Draft dodgers: Ukrainian men fleeing conscription
Since the beginning of the Russia's invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of men have volunteered to defend their country. Now Ukraine needs to fill the ranks through conscription and some men are looking for ways to leave.
Transcript
00:00 Romania is just across the border from here.
00:03 But most Ukrainian men cannot cross over.
00:06 At least, not legally.
00:09 Martial law requires men of fighting age to stay in the country.
00:13 Forged documents are one way of leaving.
00:16 Thick forests and mountain passes are another.
00:19 More than 15,000 have been detained in Ukraine while trying to illegally cross into Romania.
00:27 These border guards are trying to stop them.
00:30 Tonight, Volodymyr and Vasil are in charge of securing a 12-kilometer strip.
00:35 To enforce the law and save lives.
00:38 This is the marshy area. You can get lost here.
00:43 There are wild animals, bears.
00:46 You can run into a bear in the forest.
00:49 Two dozen bodies have been found in Ukraine's southern border region
00:53 since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, we are told.
00:57 The route used to be popular among cigarette smugglers.
01:00 But now it's mostly used by people trying to leave.
01:03 Dodgers, refugees. Smugglers are afraid because of martial law.
01:09 They are afraid that we will detain them and immediately book them,
01:12 find them and take them to the recruitment center.
01:19 Where they will be processed and potentially sent to fight.
01:23 Ukraine needs soldiers.
01:26 This billboard in the nearby city of Chernivtsi says you can do more than you think.
01:30 In the beginning of the war, hundreds of thousands joined the armed forces as volunteers.
01:36 One and a half years later, many of them are exhausted, wounded or dead.
01:41 Most new recruits are drafted.
01:43 Despite overwhelming public support for the Ukrainian military,
01:47 not everyone is willing to become part of it.
01:50 Men between 18 and 60 can be called up for military service.
01:54 But there are a number of exemptions, such as for fathers of at least three children,
01:58 essential workers and those taking care of a sick parent.
02:01 And then there are medical exemptions.
02:03 And this is how most people dodge the draft.
02:07 Thousands of men are believed to have left the country through bribing officials.
02:11 Criminal groups advertise their services on Telegram.
02:15 Confirming a disability, for example, can cost up to 3,500 US dollars.
02:21 This is only possible with the help of officials.
02:24 In August, the heads of all regional military recruitment centers were dismissed
02:29 as part of a larger move against corruption in the defense sector.
02:32 We cannot say that it was total corruption.
02:36 These were rather isolated cases.
02:39 We say that we have zero tolerances for cases of corruption or other violations.
02:44 Of course, there is a human factor, but we try to respond to any problems.
02:51 But some Ukrainian men do question why they should serve
02:56 and are determined to find ways to avoid being drafted.
02:59 Such as Maxim.
03:01 The 22-year-old tattoo artist says he supports the military, but he himself won't fight.
03:10 I think having our own country is much more valuable than being a refugee somewhere.
03:15 But the price they are asked to pay, disability or death,
03:19 is higher than the value of having a country.
03:23 I would rather be a refugee than die.
03:26 And there's no guarantee that the country will exist after my death.
03:30 He tells us he will leave if necessary.
03:37 I want to know how he feels about fellow Ukrainians who can't,
03:41 such as those living under Russian occupation.
03:44 I can go to war only for one reason, only for my friends and relatives.
03:52 I don't know people, for example, from Luhansk.
03:56 They don't know me and have never seen me.
03:59 Basically, they don't exist for me.
04:03 And I don't exist for them.
04:06 It's a very strange idea to fight for people I've never even met.
04:10 Back at the border.
04:12 Vladimir and Vasil haven't found any traces of illegal crossings yet.
04:17 In August alone, though, authorities prevented 247 crossings along the border.
04:22 Everyone has their own opinion.
04:25 I fought myself, I know how it was there.
04:29 I do not wish for anyone to be there, because it is not easy.
04:33 Everyone has their own destiny, and everyone makes their own decisions.
04:37 He cannot judge them, he tells us.
04:42 But like the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who are fighting the Russians,
04:46 they too have a duty and are committed to fulfill it.