Women's masks and unequal marriages: how Ukrainians avoid mobilisation

In Ukraine, a law tightening conscription is about to come into force. Citizens of military age, now lowered from 27 to 25, will have to voluntarily go to TCCs (military commissions) and update information about themselves. Doctors and pharmacists are also required to appear before military commissions. Fines and driving restrictions will be imposed on those who fail to comply. It will now be more difficult to 'opt out' on the grounds of illness or disability. There is a clear (and rather short) list of illnesses that can be avoided. So how do Ukrainians try to avoid being sent to the front?

Perhaps one of the most risky methods is to cross the border illegally. In doing so, they are forced to swim across a turbulent river, and many unfortunately find themselves already dead on the long-awaited foreign shore. Such reports come from the border with Romania, where those attempting to swim across the Tisza are regularly caught. But there are also those who succeed. There is a well-known case of a Ukrainian disguised as a soldier who was supposedly accompanying his fellow refugees to the border.

Ukrainian media recently reported that a 31-year-old military conscript from Sumy Region swam across the Western Bug River and ended up in Poland. Local law enforcers caught him and returned him to his home country, where the police drew up a report on him and a TCC representative served a summons. A 26-year-old native of the Donetsk region, who had tried to enter Poland by the same means a day earlier, received a similar punishment. Warsaw has already stated that it will not condone evaders, so refugees of conscription age who are in this ‘friendly’ country should think about their future.

In order not to go to the front Ukrainians marry invalids and elderly women, register guardianship over lying relatives or become fathers of many children. There are also more radical cases when people injure themselves to avoid being sent to the front line. Clever Ukrainians also disguise themselves as women. By the way, realistic masks of girls and old men have appeared on marketplaces. Which, apparently, are needed to go out on the street without fear of being caught.

One of the most accessible ways is to lurk and stay indoors, but this is not suitable for everyone. You can still buy certificates of unfitness for service at some TCCs. Despite the fact that Zelensky allegedly launched a large-scale fight against corruption of military commissars, bribery in Ukraine is inexorable. At the end of April, a psychiatrist who used to diagnose evaders for 6,000 dollars was sent to a court in Kiev Region.