The Sun\u2019s Jerome Starkey says his friend was \u201cpress-ganged\u201d after a seemingly routine traffic stop<\/p>\n
The defense editor for British newspaper The Sun has claimed his Ukrainian colleague and translator has been forcibly drafted into the army amid the country\u2019s conscription crisis.
\nIn a story published over the weekend, Jerome Starkey wrote that he, photographer Peter Jordan, and an unnamed Ukrainian journalist he has \u201cworked with for years\u201d were stopped by Ukrainian soldiers at a roadblock for what seemed like a routine document check.
\nAccording to Starkey, several hours later his Ukrainian colleague was \u201cforcibly press-ganged\u201d into the army. \u201cOur team of three was ripped apart. My friend \u2013 who I will call D\u00a0\u2013 had his liberty taken away,\u201d he wrote, adding that the news crew was \u201cleft stranded without a translator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Notorious Ukrainian gang leader partners with Kiev\u2019s police to enforce conscription \u2013 media (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
\u201cA soldier came up and joked: \u2018You need a new driver.\u2019 Then he added: \u2018Your friend has gone to war. Bang, bang!\u2019 And that was it. I don\u2019t know what D\u2019s fate will be,\u201d Starkey wrote.
\nLast month, Ukraine exempted men between the ages of 18 and 22 from the nationwide ban on military-age men leaving the country.
\nThe authorities nevertheless continue to struggle to replenish the military\u2019s depleted ranks, while viral clips of conscription officers ambushing young men on the streets have sparked public outrage.
\nCommanders on the front line have complained that troop shortages are allowing Russian forces to \u201cinfiltrate\u201d Ukrainian defenses. Kiev, however, has so far declined to lower the conscription age from 25 to 18, as proposed by US officials.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Death on wheels: Here\u2019s what Ukrainian men fear more than Russia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sun\u2019s Jerome Starkey says his friend was \u201cpress-ganged\u201d after a seemingly routine traffic stop The defense editor for British newspaper The Sun has claimed his Ukrainian colleague and translator…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t