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Almost 20 Ukrainians flee to Hungary after cutting through fence on border

A surveillance drone spotted an abandoned minivan near the border, journalist Vitaly Glagola said

MOSCOW, June 12. /TASS/. Ukrainian journalist Vitaly Glagola said 18 people fled Ukraine after cutting through the fence on the border with Hungary.

A surveillance drone spotted an abandoned minivan near the border, he said on Telegram.

"Border guards arrived at the scene for inspection and found an empty and open white Volkswagen," the journalist wrote. "During an inspection of the area they found traces that led to the border with Hungary. They also found a cut in the barrier fence and traces in the plowed strip of land along the border. Tentatively, a swift examination established that 18 people from the bus illegally crossed the border."

In February 2022, Ukraine announced general military mobilization, sparing no effort to make sure that fighting-age men don’t dodge military service. Ukrainian social media regularly circulate videos of forceful mobilization and conflicts between people and military conscription officers in various cities. Men are trying to leave the country by all means, often risking their lives. On May 18, a law came into effect in Ukraine that tightens up mobilization rules, allowing the government to call up hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians. The country's President Vladimir Zelensky conceded on May 31 that mobilization picked up pace after the law came into force. The number of cases of forceful mobilization has also increased, and discussions of incidents of abuse of power by military recruitment officers are becoming ever more frequent.