{"id":78121,"date":"2024-06-21T13:56:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T13:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/as-ukraine-expands-military-draft-some-men-go-into-hiding\/"},"modified":"2024-06-21T13:56:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T13:56:08","slug":"as-ukraine-expands-military-draft-some-men-go-into-hiding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/21\/as-ukraine-expands-military-draft-some-men-go-into-hiding\/","title":{"rendered":"As Ukraine Expands Military Draft, Some Men Go Into Hiding"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/00ukraine-conscription-01-ptfh\/00ukraine-conscription-01-ptfh-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Ukraine Expands Military Draft, Some Men Go Into Hiding\" title=\"As Ukraine Expands Military Draft, Some Men Go Into Hiding\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">First, Vladyslav stopped going into Kyiv\u2019s city center to avoid draft officers checking papers. Then he stopped exercising at the gym because of patrols in his neighborhood. Now, he spends most of his days holed up in his apartment, often using his binoculars to watch officers serving draft notices to commuters leaving a nearby subway station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey\u2019re everywhere now,\u201d said Vladyslav, 45, who, like other Ukrainians in hiding interviewed for this article, requested that his last name not be published. \u201cI\u2019ll try to avoid getting caught,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Russian forces are on the attack across the front line, the Ukrainian military has been desperately trying to replenish its war-battered forces, embarking on a large-scale mobilization campaign backed by new laws. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While many Ukrainian men have answered the call to serve, some others have tried to evade conscription. Even before the latest mobilization push, thousands of men had fled the country to avoid service, some of them <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/13\/world\/europe\/ukraine-draft-dodgers.html\" title=\"\">swimming across a river separating Ukraine from Romania<\/a>. Now, as officers scour the country\u2019s cities to draft men of military age, currently 25 to 60, many people like Vladyslav have gone into hiding, fearful that conscription is a one-way ticket to the front line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is not clear how many men are hiding out, but in big cities like Kyiv and Lviv, social <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+qhq2aNTfknFhYTZi\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">media<\/a> <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+A8enQHMK2oRmYjYy\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">groups<\/a> alerting members to the movements of draft officers include tens of thousands of members.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Interviews with a dozen men who say they are staying at home to avoid conscription revealed a range of reasons. All expressed fear of dying in a conflict characterized by bloody trench warfare and devastating bombings. Many also said that they opposed conscription because of what they described as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/15\/world\/europe\/ukraine-military-recruitment.html\" title=\"\">harsh draft tactics<\/a> and a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2024\/06\/02\/ukraine-training-soldiers-mobilization-war\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">lack of sufficient training<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m afraid I won\u2019t get enough training and then I\u2019ll be moved closer to the front and then I\u2019ll die senselessly,\u201d said Mykyta, a 28-year-old web designer from Lviv, in western Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those fears are backed by some <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/warontherocks.com\/2024\/01\/hold-build-and-strike-a-vision-for-rebuilding-ukraines-advantage-in-2024\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">military<\/a> <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foreignaffairs.com\/ukraine\/american-aid-alone-wont-save-ukraine\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">analysts<\/a>, who say that Ukrainian troops often lack adequate training, which makes it difficult for Kyiv to hold its lines as they are quickly sent into battle to replace combat losses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Col. Volodymyr Novosiadlyi, an official responsible for conscription in Kyiv, said that training lasted at least a month and that the army tried to treat draftees with fairness and empathy. But he added that \u201cevery citizen should understand the need to fulfill their duties\u201d in defending their country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many Ukrainian men have joined the military out of a sense of civic duty. And since a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/11\/world\/europe\/ukraine-war-mobilization-bill.html\" title=\"\">new mobilization law passed in April<\/a>, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that 1.6 million men had updated or registered their details on a government website, the first step before a possible call-up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Since the war\u2019s beginning, the draft has been somewhat disorganized and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/11\/world\/europe\/ukraine-fires-recruitment-chiefs.html\" title=\"\">marred by corruption<\/a>. There was no lottery, and the government used tactics such as randomly handing out draft notices in apartment blocks and on city streets. Ignoring draft notices is illegal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The new law requires all draft-age men to register with the government, including providing an address, and draftees will be chosen from that group. Failing to register by July 16 will become a criminal offense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Tymofii Brik, a sociologist at the Kyiv School of Economics, said that polling \u201csuggests the willingness to defend the nation among Ukrainians has remained consistent\u201d throughout the war, with about one-third of people indicating a readiness to serve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, Ukraine\u2019s mobilization drive has opened up painful divisions in society. Vitaliy Bondarenko, a 29-year-old draft officer in Lviv said men scurried away every time his vehicle pulled up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey