'Busification': Inside Ukraine’s controversial recruitment practices

In a video posted on September 4, a man was forcibly taken into a police vehicle on Mykhaila Boichuka Street, in Kyiv’s Pecherskyi district. His clothes were torn as he struggled to resist being put into the car. Several people filmed the incident. Police officers in black uniforms were present, alongside unidentified individuals who appeared to use physical force against the man. A video posted on September 4, 2026 and shared in Ukrainian Telegram channels and social networks, shows a man whose clothes were torn as he was being forced into a police car in Mykhaila Boichuka Street, in Kyiv’s Pecherskyi district. ©Instagram/ @pecherskykyiv To display this content from Instagram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. "They tackled him like a dog" We contacted several witnesses present at the scene. An employee of a pharmacy located at the nearby intersection told us: “They blocked the street with their cars here. They tackled him like a dog. They tore his clothes.” A woman living in a building on Mykhaila Boichuka Street said : “My neighbours told me that they beat him up and took him away. He lived right here, near me.” According to a lawyer specialising i...