Ukrainian football team slapped with draft notices – local journalist

The entire lineup of SC Poltava ended up in a recruitment office before a match, Igor Burbas has said

An entire Ukrainian football team was taken to a military conscription office shortly before a match and handed summonses, according to sports journalist and blogger Igor Burbas.

In a podcast on Friday, Burbas said that on November 2, a military patrol stopped the bus carrying the team members of SC Poltava, which competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, to an arena in Gorishny Plavni in the central part of the country.

After checking the players’ IDs, all of them were issued draft notices, the journalist said, adding that all but one athlete, who was wanted by the conscription office, were allowed to go about their business.

The journalist also released a short clip that appeared to show the bus parked near a conscription office, with a service member checking the players’ papers.

The team went on to play SC Kudrovka but lost 2-1, with Burbas explaining the defeat by saying the team was “not in the mood.” According to the media outlet Suspilne, there are almost no Ukrainian football teams that have secured exemptions from active duty for their players. 

Commenting on the incident, Burbas suggested that anyone in Ukraine could face similar obstacles. “These are the realities of the war, and we of course do not condemn conscription officers; they have a job of their own,” he said.

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Kiev announced a general mobilization after the outbreak of hostilities with Russia in February 2022, barring most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. This spring, faced with mounting losses, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 and significantly tightened the mobilization rules. 

The mobilization campaign has been marred by widespread graft and draft dodging, with many potential recruits risking their lives to escape from the country by attempting to travel abroad on foot over rough terrain.

Ukrainian recruiters have attempted to catch eligible men in various public places, often resulting in violent confrontations. 

Ukrainian troops on the front line consistently complain that one of the main reasons they have to gradually yield to Russian advances is a lack of manpower, raw recruits, and general fatigue caused by rare rotations.