. One case was recorded in Kherson Oblast.
In April alone, several violent incidents were reported, including a stabbing in Vinnytsia that injured two draft officers during a document check and a separate attack in Lviv that left an enlistment officer dead.
Since the introduction of martial law and full-scale mobilization following Russia's invasion, men aged 25 to 60 are eligible for the draft.
Reports of recruitment officers forcibly detaining men on the streets — also widely spread by Russian disinformation — have become more common as Ukraine faces manpower shortages and fewer volunteers, particularly for front-line infantry roles.
This practice has contributed to growing tensions and, in some cases, violent attacks against recruitment officers, many of whom are soldiers reassigned from combat duty due to injuries.
At the same time, numerous violations by military personnel at enlistment centers were reported across Ukraine during the escort of conscripts, including the use of force and the unlawful seizure of personal belongings.
Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, received 6,127 complaints in 2025 over possible violations committed by enlistment officers, he said during a parliamentary session on Feb. 9.
The number of complaints is nearly twice as high as in 2024, when the ombudsman received 3,312 appeals. In 2023, 514 people filed similar complaints, compared with just 18 in 2022.
According to Lubinets, the number of complaints has increased 333 times since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian forces contain Russian attempts to advance near Vovchansk, military says
Ukrainian forces have contained Russian attempts to advance near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast and are holding their positions, the military's 16th Army Corps reported on April 17.
"No positions were lost. Units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces are holding their designated lines," the 16th Army Corps said.
Vovchansk, located roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border in Kharkiv Oblast and once home to around 17,000 residents, has recently been the focus of renewed Russian assault attempts.
Initially occupied in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion and then liberated in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast counteroffensive in 2022, Vovchansk became the site of some of the heaviest fighting in Ukraine when Russia attacked across the border in May 2024.
The ensuing battle saw Vovchansk largely erased from existence, but within a few weeks, Ukrainian forces stopped the offensive in its tracks within the city limits, preventing a deeper Russian push towards Kharkiv.
Over the past week, Russian troops have been building up forces in the Vovchansk area in an effort to take control of the town and push toward nearby settlements.
Their main efforts have focused on attempts to cross the Vovcha River and expand positions on its left bank to enable further advances toward surrounding areas, while also trying to consolidate positions in the southern part of Vovchansk.
As part of their efforts, Russian troops attempted an engineering reconnaissance mission in the area, during which Ukrainian forces destroyed an IMR-2 engineering vehicle and a UAZ vehicle using an FPV drone, according to the 16th Army Corps statement.
Oil prices plummet as Iran says Strait of Hormuz 'completely open'
Oil prices plunged on April 17 after Iran's foreign minister said that the Strait of Hormuz was "completely open" to commercial ships, after a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took hold.
"In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire," Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X.
The statement comes almost 10 days after a strained ceasefire deal was reached by the U.S., Israel, and Iran on April 8. A major stumbling block had been the lack of a ceasefire in Israel's war on the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, which was eventually reached on April 16.
U.S. President Donald Trump said, however, that the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remained in force.
"THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED."
Sea traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a key artery for global oil and gas flows — all but collapsed in the wake of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran since Feb. 28, as Tehran targeted tankers and hit oil and gas infrastructure across the region.
Roughly 20% of the world's oil and liquefied gas usually flows through the strait every day, stoking fears that an extended closure could cause a severe global energy crisis.
Brent crude oil, a widely used global benchmark, rose to near $120 a barrel in March, prices last seen in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Prices fell by 10% to below $90 a barrel on April 17, after the ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect.
The war in the Middle East has been a boon for Russia, which reaped a windfall from higher energy prices and more demand for its oil and gas, after the U.S. temporarily waived global sanctions on purchasing Russian oil. The waiver expired on April 11.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 14 upgraded Russia's growth forecasts for 2026 by 0.3% off the back of higher energy prices. The fund now forecasts that Russia's economy will grow by 1.1% in 2026.
"The main driver of the upgrade to Russia's growth this year comes from an increase in the price of oil and gas," Alfred Kammer, director of the European Department at the IMF, said during a press conference on Europe's economy on April 17.
But the fund also said that it was monitoring Ukraine's strikes on Moscow's energy infrastructure. About 40% of Russia's oil export capacity was reportedly disabled in March by long-range Ukrainian drone strikes and tanker seizures.
"We are noting the destruction of some of the refining and export capacity," Kammer said.
New roads, artillery positions built in Belarus near Ukraine border, Zelensky says
New roads and artillery positions are being set up in Belarus alongside Ukraine's northern border, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on April 17, warning that Russia may again try to draw Minsk deeper into its war against Ukraine.
"We believe that Russia will once again attempt to drag Belarus into its war," Zelensky said.
The president's remarks come amid renewed concerns that the Russian vassal state north of Ukraine could play a more active role in Russia's war.
Belarus was a key staging ground for Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, allowing its territory to be used for troop movements, missile launches, and drone attacks against Ukraine.
Russia's failed ground push to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was launched from Belarusian territory.
Since then, no major cross-border incursions have occurred, and fears that Minsk would join the war with its own armed forces have so far not materialized.
Ukraine brings back almost 20 children from Russian-occupied territories, Russia over past week
Ukraine has brought back 19 children and teenagers from Russian-occupied territories and from Russia, where they had been deported, to areas under its control over the past week, Save Ukraine, a Ukrainian humanitarian NGO, said on April 16 on Facebook.
"Each of them has endured pressure, intimidation, and attempts to undermine their identity. Today, they are finally safe," the statement read.
Among those rescued is 11-year-old Emiliia, who was forced at school to take part in militarized events supporting the Russian army. When she refused, teachers allegedly pressured and bullied her. The sustained stress led to serious health problems, according to Save Ukraine.
Seventeen-year-old Matvii was forced to sing the Russian national anthem and, after refusing, was threatened with solitary confinement. He also went into hiding from Russian patrols searching for children his age to issue draft notices.
Ukraine also returned 19-year-old Sofiia to territory under its control. She had been persecuted by a Russian soldier for saying "thank you" in Ukrainian and was also punished at college for her pro-Ukrainian stance, the statement read.
According to Ukraine's national "Children of War" database, at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted from Russian-occupied territories and taken to Russia or Russian-controlled areas since February 2022. Some 1.6 million remain under Russian occupation, according to Bring Kids Back UA.
Ukrainian officials estimate the real figure of abducted children could be far higher. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets puts the number at up to 150,000, while Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Daria Herasymchuk has given a range of 200,000–300,000.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for their role in state-sanctioned child abductions.
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