In Ukraine, Russia’s invasion triggered a patriotic impulse, but some Ukrainians are refusing to fight despite societal pressures and warnings from authorities cracking down on draft evaders amid a difficult counteroffensive.
Ivan Ishchenko volunteered to fight against invading Russian troops, but after a month of combat, he was willing to pay thousands of euros and risk prison to flee the front.
“Before I went to war, I thought I was a superhero. But all heroism ends when people see [war] with their own eyes and realise that they don’t belong there,” Ishchenko said.
“I saw someone being shot near his spleen; the pain was crazy. Then I saw a severed head. It all built up… I didn’t want to see anything else.”
So, one day Ishchenko abandoned his position without warning anyone except his mother and fled Ukraine.
He managed to leave the country despite a ban on the departure of all men aged between 18 and 60.
The 30-year-old paid €4,600 ($5000) for a government-plated car to escort him to a forest on the border with Hungary.
Hellbound and Down 