Dmytro, old enough to join the front and ready to do anything to escape his country

All he is missing is the kayak and the dry suit. Soon Dmytro will be ready to set sail for a 270-kilometer crossing along the Ukrainian coast to Romania. A challenge in tribute to his passion for adventurers who cross the oceans. But also and above all an illegal journey to leave the country, while men aged 18 to 60 have been prohibited from leaving the territory, with rare exceptions, since the start of the invasion. The 36-year-old Ukrainian, who asked to remain anonymous, has been preparing for months for this departure from Odessa, a port city on the Black Sea. He is perfectly familiar with marine meteorology applications. The small apartment he shares with his friend Ioulia is cluttered with everything he plans to take: a radio, binoculars, bags of freeze-dried meals, fins…

Thousands of men refusing to join the army or wishing to live with their refugee families outside Ukraine have been trying to leave the country since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022. The techniques vary, between false documents and illegal crossings through woods and mountains of the borders of neighboring countries. Not a day goes by without an attempt, according to the spokesperson for the border guards, Andriy Demchenko, who refuses to give an order of magnitude of the phenomenon.

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