In the snowy mountains of northern Romania, rescuers heard the voice of a young Ukrainian man—one among the flood of fleeing Ukrainians, many compelled to escape due to stricter conscription rules in the country. He was just one among the thousands who had fled across the border into EU member Romania as Ukraine tightened its conscription rules.

They are "kids who never fought in their lives, scared to go to the battlefront", Dan Benga, head of the Maramures Mountain Rescue, told AFP.

"Many of them say that they'd rather come and die on the mountain than die in the war." As Ukraine's grip on the war situation weakened, it reduced the minimum mobilization age from 27 to 25.

The new mobilization age has pushed Ukrainians to flee to Romania: almost 2,500 in the first four months of 2024, according to Romanian border police, which is twice as many as in the same period last year.

'Ukrainians would rather die than fight' 

They face the risk of freezing in the mountains or drowning in the Tisa River, which runs along part of the northern border. Benga and another rescuer were at an altitude of 1,600 meters (5,200 feet) when they heard the young man's call.

Benga requested precise GPS coordinates and promptly dispatched three rescuers to locate him. The young man was the 37th Ukrainian rescued this year, one among over 100 individuals saved in the area since February 2022.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Romanian border police report that 23 Ukrainians have been discovered deceased on Romanian territory. Among them, 13 were recovered from the Tisa River—a swifter passage than through the mountains, yet more dangerous due to the frigid water and powerful currents.

Those who make it across the border go to immigration centres where they can request temporary protection, which is given to Ukrainians fleeing the war. "The procedure takes approximately five minutes," according to the director of one center.

According to Romanian police, almost 12,000 Ukrainians have fled their country, which has imposed travel bans on all men aged between 18 and 60. 

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'Prepare for sacrifices'

Earlier this month, Ukraine Defense Ministry spokesperson Dmitry Lazutkin stated that the Ukrainian society must be prepared to make sacrifices and relinquish their peaceful lives to overcome the threat posed by Russia.

Kiev is revamping its military conscription system to increase the number of soldiers amid setbacks in the ongoing war with Russia, implementing stringent reforms scheduled to take effect next week.

"Globally speaking, starting on May 18, when the mobilization law comes into force, first of all, the approach to this war will change," Lazutkin said as quoted by Espresso TV on Saturday.

The Ukrainian government's desperation has led to the drafting of convicts, as reported a few days ago. Ukraine started drafting convicted prisoners to serve in the armed forces as it struggles to maintain frontlines three years into the war after suffering significant losses among its forces, especially with the newly launched Russian offensive late last month, which has resulted so far in Kiev losing significant territorial grounds, The New York Times reported on May 24.

While the total number of released prisoners is unknown since the law went into effect last week, a regional court in western Ukraine said this week that it had freed more than 50 prisoners under the new law that allows convicts to serve in the army in exchange for the possibility of parole at the end of their service.