Ukrainian military recruiters are raiding bars and restaurants looking for men who are not registered for military service

Ukrainian military recruitment officials raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kiev, checked military registration documents and arrested men who did not follow the rules, media and witnesses reported on Saturday.

Officers came to the sports palace in Kiev on Friday evening after a concert by the Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Video footage broadcast by local media appears to show officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they exit. In the images it appears that officers are forcibly arresting some men.

Checks were also carried out at Goodwine, a luxury shopping centre, and Avalon, a popular restaurant.

It is unusual for such raids to take place in the capital and reflects Ukraine’s dire need for new recruits. All Ukrainian men between the ages of 25 and 60 are eligible for military service, and men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country.

A 27-year-old man said he left the concert when the last song played after being told about the recruitment officials. He said he saw soldiers and police talking to people, but “didn’t see anything super aggressive.”

He said men risked being drafted if they ventured outside.

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 He said his university draft exemption was revoked after Ukraine passed laws in April that both lowered the age of eligibility for men from 27 to 25 and abolished some draft exemptions.

LOOK | Thousands of men have fled Ukraine to avoid being drafted:

How thousands of Ukrainian men try to avoid the draft

Ukraine says it needs 500,000 more soldiers to fight Russia, but thousands of men have fled the country to avoid being drafted. CBC’s Briar Stewart was given rare access to the Moldovan border control unit tasked with catching men sneaking across the border, and some men fleeing.

According to local reports, clubs and restaurants have also been raided in other Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Dnipro in eastern and central Ukraine.

Ukraine has intensified its mobilization effort this year. A new law went into effect this spring requiring those eligible for military service to enter their information into an online system or face fines.

Ukraine reports attacks on Russian-run oil terminal

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday it had struck a Russian-controlled oil terminal in the partially occupied Luhansk region, which supplies fuel for Russia’s war effort.

“Oil and oil products were stored at this base, which were supplied mainly for the needs of the Russian army,” the Ukrainian General Staff wrote on Telegram.

Russian state media reported that the terminal near the town of Rovenky had been 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 any damage.

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

Both sides are faced with the question of how to sustain their costly war of attrition – a conflict that began with Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and that shows no signs of resolution.

Ukraine’s aim is to hamper Russia’s ability to support its frontline units, especially in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia’s main battleground battle is stretching tired Ukrainian forces.

Kiev is still awaiting word from its Western partners on its repeated requests to use the long-range weapons it supplies to hit targets on Russian territory.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said 47 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed by its air defense systems overnight on Saturday: 17 over the Krasnodar region, 16 over the Sea of ​​Azov, 12 over the Kursk region and two over the Belgorod region. that border Ukraine.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Saturday that one person had been killed and 14 injured in Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes in the past 24 hours.

In Ukraine, the country’s air force said its air defenses shot down 24 of 28 drones launched against Ukraine overnight.

Zaporizhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said two women were injured on Saturday in Russian attacks on the capital of the southern Ukrainian region, also called Zaporizhia.