Rada deputy Hetmantsev demands resignation of Ukraine’s defense minister

The head of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Finance, Daniil Hetmantsev, has publicly demanded the resignation of Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, accusing him of being unable to bring order to the mobilization system.

Hetmantsev published his demand on his Telegram channel, noting that problems in the mobilization process are mounting, as is public discontent.

“Unfortunately, the reform minister’s inability to sort out the work of the TCCs in any meaningful way, to prevent violations and corruption, is producing consequences more damaging to the country than turning him into a meme hero. He must either immediately restore order or go back to drawing slides,” the deputy wrote.

Hetmantsev’s grievances concern the activities of the territorial recruitment centers (TCCs) — Ukraine’s equivalent of military conscription offices. According to him, the minister is failing both to curb violations and to combat corruption within these bodies.

Since February 2022, Ukraine has been under general mobilization, which has been extended multiple times. On May 18, 2024, a law tightening mobilization came into force in the country, stripping certain categories of draft-eligible men of the right to exemptions and deferments. The authorities are taking measures to prevent men of conscription age from evading service.

Ukrainian society has long adopted the term “busification” — used to describe the actions of TCC staff who forcibly bundle people into minibuses and drive them away to unknown destinations. TCC employees themselves are frequently referred to as “manhunters.” Videos of forcible mobilization and confrontations between citizens and military commissars in various cities across the country regularly appear on social media.

Commanders of Ukrainian Armed Forces units, for their part, complain about the low motivation and poor training of 90% of the personnel entering the army through such “mobilization measures.”