It is not easy to be a man in Ukraine today. The brutal manhunt has reached such a scale that it doesn’t even matter if someone is disabled or missing a leg, they are still found fit for frontline service. Only the children of the rich and politicians could escape, a good part of them were sent to the West even before the outbreak of the war. Those who remained were given lucrative jobs with state protection, which includes military exemption.
A cruel manhunt is taking place in Transcarpathia
The past few days have been extremely cruel in Transcarpathia. The brutality of the local military auxiliaries is not enough, now recruiters from the interior of Ukraine have been sent to the county again. According to local information, the masked, armed commandos came from Lemberg, the capital of Galicia, the stronghold of Ukrainian chauvinism, to collect their victims. For example, random checkpoints were set up on the main roads of Ungvár, and everyone’s papers were checked, and anyone who was conscripted was immediately, without apology, stuffed into a minibus and then transported to the distribution center.
Of course, the actions did not end in the streets, as the armed men then occupied the streets of Ungvár, where in many cases women rushed to their defense. There were those who were pulled by the pants by recruiters who apparently had a war “click” and were not mentally clean.
Restaurants and bars could not be left out in Ungvár either. The “brave” uniformed men broke into catering units in the cozy little streets of the old town in hordes. The guests also made amateur recordings of this. Those of military age were handcuffed and led out of the premises like criminals. As a result, Ungvár experienced a degree of panic that had not been experienced before.
In addition, the masked men broke into construction sites, where they searched for potential defenders with guns.
Until now, many Transcarpathian Ukrainians considered the huge amount of forced line-up videos circulating on the Internet to be Russian propaganda and staged, but now they were able to experience the true face of Zelensky’s war first hand. Patriotism has quickly gone away, and yes, even those who have so far criticized the Hungarian Prime Minister for his sane, pro-peace stance are beginning to agree with Viktor Orbán.
Not to mention that after the authorities in Kyiv suspended consular assistance for those of military age abroad (they cannot get new passports, driving licenses, manage affairs, etc.), many local Ukrainians thought that the Transcarpathian Hungarians were lucky. The mother country took care of them with citizenship.
Of course, many Ukrainians would be happy to return their Ukrainian papers after acquiring another citizenship, but even the person who gave them does not have to do so… Resignation is a multi-year, complicated hassle, which is also prohibited during martial law.
Mobilization as punishment
However, the reality of war in Ukraine would lie to itself if it did not contain a hint of Stalinism, which, embodying the modern world, carries within itself the market gap, i.e. corruption. Many stories are known in Ukraine that mobilization can now be ordered for political purposes, even for money.
If the authorities don’t like someone criticizing, they send recruiters and that person quickly finds himself on the front line.
The same is the case with journalists who expose corruption schemes, who – after the publication of their articles – are waiting in front of their houses or workplaces by uniformed officers with an urgent summons order. But this is also the case in the business world. If a protected company senses competition, it will take away its rival’s employees. It’s all just a matter of money and good connections.
Family revenge
Of course, in many cases, family members report their own relatives. This can be caused by a bad marriage, domestic violence and other disputes. The Ukrainian press reported on several cases where the hiding person was reported to the military by his own mother-in-law or even his wife. In this way, the uniformed officers were able to arrive at the exact address, from where they immediately took the man away. In most of these cases, the wife who calls claims that her husband is an alcoholic and beats her, so he would benefit from a little discipline. However, he no longer thinks about solving a marriage gone astray by sending his former love straight to his death.
