Inside Obukhiv’s high-stress draft patrols: An NV report from Ukraine’s mobilization front

"As Ukraine ramps up its wartime mobilization, NV spent several hours with a Territorial Recruitment Center (TCC) patrol team in Obukhiv — a town just south of Kyiv — to witness how conscripts are identified, how draft summonses are delivered, and why many of the officers carrying out these controversial orders are combat veterans who would rather be back at the front.

From 5 a.m. until noon, we shadowed a standard notification unit: two soldiers and two police officers. They staffed a checkpoint, stopped men of military age, checked IDs, and issued draft notices — all while fielding daily confrontations, distrust, and the recurring insult: “You should be out fighting instead.”
Even with permission from the head of the Obukhiv TCC, gaining access wasn’t easy. Officials initially kept us at arm’s length, citing concerns about “disrupting mobilization.” Officers say nearly every encounter ends in conflict.
During one stop, Cherkaskyi was called to verify a case where the database flagged a driver for failing to update his records. A summons was issued on the spot.
There’s no official daily quota, but there is a general plan, Cherkaskyi said. “If someone comes up in our system as ‘of interest,’ they’re called in. If we find a violation, we bring them to the TCC to verify it. If confirmed, a case file is opened.”
If a person is eligible for mobilization and medically fit, he added, they may be called up for service. In the Obukhiv district alone, hundreds are mobilized each month." NV