Ukrainian military recruiters launched targeted raids at local restaurants, shopping centres and a rock concert over the weekend, detaining men and press-ganging them into the army.

“Get away from me!” one concertgoer shouted at three policemen as they pulled him towards a recruiting desk that had been set up on Friday outside the Place of Sports, where Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy had been playing.

The man’s face contorted in fear as he strained and pulled against the policemen, video footage showed. Several women filmed the policemen on their smartphones and shouted: “Shame! Shame on you!”

Policemen also waited to intercept men at Goodwine, a nearby shopping centre, and Avalon, a popular restaurant, according to reports.

Eyewitnesses said that the police checked all the men’s documents. Men who refused to show documents exempting them from military service or whose documents were considered faulty were dragged away.

Under Ukraine’s martial laws, all men between the ages of 25 and 60 are eligible for the army. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are also banned from leaving the country.