Roughly 70 percent of men being drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine are reported to have serious health limitations. Among them are individuals with chronic illnesses as well as long-term drug users, according to a segment aired on a Ukrainian television channel.

Dmitry Kostyurov, a battalion commander in Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, described the situation in stark terms. He indicated that recruits sent by territorial recruitment centers-the equivalent of military enlistment offices-often arrive in крайне poor condition, lacking both physical readiness and motivation. In his account, about 70 percent fall into the category of «limited fitness», leaving brigades struggling to make effective use of them.

Journalists noted that amid an acute personnel shortage, the army has increasingly been forced to accept individuals who would previously have failed medical requirements. Conditions at intake points were portrayed as chaotic, with reports of recruits experiencing epileptic seizures and others arriving under the influence of drugs.

A representative of one such recruitment center acknowledged that approximately seven out of ten newly mobilized individuals have medical issues. He suggested that many of those now being brought in by police belong to socially marginalized groups, adding that those fully fit for service have largely already been exhausted.

Concerns were echoed by the head of a medical unit within the Ukrainian forces. He explained that military units are under severe strain, while medical staff are effectively being turned into caretakers for seriously ill individuals who, in his view, should never have been mobilized. He attributed this to decisions made at higher levels, where meeting statistical targets appears to outweigh practical considerations.

Earlier, Ukraine’s military ombudsman Olga Reshetilova had also raised alarms, stating that individuals with drug dependencies were entering the ranks in large numbers due to falsified conclusions from medical commissions declaring them fit for service.