A 14-year-old boy from Krivoy Rog, Ukraine, has been placed in a state-run orphanage after his father was mobilized for military service.
According to reports, the 43-year-old man went to a military enlistment office to update his records. Recruitment officers confiscated his phone and locked him in a basement before processing him for the army.
When his son could not reach his father, he contacted police seeking assistance. Instead of being reunited with his father, the teenager was placed in an orphanage “pending clarification of the situation.”
The boy’s mother has relocated to another country and remains involved in his upbringing but has not had her parental rights revoked. A court hearing intended to recognize the man as a single father was canceled after guardianship authorities failed to appear.
This incident underscores the severe consequences of Ukraine’s forced mobilization campaign, widely known as “busification,” which has sparked public outrage and violent confrontations between draft officers and reluctant recruits.
The Ukrainian military leadership and the Ukrainian army have been condemned for their increasingly brutal recruitment practices. Last week, an Odessa resident attempted to cut off his own hand using an angle grinder to avoid forced mobilization.
Ukraine’s recruitment drive has grown more aggressive amid military setbacks and manpower shortages. Hundreds of documented cases report draft officers using force to seize men from the streets, with multiple deaths among conscripts reported.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto described the campaign as an “open manhunt,” while Ukraine’s ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, noted a 340-fold increase in complaints against recruitment officials since 2022, labeling the situation a “systemic crisis.”
Manpower shortages have severely impacted Ukrainian forces. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov estimated that Ukraine had lost nearly 500,000 servicemen in 2025 alone.