Draft-dodging plagues Ukraine as Kyiv faces acute soldier shortage 6park.com
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.

KYIV — 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. 6park.com
“Some of my friends are more paranoid — they never go out,” he says. 6park.com
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. 6park.com
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. 6park.com
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. 6park.com
'Sensitive' issue 6park.com
Ukraine needs to draft many more men for a battlefield that is chewing up bodies, but authorities are conflicted over whether to cajole or coerce, and fear the political fallout if they choose the latter. 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. 6park.com
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. 6park.com
The most immediate need now is to enlist more soldiers that can be deployed along the 1,000-kilometer front line ahead of an expected major Russian push toward either Kharkiv in the northeast or Odesa in the south. With the winter mud starting to dry and spring around the corner, Ukrainian military officials fear a concerted Russian offensive will start in the next few weeks or months.

Ukraine is perilously short not only of ammunition — especially artillery shells and air defense missiles — but also of soldiers to see off a Russian attack. The average age of Ukraine’s frontline soldiers is 43 — and evidence of draft-dodging is mounting. 6park.com
The BBC recently reported that 650,000 Ukrainian men of fighting age have fled the country in the past two years, most slipping across its borders with Poland and Slovakia, some with false exemption papers allowing them to exit Ukraine despite a ban on fighting-age men leaving the country.

https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-faces-an-acute-manpower-shortage-with-young-men-dodging-the-draft/

贴主:甲骨于2024_03_26 14:03:27编辑