Ukrainian recruiters are looking for men who are not registered for the draft

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KIEV, Ukraine – Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kiev, checking military registration documents and detaining men who did not comply, media and witnesses said Saturday.

Officers appeared at the Sports Palace in Kiev after Friday's concert of the Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. A video broadcast by local media shows officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they leave. The recording shows that the officers are forcibly detaining some of the men.

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Inspections were also carried out at the upscale Goodwine shopping center and the popular Avalon restaurant.

Such raids have no place in the capital and reflect Ukraine's urgent need for fresh recruits. All Ukrainian men aged 25–60 are eligible for the draft, and men aged 18–60 are prohibited from leaving the country.

Men live in fear of being called

A 27-year-old man said he left the concert when the last song was playing after being told about the recruitment officers. He said he saw soldiers and police talking to people but “didn't see anything particularly aggressive.”

He said men feel threatened by conscription whenever they go outside.

“That internal state of constantly being in danger has come back,” he told The Associated Press, giving his name only out of fear of retaliation. He said his university draft exemption was revoked after Ukraine passed laws in April that both lowered the draft age for men from 27 to 25 and eliminated some draft exemptions.

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Local reports say raids were also carried out in clubs and restaurants in other Ukrainian cities, including Kharkov and Dnipro in eastern and central Ukraine.

Ukraine has intensified its mobilization activities this year. A new law came into effect this spring, stipulating that those eligible for military service must enter their information into an online system or face penalties.

Ukraine reports attacks on a Russian-controlled oil terminal

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military said Saturday it had struck a Russian-controlled oil terminal in the partially occupied Luhansk Oblast that supplies fuel to Russia's war effort.

“The base stored oil and petroleum products, which were supplied in particular to the needs of the Russian army,” the General Staff of Ukraine wrote in Telegram.

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Russian state media reported that a terminal near the city of Rovenka was attacked by a Ukrainian drone and said there were no casualties and the fire had been extinguished, but did not comment on the extent of the damage.

On Monday, Ukrainian forces said they had struck a major oil terminal on the southern coast of the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Both sides face the problem of how to sustain a costly war of attrition – a conflict that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and which shows no signs of resolution.

Ukraine's goal is to weaken Russia's ability to support its frontline units, especially in the eastern Donetsk Oblast, where Russia's main battlefield effort is to stretch tired Ukrainian forces.

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Kiev is still waiting to hear from its Western partners regarding repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they provide to hit targets on Russian soil.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that overnight through Saturday, 47 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed by Russian air defense systems: 17 over the Krasnodar region, 16 over the Sea of ​​Azov, 12 over the Kursk Oblast and two over the Belgorod Oblast. all of which border Ukraine.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Saturday that one person was killed and 14 injured as a result of Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks over the past 24 hours.

The Ukrainian Air Force said air defenses shot down 24 of 28 drones launched into Ukraine overnight.

Zaporozhye Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov said two women were wounded on Saturday in Russian attacks on the capital of the southern Ukrainian oblast, also known as Zaporozhye.

—Morton reported from London. Associated Press writer Yehor Konovalov contributed to this report.

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