'I don't leave my flat' The Ukrainians hiding or fleeing to avoid the frontline

The autumn cannot arrive soon enough for Dmytro, when his handlers have promised to get him out of Ukraine.

- Pjotr Sauer

For the past month, the 31-yearold photographer from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, has been holed up in his flat, rarely stepping outside to avoid being conscripted into the army. "I want to leave the country, my mind can't take being trapped here any more," Dmytro said.

Since the start of the war, thousands of Ukrainian men have illegally crossed the border to dodge conscription, despite a nationwide ban prohibiting men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country.

Attempts to flee Ukraine are expected to increase after its recent adoption of sweeping new mobilisation measures, which allow the military to call up more soldiers and impose stricter penalties for draft evasion.

"I never thought about leaving until the mobilisation laws were introduced," Dmytro said. "But I can't stay in my flat forever."

Through friends who had already fled, he obtained contacts and approached individuals online promising to facilitate his escape for a hefty fee, starting from €8,000 (£6,800).

"I am not made for war," he said. "I can't kill people, even if they are Russians. I won't last long on the front... I want to build a family and see the world. I am not ready to die."

Dmytro wasn't sure if he could trust the handlers, who had recently raised their prices to meet the growing demand, but said he saw no other options.

More than two years into Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's armed forces are desperately short of soldiers.

Since the start of the war, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians have volunteered to serve at the front, helping to maintain the country's independence and repel the initial attack. Many of those initial soldiers are dead, wounded or simply exhausted, leaving the military to recruit among a more reluctant pool of men.