At a registration office or via a special app, every Ukrainian man must register.
Everything must be included, but above all home address, email and mobile number so that the military can safely reach you if they think you should serve in the military. From large TV screens flash films of scared young boys who turn into tough men when they dare to step out into the military world.
If you refuse registration, you commit a crime and cannot apply for a driver’s license, university education or sickness allowance.
– There is a war going on in our country and this register is currently being created so that it will be possible to understand the number and quality of these conscripts, says Anastasia Potapenko, head of the registration office in Odessa.
– We need to map who lives where and what their health and family situation is. Anyone who tries to make himself unreachable will be reported. It is a crime not to fill in the form and to stay away when we send the summons.
Thousands escape
But the influx of new soldiers to the defense is slow. And a fairly detailed set of regulations allows many to find loopholes to escape being sent to war.
Attorney Dmytro Bakulin specializes in advising clients and assisting in legal proceedings involving men challenging the validity of the summons. He has helped 3,000 people in recent years and he claims that 98% of the clients do not have to serve after he was hired.
– It is unequal, admits Dmytro Bakulin. The system means that many well-off get away while the poor are sent to the front – that’s how it is. I know the legislation and the constitution and follow all regulations. This means that I can usually find ways and advice so that my clients avoid military service, says the lawyer, who has a mile-long sea view from his new office.
“Zelensky not at the front either”
One of his clients is there when we visit the office on the 23rd floor of one of Odessa’s gated communities for the wealthy; “Mark” is his name and he is the captain of a large freighter that plies the world’s oceans for a Dutch shipping company.
– I have not received my summons order yet. But it can come at any time and then it’s important to be ready, prepared with a document showing that I’m going to start studying, says Mark.
He admits that he probably patriotically “should” fight with the Ukrainian troops, but points out that he is a new father and also does a lot of good for Ukraine through his work. And pay a lot of taxes.
– I earn more than President Zelensky, says Mark and laughs, and he is not fighting at the front either.
At the registration office we also met the injured soldier Dimitrij, who is arranging some applications. He is very understanding that many hesitate to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
– You can be at the front at the front or you stay at home. Everyone does what they can. It’s best that way.