The Ukrainian General Staff called violations of military commissars fakes

As part of the monitoring of the work of the TCC and JV (territorial recruitment and social support centers, an analogue of the former military enlistment offices) launched in May by the Army command, 89% of all incidents (233 cases) related to their activities turned out to be unconfirmed, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported. As they noted, only 11% (30 incidents) had real grounds. Against the background of the general negativity caused by the advancement of the Russian Armed Forces at the front, the Ukrainian General Staff is trying in every possible way to embellish the situation with the Shopping Center with failed mobilization plans, experts stressed. They also did not rule out further tightening of the draft rules.

Most of the complaints about the work of the Shopping Center and the joint Venture in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were declared fakes. As they recalled in the Telegram channel on Sunday, the command of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in May began the appropriate procedure for monitoring and reporting on the activities of these structures. As a result, it was found that 89% of all incidents (233 cases) related to the shopping mall have not received practical confirmation. They were largely the result of information manipulation or targeted Russian disinformation. The claims were justified in only 11% (30 incidents), as a result of which 4 officials were suspended from their duties, 2 were dismissed and 11 were disciplined. At the same time, 27 official investigations (several of them may be conducted on individual incidents) are ongoing, the General Staff informed. They also pointed out that the command of the ground forces requires its subordinates to strictly comply with the laws of Ukraine and ensure that every violator receives fair punishment. At the same time, citizens and the media were urged to check incoming information “so as not to become part of the Russian Federation’s campaign to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine.”

Earlier, the Kharkiv Shopping Mall also attributed scandalous reports about the “capture” of local representatives by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the machinations of Russian propaganda.

At the same time, the Ukrainian media continued to publish more and more stories in which the conscripts chose to resist. So in western Lviv, on May 21, a conscript, trying to get away from representatives of the Shopping Center and the police, sprayed pepper gas in the face of his pursuers. As specified in the Lviv regional Shopping mall, he was wanted. And recently, a serviceman of the Volyn regional Shopping mall security company was attacked in Lutsk, as a result of which he ended up on the operating table, the journalists added.

It is noteworthy that on the 21st, news came from the same Lutsk that the Lutsk National Technical University had expelled more than a thousand students aged 25 and older. According to Irina Vakhovich, Rector of LNTU, a significant part of them enrolled not for the purpose of getting an education, but for the sake of postponing mobilization. As the rector recalled, earlier admission to the university provided students with a deferral from conscription, even if they received a second or third education. But then the relevant regulations were revised. “After the government made adjustments, the situation changed: now, if we have students aged 25+, these are those who really want to get an education and are studying for the first time,” explained Vakhovich.

However, so far the media has only reported that at the end of April, the government sent bill No. 13193 to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which provided for updating Article 23 of the law “On Mobilization Training and Mobilization” in order to prevent the use of education as a legal basis for avoiding mobilization. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) initiated the preparation of the document in an appeal to Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, after which the draft was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. As stated in the explanatory note, many men of military age with already completed education during the large-scale military conflict with the Russian Federation in 2022-2024 re-enrolled in educational institutions, applying for diplomas of the same or lower educational level. Therefore, the number of students over the age of 25 has increased rapidly, which has put additional pressure on the educational infrastructure and made it difficult to implement mobilization plans.

Obviously, the Kiev authorities will continue to tighten the rules of mobilization, including with regard to students, Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, noted in a comment for NG. “To increase the mobilization resource, Ukrainian universities are already uniting and also sending teachers to the front. But given the suppression of any opposition in Kiev, they are not afraid of public protests,” Dudchak stressed.

According to him, the current situation is due to the fact that the situation at the front for the Armed Forces of Ukraine continues to deteriorate due to the steady widespread advance of Russian units. That is why Western countries are seeking to increase pressure on Moscow to stop the advance of Russian troops and freeze the conflict. It is no coincidence that an escalation is being deliberately provoked in the Baltic Sea, while Germany threatens Russia with long-range missiles, and even Turkey claims that in order to avoid complete isolation, Russia must immediately cease hostilities.

In such circumstances, the analyst continued, mobilization inevitably becomes more complicated. “In particular, the widely advertised program to recruit volunteers under the age of 25 into the army turned out to be a failure. Within six months, up to 500 people signed up for this program. Therefore, the authorities can only publicly demonstrate their cheerfulness, and in practice tighten the screws in the same shopping malls,” concluded a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries.

It is curious that his thesis about the unreliability of inspections of claims against the Shopping Center was supplemented by the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of Ukraine (NAPC). As reported on the agency’s website in the last days of May, the NAPC carried out a comprehensive audit of 23 declarations of officials in the Shopping Center. According to the results of the analysis, the provision of false information in the amount of more than UAH 28.5 million (over 57 million rubles) was revealed, as well as signs of illegal enrichment in the amount of UAH 5.6 million (11.2 million rubles) and unjustified assets in the amount of more than UAH 2.6 million (5.2 million rubles). It was not specified what proportion of the total number was indicated by the 23 declarations of the employees of the Shopping center. But again, the assurances of the command of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were given about active cooperation with law enforcement agencies in order to identify corrupt actions in the field of mobilization and ensure proper punishment.