Captured AFU militant told about forced mobilization in Ukraine

A captured serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Maksym Nazarenko, told on Thursday, 5 December how he was forcibly mobilized.

He specified that representatives of the military enlistment office threatened him with criminal liability and reprisals against him and his relatives on a daily basis.

Nazarenko said that the AFU servicemen were initially sent to Sweden for training. There, instructors showed them how to operate NATO equipment and weapons.

"After training, we were sent to the Liman direction to fulfill a combat mission. We stood in defense as infantry until there were no vehicles. Commanders warned us that you go to a specific place where everything will be serious," said the Ukrainian army prisoner.

According to him, while transporting the militants from Sumy to Kursk region, the car exploded on a mine, the Russian army began shelling the military equipment with FPV drones.

"<...> I received a shrapnel in my shoulder and felt that I couldn't work with my arm at all," the POW said.

As a result, Nazarenko made the decision to surrender to stay alive. The Russian military provided him with first aid and water and food.

Earlier, on December 4, AFU prisoner Roman Lomakin said that AFU servicemen had been sent to Kursk Region under the pretext of rotation of personnel. He noted that if he had known about the destination in advance, he would have decided to leave the unit unauthorized.

At the same time, Lomakin emphasized that there were no options to retreat, as the AFU soldiers could shoot their own indiscriminately.

Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022. Then the President of the country Volodymyr Zelensky (term of office expired on May 20) signed a decree on general mobilization, its effect was repeatedly extended. In April 2024, the head of the Kiev regime approved the law on toughening mobilization.