Ukraine investigating military unit alleged to have up to 2,000 medically unfit recruits

According to her, an inspection is ongoing into the matter. Due to the complexity of the situation, representatives of the Defense Ministry and the Ground Forces command have been involved to determine at which stage the systemic failure occurred, Reshetylova said.

“We need to fully examine how this happened and at what stage this mass violation occurred," the ombudswoman said.

"Was it at the TCC, the military medical commission, or already at the unit level, or was the decision made somewhere higher up?” 

At the same time, Reshetylova believes the case cannot simply be treated as a fact, as it concerns the mobilization of 2,000 people deemed unfit for service.

“The question is how this was possible in principle,” she added.

On April 4, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reported the results of monitoring at the Uzhhorod district territorial recruitment center. According to him, “egregious violations” of human rights were identified. The visit was carried out by Lubinets’ representative in Zakarpattia, Andrii Kriuchkov. The ombudsman said the premises of the recruitment center had effectively turned into an illegitimate detention facility.

Lubinets also drew attention to the condition of those held, noting that the monitoring recorded cases of ignoring evident illnesses.

Later, Ukraine’s Operational Command West said a special commission had been launched to investigate these facts and identify possible additional violations.