Overview

• Ukrainian outlet Strana.ua reported on Monday that territorial recruitment staff returned the cat to its owners following the clip’s wide circulation.
• A short video shared on October 5 showed two men in military-style clothing lifting a cat from a street bench in the Kyiv region and driving away.
• The Kyiv regional territorial recruitment center issued a statement denying it had "mobilized" the animal and criticized those who immediately blamed the office.
• The footage spread rapidly across Ukrainian Telegram channels and became a public scandal, though independent verification beyond the video has not been published.
• Coverage set the incident against ongoing allegations of forceful "busification" during mobilization, with Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets previously reporting widespread abuses by recruitment officers.