Bribes and hiding at home

Soldiers who volunteered at the beginning of the war with Russia are exhausted or injured, and conscriptions are becoming more common in cities and towns. 

Some Ukrainian men are spending their life savings on bribing the conscription gangs to stay out of the war, but such actions are seen as treasonous by those already fighting.

Ukrainian Border Crossing

At the last military checkpoint before he exited Ukraine in April, a 39-year-old man from Odesa handed over papers showing he had a serious spinal injury, thus exempting him from military service and from the ban on adult men leaving the country.

The Checkpoint Exchange

One of the soldiers said,

‘That hospital really likes this diagnosis, huh?'” recalled the man. “I could see they knew exactly what was going on, and it wasn’t the first time. But they were powerless to do anything, so waved me through.”

he said.

The Admission

The man, who asked for anonymity to discuss the matter, admitted that he had paid a $5,000 bribe to escape a potential draft into the Ukrainian army and service on the front lines in the war with Russia.

The Process

“I knew there was no way I would be able to sit in a trench, so I took my savings and contacted a ‘fixer’. Everyone knows where to find them. I paid in cash, they sent me to a hospital to do a spinal MRI; the hospital gave me a medical report claiming I had a major spinal defect, and with that I could get papers allowing me to leave the country. I had the feeling that, at every stage of the way, people knew what was happening and were getting a cut,”

said the man.

The Outcome

The whole process took two weeks; the man was able to leave Ukraine and now lives elsewhere in Europe.

Endemic Corruption

It is believed that tens of thousands of Ukrainian men have left the country illegally since the full-scale war with Russia started last February, many by paying bribes. On Friday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, fired every regional military recruitment head in the country, citing endemic corruption in the apparatus.

“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason,”

he said in a video address.

Regional Hotspots

Odesa has emerged as a particular hotspot for draft evasion schemes, with a recruitment official arrested after he was found to have $5 million in savings and a lavish property in Spain. But across Ukraine, there are reports of corrupt officials willing to take bribes from people eager to buy their way out of the draft. There are more than 100 other criminal proceedings against enlistment officials.

“The cynicism is the same everywhere, Illicit enrichment, legalisation of illegally obtained funds, unlawful benefit, illegal transfer of persons liable for military service across the border.”

—Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy,

Changing Attitudes

While the corruption scandal has made headlines, it hints at an even more troubling story for Ukraine as the country approaches the 18-month mark since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.

In the first weeks after the invasion, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians volunteered to serve at the front in an explosion of patriotism that helped keep the country independent and fight off the initial attack.

Current Recruitment Challenges

More than a year later, however, many of those initial recruits are now dead, wounded, or simply exhausted, and the army needs new recruits to fill the ranks. By now, most of those who want to fight have already signed up, leaving the military to recruit among a much more reluctant pool of men.

Draft Regulations

Fathers of more than three children, people with disabilities, and those working in strategically important jobs are exempt from the draft, but everyone else is expected to join up if called. Crews of mobilisation officers roam the streets and sometimes go door to door to hand out notices. Viral videos show officers bundling men into vans to deposit them at enlistment offices.

Public Response

Some Ukrainian men say they would not relish receiving mobilisation papers but would accept it if called as a part of life in a country at war. But others are desperate to avoid receiving draft papers, and not everyone can afford a $5,000 (£3,945) bribe.

Underground Networks

In Odesa, like in most Ukrainian cities, a Telegram chat group serves as a forum for people to share anonymised data about where recruitment officers, known informally as “olives” due to the colour of their uniforms, can be found on any given day.

The group has more than 30,000 members.