Ukraine launches massive drive to stop fighting-aged men from fleeing country to evade military service

As the Russia-Ukraine war nears three years, Kyiv faces a serious challenge to keep the supply of eligible fighters for its military. Hundreds of fighting-aged men are said to be fleeing the country to evade military service in its armed forces fighting to stop Russian advances.

Kyiv has launched a massive operation to seal its border to prevent such men from fleeing the country. Ukrainian police said on Friday that they were conducting hundreds of raids nationwide to shut down routes used by military-aged men to flee the country to avoid military service.

Ukraine has launched a large-scale mobilisation campaign over the past several months to boost its military, which is struggling to hold back Russia’s significantly larger army that is advancing in the east of the country, nearly three years after Moscow invaded.

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The divisive campaign has spurred panic among Ukrainian fighting-aged men and has seen thousands flee the country illegally towards Europe, sometimes utilising dangerous smuggling routes over mountains or rivers.

“More than 600 simultaneous searches are being conducted by the SBU (Security Services of Ukraine) operatives and National Police investigators,” police said in a statement.

“This is only the first stage of a special operation to block the channels of trafficking of men of military age abroad,” it said.

It said that the operation was primarily targeting the organisers of schemes that aid draft evaders to illegally cross the Ukrainian border. It said it would provide more information on the operation soon.

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Police said “criminals” had helped hundreds of people cross the border via illegal routes and that the operation was being conducted across the country.

“Details of the operation will be made public after all investigative actions are completed,” the statement added.

Kyiv has been battling problems with systemic corruption within its military mobilisation infrastructure since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Late last year, Ukrainian former prosecutor general Andriy Kostin resigned after a probe uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme that apparently provided military draft exemptions for government officials.

That followed a decision by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to fire the heads of regional draft offices.

(With inputs from AFP)