Ukraine opens probe after crowds attack army conscription vehicle

KYIV - Ukraine opened a criminal investigation on July 9, a day after crowds of people in the western city of Lviv surrounded and overturned an army conscription vehicle.

The incident drew a swift backlash from top Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called it “a very bad story.”

Ukraine has seen a steady increase in clashes between citizens and army conscription police since Russia’s invasion in 2022, with authorities reporting over a hundred such incidents in 2026 alone.

The unrest erupted after officers detained a man suspected of evading military service and took him to a draft centre, authorities said.

“An investigation has been launched into the circumstances of an incident that occurred in Lviv involving servicemen of the Ukrainian armed forces, police officers, and around 200 civilians,” Ukraine’s prosecution service said.

The law enforcement agencies were quick to find a suspect.

“The Security Service and the National Police within 24 hours identified and detained in Lviv a man suspected of beating a police officer on July 8,” the security service SBU said.

Videos published on social media showed crowds surrounding and attacking a vehicle in Lviv late on July 8, shouting “shame” and filming with their phones.

A police officer who arrived to calm the crowd was later attacked, according to prosecutors.

Following the riots, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy called on citizens to direct their anger at Russia and not the army.

The issue of mobilisation – mandatory military service for men aged 25 and over – is highly sensitive in Ukraine, with many divided over who should be called up and how.

Violence against recruitment officers was almost non-existent at the start of the war, but has proliferated in recent years as the fighting has dragged on and fatigue set in among the population.

Police reported just five cases of attacks against conscription officers in 2022, whereas the number in 2025 totalled 341, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

Incidents in 2026 already number over 100.

Ukraine’s defence minister announced more flexible army contracts for conscripts in June, amid public criticism over the current system of indefinite military service. AFP