[5] The need to maintain enough troops to fight on the frontline in Ukraine to prevent Russia from advancing and jeopardizing Ukrainian sovereignty while adhering to democratic principles and human rights to resist the Russian image of authoritarianism created a difficult policy balance that resulted in the strong internal politicization and controversy.
These included using infantry groups as “human waves”[6][failed verification] to riskily advance on enemy positions with the goal of entrenching deeper, often with a high casualty count per engagement.
In June 2024, The Center for European Policy Analysis estimated that Ukraine's army would need 400,000 to 500,000 more soldiers to resist Russian offensives due to their much larger population giving them a greater advantage in size and speed of mobilization.
While 35% of surveyed Ukrainian men not in the army stated they were willing to serve, factors that influenced their decision not to enroll included a shortage of materials and equipment, improper training, risk of death or injury, uncertainty about when and how demobilization would occur, and fear of incompetent officers and leadership.
Parliamentary leader David Arakhamia stated that while lawmakers would do their best to accommodate the needs of military command, many of their provisions requested "directly violate[d] human rights" while others were not "optimally formulated".
[12] Other areas that required extensive debate included whether to withdraw consular services to unregistered conscription-aged Ukrainian men taking refuge outside of Ukraine, and whether to put restrictions on driving and on holding certain jobs for draft evaders.
Center for Political and Legal Reforms member Yuliya Kyrychenko expressed her worry that the decrease in the number of deputies in parliament would make reaching majorities on legislation more difficult, which would, in turn, delay critical decisions needed during wartime.
[20] Local Territorial Recruitment Center (TCC) (Ukrainian: ТЦК [uk]) officers were tasked with checking the papers of men and delivering military summons.
[19] Several viral videos appeared to show TCC officers taking men from streets and public spaces across Ukraine to be conscripted, often involuntarily and with marked resistance.
Ukraine's Ground Forces General Oleksandr Pavlyuk claimed that the videos were taken out of context and that resulting criticism of recruitment officers supported Russian propaganda.
[23] On 28 March 2024, officials from the Poltava Territorial Recruitment Center filed reports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 30,000 citizens who received summons and did not show up to their TCC station.
[5] A BBC Eye investigation reported that up to 31 August 2023, 19,740 Ukrainian men took such routes crossing into Romania, Moldova, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia to avoid mobilization, while 21,113 were caught.
[5] Mayor of Dnipro Borys Filatov criticized mobilization laws due to his city running out of civil servants and public transport workers, causing numerous issues in maintaining essential and fundamental institutions for civilians and family members of frontline troops.
The editorial stated that by having TCC officers force people into mobilization in public with minimal notice, that the government violates human rights under democracies by not acting within the limits of the law.
[27] It thus expressed that Russian anti-mobilization propaganda was able to spread so easily because of how these actions were autocratic instead of democratic in policy, and how citizens will refuse to fight if Ukraine has become "a copy of Russia".
[27] The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade constituted a positive example whose reputation as having extensive combat experience with a fearless, brave approach to battle coupled with their public recruitment campaign on social media causes them to receive over 900 volunteer requests a month.
In one instance in October 2024, TCC officers and the police waited outside a concert by the Ukrainian band Okean Elzy in Kyiv, detaining men who were unregistered for the draft, with some being dragged off the venue.