From $10,000 per month: how businesses in Odesa buy off representatives of the territorial recruitment centers

Recently, numerous videos of forceful mobilization have emerged from various parts of Odessa. However, there are certain locations in the city that are off-limits for employees of the territorial recruitment centers.

Based on the daily videos of forceful detentions of draft-age men appearing on social media, it seems that Odessa’s territorial recruitment centers often use a raid method, driving around in vans to the most crowded places in the city. Document checks by military recruiters on public transport have been common for a while, which has resulted in trams, trolleybuses, and minibuses being mostly filled with women and elderly people nowadays.

In recent months, representatives of the territorial recruitment centers in Odessa have also started using temporary checkpoints right on the streets for mobilization. With the assistance of the police, recruiters set up “Stop” signs on the road, stopping cars with men for document checks.

However, there are places where recruiters are not allowed. These are primarily popular nightlife locations in Odessa (usually only in the evenings). For example, Arcadia. Here, from 6 PM until the curfew, recruiters almost never show up, allowing visitors to nightclubs and restaurants to enjoy themselves without interruption. Similarly, all major shopping and entertainment centers in Odessa appear to be immune to raids from the recruitment centers: recruiters sometimes appear in the parking lots of these centers but never operate inside the complexes.

Recruiters are also rarely seen at the “Knyzhka” market in central Odessa. This market, which once primarily sold books, has become a center for currency exchange (often not entirely legal), duty-free luxury spirits, and expensive delicacies over the past few decades.

Interestingly, “Knyzhka” is located close to the Odessa office of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Primorsky police department. However, the safe zone from recruitment representatives for draft-age men only extends to the market itself and does not cover the surrounding streets.

This selective approach by the recruitment centers has never been officially commented on by the recruiters or city officials. However, the reason behind this phenomenon is no secret to Odessa’s businesspeople.

Sources indicate that the owners of Odessa’s largest shopping and entertainment centers and locations have long since reached agreements with the recruitment centers.

“Each network of shopping and entertainment centers negotiated independently, not directly with the recruitment offices but through the regional military state administration. Naturally, these arrangements involve significant bribes. The amounts for ‘safe zones’ start from $5,000-10,000 per month, depending on the size and popularity of the shopping complex,” an anonymous owner of an Odessa restaurant revealed.

According to the businessman, the owners of Odessa markets and resort entertainment locations also made deals with the territorial recruitment centers.

However, there are occasional disruptions in this system of payments because businesses are struggling financially. As a result, the monthly ‘rent’ payments to the recruitment centers are not always regular. In such cases, recruiters remind businesses of their presence by periodically conducting document checks in resort locations.

These actions are clearly demonstrative—to ensure that business owners in places like Arcadia do not forget to pay for their peace of mind.