Ukraine's 'Busification' — forced conscription — is tip of the iceberg

Ukraine's 'Busification' — forced conscription — is tip of the iceberg

“Busification” is a well-understood term in Ukraine and refers to the process in which young men are detained against their will, often involving a violent struggle, and bundled into a vehicle — often a minibus — for onward transit to an army recruitment center.Until recently, Ukraine’s army recruiters picked easy targets. Yet, on October 26, the British Sun newspaper’s defense editor, Jerome Starkey, wrote a harrowing report about a recent trip…

Ian Proud - Ukraine's 'Busification' — forced conscription — is tip of the iceberg

Ukraine, running out of young men to press-gang into war, is getting increasingly desperate in its ‘busification’ methods and targets. Ian Proud was a member of His Britannic Majesty’s Diplomatic Service from 1999 to 2023. He served as the Economic Counsellor at the British Embassy in Moscow from July 2014 to February 2019. He recently published his memoir, “A Misfit in Moscow: How British diplomacy in Russia failed, 2014-2019,” and is a Non-Res…