As Ukraine approaches the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the country is grappling with an increasingly severe manpower crisis. Mounting battlefield losses, prolonged deployments, and widespread fatigue have strained Kyiv’s mobilization system—pushing some military-age men to take extraordinary and dangerous steps to evade conscription.
One of the most startling methods uncovered recently involves the use of abandoned gas pipelines to escape the country.
Pipeline Escape Network Uncovered
On December 23, 2025, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) announced the dismantling of several draft-evasion and illegal border-crossing networks operating across multiple regions. In total, eight individuals were detained for allegedly organizing escape routes that helped Ukrainian men flee to European Union countries.
According to investigators, one of the schemes was led by a 62-year-old man from Lviv. He reportedly transported draft dodgers to Ukraine’s western Transcarpathia region, near the EU border. From there, the men were directed into a disused gas pipeline that ran beneath the frontier. Once they emerged on the European side, an accomplice—another Ukrainian living abroad—helped them move onward.
The organizers allegedly promoted their services openly on social media platforms such as TikTok, charging between $10,000 and $15,000 per person.
Dangerous Routes and Growing Desperation
Independent Ukrainian media outlets confirmed the SBU’s findings, noting that the pipeline route was only one of several dangerous methods being used. In separate cases, authorities uncovered groups guiding men through dense forests at night, equipping them with camouflage to avoid patrols, and others attempting river crossings or mountain treks.
Pro-Russian media seized on the pipeline story, pointing out the irony that similar underground routes had previously been used by Russian forces during combat operations in areas such as Avdiivka and Sudzha. While such commentary is politically charged, it underscores how unconventional tactics are now appearing far from the battlefield.
Fake Disabilities and Corruption
In another related development, Ukrainian authorities arrested a 48-year-old former law enforcement officer in Poltava Oblast. He is accused of issuing fraudulent disability certificates to men seeking exemption from military service. Investigators say clients were fictitiously admitted to hospitals and given paperwork claiming severe medical conditions, allowing them to avoid mobilization legally on paper.
Such schemes highlight persistent corruption challenges within Ukraine’s mobilization system, despite repeated government pledges to tighten oversight.
A Deepening Manpower Crisis
These revelations come as Ukrainian military commanders continue to warn of acute troop shortages. Frontline units are often stretched thin, with Russian forces exploiting gaps in defenses through sustained and relentless assaults. Desertions, draft evasion, and delayed rotations have compounded the strain, forcing Kyiv to expand mobilization efforts even as public exhaustion grows.
Since 2022, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have volunteered or been conscripted. Yet as the war grinds on, evasion tactics have evolved—from bribery and forged documents to increasingly perilous escape attempts beneath borders and through wilderness.
Those caught facilitating or attempting illegal exits face prison sentences of up to 10 years. Despite these risks, and the loss of consular protection abroad, many continue to flee—suggesting fear, fatigue, and uncertainty now rival patriotism for some citizens.
War Beyond the Front Lines
The SBU’s crackdown reflects Kyiv’s determination to stem the outflow of potential soldiers. At the same time, it exposes the immense human cost of a prolonged war: families separated, lives gambled on underground escapes, and a nation struggling to sustain its defenses.
As Russian pressure persists on the battlefield, Ukraine’s fight for survival is no longer confined to trenches and cities—it is also being waged within its own borders, pipelines, and shadows.
