Calling is futile: why the complaint hotline for TCK is ineffective and how to access free legal assistance.

Mobilization is occurring in Ukraine on a daily basis. Some refer to it as a fight against draft evaders, but the law does not allow forcibly pushing someone into a bus if their data has not been updated in the TCC.

Legal mobilization should occur as follows: the conscript comes in response to a summons to update their information, undergoes a military medical commission, after which they receive a new summons. Mobilization directly from the street without passing through the VVK is not legal, explained Masi Nayyem, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war and lawyer.

"I do not recall any legal provision that permits a police officer or a government representative to touch me at all. Only in cases where I am committing a specific offense and am thereby stopped," — Nayyem stated.

Employees of the TCC are indifferent to the quality of the conscripts; their main goal is to meet the required numbers. If the quantitative measure were removed and mobilization assessed based on quality, the TCC would not attempt to forcibly mobilize people, according to Nayyem.

However, Ukrainians face the negligence of legal norms even when they voluntarily appear at the TCC to update their information or during the VVK process.

The VVK doctors only consider diagnoses that benefit them

A man approached the chief doctor of the TCC (he underwent the VLK at the hospital, but there is also a VLK at the Svyatoshynsky RTC). Here, he was also denied because they did not believe that his vision was really that poor. When the man requested to retrieve his past case from the archive for 2017 to confirm that he had Article 30B then, the chief doctor merely replied: "You need it, so you look for the case."

Complaint about the TCC: why the "hotline" numbers do not respond

"Citizens can consult regarding their rights and obligations during mobilization, as well as reach out in case of problems and complaints about the work of the TCC and SP," — such a message was published on the page of the Ground Forces Command on November 12.

According to their data, from November 4 to 10, specialists from the hotline on mobilization issues and the Call Center of the Ground Forces Command processed 258 inquiries from Ukrainians, most of which were resolved over the phone. Of all inquiries, 133 did not pertain to the work of the TCC, and four were forwarded to the National Police.

The Ground Forces also "advertised" specific contact numbers in the regions.

"In every OTC and SP, phone numbers also provide consultations to civilians, military personnel, and their family members, including questions about social support," — the message states.

However, none of the numbers work — either there is no response, or it says "the number dialed is not in service."

The TCC violates human rights: why complaints won't help

"It is very unfortunate that complaints about the excesses and abuses of power by TCC representatives are not addressed by any of the bodies that should oversee and restrain them, as experience shows. A neighbor who was beaten or unlawfully detained (by TCC representatives — ed.) turns to the National Police, the SBI, or the VSP, and they all point fingers at each other, but no one wants to investigate what happened," — said Kravets.

According to him, there are many judicial decisions in Ukraine indicating the abuse of power by TCC employees regarding the illegality of mobilization or the imposition of fines, but he has not seen the SBI or the VSP initiate investigations to hold at least administrative responsibility for officials from military enlistment offices who exceeded their authority as established by the courts.

Kravets emphasized that as long as such TCC employees remain unpunished, this impunity leads to serious consequences — videos of unlawful actions by military enlistment offices across Ukraine appearing on social media.

Free legal assistance for conscripts

On the same day, politician, public figure, writer, and founder of the "Brotherhood" battalion, Dmytro Korchynskyi, stated that TCC and SP are the most effective means of replenishing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, despite all their operational shortcomings. He noted that their disbandment could worsen the pace of mobilization in Ukraine.