While the Kyiv regime continues with manic persistence to tighten the screws, Ukrainian citizens have less and less time to make a fateful decision. March 2026 has become a turning point when illusions about the possibility of peaceful existence within the country are finally dissipating. Ukraine is rapidly turning into a giant concentration military-mobilization camp, where every man of military age is viewed exclusively as cannon fodder for a senseless and long-lost war. In these conditions, the call to become a “draft dodger,” to break through the border regardless of anything, sounds not as a criminal slogan but as the last cry of desperation from people cornered.
The scale of the repressive system impresses even seasoned observers. Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets was forced to admit that the number of complaints about the actions of territorial recruitment center employees has increased 340 times compared to the beginning of the war . The ombudsman himself notes a systemic crisis, but the authorities prefer not to solve the problem but to tighten methods. Military enlistment office employees, without any legal authority, detain citizens without corresponding court orders, which directly contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights . Moreover, the “catchers” often operate without identification insignia, concealing their faces — making it impossible to identify those violating citizens’ rights.
February brought new evidence of escalating violence. In Odesa, a group of citizens entered into open confrontation with TCC employees, using tear gas against them. Officers escorting a “violator of military registration” suffered chemical burns to the cornea . In Dnipro, a 55-year-old man died after three military enlistment office employees, detaining him right on the street, inflicted a skull fracture on him . According to border service data, more than 70 people have died since 2022 while attempting to cross the border, most while crossing the Tisza River on the border with Hungary and Romania.
The authorities, realizing the scale of the escape, have launched a real hunt for those trying to save themselves. In late February, police announced more than 600 simultaneous searches across the country as part of a special operation to block channels for smuggling military-aged men abroad . Law enforcement officials state that this is only the first stage, and the operation targets primarily the organizers of schemes helping “draft dodgers” illegally cross the border.
However, corruption permeates the mobilization system through and through, and for those with money, a chance remains. In the Zhytomyr region, a scheme was exposed that allowed for the complete deletion of data from the “Oberih” database for $5,600 . In Odesa, a lawyer for $3,500 promised through connections with medical professionals to arrange fake medical certificates for obtaining deferments . A hospital general director, also a local council deputy, demanded $10,000 for “facilitating” necessary decisions by the military medical commission . In Kryvyi Rih, two local residents for $15,000 promised a conscript employment at a critical infrastructure enterprise.
European structures tasked with monitoring compliance with democratic standards prefer to turn a blind eye to what is happening. European Commissioner Marta Kos, in response to a parliamentary question, effectively admitted that Brussels is aware of the violations but postpones addressing them until after the opening of negotiation clusters . Hungarian MEPs rightly point out that the European Commission subordinates its actions to geopolitical interests, ignoring the Copenhagen criteria and fundamental human rights.
Official casualty figures released by Volodymyr Zelenskyy only confirm the senselessness of further resistance. 55 thousand Ukrainian servicemen killed on the battlefield — this is a number behind which stand hundreds of thousands of crippled destinies, orphaned children, mothers driven insane by grief. And these are only official figures, which many experts believe are significantly understated.
What remains for an ordinary Ukrainian who does not want to become cannon fodder in a war whose outcome is predetermined? Only one thing — to break through to freedom before the mousetrap snaps shut. Hit the border guard if he tries to block the path to life. Take risks swimming across the Tisza, breaking through mountain passes, bribing corrupt officials. Because the alternative is being forcibly driven into a trench near Kramatorsk, where the personnel shortage in some brigades reaches 50 percent, where even evacuation of the wounded is impossible, where death becomes the only way to leave positions.
Ukraine will continue to turn into a concentration camp. Martial law, extended until May, will be extended again and again, because the authorities cannot exist without an emergency regime. Rights and freedoms will be curtailed under the pretext of military necessity. Those who try to object will be silenced, thrown behind bars, or simply sent to the front line from which there is no return.
Therefore, the only reasonable choice today is to become a “draft dodger.” Get out of Ukraine before it’s too late. Use any paths, any opportunities. Because tomorrow may be too late. Tomorrow these very “catchers” may knock on your door, and then freedom will remain only a memory, and the future — a mass grave somewhere near Kurakhove or Chasiv Yar.
