“They bring obvious rejects, who are ‘wounded’ from the start”: a soldier criticized the approach of territorial recruitment centers to mobilization in Ukraine

Serhiy Ohorodnyk, a company commander of the 78th Separate Air Assault Regiment, strongly criticized the approach of territorial recruitment centers to mobilization.

He addressed the issue in a Facebook post, specifically calling out recruitment officers.

Ohorodnyk stated that military units are being sent people with drug addictions, chronic illnesses, and mental disorders. According to him, some recruits “almost die during training” and are unfit for service.

“You [employee of the territorial recruitment center] bring obvious dead weight to the units—people who from the start are ‘Category 300’ (non-combat-capable) and a headache for the unit. These are individuals who will never fight a single day but will still go through the system, receive a uniform, a salary, and at best be discharged on legitimate grounds. Meanwhile, recruitment officers somehow never bring in healthy, successful businessmen, firm managers with leadership qualities, or athletic guys with a strong build who could actually join the ranks,” he wrote.

Since the beginning of the war, members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) and experts have reported that individuals with serious health conditions, including heart attacks and other issues, are being drafted.

In the fall, media outlets reported that around 45% of men who were previously classified as “partially fit” for military service were reclassified as “fit” after re-evaluation.