Ukrainian police announced on Friday that they were carrying out “more than 600 searches” as part of a “special operation” intended to block illegal border crossings by men fleeing military mobilization.
Ukraine must replenish the ranks of its army to face the incessant assaults of the more numerous and better equipped Russian forces, almost three years after the start of the Russian invasion.
Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving their country, with some exceptions. Those wanting to escape possible mobilization therefore cross the border illegally.
A “first step”
“More than 600 simultaneous searches are being carried out” across Ukraine among “the organizers of groups and their participants” who helped “hundreds of men” to “cross the border by bypassing official crossing points,” explained the police in a press release.
“This is only the first step in a special operation aimed at closing” these networks, added the police, promising to provide more information soon.
According to her, 45 people are suspected of having organized or participated in networks allowing men to escape the army. “Investigations continue,” she said on Telegram.
Tens of thousands of men are said to have fled
Unofficial estimates indicate that thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Ukrainians may have left illegally thanks to smugglers, false papers or bribes paid to border guards. Dozens of them have lost their lives trying to swim across border rivers.
Struggling against Russian troops who have been advancing for more than a year on the eastern front, the Ukrainian army has suffered heavy losses in three years of war and is struggling to replenish its ranks.
Struck with scandals, the military mobilization system is widely criticized in Ukraine and widely considered to be ineffective, corrupt and unfair, which prompted President Volodymyr Zelensky to dismiss all regional officials responsible for mobilization in 2023.
