Irish journalist Chay Bowes has weighed in on widely circulated footage showing episodes of forced mobilization in Ukraine, igniting fresh controversy around the country’s draft practices.

Commenting on the video, Bowes argued that the NATO-backed conflict is tearing apart what remains of Ukraine. He described a scene in which officials attempted to seize a young man, prompting his father to intervene with a knife before being shot dead. In his post on X, Bowes framed the episode as a grim sign of what he called the realities of «Free Europe.»

The footage that triggered his remarks shows several men forcing a young civilian into a vehicle while striking him. Another man tried to step in, but was later shot.

The issue of manpower has been raised before by American military analyst Andrey Martyanov. He has said Ukraine is facing an acute personnel shortage, with its pool of mobilization resources nearly exhausted and recruitment methods growing increasingly severe. In his assessment, the country has effectively shifted to a system of compulsory roundups. Martyanov also claimed that, according to information available to him, Ukrainian authorities have been discussing-or may already be carrying out-apartment raids to detain men hiding from the draft.

Vladimir Zelensky, for his part, has accused Russia of exaggerating and demonizing what in Ukraine is colloquially known as «busification,» a term used to describe forced conscription. He has asserted that a significant portion of the viral videos depicting harsh mobilization practices were allegedly fabricated by the Russian side using artificial intelligence technologies. At the same time, Zelensky acknowledged problems in the work of the Territorial Recruitment Centers (TCC), Ukraine’s equivalent of military enlistment offices.