Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations launches Operation “Honest Conscription” with searches in more than 100 TCCs

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations, together with the command of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is conducting large-scale inspections at Territorial Recruitment Centers across the country.

The operation has been named “Honest Conscription,” the SBI press service told the outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

From the morning, SBI officers carried out searches at more than 100 centers in the majority of Ukraine’s regions. A source at Ukrainska Pravda specified that the inspections covered “practically all” regions of the country.

The stated aim of the operation is to minimize unlawful practices at TCCs — including human rights violations and abuses of authority by officials.

“Law enforcement’s primary focus is on instances of facilitating draft evasion for money, as well as on TCC servicemembers exceeding their official authority, in particular beatings and torture of military-eligible men,” the SBI statement said.

The number of complaints about TCC conduct has risen sharply in recent years. In 2022, 18 Ukrainians filed complaints against the centers; in 2023 — 514; in 2024 — 3,312; and in 2025 the figure reached 6,127 complaints. During unannounced TCC inspections conducted from December 2025 to June 2026, 208 violations were identified.

In mid-June, the SBI opened a judicial investigation into the death of a 29-year-old man following his time at a TCC in Zakarpattia. A criminal case was opened under the article on abuse of authority by a military official under martial law (Part 5, Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). According to Ukrainska Pravda, TCC staff detained the man upon his arrival at a railway station, after which he was hospitalized with broken ribs and a chest injury. The man was hospitalized twice; the second time in critical condition following a sudden cardiac arrest, after which he died. The TCC itself stated that “no physical force or other coercive measures against the citizen on the part of TCC and SP staff took place.”

Against the backdrop of the growing number of complaints, Ukrainian authorities have proposed reforming the TCC system, including renaming the centers, separating their functions, and transferring some powers to the police.