Ukrainian patrols evading conscription interrogate a man on a bus. Photo: Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph
Should «Sergei» ever have grandchildren, he won't have much of a story to tell them about what he did during the war in Ukraine.
Since the Russian invasion began two years ago, the 38-year-old has spent most of his time locked up. lives in his apartment in Odessa and tries his best to avoid the conscript officers patrolling the city streets.
While other men his age are dying in the trenches, he spends his days watching Manchester United on TV and worrying that the draft board will knock on the door to hand him his draft papers.
«I just don't opened the door.»
«They came to my door for a couple of months and I just didn't answer it,» he said in an interview with The Telegraph under the strict condition of not disclosing his name.
«I have a wife and an 18-year-old son to look after, plus I don't think military training will do any good.
“They gave me an AK-47 to practice on. a couple of times, and then I was sent to fight somewhere like Bakhmut.
“I don’t want to die, besides, the conscription system is already very corrupt; if you have money, you can just pay and not serve.»
Dodger Alexey Malyarozov caught by soldiers in Odessa on a bus stop. Photo: Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph
In a country that now prides itself as a nation of warriors, people like Sergei are rarely heard of.
He is far from alone, however, judging by the number of subscribers to the “draft dodder” app, on which he spends much of his considerable free time consulting.
On it, users post live details of sightings of groups of conscripts on street patrols who are on-the-spot testing men of military age to determine whether they are eligible for conscription.
The Odessa version of the app, which is on the encrypted Telegram messaging channel, has 70,000 subscribers.
«I check the app when I'm driving»
«Sometimes I take a little taxi to earn some money, and check it on the way app,» Sergei said.
«If I see a post near me about a recruiting patrol, I will simply turn around and explain to my clients why. Most of them understand this and do not criticize me.»
The Ukrainian government is less lenient about this than Sergei's taxi clients.
With the ranks of the Ukrainian army thinning after two years of war, the Kiev parliament is debating a mobilization bill that could lower the conscription age from 27 to 25, potentially increasing the army by 400,000 men.
Those who evade military conscription, which theoretically applies to men under 60, will also face restrictions on their ability to buy property or access banking services.
To make military service more attractive, recruits are being given the choice of which units they serve in, and a new recruiting campaign is being launched under the slogan «It's OK to Be Afraid.»
Alexei is escorted into the minibus Photo: Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph
But it remains a tough sell. Gone are the days when there were long lines of eager volunteers at military registration and enlistment offices, as was the case at the beginning of the war.
With some 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed and 120,000 wounded, no one has any illusions about the risks.
And now that Russian troops are stepping up their game — last week they took the city of Avdiivka after five months of brutal attack. fighting — the level of Ukrainian casualties could become even higher.
“I had two close friends who have already been killed, and there are at least 10 more people I know who are trying to avoid conscription, like me «, added Sergei.
“The losses on the Ukrainian side are crazy right now.”
The system may be corrupt
Although there is little public sympathy for draft dodgers like Sergei, one of his many justifications is true for many Ukrainians: his claim that the conscription system is corrupt and that anyone with money can take a bribe to get away.
Indeed, nowhere does this seem more plausible than in Odessa, where last summer a high-ranking official at the local military registration and enlistment office was detained on suspicion of bribery and confiscated in Spain for several million dollars.
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The idea is that that the conscription chief hid in his Spanish pension shelter while other Ukrainians fought and died was a PR disaster for the government, which quickly replaced the heads of all regional conscription centers.
But these days, draft patrols often meet with a hostile reception when they patrol the streets, as The Telegraph observed when watching one in action in Odessa.
They stood at a bus stop in the city, boarded any bus that stopped and checked the documents of male passengers.
“People can be aggressive towards us”
“It’s not uncommon for people to be aggressive towards and they tell us something like: “Go to hell,” said the head of the unit, Lieutenant Vladimir.
“But what should we do? The Russians are invading our country, and many Ukrainians have been fighting in the army for two years — they are exhausted, and the situation on the front line is very difficult.”
To prove my point, in passing. the motorist insulted the patrol, earning a submissive look from Lieutenant Vladimir.
“We’re used to it,” he shrugged. “We just tell everyone: “Have a nice day.”
One of the bus passengers who had a bad day was Alexey Malyazorov, whose document check showed that he had already evaded conscription into the army once. .
The unemployed construction worker did not exactly look like a warrior: he was already over forty, he was somewhat out of shape and complained of various pains and ailments.
But he obediently obeyed when Lieutenant Vladimir’s unit invited him to get into their van and take him to the military registration and enlistment office for registration.
“I’ll worry about my family”
“What can I do ? — said Mr. Malyazarov. “Now everyone is serving. But yes, if I am sent to the front, I will worry about my family.”
More determined draft dodgers often flee Ukraine altogether, bribing smugglers with up to $5,000 (£4,000) at a time. transport them to neighboring countries such as Romania.
According to official statistics, about 25,000 people fled, and about 20,000 were detained in attempted torture.
Those caught in fact face imprisonment, not to mention public condemnation.
Sergei said that he was thinking about fleeing Ukraine, but he did not have the money for the additional bribes that would be required to pick up his family too.
Although the fugitive's life in his apartment was easier than life on the front line, it did not bring much benefit to his mental health, he added.
He spent much of his time obsessively checking a draft-dodging app, and while chatting with The Telegraph during late-night meetings outside his apartment, he constantly cast unsettling glances at male passersby.
«I'm just paranoid all the time, and now that recruiting officers have visited my apartment, I know they've obviously put me in their database,» he said.
Yet the group of Ukrainians who are most upset by people like Sergei are often the least encouraged by this fact.
At a rehabilitation clinic in Odessa, The Telegraph met war veterans Nikita Gornyak, 27, and Vitaly Mirlyan, 52, who were both seriously injured by Russian artillery fire.
Mr. Gornyak now had a prosthetic leg down to the femur, and Mr. Mirlian was learning to walk again after breaking his pelvis.
When asked for their opinion of draft dodgers, they responded with a simple shrug.
«We wouldn't want them at the front.»
«Guys who don't really want to fight can always do something behind the front line, like cooking or driving,» — said Mr. Gornyak.
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“Of course, it’s not good that these people are trying to avoid service,” he added. “But, frankly, such people will be useless on the front line anyway, so we don’t need them.”
Such words may be of little comfort to Sergei if the Odessa conscription squad ever catches up with him.
But whether or not he then has a war story worth telling his grandchildren, he still has a harsh message for Telegraph readers who consider him a coward.
“Anyone in the West, to anyone who doesn't actually have to fight, I would say, “Put yourself in my shoes and see how you feel.”
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