kyiv, Ukraine.- First, Vladyslav stopped going to the city center of Kyiv to avoid having his documents checked by recruiting officers.
Later, he stopped working out at a gym due to the presence of patrols in his neighborhood.
Now, he spends most of his days hidden in his apartment, usually using binoculars to watch officers handing out warrants to passersby exiting a nearby subway station.
“They are everywhere,” said Vladyslav, 45, who like other Ukrainians went into hiding to be interviewed for this article, and asked that his last name not be published.
“I’m going to try not to be surprised, but I’m not sure that’s possible.”
While Russian forces are attacking on the war front, the Ukrainian military has been desperately trying to supply its forces, conducting a large-scale mobilization campaign, supported by new laws.
Although many Ukrainians have answered the call to serve, others have tried to evade the draft.
Even before the most recent mobilization, thousands of men have fled the country to avoid serving in the army, some of them swimming across the river that separates Ukraine from Romania.
Today, as officials search cities across the country to recruit men of military age, ages 25 to 60, many people like Vladylslav have gone into hiding, fearful that their recruitment will be a one-way ticket with no return to the war front. .
It is not known how many men have gone into hiding, but in big cities like Kyiv and Lviv, social media groups are alerting their tens of thousands of members about the movements of recruiting officers.
Interviews with a dozen men who said they are staying home to avoid being drafted revealed a number of reasons.
All expressed fear of dying in a conflict that has been characterized by a bloody trench and devastating bombings.
Many also said they oppose the draft because they say it uses rough tactics and a lack of sufficient training.
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