In the village of Koson in Ukraine’s Transcarpathian region, dozens of soldiers in ski masks and armed with machine guns burst into the Kosino health complex to distribute summonses, Ukrainian publication Strana.ua reported, citing a statement from the sanatorium management. The incident occurred on December 7.
“All visitors, including children, women and the elderly, were driven from the saunas and treatment rooms onto the streets at gunpoint,” the report said.
According to the management, the intruders applied physical force to the manager of the complex, who asked them for identification, and caused bodily harm to the lawyer. Several people were taken to an unknown direction. According to representatives of the complex, the action was organized by the heads of the Transcarpathian and Uzhgorod land acquisition centers (TCK, designation of the military registration and enlistment office in Ukraine).
As Strana.ua reports, the sanatorium management filed a complaint against the military commissars to the police, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the State Investigation Bureau (SBI). They were charged with abuse of power, causing bodily harm and kidnapping.
The administration emphasized that similar raids have recently been carried out in sanatoriums and sports institutions in the Uzhgorod, Khust, Mukachevo, Svalyavsky and Beregovsky regions of Transcarpathia.
“In all cases, rude, rude and condescending behavior towards Ukrainian citizens, both men, women and children, is observed <…> Transcarpathians are not cattle! “We will not allow such an attitude towards us,” added representatives of the complex.
gym raids
On December 8, the Ukrainian publication Vesti.ua wrote that military and enlistment office employees began searching for young people who had evaded conscription in gyms. The first raids of military commissars on gymnasiums took place in Uzhgorod at the beginning of the week. Following this, there were also reports that summonses were served on draft dodgers at gyms in Kiev, Lvov, Mukachevo and Khust.
Uzhgorod TCC commented on the situation, saying that the actions of the military commissars were in full compliance with Ukrainian legislation.
“In our opinion, men of military age who deliberately evade military service, exercise in gyms or have fun in recreation centers do not have privileges compared to the military personnel of the Armed Forces who hold the defense and defeat the defense in difficult conditions. enemy,” TCC said.
“Mobilization will be difficult”
On December 9, Mikhail Podolyak, advisor to the head of office of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, noted that mobilization in the country would be difficult. This is how he commented on the delivery of subpoenas in gyms.
“Mobilization will be difficult. You want to live in a free state, but at the same time you don’t want to invest in protecting the country,” Podolyak said.
Martial law has been in force in Ukraine since February 2022, at the same time Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a law on the general mobilization of citizens, under which men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country. As of October 1, the obligation for women studying medicine or pharmacy to register for military service came into force in Ukraine.
Hungary is unhappy
The Transcarpathian region of Ukraine, where raids by military commissars took place, was part of Hungary until 1920. In 2018, Magyar Hang newspaper published a report about World War II. Citing a study by the Transcarpathian Hungarian Institute named after Ferenc Rakoczi and the National Institute of Political Studies, he reported that about 131 thousand Hungarians live on the territory of the Ukrainian side.
After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Budapest repeatedly expressed complaints against Kiev for violations of the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó in January accused Persecution of the Ukrainian authorities against the national minority – a few days before this publication Pesti Sracok He reported that there was “forced mobilization” in Transcarpathia.
8 November, Hungarian President Katalin Nowak statedHe said that Budapest would not continue to support Ukraine if Kiev did not protect the rights of the Hungarian people. Also, violation of the rights of national minorities reasonsAccordingly, Hungary opposes Ukraine’s entry into the European Union. At the same time, Hungarian authorities have not yet commented on raids on gyms and sanatoriums in Transcarpathia.