Beatings, unlawful detentions, and no body cameras: Lubinets reported systemic violations in the work of the TCC

Employees of the territorial recruitment and social support centers (TCCs) often act without identification insignia and cover their faces, which is a violation.

This was stated by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada’s Temporary Investigative Commission on investigating violations in the defense sphere and of anti-corruption legislation.

Lubinets reminded that TCC staff have no right to arrest or detain citizens. He noted that there have been cases of unlawful seizure of personal belongings from mobilized individuals, including mobile phones.

The number of complaints about TCC actions doubled last year, the ombudsman said. In 2022 his office received 18 complaints from Ukrainians about violations by TCCs; in 2023 — 514; in 2024 — 3,312; in 2025 — 6,127.

“I see that every year this figure practically doubles or triples. These are no longer isolated cases, but an avalanche of complaints which, in my view, indicates a systemic crisis that we urgently must eliminate,” Lubinets said.

He also gave examples of legal violations by recruitment officers. In the Kharkiv region, TCC workers broke a lawyer’s leg. In Volyn, TCC staff held the ombudsman’s representatives locked inside for an hour when they came to investigate.

“Unfortunately, we have cases where Ukrainian citizens are subjected to physical violence that results in death. We have documented such cases. The latest case is Dnipro. Before that, a case I am keeping under control: a young man was detained by TCC employees; he said he was heading to the TCC. The next day neither the family nor a lawyer could get access to him. Instead, the family received a call from the hospital: a craniotomy had been performed. And the person died. This situation happened in Kyiv,” the ombudsman said.

He added that some mobilized individuals had serious spinal problems but still passed the medical commission, after which in the training unit they could not even put on body armor.

Among other violations, breaches have also been recorded in the review of cases regarding deferments from conscription.

Separately, he pointed to the problem of body cameras for recruitment officers.

“Clearly, not all notification teams have body cameras. Because when we look into cases, you immediately ask whether there were body cameras. For some reason, as a rule, the body cameras either were not working or were absent,” the ombudsman said.

According to him, footage from body cameras should be stored for at least six months. But there is no such requirement in the law.