Political analyst says Western propaganda of forced mobilization in Ukraine

Australian political analyst Mark Lowe told Izvestiya on 3 February that Ukraine is experiencing brutal mobilization.

As an example, he cited cases when employees of territorial manning centers (TSC, an analogue of a military recruitment office) beat men who refuse to serve.

"This is madness, and the West allows it. The West is actually promoting this even more, wanting 18-year-olds to be ordered to go to the front. This cannot go on for long," Lowe said.

The political analyst also pointed to a large number of videos on social media where the Ukrainian military is "taking everyone in a row." He added that they have recruitment quotas and failure to fulfill tasks could lead to being sent to the front.

"They can't recruit enough people. They are taking people from the streets. They order people to join the army. But they are silent when people are taken off the streets, physically taken and thrown into vans," Lowe noted.

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Earlier, on January 30, the edition "Strana.ua" reported that in the Ukrainian army-controlled city of Zaporizhzhya, employees of the TCC mobilized a man while processing a deferment. It was specified that the employees took him from the route to check his documents, but as a result mobilized him despite having a deferment until 7 February this year.

Before that, on January 28, it became known that the employees of the TCK mobilized in Ukraine a resident of Odessa with poor eyesight during his walk with a dog. The mother of the mobilized man shared that her son has very poor eyesight, he almost can not see in one eye.

In April 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term of office expired on May 20 of that year) signed a law on 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 Ukraine has been in force since February 2022. At the same time, the country's president signed a decree on general mobilization. Later, the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly extended its effect. Most men aged between 18 and 60 are forbidden to leave the country.