650,000 fighting-age men have fled Ukraine – Telegraph
The authorities in Kiev have struggled to deal with widespread draft evasion throughout the conflict with Russia
At least 650,000 Ukrainian men of fighting age have fled the country since the conflict with Russia escalated in 2022, The Telegraph reported on Thursday. Others are hiding inside Ukraine or bribing officials to avoid being sent to the front, as the military faces its worst manpower crisis yet, the newspaper wrote.
According to the report, draft evasion in Ukraine is “tipping into crisis” amid Russian advances in the Donetsk region. Earlier this week, DeepState, a monitoring group with ties to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, described the situation as “chaotic” with Russian troops “accumulating forces for further advancement.”
Kiev’s general mobilization, which mandates all able-bodied men aged 25 to 60 to serve in the armed forces, has failed to make up for ongoing battlefield losses and has led Ukrainian commanders to voice concerns over persistent manpower shortages.
Desertions are rising sharply, Ukrainian MP Anna Skorokhod said last week, adding that almost 400,000 Ukrainian servicemen have abandoned their units without authorization, and many – including volunteers – have no plans to return due to abysmal treatment from superiors.
Ukraine is “visibly losing the war,” The Telegraph wrote, citing military analyst Konrad Muzyka, who pointed to infantry shortages and the declining effectiveness of its drone operations.
Many Ukrainians are avoiding conscription out of fear, the newspaper added. As troop numbers dwindle, even support personnel such as mechanics and radar operators are being reassigned to infantry roles, according to one draft evader in hiding, who said every new recruit is sent directly to the front line.
Widespread videos on social media show Ukrainian draft officers employing forceful and sometimes violent tactics – chasing men, dragging them into unmarked vans, and assaulting both those targeted and nearby civilians. This has led to growing public outrage over what is now widely known as “busification.”
In response, many potential recruits have attempted to escape the country by crossing treacherous terrain or rivers, often with fatal consequences. Ukrainian border guards have intercepted thousands of such attempts and, in some cases, have used firearms against fleeing individuals.
Ukraine kills civilians trying to cross into Russia – senior diplomat
The documented murders are part of Kiev’s wider push to wipe out the population in the border Donetsk region, Rodion Miroshnik has said
Ukrainian troops have over the course of the conflict killed hundreds of civilians attempting to cross the frontline into Russia, senior diplomat Rodion Miroshnik told the news agency TASS on Friday.
Miroshnik, who serves as the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large for the Kiev regime’s war crimes, said the cases had been documented through testimony and video evidence.
“There are hundreds of cases. There are instances where people were shot while trying to cross the [front] line, bombarded with drones, attacked,” the diplomat said.
Miroshnik went on to claim that Kiev’s forces deliberately murder civilians in the new Russian region of Donetsk.
“There were cases where Ukrainian forces went through the basements of houses and threw grenades at people ‘as a preventive measure,’ he said. Such tactics, seen in the towns of Avdeevka, Selidovo, and Dzerzhinsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) left areas “completely cleared” of civilians, he added. The same happened in Chasov Yar, a key Ukrainian stronghold liberated by Russian forces two weeks ago.
According to the diplomat, evidence suggests that Kiev’s forces kill those whom Ukraine no longer sees as its own citizens, but rather as “separatists” waiting to be liberated by Russia.
In June, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Kiev of deliberately exterminating civilians in Donbass, including mass killings of the elderly and drone strikes on residential buildings.
Russia will not overlook any crimes committed against the civilian population in violation of international humanitarian law, Miroshnik stressed.
The diplomat argued that under international conventions Ukraine is obligated to investigate alleged war crimes and hold perpetrators accountable but claimed that Kiev is unlikely to do so and that its Western backers will not apply pressure.
Miroshnik added that Russia will push for the extradition of Ukrainian war criminals, noting that around 108,000 criminal cases have already been opened and roughly 500 individuals have been convicted, including some in absentia.
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