Ukraine's military urges tough response after attacks on draft officers

By Max Hunder and Tom Balmforth

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's army chief condemned on Monday a spate of violent attacks on draft officers, rallying in defence of a national call-up effort that has fuelled anger among some Ukrainians and struggled to generate sufficient frontline manpower.

The incidents, including the fatal shooting of a draft officer and explosions at two draft offices in three days, pile pressure on an already-troubled national campaign to draft civilians despite faltering enthusiasm for service.

The setback comes as Ukraine is trying to project strength ahead of a potential negotiating process, with U.S. President Donald Trump pushing for a swift end to the war, while Russian troops continue to capture more territory in the east.

General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who has complained of manpower shortages at the front, denounced what he said were "shameful acts of violence", demanding investigations and punishment for incidents that killed two people and wounded seven more.

"The common goal of defending Ukraine is impossible without the entire nation's support of the army and respect for military personnel," he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The police arrested two suspects after the draft officer was shot dead on Friday at a petrol station in the central region of Poltava.

Prosecutors said one of the suspects had shot the officer, allowing a second man who had been mobilised and was in the officer's charge to escape.

The next day an explosion inside a draft office in the northwestern city of Rivne killed one person and wounded six others, military officials said, without providing details. On Sunday, another explosion wounded one person at a draft office in Pavlohrad, authorities said.

FEARS ABOUT UNITY

Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on whether the attacks are linked, though their quick succession has rung alarm bells in Kyiv, where there is broader concern about Russian attempts to destabilise internal unity in the exhausted nation, which is about to enter its fourth year of full-scale war.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine are doing everything possible to protect our state and the Ukrainian people. During a full-scale war, this is impossible without mobilisation measures," Syrskyi said.

Ukraine declared a general mobilisation as soon as Russia launched its Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, which prompted many tens of thousands of Ukrainian men to enlist to defend their country.

Since then, enthusiasm has gradually waned and the call-up process has caused divisions in society and public animosity towards draft officers, while thousands of military-age men have fled to avoid serving.

Kyiv has not directly alleged any Russian connection to the attacks, but Ukraine's land forces chief Mykhailo Drapatyi cast them, as well as previous acts of aggression towards draft officers, as the work of "the enemy".

"We have no right to silently observe a growing wave of disrespect towards the defenders of Ukraine -- this is beyond the pale of what can be tolerated," Drapatyi said.

A Ukrainian security source told Reuters that Moscow has been conducting a long-running campaign to disrupt the work of Ukraine's military draft offices and recruitment operations.

The source said this involved Russian-orchestrated physical attacks, disinformation campaigns, warning people about the location of patrolling draft officers, and recruiting Ukrainians to set fire to military vehicles.

The source said that on Sunday alone, six vehicles had been damaged by arson attacks across Ukraine, with two of them belonging to military personnel.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Gareth Jones)