In the TRC, they talked about the duties of their employees: "They are not supposed to catch draft dodgers at all"

In the TRC, they talked about the duties of their employees: "They are not supposed to catch draft dodgers at all"

Employees of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers have numerous functions that cannot be "transferred" to recruitment centers; however, "hunting" for draft dodgers is certainly not among their duties.

This was explained by Roman Istomin, the spokesperson of the Poltava Regional Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center in an interview with "Hromadske".

"If we talk about how everything should work, TRC military personnel should not be catching evaders at all. It should be like this: a conscript receives a summons, comes to the TRC, and then goes to the military. Under such conditions, TRCs would primarily perform administrative functions, including drafting administrative protocols to hold people accountable," he explained.

Istomin added that this is provided for in the regulations on TRCs, which state that it is a "military management body that ensures the implementation of legislation regarding military duty and service, mobilization preparation, and mobilization." However, such a system, unfortunately, does not work in Ukraine, so employees have to perform functions that TRC and SSs are not entirely suited for.

He also explained why it is impossible to completely "transfer" the functions of TRCs to recruitment centers.

Istomin noted that recruitment centers do not deal with mobilization, only recruitment, which is insufficient for the full staffing of the Defence Forces.

"If it were possible to do without mobilization and recruit people exclusively through recruitment centers, there would be no need to even disband TRCs; we could just stop mobilization altogether," he noted.

Additionally, TRCs serve as a "bridge" between civilians and the military, which includes working with the families of both active servicemen and those missing or fallen.

"Families cannot communicate directly with military units, especially in wartime conditions. It is evident that servicemen often are not at their permanent duty stations, and they might not have an official address, like newly formed units. Communication is conducted through TRCs. And this is an official channel of communication. Documents are sent via military mail, not, conditionally speaking, by registered letters," he explained.

Among other responsibilities of TRCs and SSs is the logistical support for certain units that cannot organize their work independently.