VELYKYI BYCHKIV, Ukraine 鈥� A few months ago, Vitalii Barelin was in eastern Ukraine, using drones to hunt Russian troops invading his homeland. Now the 25-year-old soldier is on a river in the west, chasing his own countrymen: Ukrainians trying to escape conscription.
鈥淭hey think they are smarter than you,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ecause you fought in the war, and they鈥檙e running away.鈥�
With Russia鈥檚 war on Ukraine now in its third year, the Ukrainian military is managing troop shortages through the mass conscription of men ages 25-60. Though draft-age men are banned from leaving the country, tens of thousands have fled since the beginning of the war in February 2022, according to the border authorities of neighboring countries.
At least 15,000 have escaped through Romania, according to the Romanian border patrol police. One escape route is the Tisza River, which separates Romania from Ukraine for 39 miles.
Barelin and another border guard, 30-year-old Artem Shakhovalov, walk along a portion of the river that is less than 300 feet across. On the other side 鈥� Romania 鈥� a man in bright-red shorts is clearly visible, riding his bicycle.
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This route is popular; an app developer about swimming across the river, though he emphasized to NPR that 鈥渋t is not designed for practical instructions and cannot help鈥� in actually crossing the river.
Indeed, Shakhovalov says, crossing the river in real life is no game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 treacherous,鈥� he says.
A whirlpool with rocks
The danger, he says, begins on the rocky riverbank. Those wading in often slip on the mossy rocks and hit their heads. Some are knocked unconscious. Those who don鈥檛 slip wade into the river 鈥� a narrow brown ribbon of rapids 鈥� believing it鈥檚 easy to cross, Shakhovalov says.
鈥淟ook, the river looks like it鈥檚 waist-deep but it has really strong undercurrents, so those trying to swim would feel like they鈥檙e spinning,鈥� he says, like being in a whirlpool with rocks.
Dozens have drowned. Others are badly injured, like a man Shakhovalov apprehended recently.
鈥淗e was my age, about 30,鈥� Shakhovalov says, 鈥渁nd he wanted to reunite with his wife and child in the European Union.鈥�
Most men try to cross the river at night, says Lesya Fedorova, spokesperson for the Mukachevo division of the border guard, which monitors the Tisza River.
鈥淭hey think we can鈥檛 see them then, but we have thermal vision equipment,鈥� she says, adding that the border guards also use drones and cameras to monitor the river.
Fedorova scrolls through photos on her phone of captured men. Some look disoriented. Others have strapped children鈥檚 inflatable pool floaties to their arms and chest.
鈥淭hey never say anything,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are ashamed. Because it鈥檚 wrong to run away when your country needs you the most.鈥�
Optics and propaganda
Andriy Demchenko, lead spokesperson for Ukraine鈥檚 border guard service, told NPR that the agency contacts the military after apprehending men trying to cross the border illegally. The military recruitment centers can then decide if they want to mobilize the men. Courts also impose fines.
Those who manage to cross to Romania request some form of protection, says Iulia Stan, spokesperson of the Sighetu Marmatiei Border Police, which is in charge of most of the border with Ukraine along northern Romania.
Stopping draft evaders from fleeing Ukraine is not just about replenishing troops. It鈥檚 about optics: Ukraine鈥檚 government wants to show Western partners that the country remains united in defending the country.
There are also concerns that stories about Ukrainian men running away from military service also 鈥減lay into Russian propaganda鈥� that says Ukraine is losing the war, says Serhii Kuzan, who leads the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center in Kyiv, an independent think tank focusing on defense issues.
鈥淚n reality,鈥� he argues, 鈥渢hanks to mobilization, we were able to release combat-ready units and carry out a successful offensive in [Russia鈥檚] Kursk region this month.鈥�
Whoever can, runs away
Those fleeing conscription have found sympathy in the border village of Velykyi Bychkiv, which is near the Tisza River.
Villagers interviewed by NPR say the mass conscription drive has turned their town into a zone of fear. Police and border guards are among the few draft-age men walking past the town鈥檚 vegetable stands and a small inn called Twin Peaks.
Villagers like Yulian, 26, say most draft-age men who haven鈥檛 enlisted are too afraid to leave their homes.
鈥淚 know people who won鈥檛 even go to the store,鈥� he says.
Like other draft-age men interviewed here, Yulian declines to give his last name to avoid being targeted by police. He meets NPR at the pizza and sushi restaurant he runs.
鈥淎ll my friends are either on the front line or have left Ukraine,鈥� he says, pointing toward the river. 鈥淚 stay because I鈥檝e got my business.鈥�
As required by law, he has registered with the military and always has his documents with him. He says he constantly worries about being picked up when he鈥檚 out making deliveries.
He brings up a couple of male acquaintances in their 20s who were detained after standing near the river.
鈥淭hey were just talking,鈥� Yulian says. 鈥淭he border guards came up to them and asked, 鈥榃hat are you doing here?鈥� Border guards think everyone wants to cross the river. They forced the men into a car and took them away.鈥�
At a small cafe down the street, another draft-age man, Vasyl, says he slips out of hiding to work shifts here. He needs the money to support his ailing grandmother, whom he says he cares for with his sister.
Before the war, Vasyl had a job at a meat-packing plant in the Czech Republic that paid him three times what could make for the same job in Ukraine.
鈥淚f I had the opportunity, of course I would go again,鈥� he says.
He says he鈥檚 afraid to cross the river by himself and can鈥檛 afford to pay a smuggler $5,000 to help him get out.
鈥淲hoever can,鈥� he says, 鈥渞uns away.鈥�
Another path
Vasyl stops talking when a couple of men in camouflage green walk in.
They are soldiers who just finished a long tour of duty but have already received new mobilization orders. They鈥檙e in their mid-20s and say their names are Serhiy and Oleksii. They decline to give their surnames because of military protocol.
Both say they have no plans to leave the country but understand why some men do. This war seems to go on forever, Oleksii says, and 鈥渆veryone wants to live.鈥�
Back on the banks of the Tisza River, border guard Vitalii Barelin points to the 7-foot reeds where men escaping try to hide. Then he brings up the front line.
He says he tells himself: 鈥淵ou were there, you didn鈥檛 see your family for a long time and risked your life for your country. And these men chose another path.鈥�
Barelin says those who escape should never be allowed to return to Ukraine.
鈥淭hey are not worthy of living here,鈥� he says.
They are as dead to him as the bodies found in the Tisza River.
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