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Russian official says Ukraine lays mines on Romanian border so fighting-age men don’t flee

"Ukrainian border guards have started to lay mines in the plowed strip of land on the border and the approaches to the Tisza," the official said

MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Ukrainian border guards are laying mines along the border with Romania to make it harder for conscription-age men to flee across the border, a Russian security official told TASS.

Since Ukraine started military mobilization, many men have decided not to participate in the conflict. Some of them, if they don’t have draft deferments, choose to flee to Romania across the Tisza River and on to Europe.

"Ukrainian border guards have started to lay mines in the plowed strip of land on the border and the approaches to the Tisza," the official said.

Ukraine’s scandalous law setting out new mobilization rules came into force on 18 May, with officials aiming to recruit hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. In February 2022, Ukraine announced general military mobilization, sparing no effort to make sure that fighting-age men don’t dodge military service. With a few exceptions, they are prohibited from traveling abroad, and those who are eligible for deferment must present a package of supporting documents. Call-up summons are issued in government institutions, on the streets, in shopping centers and public transport.

According to Ukrainian news media, men try to evade conscription by all means, staying at home for months, forging papers allowing to exit the country or seeking other ways to cross the border illegally. Videos showing forced mobilization and conflicts between people and conscription officers regularly pop up in Ukrainian social networks. There are occasional revelations about how men get beaten up in conscription offices.