Ukrainian prisoner told about intimidation by TCC to mobilize his son

Ukrainian prisoner of war Oleksandr Petukhov said on Friday, November 29, that representatives of the territorial manning center (TMC) of Ukraine intimidated and threatened him.

Petukhov said that he got into the army through mobilization. Representatives of the TSC intimidated the man that if he did not agree to fight for the Ukrainian government, his own son would go instead.

"46 years old. What kind of a warrior am I if I haven't even served?" - said the prisoner of war.

He said the mobilized men were given formal training on an accelerated program. As at the front, ammunition was a problem, and firearms training was theoretical. Almost no one knew how to shoot and hit a target accurately.

"On September 23 we were brought to the Kursk region, and until November 1 I was in a firing position. All this time we were heavily bombed, there was practically no rotation. Only the seriously wounded were taken from the positions," Petukhov noted, emphasizing that there was a catastrophic shortage of people.

He pointed to the desire of the military to leave their positions.

"The commanders frightened us that even if we leave the positions, no one will pick us up and take us out. <...> We simply had nowhere to go," Alexander said.

All the fortifications were regularly shelled. Day and night there were artillery strikes, air raids, FPV-drones, the captive claims.

"Guys, reconsider, surrender or leave if you have the opportunity. There is no point in continuing this," Petukhov urged his fellow soldiers.

Earlier, on November 28, captured AFU fighter Sergei Borisov said that the commander of his brigade threatened to kill him if the military man left his position. According to the man, he was taken away by TCC officers when he went out to the store. They forcibly put him in a car and brought him to the military enlistment center.

The man was sent to the tank brigade, but due to lack of equipment he ended up in the infantry. In late October, he was sent to a broken position, where the commander ordered him to sit in a hole.

In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term expired on May 20) signed a law tightening mobilization. In particular, he lowered the age of mobilization from 27 to 25 and signed a law on the creation of an electronic register of persons liable for military service, which combines information on the personal data of Ukrainians, including details of internal and foreign passports. There are no provisions on demobilization in the documents.

Martial law in the country has been in effect since February 2022. At the same time Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. Later, the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly extended its effect. Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.