see us and run,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many Ukrainian soldiers resent those trying to avoid the draft, saying that their actions weaken their country\u2019s war effort. \u201cGiven the intensity of the current combat, the army cannot fight without regular replenishment of personnel,\u201d said another Mykyta, 25, who was recently drafted and gave only his first name per military rules. Denying that reality, he added, \u201cis unacceptable and simply stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For much of the war\u2019s first two years, the Ukrainian military refrained from large-scale mobilization, relying instead on the tens of thousands of volunteers who joined its ranks after <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/news-event\/ukraine-russia\" title=\"\">Russia invaded in February 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But by the end of last summer, the need for more soldiers became evident, after a counteroffensive by Ukraine failed and Russian troops stepped up their attacks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThat\u2019s when the first red flags appeared,\u201d said Vladyslav, who is a journalist. In September, he said, a draft notice was pinned to his apartment door.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Vladyslav ignored it, hoping it was not legally binding because it was not handed to him, but his fear of being drafted increased. He said he had fallen into depression. In a recent interview in a park outside his apartment, he shuddered as a soldier walked by.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Oleksandr, a 32-year-old data analyst from Kyiv, said he \u201cstarted to feel afraid last summer,\u201d after seeing officers stopping a man outside a subway station near his home. \u201cThey grabbed him by the shoulders and took him into a car,\u201d he said, adding that the officers had lined up along the station\u2019s exit stairs to prevent anyone from escaping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI felt like the next hand was going to grab my shoulder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some of the men evading the draft say that they now only travel by taxi to avoid being pulled off the streets and forcibly taken to conscription centers, as has happened in several cases. Others rely on food deliveries to elude draft officers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Oleksandr said he had started assessing which routes were the safest to go to work and monitored groups on the Telegram messaging app where people track draft officers\u2019 movements. In Kyiv, a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+fw0qTuEEMKFlMzAy\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">group with more than 200,000 members<\/a> uses colors like green to signal the presence of draft officers and warns of the risk of being stopped as sunny, cloudy and stormy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBut after two weeks, all the routes I could take became unsafe,\u201d Oleksandr said. He recalled being unable to sleep. \u201cThe fear built up over time, growing like a lump in my chest,\u201d he said. He now works from home nearly every day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Vladyslav, Mykyta and Oleksandr all said that they donated to the Ukrainian armed forces and were not completely opposed to joining the army.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They say their main objection is Ukraine\u2019s mobilization process, which they feel pays little attention to people\u2019s physical abilities and skills, and just sends them to a likely death. Medical checks are often rushed, they said, and training is not long enough.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jack Watling, a military expert at the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London, said that most Ukrainian soldiers were lucky if they got five weeks of training. By contrast, Britain trained infantry soldiers for about 22 weeks during World War II, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Colonel Novosiadlyi noted that conscription officers, who are often war veterans, have a difficult job because of the hostility they face on the streets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They are mobilizing people \u201cnot because they like it,\u201d he said, but because they understand the urgent need to replenish troops.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, people have watched with concern as Ukraine steps up its mobilization efforts, including <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/13\/world\/europe\/ukraine-draft-dodgers.html\" title=\"\">tightening border patrols<\/a> to catch those trying to flee the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Andrii, another 28-year-old web designer from Lviv, described himself as \u201ca bit paranoid.\u201d He goes days without leaving his apartment, relying on a friend to deliver him food. On the rare occasions when he leaves home, he wears an electronic bracelet with a red SOS button that, when pressed, sends his location to relatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Andrii said that if he is caught, he will push the button so they can find out which recruitment center he is being taken to and try to help him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Oleksandr, the data analyst, said that he didn\u2019t want to break the law and would ultimately go online to update his details, after which he expects to be called for a medical examination. He has pinned his hopes on being declared unfit because of his slender physique.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But, he says, \u201cIt feels like a lottery.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/europe\/ukraine-war-draft-dodgers-conscription.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First, Vladyslav stopped going into Kyiv\u2019s city center to avoid draft officers checking papers. Then he stopped exercising at the gym because of patrols in his neighborhood. Now, he spends most of his days holed up in his apartment, often using his binoculars to watch officers serving draft notices to commuters leaving a nearby subway [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/20\/multimedia\/00ukraine-conscription-01-ptfh\/00ukraine-conscription-01-ptfh-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4048,15351,1586,5517,2198,1130],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78123,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78121\/revisions\/78123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}