Ukraine is grappling with a deepening conscription crisis, marked by alleged abuse and corruption, prompting some men to flee the country. The crisis stems from a dire shortage of front-line troops in the fight against Russia, with conscription patrols tasked with boosting the army accused of beating, tear-gassing, and detaining unwilling men.
Artem, a 29-year-old from the westernmost Zakarpattia region, claimed he was rounded up by a conscription patrol while leaving Sunday mass at a cathedral in Uzhhorod. Despite having paperwork proving he was the sole caretaker of his disabled mother, Artem alleged that officers beat him and tried to force him to “volunteer” for military service. He claimed they tied and blindfolded him and four other detainees, taking them to a forest outside Uzhhorod, where officers ordered them to run towards the Slovakian border at gunpoint. Artem’s family reportedly paid $2,000 for his release and $15,000 for a fake permit to leave Ukraine.
Al Jazeera couldn’t independently verify Artem’s story, but some allegations corroborate with other cases of conscription-related coercion and corruption in Ukraine. Between January and June, the Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman’s office received over 2,000 complaints about the use of force by conscription patrols. In one case, patrol officers hit a bicyclist with their car in the central Rivne region after he refused to pull over, beating and tear-gassing him to deliver him to the conscription office.
The crisis has led to a growing societal division, with current or former Ukrainian servicemen and their families increasingly indignant about draft dodgers justifying their reluctance to enlist. Hanna Kovaleva, whose husband Albert volunteered in 2022, said, “I broke up with many female friends who defend their husbands’ or boyfriends’ right not to fight. This [mindset] is disgusting – ‘let someone else die while I’m hiding behind my wife’s skirt.'”
Some men are taking drastic measures to avoid conscription. Bogdan, a 16-year-old from central Kyiv, is leaving Ukraine to avoid being conscripted when he turns 25. His parents are sending him to school in Prague, where his aunt lives, citing the chaos on the front line and the risk of their son dying due to an officer’s mistake. Bogdan said, “I know I sound very unpatriotic, but I don’t want to end up rotting in a ditch.”
The average age of a Ukrainian serviceman has reached 45, up from 42 three years ago. Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, ex-deputy head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, suggested that men aged 18 and older could serve in a “labour army” manufacturing drones and other war-related items. Romanenko emphasized that mobilisation should involve all men of fighting age without exceptions, with Ukraine’s economy “reformatted” to primarily serve the army’s needs. “If unpopular strategic decisions at home are not implemented, the situation only gets worse. No foreigners will fight for us,” he said.