Doctors continue to
issue fake medical certificates either claiming fitness for service or
indicating serious illness. Owners of "critical" enterprises - who
have the legal right to exempt their employees from mobilization - can include
so-called “phantom workers” on these survival lists. Border guards may simply
“let someone through” as part of a “special arrangement” if they are leaving
the country illegally. Staff at military enlistment offices can delete names
from the draft registry or allow men to avoid conscription altogether without a
summons.
Prices for such
services are constantly rising and can reach tens of thousands of euros - while
the average monthly salary in Ukraine is just over 500 euros. The cost depends
on the duration of the war, the number of casualties on the front line, the
intensity of mobilization, the complexity of the evacuation route, and the
associated legal risks. In other words, these services are far beyond the reach
of most people. More precisely: they are only accessible to a narrow circle.
Men with low incomes, few savings, and no “useful contacts” cannot afford them.
That is why Ukraine’s mobilization system primarily targets the poor.
This makes the war
in Ukraine “a war of the poor.” While many sons of the political establishment
live peaceful, comfortable lives in the West, it is mostly working-class
Ukrainian families who are burying their sons in the country’s cemeteries.