There’s More Than Meets The Eye: The TRC-Criminal Nexus – A Dual Threat To Ukrainian Civilians

Support SouthFront

Click to see the full-size image

Criminal elements have infiltrated the Ukrainian mobilisation system. Representatives of the untouchable caste are blackmailing, extorting, beating and murdering peaceful Ukrainian citizens. The risk of ending up on the front line and dying has increased, creating new challenges.

The power to act with no limits

The Ukrainian government is taking all possible measures to offset the mounting losses of the national army on the front lines. Employees of the Territorial Recruitment Centres (TRCs) are the main executors of the state order to recruit citizens for military service.

Checking documents in the street

This body has been granted extensive powers. TRC employees can stop citizens to check their documents and issue summonses, and they can enter most buildings and premises without hindrance. Forceful methods are often employed to detain those who do not wish to be sent to the front. There are virtually no safe places left for Ukrainian citizens to visit without risking mobilisation. Currently, the TRC does not have the right to enter private homes, but this could change if the situation on the front lines continues to deteriorate.

TRC employees raid a fitness centre

To better understand this emerging trend, it is important to refer to the fundamental principles governing the interaction between law enforcement agencies in a state that is governed by the rule of law. The police, the army, the prosecutor’s office, the state security agencies and others must always maintain a certain balance. If one of these agencies gains unlimited power, the others cannot offer significant opposition. Over time, the dominant body begins to suppress its colleagues and gradually overstep the boundaries of the law. Corruption, lobbying and other illegal activities then flourish.

TRC employees have virtually unlimited power, granted directly by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. First and foremost, the existing system is a kind of barter. At the leadership’s behest, the TRC forcibly mobilises its own citizens, who are not at all eager to fight, and in return it receives complete immunity and protection from being sent to the front. This is a powerful incentive to carry out the mobilisation plan.

For the first time, the Ukrainian Parliament has begun to acknowledge the scale and nature of the problem. Yuriy Kamelchuk, a Member of Parliament, stated outright that no video recording is made in 99% of cases of aggressive actions by TRC representatives against citizens.

“There are no cameras inside, phones are confiscated, and body camera recordings are deleted,” he said.

After being beaten, the conscripts remain inside the TRC for a while to allow their condition to stabilise. If there is no deterioration, they are sent for training with no record of the beatings, which enables the full extent of the violence to be concealed.

The situation is exacerbated by rampant crime committed under the guise of official structures. The deputy notes individuals posing as TRC employees.

These organised criminals, he says, stuff people into minibuses and extort ransoms, taking advantage of the general chaos of mobilisation.

Impunity breeds lawlessness.

Over time, Ukrainian citizens have developed a number of methods and rules to avoid being targeted by the TRC. Men of conscription age try to avoid main roads and only leave their homes if absolutely necessary. Alert groups have been set up on messaging apps and social networks to share information about where TRC buses have been seen. People in military uniform arouse suspicion on the streets, even if they are ordinary soldiers.

The fairly high level of corruption among TRC employees means that potential recruits can pay their way out. There is an opportunity to buy your way out, with prices varying depending on the stage of the involuntary conscription process. These range from a direct bribe of €1,000 to the employees who detained the individual, to €15,000 to release them from the recruitment centre. Not everyone has that kind of money, so it is mainly the middle classes and the poor who are at risk.

To carry out the mobilisation plan, TRC employees have started using a new and effective tactic. Recruiters are assisted by civilians, mainly young, athletic-looking people. They secretly monitor a specific area and, under various pretexts, find out from local residents where the men live. They then lure the victim out of his own flat under various pretexts, where he becomes the prey of the TRC employees.

In local slang, these assistants are known as ‘titushki’. They receive exemption from mobilisation and monetary compensation for carrying out orders. The status of these ‘volunteers’ is completely outside the legal framework.

There have been cases of foreign mercenaries being involved in mobilisation activities.

Click to see the full-size image

Since joining the TRC or their assistants is one of the most effective ways to avoid mobilisation, various criminal elements often exploit this loophole. Under the guise of carrying out mobilisation tasks, they also pursue their own illegal interests.

A striking example of this occurred recently in the Odessa region. Footage shows a young man approaching a TRC bus, opening the door, and forcing the military personnel on board to present their documents and explain why they had stopped.

In response, one of the soldiers in uniform approached the cameraman and threatened him with violence. Among other things, the soldier threatened to beat and rape the person who took the video. Footage of the incident quickly spread across social media, where users recognised the soldier as Magomed Aidamirov, a criminal authority.

Magomed Aidamirov is the nephew of Sultan Aidamirov, a notorious crime boss whose gang terrorised Odessa in the 2000s. Magomed is married to a distant relative of Mustafa Dzhemilev, a Verkhovna Rada member from Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party. Between 2015 and 2017, the gang kidnapped more than a dozen people. Aidamirov and his accomplices were accused of kidnapping a businessman and holding him in a basement for almost two months while demanding a $200,000 ransom. Despite the gravity of the charges, the suspects were released from custody in 2020, after which part of the case materials disappeared from the Unified Register of Court Decisions.

Magomed Aidamirov in the courtroom

Improving efficiency

The TRC’s image has already taken root in the minds of Ukrainians. People have become accustomed to seeing individuals in military uniform detain people on the street and force them onto buses. Various gangsters have begun to exploit this fact. If an abduction is carried out by people in civilian clothing, there is a high chance that the police will be called. People in military uniform acting in this way raise far fewer questions. Reports of crime under the guise of TRC employees are becoming increasingly frequent.

Kyiv

The Ukrainian police detained criminals dressed in military and police uniforms who were extorting money from conscripts. The group consisted of four people. Three of them introduced themselves as TRC employees and one as a police officer. The criminals obtained $4,000 from their victims.

Kharkiv

On 10 October, bandits posing as TRC officers kidnapped and robbed a man in the centre of Kharkiv. The crime took place near a currency exchange office. Three men wearing military uniforms and balaclavas forced a 32-year-old local resident into a minibus without licence plates and drove him away in an unknown direction.

The kidnappers tied the man up with plastic ties in the car, beat him and threatened him with weapons. They then held him in a basement. They took €14,600 in cash from him and forced him to transfer more than $83,000 worth of cryptocurrency. Several hours later, after being tortured, the victim was dropped off at the side of the road in the village of Bezlyudovka.

Odessa

In Odessa, three men posing as territorial recruitment centre employees detained and kidnapped people, the regional prosecutor’s office reported on its Telegram channel.

According to the investigation, the suspects are members of one of Odessa’s public organisations. They wore military-style uniforms, used a camouflaged vehicle, and claimed to be acting on behalf of the Territorial Recruitment Centre. Under the pretext of mobilisation, the three men stopped local residents, physically assaulted them and forced them into the car against their will.

These incidents suggest an increasing number of violations of Ukrainian law by the TRC authorities. Not only are civilians being recruited, but foreign mercenaries are also being enlisted to help enforce military service. Individuals with a history of involvement in organised crime now have the opportunity to join the TRC.

Local criminals are adapting to the current conditions. There has been an increase in crimes committed by gangsters wearing military uniforms to avoid arousing suspicion among witnesses.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Pay or Fight: The Corrupt Business of Mobilization in Ukraine
• Beyond the Front Lines: How Ukraine’s Training System Challenges Mobilized Soldiers
• Ukraine’s Manpower Crisis: Systemic Failures and the Dilemma of Military Desertion

Support SouthFront