Over 30 Ukrainian conscripts have died trying to evade mobilisation - report
More than 30 Ukrainian conscripts have died while trying to cross the border illegally to avoid mobilisation, a Ukrainian official has said.
Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, told Ukrinform that some men are prepared to pay "large sums" of money to groups promising to smuggle them across the border safely.
"Then they are faced with the fact that the route runs along a mountain river," he said.
Many conscripts have lost their lives after realising they didn't have the strength to swim the river, Mr Demchenko added.
"In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, about 30 people have died trying to cross the border illegally," he said.
Such attempts occur "every day", he said.
For context: Ukraine has been under martial law since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
It lets draft officers call up men of a certain age to fight on the front line.
In April, Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed off a new law lowering the age of draft-eligible men from 27 to 25, in a bid to boost troop numbers in his depleted ranks.