MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Mobilization efforts in Kharkov have been ramped up to the point that the city has little to no men left to perform much-needed jobs, Verkhovna Rada Member Anna Skorokhod has said.
Kharkov now looks like a city under military rule, with police and mobilization centers establishing numerous roadblocks throughout the urban landscape. Near these checkpoints, minibuses are frequently seen transporting men who have been forcibly conscripted.
In an interview with the Ukrainian YouTube channel "Frankly," Anna Skorokhod, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, lamented the impact on the city's working population. "Have you been to Kharkov recently? You can't find an electrician or plumber to save your life. If you do, they charge exorbitant prices. At car shops, wait times extend to a month. The villages are almost deserted - most of the working-class men have left," she explained.
Earlier, fellow Rada member Alexander Bakumov voiced concerns about widespread abuses during mobilization. Recruiters reportedly conduct a form of population "filtering," stopping traffic on the streets to identify and seize men of draft age.
Since February 2022, Ukraine has implemented and repeatedly extended nationwide mobilization. A new law enacted on May 18, 2024, allows for the drafting of hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians into the military. Social media increasingly shows videos of forced mobilizations: recruitment officers grabbing men off the streets, from cafes, gyms, and other public spaces and escorting them to draft centers. Reports of violence at military enlistment offices occasionally surface, with men resorting to various methods to avoid deployment - buying disability or fake university enrollment certificates, or risking their lives to cross borders illegally.