“Prison for busification!” A new bill on criminal liability for military enlistment offices has been submitted to the Rada

A new bill — No. 13,365 — has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, introducing criminal liability for Territorial Recruitment Centers (TCCs) for the use of force during mobilization efforts.

The proposed legislation was published on the official parliamentary website.

The bill seeks to amend the Criminal Code of Ukraine by introducing a new article with the following provisions:

• Failure to call or delayed calling of emergency medical services while a person is on the premises or within the territory of a TCC — punishable by a fine of 100,000 times the subsistence minimum for citizens, or corrective labor for up to two years, or restriction of liberty for two to four years if it leads to negative consequences and a sustained loss of working ability of more than 25%, or imprisonment for up to three years if it results in death.

• Use of physical force, destruction, or damage to property by TCC personnel or military officers during mobilization activities — punishable by a fine ranging from 100,000 to 250,000 times the subsistence minimum, or corrective labor for up to two years, or restriction of liberty for up to two years. Additional penalties may include compensation for damages and a ban on holding certain positions for one to three years (or without such a ban).

• Threats of murder or bodily harm, or actual physical assault by TCC personnel or military officers during mobilization — punishable by restriction of liberty for one to three years or placement in a disciplinary battalion for up to two years. If this leads to serious consequences such as full loss of working ability requiring seven years of treatment, the offender may also be demoted by 1–3 ranks, banned from holding certain positions for up to three years, or stripped of their rank entirely with a ban on holding positions for three to five years.

“For ‘bus-ification’ — prison!” wrote Member of Parliament and bill author Oleksiy Honcharenko, referencing the controversial practice of forcibly seizing men off the streets for conscription, often by pulling them into vans or buses.