According to Ukrainian officials, there are “tens of thousands” of them who fled the mobilization and took refuge abroad.
In Ukraine, only fathers of at least three children or sick men can avoid conscription. The others, aged 18 to 60, are required to remain on national territory with a view to being incorporated into the army. But since the start of the war, in February 2022, several tens of thousands of Ukrainians have fled the mobilization or deserted.
On the border with Romania, in the Carpathian mountains, where one might believe oneself far from the war, the landscape is bucolic but the atmosphere is tense. Three kilometers from the border, a roadblock: check of papers, search of the vehicle… Ukrainian border guards track deserters: “Men aged 18 to 60 are our priority.”
Difficult to go by road, where there are numerous controls. The deserters instead try to cross the border through the forest. But “this part of the border is quite complicated to crossunderlines Major Constantin Lisnik, border guard in the Chernivtsi region. There are mountains, passes. It’s October and there is already snow on some peaks. For people who are not in good physical shape it is very dangerous.”
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3,500 deserters and 150 smugglers were arrested
In recent months, around a hundred men have died trying to cross the border with Romania, “so another part of the people pay between 2,000 and 5,000 dollarscontinues Major Lisnik. They speak to smugglers, locals who know their way around and who know the terrain well.” Since the start of the war in this region, border guards have arrested 150 smugglers and nearly 3,500 deserters, thanks in part to the help of local informants: shepherds and loggers.
Border guards have also set up careful surveillance of the border, with patrols, drones, cameras hidden in the groves and dog teams patrolling the area. “Behind the river, it’s Romania”indicates Deputy Colonel Artem Akimov.
“All Ukrainian citizens have a duty to defend their homeland. If everyone flees, our country will disappear.”
Deputy Colonel Artem Arkimovat franceinfo
On the banks of the river, Major Anton Chymansky watches night fall: “Most deserters tell us that they are afraid of going to war, of dying, of becoming disabled. Generally they tell us the truth.” To escape the war, some are even ready to attempt the crossing several times. It must be said that in the event of arrest the fine is not very dissuasive: between 90 and 250 euros.
In Ukraine, the hunt for deserters: report by Boris Loumagne