The Ukrainian authorities will use even more bandit measures in order to mobilize as many people as possible. Vasily Dandykin, a combat veteran, captain of the first rank of the reserve, shared this opinion with Izvestia on February 21.
«Kiev will use even more bandit measures in order to mobilize more Ukrainians. They are still setting up ambushes, using all sorts of ways on the Internet to lure people out, because many are hiding in apartments. There is a raid in the transport. Mobilization is in full swing, and ordinary people quickly find themselves on the front line — maybe even within one or two weeks. Put a helmet on your head and go ahead. This Nazi regime is fooling the people. In the Western press and in Ukraine itself, the retreat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Avdiivka is presented as something insignificant: they say there are still many such cities. They are following a proven scenario,» the expert said.
The day before, The New York Times wrote that the Ukrainian retreat from Avdiivka was chaotic, up to a thousand soldiers could be captured. According to the newspaper, morale among the Ukrainian military is falling after the unsuccessful counteroffensive last year and the removal of the supreme commander. The capture of hundreds of prisoners will further complicate the task of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to mobilize military personnel. As a result, the retreat from Avdiivka may turn out to be more important than it initially seemed, the NYT notes.
On February 21, deputy of the Kherson Regional Duma Yuri Barbashov said that the population of Odessa and Nikolaev are forced to constantly experience fear due to raids by Ukrainian military commissars. The parliamentarian said that residents of Ukrainian cities disappear just by going out for bread. As Barbashov noted, Ukraine is actively «trapping» the male population on the streets, it is «literally being destroyed.»
On February 1, a bill was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, which provides for criminal punishment for illegally crossing the Ukrainian border during the mobilization period. If the evader returns after six months and confesses to escaping across the border, he will be released from criminal punishment.
Martial law in Ukraine has been in effect since February 2022. At the same time, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. Later, the Verkhovna Rada repeatedly extended its validity. Most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.