Ukrainian army draft officer fatally stabbed on duty

KYIV, April 2 (Reuters) – A Ukrainian military draft officer was fatally stabbed in the neck on Thursday while on duty in the western city of Lviv, authorities said, amid frictions over mobilisation in Kyiv’s war effort.

Ukraine faces a manpower shortage as it fends off Russia’s bigger and better-equipped army in a fifth year of fighting, and enthusiasm for military service has flagged.

In a statement, the National Police said an unidentified local man stabbed the officer before fleeing the scene. The officer died in hospital and the suspect, a customs inspector, was later captured, it added.

Ukrainian draft officers have been accused of heavy-handed tactics when checking documents and handing out summonses, and footage of violent scuffles with civilians has appeared on social media. 

Ukraine’s defence ministry said that problems with the draft system could not justify a murder. “The draft system needs to be changed, and these changes will be implemented in the near future,” it added on the Telegram app.

The suspect’s motives were not immediately clear.

Authorities received more than 6,000 mobilisation-related complaints in 2025, according to human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. Most of them were related to alleged abuses by draft officers, he said.

Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov pledged after his appointment in January to make reforming Kyiv’s mobilisation system a priority.

Draft offices have also been the target of bomb attacks, though Ukrainian officials have blamed Russia for orchestrating a sabotage campaign.

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Barbara Lewis)