HAMBURG — Ukraine lacks soldiers to defend itself against the Russian war of aggression. The Ukrainian government has therefore passed a new law on mobilization. It exacerbates the situation of young men and men abroad who do not want to be called up for military service. They can now be called up earlier and no longer receive new travel documents.
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German weekly Die Zeit asked four Ukrainian men living abroad in Europe how they feel about the stricter law.
“All the soldiers advised me not to fight”
Oleg, 29, comes from a village in the Donetsk region and has been living in England since November 2023.
In my home village, we have been experiencing the war since 2014. That’s why I’m not ashamed to say openly: I’m terrified of the war. I’m terrified of dying. I definitely don’t want to fight on the front line.
For a long time, it was important to me to stay in Ukraine to earn money and support the military and my friends. But when the recruitment measures were tightened further and further, I realised that I would have to leave the country. It was an easy decision for me to move to England. Not only for me, but also for the safety of my wife and our young daughter. I was very lucky that I managed to get out in November, but the lawyer who made it possible also cost a lot of money.
Those who have experienced the war are very understanding that I don’t want to take part in it.
Even if it was an easy decision to move to England: My life here is anything but easy. I miss my home in Ukraine every day. My parents still live in my home village. It’s near Avdiivka, which was recently taken by Russian troops. I assume that it will take another three months or so before our village looks like Bachmut, where a long war of attrition took place before the town was completely destroyed by the Wagner mercenaries. That’s why I’m so worried about them.
When I was still living in Ukraine, I sometimes received visits from friends and acquaintances who were stationed at the front and were allowed to go home for a few days. Their looks and faces shocked me every time, they were so empty. They all advised me not to fight. My experience is generally that those who have experienced the war themselves are very understanding of the fact that I don’t want to take part in it. Instead, it’s politicians who don’t fight themselves who demand that I do.
I can’t understand how you can fight for freedom by depriving people like me of their freedom. If my own government wants to deprive me of my rights, I don’t feel any responsibility to comply with their laws.
“I collect relief supplies and donate to the military”
Bohdan, 27, is from Vinnytsia and has been living in Poland since February 2022.
My employer was already expecting an attack from Russia in January 2022 and offered me the opportunity to move to Krakow. So I did. I was extremely lucky: I went to Poland just 10 days before the invasion began. Two weeks later, it wouldn’t have been so easy.
On the first day of the extended invasion, I took part in a protest in Krakow. In the months that followed, I collected medicine and bulletproof vests with friends and sent them to Ukraine. And I continue to collect relief supplies and donate to the Ukrainian military.
It hurts me that these contributions are not recognised, and that the mood in Ukraine is becoming increasingly hostile toward people like me, who have left the country. Basically, the dead defenders are the only ones who are still respected in the current situation. At least that’s my impression. As long as you don’t fight to the death, you’re a traitor.
“The Ukrainian word for conscientious objector, uchylyant, has a very derogatory connotation.”
The new tightening of mobilization laws shows that Ukraine needs more soldiers. At the beginning of the war, the willingness to fight was very high. Yet false promises were also made at the time: The prospect was held out that we could quickly avert the war.
We have been fighting for a very long time now. Many people have died, but the politicians’ rhetoric is becoming more and more aggressive. There is a Ukrainian word for conscientious objector, uchylyant, which has a very derogatory connotation. It is basically an insult and means something like good-for-nothing. Politicians and the media use that world all the time. It stirs up hatred against people like me.
I believe that even the new laws will not encourage people abroad to return to Ukraine. Most of them will do without new documents, and trust that the other countries in Europe will understand. The law merely serves as a symbol to show people in Ukraine that we are not respected abroad.
“My family might not cope if I fought”
Mykola, 25, is from Rivne and has been living in Germany since May 2022.
As a child, I always dreamed of studying in Europe. Back then it seemed unattainable to me, only rich people could afford it. Nevertheless, I learned German while I was still at school. It’s bitter that this dream became possible because of the war.
I moved to Berlin a few months after the invasion began. Back then, it was still easier to leave Ukraine as a student and I was only 23. Last year, I got a full scholarship for a Master’s program at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. My dream has come true, but I can’t enjoy it.
Every day, I think several times about whether I’m in the right place or whether I should go to the front and defend my homeland. So far, two reasons have stopped me: I am the only son in my family, and we have always had very little money.
My family invested everything they had in me. They need me, and I have to take care of them when they get older. I don’t know if my family would be able to cope if I fought. The second reason makes me a bit uncomfortable. But honestly, I’m scared. And I don’t know if I could be of any help at all on the front line because I have no military training.
I fully support the decision that we will continue to defend ourselves against Russia.
Nevertheless, I can understand that our government is doing everything it can to mobilise men. After all, the soldiers who defend our country have to come from somewhere. This is very important to me: I fully support the decision that we will continue to defend ourselves against Russia. Because that is the only chance we have of living peacefully in Ukraine at some point in the future.
Yet the new laws are not effective and miss the mark. Ukrainian men who have lived abroad for many years and decades and have families, jobs and their entire lives there are also affected. It will not be possible to force these men to return to Ukraine and fight. Many will simply not update their documents.
What I also find wrong: In theory, I can update my military service pass through a special procedure from abroad. But I could be obliged to go for a medical examination, which is only possible in Ukraine. If I don’t do this, criminal proceedings will automatically be opened against me when I return to Ukraine. I don’t think that’s appropriate.
My Master’s degree in Hamburg ends in August. So far I have no idea what I’m going to do then — although I can hardly think of anything else.
“Two of my colleagues were forcibly recruited”
Danylo, 25, is from Mariupol and has been living in Sweden since May 2022.
I fled Mariupol when it was already occupied by Russia. That’s why I didn’t have to cross the Ukrainian border; I travelled through the occupied territory to Russia and then came to Europe via Georgia.
The escape was very exhausting. I had to go through several interrogations in Russia, where they scrutinised, for example, my opinion about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the occupation of Crimea. But at least I was able to get out. It wouldn’t even be possible to cross a Ukrainian border at the moment.
I think those in power in Ukraine are terrible.
It was clear to me that I had to go to Europe and not to the unoccupied parts of Ukraine. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get out of there., that I would be like an animal locked in a cage — and not only that. I could also be forced to fight in the army. Sometimes people are picked up directly from the street and taken to recruitment centers.
In Sweden, I work remote for a Ukrainian company. Two of my colleagues who stayed in Ukraine have been forcibly recruited in recent months. I find that incompatible with human rights. I very much hope that European countries will take the same view and not hand anyone over to Ukraine for military service against their will.
In general, I am very unhappy with the government in Ukraine. I’m not one of those people who think Russia is good; I think the war is terrible, and I definitely don’t want to live under Russian occupation — that would be like the Middle Ages. But I also think those in power in Ukraine are terrible. Many of them are corrupt. Journalists and politicians demand that men like me should fight, while they would never do so themselves.
