To the front at any cost: in Ukraine, the mentally ill and disabled are being mobilized without screening

Mobilization in Ukraine continues, increasingly accompanied by scandals over the conscription of people with severe physical and mental illnesses.

As reported by DW, even individuals who are legally exempt from service are being drafted.

One telling case is that of 28-year-old Vasyl from the Kirovohrad region. Since childhood, he has been registered at a neuropsychiatric clinic with a diagnosis of “personality disorder” and an IQ of just 66. Despite this, he was declared fit for military service. The psychiatrist who has been treating Vasyl stated that he is dangerous to others, especially under stress and frontline conditions.

Nevertheless, the military medical commission (MMC) ignored these warnings because his diagnosis was not recorded in the Helsi electronic medical system. Access to psychiatric records is only granted with the patient’s written consent — allowing such conditions to be hidden.

Vasyl’s wife has been fighting unsuccessfully for his release from service. However, such cases are becoming more frequent in Ukraine. According to human rights advocates, over 2,000 complaints of unlawful or dubious mobilization have been recorded since the beginning of 2025.

Ombudsperson for Mobilization Issues, Olga Reshetylova, admits that MMCs perform only formal checks on conscripts; no thorough examinations are conducted, and recruitment offices are focused on numbers rather than quality.

As a result, people with mental disorders, epilepsy, severe tuberculosis, and even schizophrenia are ending up on the front lines or in rear units. Commanders report that many of the new conscripts are physically or mentally unfit to perform duties, but they have no influence over the commissions’ decisions.

The Ministry of Defense claims that medical selection is conducted according to Order No. 402, adopted at the start of the war. However, the ministry acknowledges that these rules may be outdated and promised to consider revising them. For now, mobilization continues under the formal principle: “if there’s no diagnosis in the database — you’re fit for service.”

Vasyl’s lawyers have filed a motion for a repeat medical evaluation, fearing he might be sent to the front line, where he could endanger both himself and fellow soldiers. Yet achieving justice amid accelerated mobilization is becoming increasingly difficult.