Attorneys Vadim Kolokolnikov, Maxim Dzhevaga, and Alexander Shcherbina of Barristers Law Firm are representing Alexander Zemlyanoy, who was unlawfully detained and deprived of his liberty by the military registration and enlistment office.

To the army—from the subway, bus stops, and right from their jobs. In Kyiv, military registration office staff, together with the police, were picking up men of draft age right on the street, taking them to a medical examination, and then on to a staging area. Their relatives are complaining about this. The military registration offices insist they were rounding up draft dodgers.

This is reported in a segment on the TSN news program.

“I’m Oleksandr Zemlyany. I’m at 17-A Zroshuvalnaya Street. They’re holding me here,” Oleksandr says as he films himself and others on the parade ground of the assembly point in Kyiv. Witnesses say the man was taken to the military registration and enlistment office on Sunday, straight from a bus stop. He refused to go with the police and military officials.

Attorneys Vadym Kolokolnikov, Maksym Dzhevaga, and Oleksandr Shcherbina of the law firm “Barristers” filed a complaint alleging unlawful detention and, as recently as yesterday, petitioned for Oleksandr to be brought to the hearing. The court agreed. And the day before, the defense attorneys delivered the ruling to military officials. There, a film crew encountered relatives of other young men. Everyone was lamenting that the young men had been suddenly detained and were being prepared for deployment to the army.

“This morning at the bus stop, the police and the military told him, ‘If you don’t go, we’ll put you in handcuffs and take you by force—that’s it,’” says Viktor Yatsenko, the father of conscript Andriy Moroz.

“A guy got on the subway—that’s where they met him; two of them approached him and took him away,” says Tetyana Tsymbalyuk, an acquaintance of conscript Ivan Gibsky.

Their families insist that they hadn’t received any draft notices before, and besides, most of them aren’t from Kyiv. They’re outraged by how the military registration offices are rounding up conscripts.

“The situation is unclear; my son doesn’t have a phone. If it weren’t for a friend—you can imagine what I’m thinking. Should I put him on the wanted list, search for him on Facebook? Call the police? What does fear of the army have to do with this?” says Lyudmila Yatsenko, the mother of conscript Andriy Moroz.

Attorneys Vadym Kolokolnikov, Maksym Dzhevaga, and Oleksandr Shcherbina of the law firm “Barristers” insist that they were not allowed to meet with their client. His current whereabouts are unknown.

“We’re talking about an unlawful detention, about the deprivation of a person’s liberty,” says Oleksandr Shcherbina, an attorney with Barristers Law Firm.

The military registration and enlistment office counters that everything is legal. They claim the young man voluntarily went to the enlistment office and underwent a medical examination. And although he is from Kamyanske, they have information that Oleksandr is evading conscription.

“According to our information, he is wanted by the military commissariat in his place of registration,” noted Svitlana Bilyk, a representative of the Dnipro District Military Commissariat in Kyiv.

When asked for evidence to support this, she replied: “This information is available only by phone.”

“Neither by mail, nor in the mailbox at his address, nor in person—no one came to his home, and no one told him, ‘Here’s your draft notice—come to the military commissariat,’” says Oleksandr Zemlyany’s brother, Zakhar Butenko.

And in general, his friends say the young man was detained without any documents.

“His passport was at home at the time. And he still doesn’t have it,” says Oleksandr Zemlyany’s friend, Milan Belyaev.

A representative of the military commissariat explains how the young man ended up on the parade ground without any documents as follows:

“A copy of his passport was sent via Viber. That is the information I currently have,” said Svitlana Bilyk, a representative of the Dnipro District Military Commissariat in Kyiv.

It also emerged in court that Oleksandr is already at the military unit. He was taken there yesterday evening—despite the court’s order to bring him to today’s hearing.

"That’s it, friends. They just grabbed me and took me to ‘Desna’ (the military training center). We’re heading to the Chernihiv region. Just so you know—I didn’t sign anything at all," Oleksandr said in a video.

Relatives of the other young men provided TSN with a video showing a yellow bus leaving the assembly point.

Military officials say that whether the military commissars’ actions were lawful or not must be determined on a case-by-case basis. However, by law, a man of draft age must report to the military registration and enlistment office as soon as a draft is announced by decree—even if he hasn’t received a summons.

“He may not have received it for various reasons—it (the summons) may not have reached him, or the military commissariat may not have even summoned him—but regardless, according to the law, he must report to the military commissariat on his own within 10 days,” explained Mykola Kochanenko, head of the Recruitment and Enlistment Division of the Personnel Department at the Land Forces Command Headquarters.

However, no one is supposed to be picked up off the street. That’s what the defense minister says.

“Such a practice definitely should not exist. And where this does happen, I attribute it to the peculiarities of the military commissar’s character—he may have misunderstood something—but this is most likely an exception,” said Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak.

The court proceedings regarding the complaint about Oleksandr Zemlyany’s detention are still ongoing. But military officials say that, if necessary, he will be brought to court even from his unit.