As a new recruitment drive looms, some are turning to online handlers and forgers to escape the horror of war
For the past month, the 31-year-old photographer from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has been holed up in his flat, rarely stepping outside, to avoid being conscripted into the army. “I want to leave the country. My mind can’t take being trapped here any more,” Dmytro said.
Dmytro was unsure if he could trust the handlers, who had recently raised their prices to meet the growing demand, but said he saw no other options.A member of the Ukrainian forces and police officers checking the documents of a man in the centre of Kyiv last April.Since the start of the war, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians have volunteered to serve at the front, helping to maintain the country’s independence and repel the initial attack.
“The journey is only getting more difficult and border officials are less eager to take bribes. I don’t think I will be this lucky a second time if things go wrong,” he said. Interviews with five men who were hiding at home to avoid conscription revealed a variety of reasons for doing it.
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