Dmytro, a 31-year-old photographer from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, has holed up in his apartment, rarely going out, to avoid being drafted into the army. «I want to leave the country. My mind can no longer bear being trapped here,” he told the Guardian.
Since the war began, thousands of Ukrainian men have crossed the border illegally to avoid military servicedespite a nationwide ban on men aged between 18 and 60 leaving the country. Attempts to flee the country are expected to increase following Ukraine’s recent adoption of new wide-ranging mobilization measureswhich allow the military to call up more soldiers and impose harsher penalties for draft evasion.
“I never thought about leaving before the mobilization laws were introduced. But I can’t stay in my apartment forever,” Dmytro told Guardian reporter Pjotr Sauer. Through friends who had already escaped, the 31-year-old obtained contacts and turned to people online who promised to facilitate his escape in exchange for at least 8,000 euros. «I am not made for war. I cannot kill people, even if they are Russian. I will not last long on the front… I want to build a family and see the world. I am not ready to die,” says the photographer, now left without hope and with no other way out than to trust those who promised him freedom at a high price.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces Are Desperately Short of Soldiers. Since the war began, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians have volunteered to serve at the front, helping to maintain the country’s independence and repel the initial attack. Many of these soldiers are dead, wounded or simply exhausted, leaving the army to recruit the most reluctant. In April Zelensky signed a law lowering the mobilization age from 27 to 25 and imposing harsher penalties for those who avoid the draft: from losing your driving license to freezing your bank accounts and seizing your property.
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More than two years into the war unleashed by Putin, it is believed that more than 20,000 men have fled Ukraine to avoid ending up at the front.. Some, while trying to cross the Ukrainian border with Romania, swam in the Tisza and drowned. Others froze to death in the mountainous area that separates the two countries. These are low numbers. In April, Andriy Demchenko, head of Ukraine’s border guard service, documented the deaths of at least 30 men attempting to escape beyond the border. The real number is probably much higher. Many bodies will never be recovered.
Ukraine has stepped up efforts to prevent people from fleeing across borders and evading the draft. Zelensky fired all regional military recruiting chiefs in April following reports of bribes paid by those unwilling to wear the uniform. Despite the Ukrainian president’s desire to eradicate corruption, it seems difficult to make progress.
Andrei, a 23-year-old computer scientist from Odessa shared with the Guardian a message he received at the end of May from a conscription officer with information on how to leave the country. The detailed instructions presented Andrei with two choices: cross the Moldovan border with a fake passport or be registered as an artist, a category that can occasionally leave the country. However, both solutions had a cost: around 8,000 euros to be paid into the officer’s pocket.
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Last summer, the 23-year-old had already attempted to cross the border into Moldova using a false medical certificate stating his unfitness for service.. The attempt failed when border police questioned the authenticity of the certificate. Taken to a conscription office, he was released after paying a bribe. “The journey is becoming more and more difficult and border officials are less willing to accept bribes. I don’t think I’ll be so lucky a second time if things go badly,” he said.
Andrei said he was still considering the offer from the head of the conscription office, explaining that this would ruin his lifelong sacrifices and savings: “For now, I’m under self-imposed house arrest. I never leave my apartment.” Some of his friends have already been conscripted and killed. Events that have caused damage to his mental health.
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There is no precise data on how many men are hiding or planning to leave, but Telegram channels with thousands of members have sprung up in major cities, where users report sightings of officers to help others avoid them..
Many expressed fears of dying in a battle marked by gruesome trench fighting and a brutal mortality rate. Others spoke of their resistance to conscription due to what they perceived as inadequate training before being sent to the front. Some have chosen to avoid mobilization for complex family reasons.
Although general support for Ukrainian troops remains high and polls show that there are still a considerable number of men willing to be mobilized, the conscription drive risks dividing society in the already war-weary country. Many Ukrainian soldiers at the front, or those who have returned after being wounded, criticize those fleeing the draft, arguing that it weakens the war effort as Russian forces advance on multiple fronts.
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«I understand that people are scared, but we simply need new recruits to continue fighting.“, says a wounded soldier just returned from the front. “If we don’t do it, who will protect this country?».
