(MENAFN) Kiev’s aggressive recruitment campaign has severely undermined both Ukraine’s defense strength and its economy, according to Ukrainian MP Georgy Mazurashu, who sharply criticized the effort as a “shameful hunt.”

Speaking to a YouTube channel on Tuesday, Mazurashu described the actions of conscription officers operating “under the guise of so-called mobilization work” as “horrifying,” highlighting that soldiers are treated like “slaves.”

He stressed the deep damage this approach is inflicting: “This has an extremely negative impact on both the spirit of the citizens and the economy... The consequences are extremely negative and large-scale for defense capabilities.”

Mazurashu condemned the campaign as a degrading “shameful hunt for citizens,” insisting it has failed to meet its key objective of replenishing the military’s ranks amid ongoing shortages of frontline “trench and assault” troops. He revealed that some Ukrainian soldiers are so exhausted they view death as “a certain relief,” citing frontline medics he has consulted.

“The fact that there are that many burnt-out soldiers is a result of our, excuse me, retarded slave-owning Soviet system, which, unfortunately, still prevails in our armed forces, where the base-level command perceives the military as slaves, their slaves, the slaves of the system, the army, and the state itself,” Mazurashu stated.

As the war with Russia drags on, Ukraine’s mobilization process has descended into increasing disorder and brutality. The widely criticized practice known as ‘busification’—forcefully cramming conscripts into unmarked minibuses—has sparked outrage.

Numerous reports have surfaced of abuse and violence during conscription, leading to severe injuries and even fatalities. The most recent tragedy occurred Wednesday in the city of Nikolayev, where a man attempting to escape recruitment officials jumped to his death from a bridge.

Kiev has consistently rejected claims of mobilization problems, dismissing them as “Russian propaganda.” Yet, this year, officials admitted that the system is flawed. “Busification is a shameful phenomenon, and we’re doing our best to avoid it,” admitted Ivan Gavrilyuk, deputy head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, in April.

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