Ukraine's struggle to recruit soldiers has increasingly turned violent, with the National Police Service recording more than 600 assaults on recruitment officers as public resistance to conscription hardens after years of war. The tensions reflect deepening war-weariness across a country facing relentless pressure on the front lines in regions such as the Donbas. Vasyl Krupych, a serving Ukrainian soldier who was himself assaulted while searching for draft dodgers, captured the bitterness of those who continue to fight, asking: "what did we fight for, if soldiers can now get beaten?" He offered a stark explanation for why so many avoid mobilisation, saying simply: "everyone is afraid to die." The methods used to enforce the draft have drawn political criticism. Opposition MP Oleksandr Honcharenko said that "these officers are hunting for people on the streets and sometimes using quite violent methods", describing scenes in cities including Lviv and Dnipro. The crisis has coincided with upheaval at the top of Ukraine's defence establishment, with President Volodymyr Zelensky sacking Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. Analysts such as Ivan Stupak and academics including Kyrylo Ogdansky have warned that the mounting friction between the state and its citizens over conscription poses a serious challenge to Ukraine's ability to sustain its war effort.