I have no experience or advice to give you, just want to say good luck. This war isn't worth losing your life over.
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
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Thank you, I'm sure as hell am not planning on giving these ghouls my life.
I want to advise you on taking advice from draft-dodging resources online. Asking comrades and public forums is a good way to go about it, but I would not be surprised if there are various "honeypots" that are made to funnel would-be defectors into monitored routes and passageways. It would make sense and I'm sure you're aware of some already.
I personally think one user had the best idea. I think you may have to face the prospect of genuinely hiking through deep-woods to try and cross the border in a relatively uninhabited area.
But what I would do is learn to read a map and compass, get to a location near the border, find a landmark ahead of time and the beginning of a clear path like a power line easement on the other side, then use the landmark and the bearing to set direction then I would exit through the woods on foot. Something like a national park with a tourist presence.
On top of this, I would learn where old military installations/camps were placed as well. Staying away from them is a good idea as I'd imagine they'd be turned into temporary residences for soldiers/training camps.
You're going to want to procure some form of self-defense. A knife works as a utility tool in many ways, but being able to defend yourself if traveling alone is important.
Mylar blanket, backpack, water filter, gloves/winter-gear, compass, cooking-gear, lighter. If you don't smoke, you should carry cigarettes on you as a form of barter/trade. Carry high-proof alcohol on you for the same reason and for other uses. Medical kit. Good pair of boots. Small bit of rope/paracord.
As tough as it is, I'd recommend you go right before the snow drops. Let the snow cover your tracks. Use a mylar blanket to cover yourself as you move in the snow as it will reduce your visibility.
I genuinely wish for your success and a thousand more. Fuck Zelensky and his Regime.
Two important points to add: Firstly, some border areas may be mined. Probably mostly on the Belarus and Russian borders, but nevertheless it pays to be careful. Secondly, there have been many reports of people being shot while attempting to cross the border by swimming over rivers in open places where they are easily visible. Not to mention that there is a risk of drowning if the current is too strong, or hypothermia now that winter is approaching. Anyone who attempts the crossing, please ensure that you are prepared and have a solid plan, best discussed with people who have experience. And don't leak your plan in advance to anyone you don't 100% trust.
I wouldn't fuck with rivers or fields for this reason. On the other hand even from 100m away it's really hard to spot people in the woods in the summer and basically impossible from overhead. I don't agree w going in the snow, I would do it when the vegetation is full. That might mean waiting until late spring or early summer if OP can afford to wait. Visibility is probably 10x in winter and that's not an exaggeration. The vegetation is your cover.
If there's no time left then you gotta go when you gotta go
I based the mylar-blanket thing on some Ukrainian immigrants who were passing by when I was staying in a spot for a little while. They told me that wrapping yourself in mylar and traveling in the snow makes you effectively invisible.
Full-vegetation may be effective but I think they're already getting into fall now. I'm not sure if they have until next summer.
It's a really good idea
Thank you, and yeah - I'm taking any and all advice with a grain of salt since I've seen far too many vids of patrol laughing at defector-attemptees. Solid advice!
I wouldn't lose hope regarding the war ending. It's hard to predict of course, but it seems that Russian advance has accelerated significantly in the past few months. There are a lot of signs that the AFU isn't able to hold things together now, and that could mean that a general collapse could happen in the near future. There is also a financial crisis unfolding in Europe which could affect material support from the west. I don't want to give you false hope here, but it's not going to be slow incremental progress happening indefinitely. Eventually an inflection point is reached when the army is no longer able to put up organized resistance. This happened with the Germans in WW2 as well. The front was relatively static for years, but once the collapse started, Red Army made it to Berlin in a matter of months.
Thank you, and don't worry, you're not giving me any false hopes - I and many of us here have heard enough "the war is ending soon!!" to have a strong sense of hope for that anymore. When the war ends it'll surprise us, not cause nobody expects it to end but cause many of us can't imagine not living in this regime anymore.
When the end of this nightmare comes, you'll suddenly have to remember what normal feels like. Till then, don't lose hope.
Kudos to you! Don't let them take you.
Travel to Canada on a tourist visa and don't come back?
Millions and millions of young Ukrainians have fled already. Surely someone left a how-to, right?
