Ministry of Defence has announced inspections at all Territorial Recruitment Centres: "Violence is categorically unacceptable"
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence is to launch official investigations into all regional recruitment and social support centres following recent high-profile incidents at the Odesa Regional Recruitment and Social Support Centre.
This was announced by Deputy Defence Minister Mstislav Banik following a meeting with the Land Forces Command, according to Censor.NET.
More on the inspections at the recruitment centres
According to Banik, during the inspections, law enforcement agencies and relevant authorities will examine "with the utmost scrutiny" all complaints from citizens regarding unlawful detention, violence and other unlawful actions by military personnel at the recruitment centres.
"Any violence, human rights violations or affronts to human dignity against people, some of whom will become our defenders, are categorically unacceptable, especially in the fifth year of the war," the Deputy Minister emphasised.
He noted that these scandals once again confirm the need for a large-scale reform of the Territorial Recruitment Centres, which the Ministry of Defence is currently working on.
"The functions of the Military Registration and Enlistment Centres should be distributed among other institutions, without a closed-loop system of registration and mobilisation. The hubs where people will wait to undergo medical examinations, be sent to training centres and brigades, must be as comfortable and humane as possible, with 24/7 video surveillance and strict monitoring of interactions with citizens at all stages," added Banik.
What led up to this?
- Earlier, staff from the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) uncovered a large-scale scheme at one of the district TCRs and a joint venture in the Odesa region involving the illegal coercion of citizens into mobilisation. According to the investigation, men were forcibly detained, beaten, intimidated and subjected to psychological pressure. Nine members of the organised group have been detained.
- In Odesa, three TCR staff members and their accomplices are to stand trial, accused of abducting a man of conscription age and extorting money from him.
