Recruiters raid Kyiv venues for men not registered for conscription

Ukrainian military recruitment officers have raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in the capital Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, local media and witnesses have said.

Officers descended on the Palace of Sports venue after a concert by a Ukrainian rock band and video footage aired by local media appears to show officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they exit.

In the footage, officers appear to be forcibly detaining some men.

Checks were also conducted at Goodwine, an upscale shopping centre, and Avalon, a popular restaurant.

It is unusual for such raids to take place in the capital and reflects Ukraine’s need for fresh recruits for the military.

All Ukrainian men aged 25-60 are eligible for conscription and men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave the country.

Local media said similar raids were also conducted in clubs and restaurants in other Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Dnipro.

Ukraine has intensified its mobilisation drive this year and a new law came into effect in spring stipulating that those eligible for military service must input their information into an online system or face penalties.

Meanwhile, on Saturday night the Russian army conducted a massive air strike on civilian infrastructure in the eastern city of Sumy.

The Regional Prosecutor’s Office said a missile hit a residential neighbourhood, damaging a four-storey apartment building.

A wave of drones also targeted and damaged local administrative buildings and at least three private houses.

There have been no reports of any casualties. Those strikes come as local authorities continued to evacuate residents from frontline areas in the Sumy region.

Ukraine’s Minister of Reintegration, Iryna Vereshchuk, said that almost 500 children and their families had been evacuated from the region, “due to the security situation”.

On Friday, Ukrainian media reported that Russian forces had attacked settlements in Sumy 98 times.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced in August that the Defence Council had decided to evacuate a total of 45,000 residents from Sumy amid the ongoing fighting.

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And three civilians, including a 12-year-old child, were injured in a Russian airstrike in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said.

According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, the attack was carried out using a guided aerial missile, targeting a residential area and local infrastructure.