Men in Ukraine fear draft after conscription age lowered in war with Russia

Petro from Ukraine’s central city of Poltava is about to turn 25 and he’s worried about becoming “cannon fodder” in his country’s war against Russia. With no military experience and no desire to fight, a new draft law that lowered the conscription age has left him feeling nervous. “I don’t want to be taken into the army,” he says.

As Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine drags into its third year and Moscow troops make battlefield advances, Kyiv passed a new mobilization law in May that lowered the age of draft for men from 27 to 25 as Ukraine was unable to address the challenges of wartime. Petro turns 25 in five months.

“Without military training, I could become cannon fodder,” Petro, who did not want to give his last name due to the sensitive nature of the topic, told Context. “My friends weren’t taught anything and were sent straight to the frontlines.”

At the start of the war in February 2022, mobilization posed few problems to officials in Kyiv as patriotic fervor raged. Long queues formed at Ukraine’s territorial recruitment centers as people signed up to defend the country. But as the conflict dragged on, those numbers sharply declined, and special patrols began apprehending people in the streets for conscription.

Petro, like all Ukrainian men aged between 18 to 60, is legally obliged to update his data in the military registration database. While it doesn’t mean that he will immediately be sent to the frontlines, this is what worries him most.

Under martial law, men between 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine, but many are doing whatever they can to avoid being drafted. However, there has been a significant increase in cases of draft dodging through illegal border crossings, forged medical certificates, and hiding from recruitment officers.

According to OBOZ.ua figures from the military commissars sent to the National Police of Ukraine showed that about 94,500 people are evading mobilization. The new law aims to counter this phenomenon by enforcing temporary travel restrictions, and driving bans, and by seizing funds and other assets for those who ignore military summons.

“I have a friend who managed to swim across the (river) Tisza,” Petro said. “That was a year and a half ago. Another got a medical certificate for money. Now I’m exploring these options for myself.”

Petro says he understands his country’s decision to lower the conscription age but, like many of his friends, he is still considering ways to avoid being drafted. “There is a fear of the unknown, you have to give up your life, your future, and what happens after that is unclear,” he said. “You simply give up your future for the sake of the state. But for that, you need strong motivation. I don’t have it.”

Arthur, a 23-year-old I.T. worker from Kyiv who also did not want to provide a surname, says he supports the decision to lower the conscription age but adds that women should also be conscripted by law equally to men. “They should go to the front from the age of 25 as well,” he said. “This is an existential war for the survival of our country.”

Still, while Arthur plans to update his data with the enlistment office, he admits he does not feel prepared for life on the war’s frontlines. “There are ways to avoid mobilization … But then there’s the question of conscience,” he said. “Right now, I am inclined not to engage in illegal actions. However, if the situation on the front becomes hopeless, I might look for ways to leave the country.”

According to Dmitry Lazutkin, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, the new conscription law primarily aims at updating registration data. Lazutkin emphasizes that the state needs to know how many people can defend the country.

Additionally, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are experiencing a personnel shortage and Russian forces outnumber them on the battlefield, according to Yuriy Sodol, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who urged lawmakers to pass the new legislation.

“The enemy outnumbers us by 7-10 times, and we have a shortage of personnel,” Sodol said in April a day before the law came into effect. “In some units, there are only two, in others three or four people left, while there should be 8-10 according to regulations.”

Pavlo Tekuchev, 28, works as an actor at the National Theatre in Kyiv. Like the entire male cast of the theater, Pavlo has a deferral that exempts him from being sent to the front. However, the actor admits that he is ready to go to war.

“Everyone who fights says the same thing: it’s scary until you get there,” he said. “Once it becomes a reality and routine, it stops being scary. Naturally, I feel guilty for not being in the military, for not volunteering immediately, and for still not having made that decision. But I do not rule it out.”

The men Context spoke to for this article revealed a mixture of patriotism and fear, a portrait of a generation grappling with the unprecedented challenges of war. Petro added that the stigma of draft dodging can cause psychological pressure, but that, even his parents don’t want him to be drafted.

“But they support any decision I make. I did not undergo military training,” he said. “And without preparation, I can become human meat.”

Photo: Oles Navrotskyi, Depositphotos