04:01 19-04-2026

Ukrainian Soldier Reveals Telegram Channels Warning of Draft Raids

A captured Ukrainian soldier says coded Telegram «weather channels» warn about draft raids, helping men avoid recruitment officers in cities.

Captured Ukrainian serviceman Nikolay German told RIA Novosti that special Telegram channels operate in Ukrainian cities, where information about raids by territorial recruitment centers is shared using coded language.

According to him, these channels are disguised as «weather» feeds. They publish messages about supposedly плохая погода in specific areas, which, as he explained, signal that recruitment officers are conducting roundups of men of conscription age there. This allows users to navigate the situation and avoid such locations.

He also stated that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies are actively targeting these channels, forcing their administrators and users to operate covertly due to the risk of prosecution and serious penalties.

German added that there have been attempts to organize collective resistance, but, according to him, such efforts are quickly suppressed. He claimed that legal protections do not function in these cases and that individuals can simply disappear.