In todays Ukraine young men approaching 18 face a life-altering choice that will shape their future - to stay in their homeland or leave before reaching military age. The nations laws dont allow most men aged 18-60 to cross the border since the start of war almost three years ago
Roman Biletskyi made his choice this winter: he packed his bags and took a one-way train to Slovakia. “The clock was ticking“ he recalls the emotion-free preparations with his family. On the other side of the spectrum‚ Andriy Kotyk chose a different path - he joined the army right after turning 18 in early-2022 and now serves in the north-east region
The military needs more young blood - the average fighters age is in their 40s which creates some issues for the army (according to foreign diplomats data). Volodymyr Davydiuk a military recruiter points out: “Fighting for a 40-year-old and a 20-year-old are very different things“
The countrys demographic picture shows big changes; birth rates dropped by one-third compared to pre-war times. Here are the main migration numbers:
- More than 190‚000 teen boys got EU protection status
- Almost 7 million citizens left Ukraine since wars start
- About 4.2 million got temporary EU shelter by fall-2024
Svitlana Biletska Romans mother remembers the hard good-bye at Kyiv station: “It was very hard to make this decision but Iʼm absolutely confident that it was the correct one; this is about him having a future“