Wednesday12 February 2025
glasno.com.ua

Terror Against Military Recruitment Centers: What Drives the Attacks on Recruiters Across Ukraine and Russia's Involvement.

A series of clearly coordinated attacks on military recruitment offices and the Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support (TCK) is undoubtedly not a coincidence, but rather the result of actions by Russian intelligence agencies, asserts military analyst Alexander Kovalenko. This situation reflects a profound systemic crisis within Ukrainian society that urgently requires attention and action.
Террор против ТЦК: причины атак на военкомов по всей Украине и связь с Россией.

Regarding the attacks on the TCC...

In recent days, we have witnessed three attacks – terrorist acts against TCC employees.

Let me remind you that on February 1, a TCC employee was shot in the Poltava region, and in Rivne, an explosion occurred near the TCC building, resulting in one death and six injuries. Yesterday, on February 2, another explosion took place near the TCC building in Pavlograd, injuring a military enlistment officer.

This timeline of events suggests a planned act of terror aimed at internal destabilization in the country. The sole beneficiary of this is Russia, which employs a wide range of tools, from agent networks and information-psychological operations (IPSO) to useful idiots within Ukraine itself. Moreover, Russia's ability to manipulate the minds of certain Ukrainians indicates serious internal, social, and systemic issues.

In Order

It is no secret that a significant portion of the population in Ukraine (I find it hard to call these individuals citizens) harbors pro-Russian sentiments and openly separatist views. These characters are not as active as they were before 2022, but as their sense of impunity for their views grows, they become bolder in both their statements and actions.

From ordinary individuals to those holding managerial positions, these figures are increasingly utilized by their curators, while others readily engage with Russian special services. The primary goal of activating the agent network is to destabilize the country from within, following one of several scenarios, ranging from inciting discontent against the current government to pitting civilians against the military. The TCC case, which has been managed by Russian departments since 2022, is now escalating from fostering animosity, distrust, and hostility to a level of physical confrontation.

By the way, I would like to remind you that in the past, whenever I engaged in discussions about the legalization of firearms for the population in Ukraine, I always reminded my opponents that in a country with many separatist and anti-Ukrainian elements, the legalization of even handguns poses a danger. I think it's unnecessary to explain why?

IPSO

Since 2023, Russian agents inside Ukraine, as well as representatives of separatist parties who fled abroad and pocket leaders of public opinion, have regularly conducted and continue to conduct smear campaigns against the military. TCC employees have been particularly targeted in efforts to discredit the security forces.

I am not defending anyone, but several video materials involving the TCC, which created public resonance, had backstories that would have completely changed the perception of events, but that was always revealed later… IPSO, discrediting, and manipulation exist to extract important information out of context for the manipulator. These out-of-context materials formed the initial foundation, and it was only a matter of time before the level of negativity towards the TCC based on such smear campaigns began to reach a reactionary point.

The lack of effective penalties for the authors of such content has led to the situation where, today, not only individuals who have fled the country can participate in discrediting the military, but also our local outcasts of society.

Thus, the absence of effective punishment, rather than a mere camera apology that is worth nothing, has contributed to the success of the smear campaign against individuals in the pixel.

Useful Idiots

Not Kremlin agents, not separatists, not advocates of the Russian world, but simply idiots. Unfortunately, we have quite a few of them, both among the population unfamiliar with basic critical thinking and in high offices, making populist, sensational statements that lack common sense. For instance, abolishing the TCC and sending all employees to the front, thereby supposedly solving mobilization issues…

However, the hype hunters will never show statistics on how many TCC employees have already been through war. How many have spent a year or two in the meat grinder, and how many have not left the ATO zone since 2014, met Russian columns in Kharkiv and Bucha in 2022, defended Hostomel, and sustained injuries in the first days that prevent them from serving actively anymore, now working at the TCC. In fact, how many have injuries, traumas, disabilities, and so on. No, they won’t tell you… But catching the hype by its tail, which will be supported by other useful idiots among the masses, is always welcome!

Indeed, let’s just dismantle this TCC to hell — and send everyone to the front!

This is just one example of how populist initiatives play into the enemy's hands, destabilizing the situation in the country from within. And then we wonder why a post about the dissolution of the TCC and the murder of a TCC employee receives hundreds and thousands of likes, not from bots, but from real people living in Ukraine, working in extremely interesting organizations where individuals with such views simply should not be present.

So, should a separatist, terrorist, Kremlin agent, and useful idiot be equated in terms of responsibility?

My opinion – yes.

Crises

We are experiencing a systemic crisis in society, where the operation of the Russian propaganda and information machine has achieved its goal – generating distrust towards the military among the civilian population.

Denying this crisis only exacerbates it. Yes, the TCC has many internal problems, and they are periodically addressed, including through arrests and trials. In other cases, any citizen who has faced unlawful actions can seek the services of a lawyer, and there are exemplary cases of successful resolutions. However, one cannot navigate between the raindrops forever, as this does not resolve the main, global problem that many in the rear of Ukraine try to ignore.

In one way or another, everyone will have to fight. Ukraine requires the militarization of society, which has been critically delayed since 2022.

We can endlessly combat agents within the country, although, to my mind, the main point was missed in 2022. We can endlessly fight against fakes and Russian IPSO. We can endlessly put useful idiots in their place.

But all of this will be pointless without a systematic approach to the militarization of society.

As long as one part of Ukraine harbors hidden dreams of the Russian world, sausage at 2.20, and the "blue light"; another part stubbornly ignores the war, immersed in its world of pink unicorns; and a third part firmly believes in peace with the Russian occupiers, we will continue to lose to Russia, not on the front, but within our own country.

The author expresses a personal opinion that may not align with the editorial stance. The author is responsible for the published data in the "Opinions" section.

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