00:00 Romania is just across the border from here.
00:03 But most Ukrainian men cannot cross over.
00:06 At least, not legally.
00:09 Martial law requires men of fighting age to stay in the country.
00:13 Forged documents are one way of leaving.
00:16 Thick forests and mountain passes are another.
00:19 More than 15,000 have been detained in Ukraine while trying to illegally cross into Romania.
00:27 These border guards are trying to stop them.
00:30 Tonight, Volodymyr and Vasil are in charge of securing a 12-kilometer strip.
00:35 To enforce the law and save lives.
00:38 This is the marshy area. You can get lost here.
00:43 There are wild animals, bears.
00:46 You can run into a bear in the forest.
00:49 Two dozen bodies have been found in Ukraine's southern border region
00:53 since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, we are told.
00:57 The route used to be popular among cigarette smugglers.
01:00 But now it's mostly used by people trying to leave.
01:03 Dodgers, refugees. Smugglers are afraid because of martial law.
01:09 They are afraid that we will detain them and immediately book them,
01:12 find them and take them to the recruitment center.
01:19 Where they will be processed and potentially sent to fight.
01:23 Ukraine needs soldiers.
01:26 This billboard in the nearby city of Chernivtsi says you can do more than you think.
01:30 In the beginning of the war, hundreds of thousands joined the armed forces as volunteers.
01:36 One and a half years later, many of them are exhausted, wounded or dead.
01:41 Most new recruits are drafted.
01:43 Despite overwhelming public support for the Ukrainian military,
01:47 not everyone is willing to become part of it.
01:50 Men between 18 and 60 can be called up for military service.
01:54 But there are a number of exemptions, such as for fathers of at least three children,
01:58 essential workers and those taking care of a sick parent.
02:01 And then there are medical exemptions.
02:03 And this is how most people dodge the draft.
02:07 Thousands of men are believed to have left the country through bribing officials.
02:11 Criminal groups advertise their services on Telegram.
02:15 Confirming a disability, for example, can cost up to 3,500 US dollars.
02:21 This is only possible with the help of officials.
02:24 In August, the heads of all regional military recruitment centers were dismissed
02:29 as part of a larger move against corruption in the defense sector.
02:32 We cannot say that it was total corruption.
02:36 These were rather isolated cases.
02:39 We say that we have zero tolerances for cases of corruption or other violations.
02:44 Of course, there is a human factor, but we try to respond to any problems.
02:51 But some Ukrainian men do question why they should serve
02:56 and are determined to find ways to avoid being drafted.
02:59 Such as Maxim.
03:01 The 22-year-old tattoo artist says he supports the military, but he himself won't fight.
03:10 I think having our own country is much more valuable than being a refugee somewhere.
03:15 But the price they are asked to pay, disability or death,
03:19 is higher than the value of having a country.
03:23 I would rather be a refugee than die.
03:26 And there's no guarantee that the country will exist after my death.
03:30 He tells us he will leave if necessary.
03:37 I want to know how he feels about fellow Ukrainians who can't,
03:41 such as those living under Russian occupation.
03:44 I can go to war only for one reason, only for my friends and relatives.
03:52 I don't know people, for example, from Luhansk.
03:56 They don't know me and have never seen me.
03:59 Basically, they don't exist for me.
04:03 And I don't exist for them.
04:06 It's a very strange idea to fight for people I've never even met.
04:10 Back at the border.
04:12 Vladimir and Vasil haven't found any traces of illegal crossings yet.
04:17 In August alone, though, authorities prevented 247 crossings along the border.
04:22 Everyone has their own opinion.
04:25 I fought myself, I know how it was there.
04:29 I do not wish for anyone to be there, because it is not easy.
04:33 Everyone has their own destiny, and everyone makes their own decisions.
04:37 He cannot judge them, he tells us.
04:42 But like the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who are fighting the Russians,
04:46 they too have a duty and are committed to fulfill it.
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