Home » World » Ukrainian Volunteer Describes Escaping War and the Pressure to Fight: The Hidden Reality of the Conflict

Ukrainian Volunteer Describes Escaping War and the Pressure to Fight: The Hidden Reality of the Conflict

I van Ischchenko volunteered to fight against the invading Russian troops, but after a month of fighting he was willing to pay thousands of dollars and risk prison to escape the front.

Kyiv plans to build more fortifications

“Before I went to war, I thought I was a superhero. But all heroism wears out when people see (the war) with their own eyes and realize that they don’t belong there,” said 30-year-old Ishchenko. “I saw someone get shot near his spleen, the pain was maddening. I also saw a severed head. Everything piled up… I didn’t want to see anything else,” he added.

Russia organizes local elections in the occupied parts of Ukraine

So, one day he defected without warning anyone but his mother and fled Ukraine. Ishchenko is far from the only one. The war sparked a patriotic impulse, but some Ukrainians refuse to fight despite public pressure and warnings from authorities cracking down on draft dodgers against the background of the difficult counteroffensive.

Zelensky: Ukrainian armed forces need about 160 F-16 fighters

Ishchenko managed to leave the country despite the ban on leaving all men between the ages of 18 and 60. He pays $5,000 for a car with government plates to accompany him to a forest on the border with Hungary. Then he squeezes through a hole in the fence and runs. “The scariest moment was when I left Ukraine and fled on foot,” he explains.

Since the beginning of the war authorities detained 13,600 people trying to cross the border outside checkpoints, State Border Guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko told AFP. Another 6,100, mostly men of fighting age, were caught trying to leave with false documents, Demchenko said.

Everyone knows

But officials contacted by AFP did not provide an exact number of those suspected of absconding from military service. They now face up to five and 12 years in prison, respectively, under a law passed in January that stiffens the penalties. Amid a struggling counteroffensive, Kiev is cracking down on corruption schemes that allow men to avoid the army. All senior officials in charge of conscription have been fired in recent weeks, and investigators said they “revealed large-scale corruption schemes in almost all regions of the country”.

According to Ivan, 24, who declined to give his last name because of legal issues, “everyone knows there are options” to avoid service. “Everyone has friends or acquaintances who can suggest options,” he said. In May, Ivan gave $5,000 for a medical certificate that released him from service and allowed him to leave Ukraine. He is not proud of his actions and says that “everything seemed wrong and disturbing”.

To avoid breaking the law, some men left before they turned 18 and did not return after the war began. Bogdan Marinenko’s family forced him to leave for Poland in August 2022, two days before his 18th birthday. His father fights and Marinenko works on construction sites to provide for his family. “If something happens to my father, I remain the only support for my mother and my sisters,” the 19-year-old said.

Not in vain

Yevgeny Kuruch was on a bus from Belgium to Ukraine with no phone credit when the driver announced that the war had begun. The 38-year-old officer knew he would be among the first to be mobilized if he returned. So he got off the bus in Warsaw – the last planned stop before Ukraine – went to the nearest McDonalds and used Wi-Fi to call his wife and parents. They insisted that he stay in Poland, as sirens had turned on his hometown of Odessa.

“I understand that I have the duty to defend my country,” Kuruch told AFP. “At the same time, I understand that my family also needs me. I have to take care of them first,” he said. He started working as a taxi driver in Warsaw, where he was joined by his wife, 8-year-old daughter Anastasia and 5-year-old son Kiril.

Many families have been separated since the start of the war as women and children fled abroad. Polish statistics show that of the almost 1 million Ukrainians registered in Poland, one out of every two is a child, and women make up 77% of the fledgling adult population.

“I understand that this is a painful subject for them. If I see that it leads to a conflict, I just stop talking and try to get the passenger where he needs to go,” Kuruch told AFP. He explains that he usually turns to his family for comfort. “Looking at them, I draw strength and realize that what I am doing now is not in vain,” Kuruch points out.

Europe does not want war: Demonstrations in support of Ukraine

Source bgnes


2023-09-01 06:41:40
#wrong #worrying #Ukrainians #refusing #fight #public #pressure

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.