I'm sorry to say that men aren't allowed to leave the country, well, men over 22, and I'm legally classified as male and am slightly older than that, just barely not to be allowed out. While I've been on E for more than a year, I don't think the military will recognize my B cups as an excuse to not send me to die(and I've had plenty of govt/medcare workers mock me implying that I'm transitioning to dodge draft. Don't get me wrong, that's based, but not what I'm doing it for as I'm DIY). I have someone I love very deeply in the states, so I can just stay there. It's the crossing of the Ukrainian border that's the issue. The thing about doing so illegally is that you have to know someone, and have money to do so. I fit neither of those qualifications. I'm sure there must be some loophole, I don't think this government is good at anything, even at maintaining a meatgrinder, but idk if I can find it in time.
The thing about doing so illegally is that you have to know someone, and have money to do so. I fit neither of those qualifications.
Uff, without these two, things are even more complicated and options are tremendously scarce. However, let's try to brainstorm some options and see if people add others:
- Usually smugglers are retired military officers or police men(that's how it usually goes in Mexico). If things are similar in Ukraine, you could find some with certain hashtags or groups in Facebook or your commonly used social media. However, BE ADVISED, this is a dangerous path and it is even more dangerous for women and LGBT comrades. You can check the rates and save up before you reach the age legally require to be forced into conscription. If you do follow this, you need to rush to save money to be able to do this.
- How about living in hiding in another place far from your designated residence?
- Have you checked if any embassy have humanitarian programs that could help you leave?
Thank you for the insight, I am saving money atm (though an english teacher's salary isn't exactly the best for doing so I am working on a fansly account to hopefully get at least some pennies in) for that exact reason, and I have some support from overseas but it's not too reliable. I'll try looking for smuggling options, tho the govt here cracks down on that kinda stuff pretty heavily. I actually haven't checked the embassy bit, thank you for suggesting that - maybe I'll find some luck there. As for living somewhere away - I'm living not that far from my old home but there is no contractual documentation that would let the govt know that I live here, and my job kinda makes me live a secluded work-from-home life, which is a small extra layer of safety.
Ok, knowing that you have a source of income and help from abroad puts you in a better position! Ok, let's try to asses more options:
As for the smugglers, it is as you said. However, the strength of border patrols won't be the same and it will deteriorate. This option will involve actively looking for a smuggler and saving up money. According to a Russian source, that opportunity might come soon:
A safe way here will be to patiently wait for this opportunity and constantly check for updates on this regard. As for the smugglers, there is just too much money on this so, even if the gov't cracks it, it will won't go away. I am confident that you will find one when the time is right.
The other option which is surviving while the war ends(it could take years as you said):
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Not sure how safe is this one but check for communities or NGOs that offer social services. In other words, it will be necessary to find a way to organize through some local grassroot that help people in need. Usually, people in this orgs are heavily connected and might give you ideas on plenty of stuff.
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Save as much money and wait until the collapse of the gov't. This option will require to increase the level of your personal security as much as possible and/or join local orgs. Example of this are what my countrymen in the US do which is their local networks designed to inform the community of ICE raids.
(This is the worst case scenario and only if you find there are no other options left) Organize to fight back the TCC or join a sabotage org
- An example of this is in Cherkasy where sadly a communist cell were arrested. However, I am pretty sure that there are numerous cells like this and to find them you will have to join plenty of local grassroot orgs that help the people in need. If you are lucky, you might meet a good comrade out there with better advices.
Oooooh I didn't know about the Belarus effort. I'll need to set up a vpn to access .ru domains again. While I live in the south (Odesa to be exact) I think it would be worth it to travel north to try this way should it be fruitful, though I gotta learn how to properly look for smugglers. By the way, regarding locals warning of ICE - we have telegram groups warning people of kidnapper busses so the ghouls have to hide and cover their buses to blend in all the time. Different countries, same concept effectively. Thank you, this has been most helpful, actually.
Stay safe and wish you the best comrade! Hopefully, a more viable solution will appear!
Hook up with people in Germany that can come in as visitors and maybe escort you out. I'd try the Romanian border instead though and pre-arrange bribing the border guards. No shame in that. I don't know if it's viable to do a border crossing on foot but I've known at least one person who entered Ukraine from the south remarkably easy so getting out may not be too hard in emergencies. Be very careful with any option.
Thank you, I actually haven't heard much of people running from the south, mostly just attempting to swim across a river in the west (and get caught). Now that I think about it, I prolly don't hear about it cause they have no problem leaving the country lmao. One more direction to look at.
I’m so sorry about your situation, that truly sounds like a nightmare to me. Vienna recently cut the general insurance for Ukrainian asylum seekers, but they still offer limited support. So this might be an option?
