BERLIN, May 19. /TASS/. At least 39 Ukrainian men have died in the Carpathian Mountains in northern Romania while trying to escape mobilization in their country, Bild reported, citing an investigation it carried out.

According to the newspaper, Romania’s mountain rescue service has had to respond to nearly 400 rescue calls since February 2022. Many Ukrainians travel in the dark, walking without lights in order not to be noticed. As a result, they often fail to spot dangerous areas such as crevices and gorges, sustaining serious injuries or freezing in the mountains. At the same time, Ukrainian border guards often patrol train stations and bus stops, hunting for young people with rucksacks and hiking gear trying to evade military service. That is why many men opt to cross the border in dangerous mountainous areas with no special equipment or even proper footwear in a bid not to attract attention.

On social media, people discuss potential escape routes, giving each other advice on how to evade mobilization. They often opt for the Carpathian route for the slack border control in this underpopulated area, Bild noted, adding that empty bottles, instant soup packets, chocolate bar wrappers, cigarette butts, and pieces of clothing are scattered all around the mountains.

In all, around 32,000 Ukrainian men have illegally entered Romania since 2022, Bild said, citing the Romanian border service.

General mobilization was announced in Ukraine in February 2022 and has been extended several times since, with the authorities doing everything possible so that draft-age men cannot evade military service. Videos of forcible mobilization and clashes with draft officers are regularly surfacing on Ukrainian social networks. Amid the understaffing problems in the Ukrainian army, territorial recruitment officers organize man-hunting raids in public places, seizing draft-age men by force. Such incidents often result in human deaths.