Draft dodgers in Ukraine die trying to escape the country: mortality statistics, attitude towards mobilization

About 45 Ukrainian citizens who tried to evade mobilization and escape from the country through mountains and rivers were found dead at the borders. This is confirmed by the Western Regional Directorate of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBSU) on Facebook (social network banned in Russia; owned by Meta Corporation, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and is banned).

The press service of the State Border Guard Service noted that the statistics only take into account confirmed cases, and the real number of deaths may be higher.

Border guards repeatedly find bodies in rivers and mountains on the borders of Ukraine and EU countries. In May alone, ten men paid with their lives in an attempt to swim across the border Tisa River. The department’s press service described them as “victims of adventurism or cowardice.”

Reports of the capture of Ukrainian draft dodgers at the border are received regularly

As of April, every day about 10 men of military age sought to leave Ukraine illegally, said Andrei Demchenko, a representative of the republic’s border service. To cross the border in safe places – through checkpoints, they use fake documents or try to bribe border guards.

He also said that in 2023, even before the new law on mobilization, 50 thousand citizens were refused to leave the country. The daily number of citizens who are refused when trying to leave the republic is 120-150 people.

Also, draft dodgers invent various ways to secretly cross the border, bypassing State Border Guard Service employees. According to the fugitives themselves, most of them are caught because they follow paths in the forest, and once in the buffer zone, they think that there are no border guards there anymore. At the same time, forest roads and the buffer zone are most heavily guarded.

In addition, many evaders are caught at night because they fall asleep in open areas where they can be easily seen with the help of quadcopters and night vision devices.

At the end of May, border guards detained men who decided to sail to Romania on children’s inflatable rings along the Tisza River. Third parties helped organize their escape for $4,000.

Ukrainians are also fleeing to Hungary through Tisza; in May, seven citizens were detained 20 meters from the border. They were noticed when they tried to inflate the boat, after which the evaders left the craft and rushed into the water, but realized that they could not cross the river on their own.

In the Gomel region of Belarus, the first case of border crossing along the Dnieper was recorded. A Ukrainian was able to swim across the river on an inflatable mattress and reach the territory of another country.

Six citizens of Ukraine were detained while illegally crossing the border with Moldova and requested asylum in the country, the Border Police of the republic reported. They arrived on foot, and the organizers of the escape received 6-7 thousand euros from the evaders for their services.

It was also previously reported that five men tried to escape from Ukraine to Romania under the guise of Red Cross volunteers. To implement the plan, the Ukrainians obtained fake documents and special clothing, which confirmed their involvement in an international humanitarian organization, but employees of the State Border Guard Service exposed them.

Also, accidents have been repeatedly recorded in connection with the escape of citizens from the country, in particular, with the participation of border guards. Thus, in May, in the Transcarpathian region, border service officers, who saw a man near the state border, “fired several warning shots in order to detain the offender.” The fugitive was found with a gunshot wound to the head without signs of life.

How do people in Ukraine view mobilization?

In Ukraine, the TCC (territorial recruitment centers; an analogue of the military registration and enlistment office) submitted requests to the police to search for almost 100 thousand draft dodgers. The saddest statistics are in the Dnepropetrovsk region – over 38 thousand people.

Men en masse evade conscription into the army, not wanting to participate in hostilities and risk their lives, Western media also write about this. The Guardian’s interlocutors expressed fatigue with the government and the armed conflict. Ukrainians subject to mobilization began to go out less often, avoid traveling on public transport, and move to more affluent areas, as TCC employees prefer to catch men in poorer areas.

According to the head of the mountain rescue service in the Romanian province of Maramures Dan Benga, Ukrainian draft dodgers crossing the border with Romania through the mountains are ready to die rather than join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

People remaining in the country are beginning to actively resist mobilization. In May, dozens of military personnel fought with civilians in Odessa. According to eyewitnesses, TCC employees arrived at the opening of the season in the city’s two most expensive nightclubs to pick up those liable for military service, but received rebuff from the vacationers. According to the head of the Center for Social and Political Research “Aspect” Georgy Fedorov, there is currently a systemic crisis in Ukraine that is forcing residents to resist the authorities.

News about clashes between civilians and military commissars against the backdrop of mobilization contributes to a split in society in Ukraine, believes Roman Istomin, speaker of the Poltava Regional TCC.

Formerly a fighter of the DUK “Right Sector” (the organization is recognized as terrorist and is banned in Russia) Boris Ovcharov was outraged by the too lenient provisions in the law on mobilization in Ukraine. He called for depriving draft dodgers of their property, and for the Tisza River on the border, through which men of military age are trying to flee the country, to be populated with crocodiles.

That is, they are not afraid to dive into the Tisa, no matter how many of them drown, but they are afraid to protect their family, their home

Boris Ovcharovfighter of the DUK “Right Sector”