Ukrainians Paying up to $10,000 to Escape Draft in the Suicidal War vs Russia. Media Reports
In the cover image a cemetery of Ukrainian soldiers. Below the interesting reports from three different sources
Thousands of Ukrainians have managed to dodge conscription thanks to various schemes in a corrupt system, the newspaper reports
All links to previous Gospa News aeries have been added aftermath
Thousands of Ukrainian men have paid large sums in bribes to avoid getting drafted during the ongoing conflict between Kiev and Moscow, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
The news comes as Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky launched a massive military purge, sacking all of the regional military conscription officials and citing the multiple corruption scandals rocking the country. The recruitment officials are set to be replaced by combat veterans, according to Kiev’s plan.
Over the course of the ongoing conflict, thousands of Ukrainians have managed to escape the draft through various schemes in a culture of corruption. Kiev banned men aged between 18 and 60 from leaving the country when it first introduced martial law in February 2022, but the move only fueled more corrupt practices. One of the most popular options was simply buying medical exemption papers for some $6,000 on average, the FT reported, citing the findings of a probe into corruption by Ukrainian authorities.
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Thousands of Ukrainian men have also attempted to leave the country illegally, with some 13,600 caught near border crossings and another 6,100 apprehended at checkpoints with fake papers, the FT noted, citing the latest official figures.
The head of the Odessa regional recruitment center Evgeny Borisov, who was arrested last month, turned out to be one of the most ‘prolific’ officials involved in draft-dodging rackets.
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The official is now suspected of bagging more than $5 million in bribes, charging from $2,000 to $10,000 per person for various ‘options’ to escape the draft. Borisov is believed to have been using the ill-gotten money to fund a posh lifestyle, with his family procuring a €4.2-million ($4.6-mn) villa in Spain last December, as well as other luxury assets, according to Ukrainian investigators.
Apart from the ongoing corruption scandals, the Ukrainian draft effort has also been marred by the violent actions of conscription officials. Numerous disturbing videos highlighting certain Ukrainian draft techniques emerged online in recent months, as Kiev struggled to compensate for its reported heavy battlefield losses.
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Multiple videos show conscription officers chasing random men in the streets to give them a draft notice, violently detaining and even beating up the would-be soldiers. Many of these conscripts were reportedly killed on the frontline just days after getting ‘drafted’ in such a fashion.
Originally published by Russia Today
Ukraine war: Deserters risk death fleeing to Romania
Enforcing the draft in Ukraine can be difficult and corruption is recognised as a major problem by the authorities. Reliable sources in western Ukraine speak of the existence of a “monthly rate” – a payment made to keep someone out of the army.
There are also reports from the Ukrainian frontlines, of commanders asking the recruitment office to stop sending them men who don’t want to or are too scared to fight. They are just a burden in battle.
The Ukrainian army stops cars and buses every dozen kilometres on the road beside the Tisa river, looking for draft dodgers. Their database, chaotic at the start of the war, is improving.
The Ukrainian Border Police recently reported that they are detaining up to 20 men a day. The BBC has approached the Armed Forces of Ukraine for comment on rates of desertion and draft dodging.
But according to the Romanian immigration authority, 6,200 Ukrainian men of military age have crossed the 600 km (373 mile) border into Romania illegally since Russia’s full-scale invasion last year and been granted temporary protection.
Some 20,000 others made it there legally, armed with exemptions – sometimes paid for, sometimes not – and chose not to return.
And according to unofficial Ukrainian figures, 90 men have died on the journey to Romania – either drowned in the Tisa, or frozen to death in the mountains – in the past 15 months.
Extract by BBC
Young Ukrainians leave the country to avoid going to war
During Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 18-year-old Oleg Strelets said he experienced psychological distress and struggled with sleep. “I was stressed out because I thought the war might come here,” he said. Strelets, who was underage at the time, lived with his family on the outskirts of Kyiv when Russian troops were threatening the capital.
In March 2022, he left the country for the first time and went to Poland. He returned home when the situation stabilized and the Russians withdrew from his city. Less than a year later, Strelets, a student and musical composer, left for Krakow (Poland) and never came back. He’s over 18 now and legally eligible for military service. Many other 18-year-old Ukrainians are also trying to avoid conscription and have left to build new lives away from the war.
Under Ukraine’s martial law, men aged 18-60 who are deemed fit for combat are restricted from leaving the country. However, there are some exemptions: having three or more children, holding a military disability certificate, having dependents to care for, or being a higher education student living abroad.
Strelets, a curly-haired young man with a pointy goatee, has none of these exemptions and readily admits he was unprepared for war, unlike some of his friends who are willing to go fight on the front lines. “I was really afraid, you know?” he tells us in a video call from Krakow. “It was sad coming to Poland, but I just wasn’t ready to stay.”
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However, it was ultimately his parents, who are from the Donbas (eastern Ukraine) region, who made the decision. During the initial weeks of the invasion, Strelets’ parents prohibited him from going outside. He had loud and heated arguments with his mother until she firmly told him to go to Poland. Strelets now lives with a woman and her two children.
He gets help from his parents and the Polish government because of his refugee status, although progress on the latter is slow. “If the war ends or if I don’t feel right in Poland, I’ll just head back home,” he said. But he also repeated that he wouldn’t pick up a rifle.
Extract by El Pais
MAIN SOURCES
GOSPA NEWS – WEAPONS LOBBY DOSSIER
Moscow: “Ukraine using Terror Attacks to Distract from Counteroffensive Failure”
Ukrainians Paying up to $10,000 to Escape Draft – COWARDS!!!
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SHAME ON YOU, DAMN FANATICS!!!
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BAFS