By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV, July 9 (Reuters) – Authorities in Ukraine launched inquiries on Thursday into violent clashes in the western city of Lviv a day earlier over the country’s military draft, the latest sign of wartime tensions over the call-up in the fifth year of the war with Russia.
Prosecutors said a group of people blocked on-duty draft officers late on Wednesday, overturning their car, in a fit of unrest that led to broader scuffles with police and service members.
Ukraine’s General Staff strongly condemned the attack, but also said it would review the draft officers’ conduct for any potential violations.
Footage aired by Ukraine’s public broadcaster on Thursday showed crowds swarming vehicles in a darkened residential neighbourhood, chanting “Shame!” and tearing off the uniform of one of the officers.
The incident was the latest in a string of attacks on draft officers that has highlighted long-simmering anger over how the Ukrainian military is filling its ranks to fight a bigger and better-armed Russia.
Kyiv’s war effort has relied on a sweeping call-up that has been marred by reports of abuse and corruption, further dampening enthusiasm for service despite new efforts to entice Ukrainians to enlist.
Last month, reports of harsh treatment and non-combat deaths in a prominent Ukrainian assault unit sparked public anger and calls for investigations.
SOCIETY BECOMING ‘RADICALISED’
Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, decried the violence but said it should not be seen as an isolated incident.
“When people have been contacting the authorities for years, reporting possible violations of their rights … but do not see a proper legal assessment of such facts, this inevitably creates even greater problems,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“Mistrust accumulates, tension grows, and society becomes radicalised.”
Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has pledged to reform the draft but has yet to unveil the details, a politically sensitive issue in war-weary Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, defended the military and said he expected a fair reaction from authorities.
“If you beat and tear the clothes off a service member of your army today,” he wrote on Telegram, “then think about who will protect you from the enemy who will also beat and tear clothes – but off of you.”
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, editing by Andrei Khalip)
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