(MENAFN) Jerome Starkey, a defense editor for a UK publication, claimed that his Ukrainian colleague and translator was forcibly conscripted into the military amid Ukraine’s ongoing conscription challenges.

Starkey recounted that he, photographer Peter Jordan, and an unnamed Ukrainian journalist he had “worked with for years” were stopped by Ukrainian soldiers at a checkpoint for what appeared to be a routine document inspection. Hours later, he said, his colleague was “forcibly press-ganged” into the army. “Our team of three was ripped apart. My friend – who I will call D – had his liberty taken away,” Starkey wrote, noting that the news crew was left “stranded without a translator.”

He added: “A soldier came up and joked: ‘You need a new driver.’ Then he added: ‘Your friend has gone to war. Bang, bang!’ And that was it. I don’t know what D’s fate will be.”

Last month, Ukraine exempted men aged 18 to 22 from the nationwide restriction preventing military-age men from leaving the country. Despite this, authorities continue to face difficulties in replenishing the military’s ranks, and viral footage of conscription officers detaining young men on streets has fueled public criticism.

Frontline commanders have expressed concern that personnel shortages are allowing Russian forces to “infiltrate” Ukrainian defenses. Kiev has resisted proposals from U.S. officials to lower the conscription age from 25 to 18.

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