In the first five months of 2026, the Ombudsman’s office received more than 3,000 complaints regarding the actions of regional recruitment centers.
According to RBC-Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, stated this in an interview with Radio Liberty.
Three thousand complaints—just the official count
From January to May 2026, the Ombudsman’s office received over three thousand complaints regarding the actions of military personnel at territorial recruitment centers. Lubinets explains that this figure includes only direct appeals from citizens. Violations identified by the office itself through the media, social media, and testimonies from people who are legally unable to file complaints in person are not included in the statistics.
“Therefore, this figure can safely be multiplied by three, at a minimum,” the ombudsman noted.
Comparison with 2025
In all of 2025, the office received 6,127 complaints. In just under five months of 2026, there have already been over three thousand, indicating that the rate of complaints has nearly doubled.
The complaints mainly concern three types of violations:
- the use of physical force;
- the use of balaclavas;
- removal of insignia during mobilization activities.
Lubinec acknowledges that in 2023–2024, he deliberately did not publicize these violations and held closed-door meetings with the Ministry of Defense and the command.
