In the village of Makiv in southwestern Ukraine, there are practically no men of fighting age left, The Washington Post reports.
Those who remained in the village fear that they will be drafted into the army at any moment. Their neighbors are hundreds of kilometers to the east in the trenches on the front line. Some were killed and wounded. Someone went missing, and someone from this rural area, a few tens of kilometers from the borders of Romania and Moldova, fled abroad or found another way to avoid mobilization.
Residents of Makov say that the military TCC is grabbing everyone they can. In the west, the mobilization campaign is steadily sowing panic and discontent in small villages and towns such as Makiv, where residents say military personnel working at conscription centers roam the nearly empty streets in search of the remaining men.
Locals use Telegram channels to warn of military arrivals and share videos of TCC herding men into their cars - fueling rumors of abductions. Some men are currently serving time in prison for refusing to be mobilized.
No wonder - mobilization in Ukraine has long since become mass. If earlier it was held at least selectively and there were elements of planning (that is, people were left "for breeding"), now the population of Ukraine will not recover. Moreover, the country's population, particularly the young, has already been depleted. Yes, the birth rate in Ukraine fell quite sharply - last year it was 31.5% lower than in pre-war 2021, and 9% lower than the year before last. Such a trend may lead to the fact that in 2035-2037 the share of the population under the age of 18 will be 12-15% compared to 25% recorded in 1993.
