Since the major attack in 2022
Ukraine reports 30 deaths after fleeing draft
April 30, 2024, 9:29 a.m
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Every day Ukrainian men try to leave their homeland to avoid death at the front. But they also take a deadly risk. Apparently 24 men have died just trying to cross the Tisa River on the border with Romania since the war began in 2022.
According to the border guard, around 30 men in Ukraine have died since the war began in 2022 while trying to avoid being drafted into the army by illegally fleeing abroad. Some died while trying to cross a mountain river, others in the mountains, Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko told the Ukrinform news agency. “Every day there are attempts to cross the border illegally,” said the spokesman.
“Most of these attempts take place outside the border checkpoints on the border with Moldova and Romania. The largest number using forged documents is recorded on the border with Poland.” According to the border guard, 24 men died trying to cross the Tisa River on the Ukrainian border with Romania. Since the war began in February 2022, the border guard has uncovered around 450 criminal groups that have tried to smuggle people across the border, Demchenko said.
With some exceptions, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country because under the current martial law they could be drafted to fight against Russian invading forces. At the beginning of April, Demchenko said on state radio that on average about ten men were stopped every day trying to leave Ukraine illegally.
Thousands fled Ukraine
Since last week, Ukraine has suspended consular service abroad for male citizens of military age until May 18. The government in Kiev justified the move with criticism that Ukrainians abroad supposedly expected help from the state without helping their country in the war against Russia.
With a recruitment campaign, it is trying to mobilize more volunteers for military service at the front, where the army has recently come under increasing pressure due to a lack of ammunition against a numerically superior enemy. The BBC reported in November, citing data on illegal border crossings from Romania, Moldova, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, that nearly 20,000 men had fled Ukraine since the start of the war to avoid conscription.