Men were abducted and tortured: nine members of Odesa’s military enlistment groups sentenced

A court in Odesa found nine members of notification teams from one of the district Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers (TRCs) guilty. They were convicted of illegally detaining, abducting, and torturing men. The Office of the Prosecutor General announced the verdicts. According to gp.gov.ua.

All nine pleaded guilty and reached plea agreements with prosecutors, which were later approved by the court. In determining the sentences, the court considered each participant’s role:

• Six received prison sentences. The longest was seven years and one month.
• Two of the convicted men were sentenced to service restrictions.
• Another one received a five-year prison sentence, suspended for a probationary period of two years.

In addition, four of those convicted were banned for three years from holding positions at district TRCs and participating in mobilization activities.

The crimes for which the verdicts were handed down took place in April–May 2026. According to prosecutors, the men were forcibly detained on the streets of Odesa, made to get into vehicles, and taken to a TRC. The victims were beaten, subjected to tear gas, and threatened. The men were ordered to provide personal data, as well as information about other men of conscription age.

Among the documented incidents was a threat of sexual violence against one of the victims. Another man lost consciousness after tear gas was used. One of those convicted also took 5,200 hryvnias from a victim’s wallet.

Two other defendants are still on trial. The pre-trial investigation was conducted by investigators from the State Bureau of Investigation’s Territorial Office in Mykolaiv.

We previously reported:

• Nine men from a regional TRC detained in Odesa region for torturing and sexually assaulting men liable for military service
• Seven years for torturing a man: TRC serviceman sentenced in Odesa
• Beatings and violence: ten TRC servicemen in Odesa notified of suspicion
• Defense Ministry to inspect all TRCs: complaints of unlawful detention and violence to be reviewed
• Cherkasy region: clash involving TRC staff at a business — tear gas, a gunshot, and an abduction investigation