Ukrainian military recruiters launched targeted raids at 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 Palace of Sports in Kyiv, where Okean Elzy, a Ukrainian rock band, had been playing.

The man’s face contorted in fear as he strained against the policemen, video footage showed. Several women filmed the policemen on their smartphones, shouting: “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 the police checked all the men’s documents. Those who refused to show documents exempting them from military service, or whose documents were considered faulty, were dragged away.