Draft-dodging plagues Ukraine as Kyiv faces acute soldier shortage
An early burst of patriotic fervor saw draft centers swamped with volunteers, but that has waned with Vladimir Putin’s war in its third year.
The 28-year-old is one of thousands of young Ukrainian men keeping their heads down, dodging conscription and avoiding registering their details as required. Artem is cautious when he ventures out, and avoids places like metro stations where police mount document checks looking for draft-dodgers.
“Some of my friends are more paranoid — they never go out,” he says.
Artem has the air of a fugitive, with his baseball cap pulled down firmly and shielding his eyes even on an overcast day. Before entering the coffee house in downtown Kyiv to meet with POLITICO he gazes up and down the street, and once seated talks in a low voice so as not to be overheard.
When Russia invaded their country two years ago, young and old Ukrainians swamped recruitment centers to volunteer. Some were frustrated not to be drafted immediately, and complained loudly. The Ukrainian military couldn’t take everyone owing to a lack of resources and equipment, but managed to muster new units, expand established ones and improvise to halt Russian armor bearing down on Kyiv.
But that early burst of patriotic fervor has waned with the war now in its third year, the body bags filling, and men returning home injured and disfigured.
Pessimism about the future of the conflict is also taking hold, with ever more people questioning whether Ukraine is capable of defeating Moscow's forces.
I have nothing but respect for people risking their lifes to fend off Russia. It is probably more important than any individual life.
That being said, I have nothing but sympathy for any draft-dodger. I couldn't imagine fighting in a war and I myself would hide as well. That may change if I'd have kids, but even still, I would never wish upon anyone to be forcefully drafted.
We all know how the Russians treat the areas and civilians that they capture though, so they are hoping someone else will protect them from that fate, so they don't have to. If it ends up that there weren't enough people to do it, they will end up hoping they'd helped defend it too, but at that point it will be too late.
Either way, they are trying to avoid being canon fodder for yet another greedy sociopath with illusions of grandeur, in a long line of them stretching back further than recorded history.
They're damned if they do, and damned if they don't.
This is something that happens in every war, but it's difficult in this particular one since there is a very slim chance other countries will come to the rescue. So it's all up to the Ukrainians themselves to cope with this thread/war.
Yeah, Russia is shaping up for a summer push. Ukraine need all the people they can get at the moment, including western help.
I like to think it's psyop, Russia thinking they're short on troops only to push into a freshly thawn Ukraine would be disastrous.
Summer, not spring. By June they should be adequately thawed.
I've a sprinkler and a long garden hose, they're Russian conscripts so they probably won't know the difference.
It's not really that. Ukraine has a shitty rotation policy which basically states "you are in till you die". They don't really release soldiers which you need to do to keep getting volunteers. Hearing "you are in for a year, then you can go home" is way prefferrable to "no you can't go back till the war is over".
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Ukrainian military couldn’t take everyone owing to a lack of resources and equipment, but managed to muster new units, expand established ones and improvise to halt Russian armor bearing down on Kyiv.
Since the Russian invasion two years ago around 9,000 draft-evasion proceedings have been opened, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry, but that's just scratching the surface of the draft-dodging and the evasion of registration so enlistment notices can't be issued.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has acknowledged that the issue is “sensitive.” Even in the weeks leading up to Russia's February 2022 invasion, he resisted calls from opposition lawmakers in Kyiv to announce a general call-up.
It has stalled in the parliament, however, with lawmakers objecting to some punitive measures they regard as unconstitutional, such as restricting the property rights of draft-dodgers, impounding their cars and blocking their bank accounts.
“You have officers going on television saying if we don't get more money and ammunition from the United States and Europe everyone at the front is going to get killed in a matter of weeks because the Russians produce many drones and have more shells,” Kniazhytskyi fumed.
Their relatives want the same thing: On Sunday, dozens of families of frontline soldiers crowded into Kyiv’s Maidan Square to demand their husbands, fathers and boyfriends be relieved from combat, arguing they’ve done their bit and now must be demobilized or given considerable rest and relaxation.
The original article contains 1,561 words, the summary contains 235 words. Saved 85%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Where is president Harrison Ford when we need him?
To be honest, Zelensky has been more movie-president than just about any movie president.
Check out Air Force One if you have not seen it
It's not THAT good of a movie. It was a dumb loud summer action block-buster. July 25, 1997