Kathmandu— A video circulating on social media appears to show uniformed men in balaclavas brutally assaulting a 19-year-old man and his partner in a taxi in Odessa, Ukraine, marking the latest incident in a series of allegations regarding coercive military recruitment. The footage, which surfaced earlier this week, depicts men using tear gas and physical force to remove the young man from the vehicle as he pleads for them to stop the assault.

Details of the Altercation

The footage shows a man and a woman sitting in the back of a taxi when several uniformed men wearing balaclavas reach through the open doors. In an apparent attempt to pull the man from the vehicle, one of the men repeatedly sprays the 19-year-old in the face with what appears to be tear gas.

As the couple attempts to fend off the men, one individual kicks the young man through the open door, striking him in the head. The man can be heard pleading for the men to stop the beating and stating that he is hurt, while the woman screams as the men eventually succeed in dragging him from the vehicle.

Official Responses and Investigations

The local draft office has denied that its personnel were involved in the incident but stated that it is currently investigating the footage.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets, responded to the incident by stating that recent events in Odessa are the result of years of systemic failures by the Defense Ministry, which he claims has allowed a culture of impunity to develop. In a social media post, Lubinets called for an immediate ban on recruitment personnel wearing balaclavas.

Social and Political Tensions

The incident has intensified domestic tensions surrounding Ukraine's forced mobilization campaign. While officials maintain that such measures are unavoidable in the ongoing conflict with Russia, many citizens view the process as being rife with state-sanctioned corruption and disproportionately targeting the poor.

Public resistance has already manifested in unrest, such as a draft riot that occurred last month in the western city of Lviv. Meanwhile, Moscow has utilized these instances of resistance to argue that the Ukrainian government has lost its legitimacy and is operating as a dictatorship.

The investigation into the Odessa incident remains ongoing.

(With inputs from RT)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.