Ukraine's desperate need for soldiers spurs exodus of young men

SOLOTVYNSKA, Ukraine -- The barbed wire fence stretches along the bank of the river that marks Ukraine’s western border. Across the water, lie Romania and the European Union.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, there was no fence here at this stretch of the Tisza River. But in the two and a half years since then, Ukraine has tightened security — not to keep Russians out, but Ukrainian men in.

Since 2022, Ukraine has barred most military-age men from leaving the country. As a result, the number seeking to cross the border illegally has soared, according to Ukraine’s border service. Aided by smugglers, some buy counterfeit paperwork to try to pass by official crossings. But others try a more desperate route, trying to sneak out on foot, taking their chances swimming across the river. Fast-flowing and cold, it is dangerous — at least two dozen men have died trying to make the crossing since 2022, according to the border service.

The flow of men and the reinforced security at the border reflect two hard truths Ukraine faces: its military is short on soldiers and it is struggling to find volunteers willing to fight.

Two and a half years of devastating fighting has severely depleted Ukraine’s forces, leaving them in some places heavily outnumbered by Russian troops. The shortage of troops means units are often unable to rotate off the frontline, leaving them exhausted. The issue is one of the key reasons why in recent weeks Russia has been creeping forward in the Donbas region.

In the early months of the war, a vast wave of Ukrainians volunteered to fight. But that wave is now largely exhausted and most of those eager to volunteer have already done so. As the war has become bogged down, with tens of thousands killed and wounded while the lines barely move, enthusiasm to join up has faded.

In recent months, Ukraine’s government has finally taken steps to address the manpower shortage. In late spring a law was passed to lower the conscription age and tightening draft rules. Conscription officers now patrol the streets looking for military-age men, checking their papers and sometimes taking away those who are subject to the draft. That has sent many young men into hiding, rarely venturing outside. Others have gone abroad.

One man, who ABC News is calling Ihor, left Ukraine late last year to avoid being drafted. ABC News is disguising his identity over fears he could face repercussions for speaking.

“When the war had only just started, then there was more patriotism. And then I also wanted to go to the army,” said Ihor.

But Ihor’s brother returned from the war with a spine injury, telling him not to join up. Ihor said his family began to beg him to leave before he could be drafted. He started to worry if he were disabled in fighting it would fall on his family to care for him, with little support from the state.

“I know people who are already dead, who were there two days and that was it, they died,’ said Ihor. “And it’s just, I understand that even if I go to war and become an invalid, then no one will care for me except for my relatives,” he said.

Ihor said the decision to leave Ukraine was wrenching, wracking him with guilt.

“I have this feeling that my family are there, under missile strikes, under constant air raid alerts, and I am here in safety. I am torturing myself. Why I am here and not there? I already thought about going back,” he said.

For months Ukraine’s government avoided passing a new mobilization law, fearful it would be unpopular, and also concerned to preserve its younger men crucial for the country’s economic future. Many of those illegally crossing the border are looking to go abroad to find work or see their families, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Border Service told ABC News.

The issue of who should fight has opened a painful divide in Ukraine. Videos showing draft officers sometimes grabbing men off the street that circulate online have sparked outrage. In some incidents, scuffles have broken out as people try to prevent officers from taking men. Police insist such incidents are rare.

Public anger has also flared over videos showing young men drinking on the street in Kyiv and other cities, fueling complaints that the draft disproportionately targets poorer, rural areas, where people cannot afford to pay bribes to evade it.

As the war has dragged out, Ukrainian men have been confronted with anguishing dilemmas, asking themselves is their duty to their family or to their country.

Others say they worry about being sent to the frontline with inadequate training, fearful of finding themselves in units still following Soviet-style tactics.

“You have to have been trained for many years to be an efficient soldier, not just cannon fodder,” another man, who ABC is calling Denys, told ABC News. “I think I will be killed the next 5 minutes.”

Denys left Ukraine in early 2023 with his family. He said he would be more willing to join the military if he could choose to be in a non-frontline role, such as a supply officer.

He said he worried for Ukraine and continued to pay taxes there and to make monthly donations to the war effort.

“Of course I worry,” he said. “But I'm not sure that I will be a good soldier. And I'm not sure if I die, as I said, in the first 5 minutes, it can help my country, for my country to win. Maybe. Maybe. But I'm not sure about that.”

Ukraine has begun trying to reform its recruitment practices to give people more scope to choose their roles. Recruitment campaigns highlight technical specialists can use their skills in the military, rather than being thrown into the frontline as infantry.

The expanded draft is also starting to have effects, according to independent military analysts. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are answering the draft notices and are now undergoing basic training and should begin refilling the ranks this summer.

Some Ukrainians are also choosing to sign up for volunteer battalions to the side of the regular army and that have a better reputation for training and command.

Denys, a 26-year-old video game designer and graphic artist, in February joined the Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, one of the best-known volunteer formations.

"We each have to muster the courage,” Denys told ABC News as he waited to board a train in Kyiv with a group of other men bound for three months basic training. “It took me about 2 years from the beginning to master my own. But I guess more to follow.”

Nearby Lyudmyla stood saying goodbye to her husband Pavlo, who was also embarking. She wiped away tears as the train began to move off.

Pavlo had decided he needed to join now in part so that their 20-year-old son would not have to fight in the future, she said.

“He told our son, ‘I'm going now so you don't go there later. But get ready.’ Unfortunately, life is such that everyone has to be ready,” she said.