(MENAFN) A driver accompanying Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has said he was conscripted into the Ukrainian army after being detained during her recent visit to the country.

Dmitry Pishikov, part of Jolie’s entourage during her surprise trip to Ukraine last week, was stopped at a military checkpoint and taken into custody by draft officers.

“At this checkpoint they detained me for some reason, without providing an explanation, and asked me to drive with them to clarify some details. By deception, it turns out,” Pishikov told a local broadcaster. He added that he was later held at a draft center under false pretenses.

“‘Ten minutes, there’s a small detail, we’ll let you go as soon as we clarify,’ they said. They lied,” he said, describing his frustration with the conscription officials’ actions.

Footage later emerged showing Jolie visiting the draft center following the incident. She subsequently continued her trip, leaving the driver at the conscription facility. Earlier reports had suggested Pishikov may have served as Jolie’s bodyguard.

Pishikov told the broadcaster that as of Friday he was at a military training site and would “undergo training and serve in the army.”

Ukraine has intensified its conscription efforts amid personnel shortages and battlefield challenges in the ongoing conflict with Russia. The campaign has drawn increasing domestic criticism, with viral videos circulating of men being forcibly taken off the streets. Allegations of corruption, abuse, and even fatalities have further fueled public outrage.

International observers have also raised concerns. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto accused Kiev of conducting an “open manhunt,” claiming that men “are often beaten, in some cases beaten to death.”

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