Procurement or Coercion? The Legal Implications of Ukraine’s Military Recruitment Practices

The request was submitted in order to obtain an official clarification of the legal meaning of the term “recruitment,” since this word is extremely widespread in the public sphere: it appears in advertisements, is distributed through SMS messages, and is used in the establishment of new “recruitment centers” across Ukraine offering civilians to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

It should also be noted that there exists the Order of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine dated October 27, 2023, No. 637, “On the Approval of the Concept of Military Personnel Policy in the System of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for the Period Until 2028,” in which the term “recruitment” is defined as one of the tools of personnel policy.

In its official response, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine explicitly stated:

“Recruitment is the targeted search and procurement of personnel for staffing the Armed Forces of Ukraine with servicemen of appropriate quality and quantity.”

It is precisely this formulation that raises a fundamental legal issue.

According to Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Human Trafficking”), the procurement of a person for the purpose of exploitation — including by means of deception, abuse of trust, the use of vulnerability, or official authority — constitutes a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for three to eight years, and in aggravated circumstances — up to fifteen years.

Thus, the official definition of “recruitment” provided by the Ministry of Defense includes the term “procurement,” which is itself used in criminal law to describe elements of a serious offense. Moreover, the response contains no mention of voluntariness, protection of human rights, the procedure for signing a contract, or the legal status of persons subjected to “search and procurement.”

Furthermore, the term “recruitment” is absent from any normative legal act of Ukraine registered with the Ministry of Justice. Its use in the Concept of Personnel Policy does not create a legal basis for application within mobilization or defense activities, especially under martial law.

It is also important to consider the broader context of legal uncertainty regarding the status of “citizen” and “people” in Ukrainian law. Following the adoption of Laws No. 1616‑IX (“On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine”) and No. 2827‑IX (“On National Minorities of Ukraine”), ethnic Ukrainians were excluded from all forms of collective subjectivity. This further increases legal vulnerability, as the procurement of individuals not recognized as part of a legal “people” may be interpreted as mobilization without any legal foundation.

Particular concern arises regarding possible violations of international humanitarian law in cases where such “procurement” involves not only psychological or administrative pressure but also widespread practices of physical coercion. Documented examples include systematic street detentions, raids in public places, persecution of individuals who do not have the legal status of conscripts, and other forms of coercion that go far beyond voluntary enlistment.

Such actions may constitute the forced involvement of civilians in an armed conflict, which is explicitly prohibited by the Geneva Conventions (Fourth Convention, Article 51) and Additional Protocol I (Article 77).

As a result, the official response of the Ministry of Defense, which defines “recruitment” as “procurement” without specifying legal guarantees or a lawful basis, creates a legal conflict with both the Criminal Code of Ukraine and international law.

It should also be emphasized that the classification of “procurement” as a potential offense gains even greater significance in the context where ethnic Ukrainians have been effectively deprived of collective subjectivity as a result of the adoption of Laws No. 1616‑IX and No. 2827‑IX.

In such circumstances, the mobilization or procurement of individuals who lack the recognized status of a “people” — that is, who are not considered bearers of sovereignty — becomes a form of forced involvement in the defense of another’s sovereignty.

This means that such actions not only contradict the Constitution of Ukraine (Articles 17 and 65) but may also constitute a violation of the prohibition against forced mercenarism and participation in armed conflict on behalf of a state that does not recognize the individual as part of its people.

In the framework of international law, this falls under the definition of forced military exploitation and may amount to a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

According to the official response from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, recruiting is the targeted search and recruitment of personnel to staff the Armed Forces of Ukraine with servicemen of appropriate quality and quantity