The events that took place on April 7 in the Stare Selo village of Rivne region are completely unrelated to the drafting process. According to the Rivne Regional Police press service, police officers together with National Guardsmen, Ukrainian Security Service representatives and law enforcement officers searched the residences of those involved in criminal proceedings on illegal amber mining and weapons and ammunition handling.
Anonymous propagandist Telegram channels, as well as some social media users, are spreading disinformation that in the Stare Selo village, the Ukrainian military is allegedly forcibly seizing vehicles from the locals ‘for the military needs.’ As proof, they post a video clip showing a confrontation between police and people in camouflage on one side and civilians on the other.
In some publications, it is even claimed that the video was filmed in the Rivne region, where ‘police and military commissars’ allegedly ‘enclosed’ one of the villages to hand out drafting papers on a large scale.
The events that took place on April 7 in Stare Selo have nothing to do with handing out drafting papers or seizing vehicles from locals for the military needs, as the propagandists claim. In reality, the Regional Rivne Regional Police together with National Guardsmen, Ukrainian Security Service representatives and law enforcement officers searched 9 residences of those involved in criminal proceedings on illegal amber mining and weapons and ammunition handling.
As reported by the Rivne Regional Police press service, during the raid the police seized 5 kilograms of amber, vehicles and other important material evidence. Search groups also looked into 34 vehicles, 496 residential and 179 non-residential buildings, and 450 people in the village of Stare Selo. The press service emphasizes that they will continue to take measures to maintain public safety and order, combat crime and prevent illegal amber mining.
This is not the first such raid by law enforcement officers in Stare Selo. Similar investigations on illegal amber mining were conducted in 2016 and 2021. Kremlin propaganda regularly spreads disinformation about drafting measures in Ukraine.
Previously, StopFake refuted similar claims in the stories Fake: Mykolaiv Drafting Office Employees Compete on Who Issues the Most Drafting Papers, Fake: Ukraine Digs a Hole Near Moldova border to Stop Men Fleeing Mobilization, Fake: Ukraine Actively Recruits Female Chemists and Biologists.
