In the queue of about 130 people, only 20 are male. Men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine unless they qualify for an exemption. Four of those waiting are young lads who look close to turning 18. To avoid the risk of mobilisation, they must leave before then. Of course, some men find ways to get out anyway, legally or illegally. On August 11th President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he was sacking the heads of the country’s regional military recruitment centres, where officials were alleged to be selling travel permits for up to $10,000. “Bribery during war is treason,” Mr Zelensky railed.
In the initial period after the invasion most men trying to get across were driven by fear, says Colonel Trachuk. Now she reckons half are looking for work. But those trying to escape military service must live at risk of being apprehended by recruitment officers and press-ganged. At the beginning of the invasion Ivan, a 42-year-old musician in Uzhhorod, contemplated enlisting, but changed his mind when he saw coffins arriving. Now, he says, he is in constant fear of being called up: “I feel like I am hanging in the air.”
The US had a draft 50 years ago for a war on the other side of the planet. Have countries successfully defend themselves against invasion with volunteer forces?
I like the ideal but I live in a shitty cold world where sometimes you have to defend yourself, so I wonder how that would actually work.
FYI I didn’t
forgotdownvote yaCountries only exist as far as their constituency believes in them. If they can’t drum up enough of an army to defend themselves voluntarily, then they obviously haven’t done enough for that constituency that they see a threat to the nation as a threat to themselves. You ever wonder why guerrillas rarely run out of fighters or supplies? They inspire the people. They do things for the people, instead of to them. They don’t use war as an excuse to strip rights or privatize public infrastructure, they don’t put you in prison for not wanting to fight. They fight for you, and in taking direct, tangible material actions that help the people, they ensure their continued usefulness to, and thus support by, the people.
Why anyone would fight for a modern nation state in any situation is beyond me.