Illegal detentions and broken ribs: Ukraine’s ombudsman details critical human rights violations during mobilization in the country

Personnel at Territorial Centres of Recruitment and Social Support (TCRSS) in several regions of Ukraine have committed serious human rights violations during mobilisation, including arbitrary detention, physical abuse and the mobilisation of men who are medically unfit for military service, Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated during a press conference on July 1, 2026.

Photo credit: Office of the Ombudsman

The Ombudsman’s Office noticed violations of citizens’ rights during mobilisation as a systemic problem in 2023. Since 2022, the number of complaints has increased 333-fold, rising from 18 to 6,127, including 514 in 2023 and 3,312 in 2024. The office has informed the Ministry of Defence about the problem and submitted recommendations for reform.

“We publicly show about 1% of what we find. Russian propaganda amplifies many of these cases, but we will not turn a blind eye to them,” cites Lubinets, the news outlet ZMINA as saying. 

According to Lubinets, law enforcement agencies have been systematically investigating reports of mobilisation-related violations throughout 2026, including cases referred by his office. Dozens of criminal proceedings have already been opened.

“The State Bureau of Investigations, the Military Law Enforcement Service and the Specialised Military Prosecutor’s Office are responding as quickly as possible. In some cases, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have also opened criminal proceedings,” he said.

The most serious violations documented recently occurred in the Zakarpattia Region (Oblast). During a monitoring visit to a TCRSS facility, the ombudsman’s team found 28 people who, according to its findings, were being held without legal grounds. Officials had confiscated their mobile phones and personal belongings. Among them was a demobilised veteran who had fought near Bakhmut and held combat veteran status, yet TCRSS personnel continued to detain him.

“One person had been held there for 50 days. Most of them had obvious health conditions that made them ineligible for mobilisation. We immediately called law enforcement authorities. As of today, three employees of the Zakarpattia TCRSS have been formally notified of suspicion and are being held in a pre-trial detention facility,” Lubinets said.

Following a monitoring visit to Mykolaiv, law enforcement authorities opened several criminal proceedings, and one TCRSS employee was formally notified of suspicion. The ombudsman’s Office had also received information about the unlawful detention and severe beating of a man in the region.

“We found a man who had been held at the Mykolaiv Regional TCRSS for 18 days. It turned out he was already serving in the military. However, he had not been sent to his unit because the recruitment centre was waiting for the ribs broken during his mobilisation to heal,” Lubinets said.

A similar situation occurred in Ternopil. After receiving information about the unlawful detention of a man, the ombudsman’s team conducted a monitoring visit the following day. Inspectors found five people with medical certificates confirming they were medically unfit for military service.

“As a rule, people are released afterwards, and criminal proceedings are initiated. There is probably not a single oblast where we have not documented human rights violations,” Lubinets said.

He added that monitors had identified the most serious violations in the Odesa, Zakarpattia, Lviv and Ternopil Oblasts. The situation appeared comparatively better elsewhere, including in the Khmelnytskyi and Kirovohrad Oblasts. Kirovohrad Oblast, in particular, has one of the country’s highest mobilisation rates, yet inspectors found no serious human rights violations there.

“The mobilisation system has become a quota-driven system where the only objective is to increase the numbers. That reflects a failure of state policy. People are being mobilised even when they are unable to contribute meaningfully to the military,” Lubinets commented.

The ombudsman also cited recent complaints. In Chortkiv, the Ternopil Oblast, a man with type 2 diabetes, hypertension and class 4 obesity was mobilised. Two days after arriving at a military training ground, he was hospitalised with a hypertensive crisis. The military medical commission records nevertheless declared him fully fit for service.

Another mobilised man, who is living with HIV, syphilis, viral hepatitis and other infectious diseases, was assigned to kitchen duty at a military training ground during the monitoring visit. Although he informed his commanders about his medical condition, they took no action. A review of his records showed that the military medical commission had also declared him fully fit for service.

“These are not isolated incidents, yet no one wants to move away from this system and consider different incentives for Ukrainians willing to join the Security and Defence Forces. The leadership of the Ministry of Defence bears responsibility for the fact that reform has not yet started. To date, not even a working group has been established,” Lubinets said.

He argued that Ukraine should abandon quota-based mobilisation targets and instead strengthen incentives, including financial ones, to encourage military service. He also proposed transforming TCRSS facilities into service centres equipped with video surveillance cameras, and ending the practice of staff wearing balaclavas and conducting identity checks without police involvement.

ZMINA earlier reported that a 34-year-old single father raising his five-year-old daughter, who had earlier been mobilised in Kryvyi Rih, the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, was temporarily released to arrange childcare and complete the necessary paperwork.

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