I’m from Vienna and I know a guy who successfully smuggled his younger brother to Vienna, so he can escape the war. If you want, I can try to reach out to him and ask about more details. But I cannot promise to get them, since we’re not that close.
However, I also want to share the organization “Queerbase” in Vienna, as I understood that you’re trans?
Queerbase is a non governmental organization occupying a house in Vienna and offering a place to life for queer migrants that seek asylum. https://queerbase.at/
Please let me know if this is interesting for you, I definitely know some people there and could get more information. They also offer support in Ukrainian.
Thank you very much, this is indeed of great interest to me. I would really appreciate it if you could get in touch, and I understand that this is a shot in the dark rather than a guarantee. I will also look into the org thing, if there's a snowball in hell's chance I'll take it.
I'd leave right away by any means NGL
Try looking for work visas, tourist visas, or education visas, stuff like that.
You're a woman so presumably they wouldnt be grabbing you off the street, but would come looking for you at your home when the time came. That should help you in that at least you can move around with less scrutiny.
How easy is it to move within Ukraine? Can you navigate the roads relatively undisturbed or are there checkpoints checking your official ID and stuff? Do you have access to transportation?
The thing is that I'm a trans woman, which means jack shit to them. I tried to go through the process of legal recognition for my gender. The problem is that I have to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria for that and then go through a loooooong procedure. also if the doc thinks you don't have gender dysphoria you get the generic "personality disorder" diagnosis and back to the 6 month queue you go. Which is the exact thing that happened to me. I still hope I can get the recognition but I'm not betting on it.
As for moving - there are a lot of checkpoints everywhere so not that easy. Possible, but risky with a train. I don't have a car sadly so I have to rely on external methods to get me around if I need to.
Is it possible to find out where checkpoints are ahead of time?
Take this with a grain of salt I'm just some guy on the Internet. But what I would do is learn to read a map and compass, get to a location near the border, find a landmark ahead of time and the beginning of a clear path like a power line easement on the other side, then use the landmark and the bearing to set direction then I would exit through the woods on foot. Something like a national park with a tourist presence. Just a gal out to enjoy the fall colors. Or a birder. You could practice navigation in a big park in the meantime. It's not that difficult if you already know where you are and where you are going.
If it's possible to rent a car I would do that and ditch it. Not the most elegant but it's life or death.
I would scout everything ahead of time using satellite data. Google Earth would be enough to find waypoints and landmarks. If you have an area where you really need visibility you can buy remarkably high res satellite imagery from commercial providers. Possible exit points/area of the hike for instance or if you need to know how checkpoints are set up. You should look up 30cm satellite imagery to get a feel for the types of resolution these folks are capable of.
Thank you, I honestly didn't even consider satellite images as a way to research this, so this advice might come in handy. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to rent a car quite yet but if my situation changes that is a valid option. As for finding out about checkpoints - eh, they aren't always set in stone and they periodically open up new ones, so I wouldn't count too much on that.
Comrade, I’ve seen Ukrainian people go to Georgia, Armenia, Turkiye, Poland etc countries. Can’t you, go there and never come back? I think you can find a job and work there until the peace agreement.
Sadly, it's the crossing the border bit that's quite difficult - Zel's regime really doesn't want men over 23 leaving the country, and that's what I'm legally classified as :(.
Fuck. Is there any underground comrades over there to help you run out of the country or a relative? People run out of the country by boats to Bulgaria, Turkiye, can’t you do that?
There certainly are, but you have to know them and know where to find them. Also, there are crackdowns on them all the time to tighten the screws and bleed out the least amount of fresh blood possible.
Have you ever backpacked before? Is there any large stretch of wooded wilderness bordering a country you think you can bushwhack through?
Not really, most of our borders are flatlands and steppes, while the few forests we do have on the borders are often in difficult to pass terrain and are patrolled.
I was seeing on the news about human trafficking through Telegram price was like 5K$ per person. Have you ever tried to contact with them? Of course, you should avoid scammers.
Not really, I'm afraid I had no point of contact yet precisely cause it's nearly impossible for me to tell apart scammers and legit traffickers, but I heard the numbers were similar to that.
As a last resort, could you get to Moldova and swim across the Dnister? I don't know details about what it's like there for Ukrainians, but this gives some hope: https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/bi-annual-fact-sheet-2025-02-moldova.pdf
Border patrol looooves making example out of people who try to swim through the river so that's one of the last resort options really.
Damn. I wonder if it would be any easier from further north, like Pavlivka or even Nove. Stay safe, comrade!