The UN has made serious accusations against Ukrainian TCK (draft institutions) officials, claiming that several individuals who refused military service on moral grounds were tortured. Meanwhile, more and more young Ukrainians are leaving the country and fleeing to Germany.
In the large-scale aggressive war of Russia against Ukraine, at least 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died. This figure was provided by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in May. Experts estimate that the actual number is significantly higher - between 80,000 and 100,000.
Andrey Konovalov does not want to be one of them. He has been opposing Ukrainian mobilization since the beginning of the large-scale aggressive war of Russia against Ukraine in February 2022.
Konavalov moved to Cologne before the war began, in 2021. The 26-year-old is studying for a master's degree in biochemistry and works part-time at a startup. He grew up with his grandparents in Kropyvnytskyi, an industrial city in the very center of Ukraine. However, Konovalov has not returned home since the war began: "It would be a one-way ticket. I would not be able to leave the country."
250,000 Ukrainian Deserters
The opponent of military service cites that in Ukraine, men aged 25 to 60 are called up for military service. He makes serious accusations against Ukraine and speaks of human rights violations during mobilization: "There are even reports from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about this."
The report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) mentions several draft dodgers who are said to have been tortured. "In one case, military personnel beat a draft dodger, tied his hands behind his back for a long period, threatened him with execution, and denied him food for eleven days because he refused to wear a military uniform," the report states.
Various international media have already reported on the violent practice of mobilization: The New York Times, The Kyiv Independent, BBC. TCK employees grabbed people right off the street, forcibly shoved them into buses, and took them for medical examinations. If the result was positive, they were sent to the front.
In Ukraine, the possibility of refusing military service has been suspended since the beginning of the large-scale aggressive war of Russia. More than 250,000 cases of desertion and unauthorized departure from the military have been recorded, reports the Ukrainian online publication Kyiv Independent, citing the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine.
Broken Promises
"War is not needed. 75 percent voted for Zelensky in the presidential elections of Ukraine because he said he would do everything to ensure that no soldier dies," says Konovalov. He also voted for Zelensky in the 2019 elections, as he told Euronews.
At that time, Russia had already annexed Crimea. The situation in eastern Ukraine was tense. Ukrainian soldiers repeatedly died and were injured in Donbas. The promise of peace became one of the main reasons for Zelensky's victory in the elections, as analyzed by the American think tank Atlantic Council.
About 200,000 Ukrainian men of military age have reportedly fled to Germany since the beginning of the war. In August, Zelensky allowed men aged 18 to 22 to leave the country. Previously, men over 18 who were fit for military service were not allowed to leave Ukraine. Since then, about 1,000 people have been going to Germany each week, reported a representative of the Federal Ministry of the Interior in the Berliner Morgenpost.
Merz Wants to See Young Ukrainians on the Frontline
This has drawn criticism in the German government. In mid-November, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) asked Zelensky in a phone call to "ensure that young people from Ukraine do not go to Germany in increasing numbers." They should serve in their homeland because "they are needed there," Merz believes.
"In Ukraine, there are countless Ukrainians hiding in their homes, hiding in their parents' villages, spending their savings to avoid this military service - and it would be most reasonable to find out why," urges Andrey Konovalov. He no longer wants to return to Ukraine; instead, he hopes to obtain German citizenship.
Konavalov hopes that the heads of European states and governments will exert more pressure on Ukraine so that Ukrainians do not have to go to war against their will.
Russian draft dodgers for reasons of conscience are also trying to seek asylum in Germany - but unsuccessfully. The new German government claims that Russia only uses professional soldiers and that there are no risks for Russian asylum seekers back home.
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