Attacks on military recruitment staff undermine Ukraine’s defense, Ground Forces Commander says
Ground Forces Commander Hennadii Shapovalov said this in an interview with Ukrinform.
“When servicemembers doing the work of registration and mobilization are demonized, humiliated, or physically attacked – that is a crime. It is an attack on a servicemember. Full stop. It doesn’t matter where they serve – in an assault brigade, artillery, or a TRC. Everyone performs vital tasks. And we must remember that most TRC personnel are wounded servicemembers who can no longer serve in frontline units,” Shapovalov stressed.
He noted that a uniformed servicemember carrying out duties in the rear is still part of the Defense Forces, and criminal actions against them harm Ukraine’s defense just as much as attacks on soldiers on the battlefield.
At the same time, he acknowledged that there have been cases where some TRC personnel behaved rudely, exceeded their authority, or violated the law. Each such incident must be handled by law enforcement, and court rulings must follow, he said, emphasizing that problems within TRCs cannot be solved through vigilantism.
Shapovalov appealed to society: “Without replenishing the army, we cannot hold the front. We need cooperation, not a domestic conflict between the ‘pixel’ and the ‘civilians’.”
As reported, on December 3 in Lviv, a TRC servicemember was fatally stabbed. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, a 30-year-old resident attacked the soldier during mobilization notification procedures and document checks, stabbing him and then spraying gas at other servicemembers before fleeing.
Operational Command West reported that the attacker stabbed servicemember Yurii Bondarenko in the groin, severing the aorta and causing massive internal bleeding. He also struck Senior Soldier Vasyl Maliuk in the head before escaping.
Bondarenko was taken to the hospital but died from critical blood loss despite medical efforts.
The fallen servicemember was a combat veteran who fought in the Anti-Terrorist Operation.
