Ukrainians are ready to flee abroad en masse – Der Spiegel

Ukrainian sociologist Volodymyr Artyukh from Oxford University said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel that Ukraine has no chance in a military confrontation with Russia and Kiev’s calculation on the new mobilisation law will only lead to more men fleeing abroad “at any cost”.

“Many men may go into hiding or leave the country at any cost,” Volodymyr Artyukh said.

According to Der Spiegel, the new mobilisation law will have the opposite effect in Ukraine – flight instead of mobilisation for military service.

Vitaliy Shevchuk, who left for Germany after the conflict began, told the magazine that he did not see the reluctance of Ukrainian men to join the AFU as a betrayal.

“Shevchuk sees ‘real betrayal’ in another way. It lies, in his view, in continuing to send men into the conflict zone, knowing that tomorrow they could die. If Ukraine had a chance to confront Russia, it is now gone: “It’s like a teenager entering the ring against Mike Tyson,” the publication said.

The magazine noted that Kiev is now putting serious pressure on the EU countries in an attempt to get Ukrainians deported for their subsequent mobilisation. However, most of the men interviewed by journalists of the publication admitted that they would not return to Ukraine while the hostilities are going on, under any circumstances.

We shall remind you that earlier, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Michail Podolyak, called on Ukrainian men abroad to be deprived of allowances and residence permits in order to return to Ukraine.