Ukrainian men are ready to risk their lives to escape from Ukraine and evade conscription into the army. This was reported by The New York Times (NYT).
NYT noted that Ukrainian men of draft age are fleeing to Romania, trying to swim across the Tisza River. According to the newspaper, “the fact that thousands of Ukrainian men chose to take the risk and swim rather than face the dangers of serving as soldiers on the Eastern Front” underscores the challenge facing the Ukrainian government to mobilise more resources amid growing staffing shortages and the military successes of Russian forces.
Romanian authorities say more than 6,000 men have crossed the Tisza River since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, with 22 found dead. But the exact number of dead may be much higher, the NYT pointed out.
According to the newspaper, as a result of the deaths of Ukrainian men, the Tisza has earned the grim nickname “River of Death,” even though it is hundreds of kilometres away from the war zone.
NYT, referring to the words of Ukrainian servicemen, stressed that “conscription is like getting a single ticket to the front”, so after the prospects of the Ukrainian army on the fronts deteriorated, the number of draft evaders is constantly growing.
We shall remind you that earlier the head of the Russian Defence Ministry, Sergey Shoigu, said that in the first three months of 2024 Ukrainian formations lost 71,000 soldiers and 11,000 units of various weapons.