Why Ukrainian military is raiding weddings, nightclubs

Amid the war with Russia, Ukrainian defence personnel are raiding weddings, concerts, nightclubs and bars to nab men who are dodging military service. This comes after Ukraine brought down the conscription age from 27 to 25, and passed a law making it mandatory for all those eligible for service to register online.

It is true that all is fair in love and war. Both Ukrainian conscription officials and its civilian population know this. Amid the war with Russia, Ukrainian officials are raiding weddings, bars, nightclubs, concerts and markets to check if all eligible men in Ukraine are dodging military service. In love, Ukrainian people are trying to skip military service to get married and stay with their loved ones.

But in this love and war, there is also a constant dread.

Many men in Ukraine are living in a constant state of dread, since Ukraine decreased the eligible age for military recruitment from 27 to 25 and removed any exemptions for military recruitment in April. It has also asked anyone eligible for conscription to get registered online.

This need for conscription comes against the backdrop of an ongoing Russia-Ukraine war which started in 2022. The ongoing war has led to the loss of life of 10,582 Ukrainian civilians with many more wounded. With a decrease in the number of people, Ukraine is making an all-out effort to recruit men.

While many of the conscription raids conducted were in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, the wedding celebration was in the Ukrainian town of Lviv.

These raids should be seen in the context of a law passed in April wherein Ukrainian men aged 25-60 can apply for conscription and men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine, reported The Associated Press.

This is due to the new law where anyone eligible for military service must input their information online.

UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS RAID A WEDDING TO CHECK MILITARY REGISTRATION OF MEN

It was uploaded to Instagram by one of the guests, Kasyanchuk Sergiy, who said conscription officials rushed into the celebration to check the military registration of men.

Faces covered, mostly silent until not.

These officials asked people if they had been registered.

They ended up hitting a person, arguing with a woman. Chaos ensued.

Now, the video has landed on social media.

The video also shows how the crowd pushed the officers away from the people. The people of Ukraine chanted, "shame on you".

Finally, the guests asked the officers if they had been officially authorised to conduct these raids.

The video shows the officers walking out of the room then.

“This is real lawlessness that cannot be tolerated any longer,” said a guest. “People were so much against it they were ready to fight, to chase [the officers] away. That is the reality in Lviv,” he added.

But these officials raided venues across Ukraine.

FEAR OF BEING 'CALLED UP' FOR MILITARY SERVICE ANYTIME

The Kyiv’s Palace of Sports venue was raided by conscription officers during a concert by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Reports show officers right outside the hall as they stop men and speak to them.

As a 27-year-old man left the concert after the last song, he found out about officials questioning people. Then, he saw the soldiers and the police.

He also said that his university waiver was taken away after Ukraine passed laws in April which lowered the age of recruitment for men from 27 to 25 and did away with some draft exemptions.

Although he did not see the officials act aggressively, he discussed with the Associated Press how men feared being recruited into the military all the time.

“That inner state of always being in danger, it’s back again,” he told The Associated Press.

Anyone who was eligible for conscription and unregistered was detained.

MARKETPLACE, COMEDY SHOW RAIDED AFTER CONCERT

The conscription officials did not stop at the wedding and the concert. They also raided a shopping centre called Goodwine and Avalon.

These raids come up as Ukraine looses its soldiers and men in a two-year war with Russia.

This new law and the ongoing war have caused fear of being "called up" for military service anytime, reports The Associated Press.

Men were dragged out of nightclubs and restaurants by army recruiters during targeted raids, Daily Mail of the UK reported.

The raids were also conducted in nightclubs, bars and restaurants across Ukraine, including Kharkiv and Dnipro.

The officers also checked papers of men attending a stand-up show by comedian Anton Timoshenko in the central Ukrainian city of Cherkassy. In this video uploaded on Telegram, men were being stopped inside the venue.

A report even discussed how conscription numbers were becoming “increasingly deceitful, coercive, and violent.”

The Russian army conducted a massive airstrike on the eastern city of Sumy on October 12.

A missile had hit the residential neighbourhood and damaged a four-storey building, according to the Regional Prosecutor's Office. The drones also damaged administrative buildings and three houses.

The ongoing war has led to this fear in Ukrainian men. While they are trying to keep some sense of normalcy in the war-stricken nation, the raids are giving heed to their fear of being called for military service anytime.