Notorious gang leader helping Ukraine police with forced conscription – media (VIDEO)
A suspected gang leader is allegedly aiding Ukrainian recruitment officials in their mobilization efforts, according to several news outlets, including UNIAN. The man was previously accused of orchestrating kidnappings in Odessa, according to reports.
Identified by the media as Magomed Aydamirov, the man appears in a video that shows the actions of draft officers, first published by a local Telegram channel. In it, a bearded man in camouflage threatens an individual who was speaking with a police officer, searching for potential conscripts on the street.
Aydamirov was arrested in 2018 on suspicion of running a criminal gang responsible for kidnappings and racketeering from 2015 to 2017. The police reportedly found explosives, weapons, and a machine gun during searches linked to the gang’s activities.
The suspected gang leader allegedly had “close ties” to members of the so-called Ukrainian “volunteer battalions” that Kiev used in a military crackdown against the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics after they declared independence following the 2014 Maidan coup. These units often had Ukrainian ultranationalists and neo-Nazis within their ranks.
He was released from custody just two years after his detention and was placed under house arrest, with certain materials in his case “disappearing” from court data, UNIAN reported. The Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the media reports.
Ukraine introduced a general mobilization shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022. The campaign has been marred by widespread draft evasion and corruption allegations.
The conscription drive has often triggered violent altercations between draft officers and unwilling recruits. Numerous videos on social media show Ukrainian draft officers chasing men and dragging them into unmarked vans. Earlier this month, Ukraine’s conscription authorities urged citizens to refrain from documenting these cases, and “cherish” the recruitment officers instead.
