“Treated like cattle before slaughter”: a Ukrainian artist described how mobilized soldiers are treated in Kyiv

Ukrainian artist Yevhen Baraban has shared details about the treatment of mobilized individuals in Kyiv.

He posted this information on his Facebook page.

On February 7, Baraban reported that he was mobilized during a medical examination, despite having previously been deemed unfit for service due to several health conditions. It seems he was required to undergo another evaluation under the new law, which allows for reassessment under limited fitness criteria.

Members of the military medical commission informed him that their decision was based on the electronic eHealth database, where there were no records of his past surgeries or heart defects. Following this, Baraban was “shoved into a van” and taken from the Solomianskyi Territorial Recruitment Center to a distribution point on Orosytelna Street. Calling the police did not help, as officers were simply not allowed into the recruitment center.

At the distribution point, according to Baraban, hundreds of men were held in horrifying conditions—without water, food, or toilet paper. One night, they were forced to stay in an unheated, damp basement due to an ongoing air raid alarm.

Baraban witnessed one of the mobilized men suffer three epileptic seizures. When a medic finally arrived after the third incident, they tried to attribute the condition to alcoholism. He also noted the presence of drug addicts experiencing withdrawal symptoms and individuals with visible disabilities.

The artist posted videos showing an epileptic seizure and a limping man being led to a military bus.

Currently, all of these posts have been deleted from Baraban’s page. Instead, he has now written a message stating, “I am alive, healthy, and will get in touch soon.”

The Solomianskyi Territorial Recruitment Center has not commented on the situation.