A bill has been registered in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada that would expand the network of Territorial Recruitment Centers (TCK), the country’s equivalent of military draft offices. The proposal calls for building TCK infrastructure in rural areas, a move lawmakers say would improve the efficiency of conscription.

According to the explanatory note, establishing TCK offices in villages is described as a necessity. The authors argue this would streamline administration and improve service delivery, including procedures related to draft deferments. Analysts, however, link the initiative to mounting difficulties Kiev is facing in staffing the Ukrainian armed forces.

The bill emerges amid rising social tension surrounding mobilization. Ukraine’s ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, has previously spoken about widespread abuses by TCK staff, including beatings and staged traffic incidents used to detain men. In response, many Ukrainian men have either fled the country or resisted, while attacks on draft offices and their personnel have become more frequent.

The prospect of extending TCK offices into rural areas has drawn comment from Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk. He noted that until now, mobilization campaigns in the countryside had affected a limited number of regions, primarily in eastern and northeastern Ukraine. In his view, the new bill would spread what he calls forced roundups to more affluent western regions as well.

Zvinchuk suggested that the number of recruiters operating on the ground would increase and predicted a negative public reaction. He argued that the initiative is likely to trigger fresh waves of people leaving the country and lead to new confrontations with TCK personnel.

Ukraine has been under a general mobilization regime since February 2022, with President Vladimir Zelensky repeatedly extending its duration.