While Russian forces are on the front lines, the Ukrainian army is desperate to replenish its ranks, launching a large-scale mobilization campaign backed by new laws. This is what the New York Times writes.
While many Ukrainian men responded to the call to serve, some others tried to avoid conscription. Even before the final mobilization, thousands of men left the country to avoid service. As officers roam the country's cities to mobilize men between the ages of 25 and 60, many go into hiding, fearing that conscription is a one-way ticket to the front line.
It is unclear how many men are in hiding, but in major cities such as Kyiv and Lviv, social media groups alerting members to servicemen's movements have tens of thousands of members.
The main reasons why men run away from mobilization are insufficient military training and the fear of dying at the front. These fears are supported by some military analysts who say that Ukrainian troops often lack proper training, making it difficult for Kiev to hold its ground. Recruits are quickly sent into battle to make up for battle losses.
Many Ukrainian men joined the army out of a sense of civic duty. And since a new law on mobilization was passed in April, Ukraine's defense ministry announced that 1.6 million men had updated or registered their details on a government website, the first step before possible military service.
The new law requires all men of legal age to register by providing an address. Failure to register by July 16 will become a criminal offence.
Timofiy Brik, a sociologist at the Kyiv School of Economics, said polls showed that the desire to defend the nation among Ukrainians remained consistent during the war, with about a third of people indicating a willingness to serve in the military.
Many Ukrainian soldiers resent those who try to avoid conscription, arguing that their actions weaken their country's war effort. According to them, such an act is unacceptable and stupid.
For most of the first two years of the war, the Ukrainian army refrained from large-scale mobilization, relying instead on the tens of thousands of volunteers who joined its ranks. But late last summer, the need for more troops became apparent after Ukraine's counteroffensive failed and Russian troops stepped up their attacks.
Some of the men who avoid conscription travel only by taxis to avoid being pulled off the streets and forcibly taken to conscription centers. Still others rely on food deliveries to avoid conscription officers. Their main objection is the mobilization process in Ukraine, which pays little attention to people's physical abilities and skills and simply sends them to almost certain death.