The number of Ukrainians of draft age trying to illegally enter Belarus to avoid mobilization has increased more than three hundredfold in two years. The BRC found out how much illegal border crossing can cost Ukrainians and which other countries they choose to avoid serving.
Escape statistics
In 2025, Ukrainian border guards detained 1,424 men of draft age for attempting to cross the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, the State Border Service of Ukraine (SBSU) told journalists of the BRC and the Ukrainian publication “Slidstvo.Info”. This is four times more than in the previous year (326 people), and 356 times more than in 2023 (4).
“This year (in 2025 — ed.) we see a certain increase, if compared to other years, in the number of those we detain for attempting to illegally cross the border. … The direction of the border with Belarus, it is significantly lower in terms of indicators than, for example, the border with Romania or the border with Moldova. But, again, there is an increase,” Andrei Demchanka, assistant to the head of the State Border Service of Ukraine, told reporters.
Last year, more men were detained on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border than on the Ukrainian-Polish border. If in 2024, 467 draft evaders were caught on the border with Poland, and 326 on the border with Belarus, then last year the number of those who wanted to get to the Republic of Belarus increased by almost 4.5 times. According to Ukrainian border guards, the Belarusian direction entered the top five in terms of the number of detained draftees. Above are Hungary (1,841 people), Slovakia (2,265), Moldova (4,937), and in first place is Romania (10,066). The Belarusian border is followed by the border with Poland (511 people in 2025) and Russia (one person).
The cost of escape
In a comment to journalists, the head of the press service of the 9th border detachment named after Sich Riflemen, which patrols the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, Yuriy Shakhraichuk, said that the detachment’s forces “have already discredited (discovered — ed.) more than 70 organized criminal groups, groups that are specifically engaged in the crossing of persons across the border.”
A BRC journalist spoke with a representative of one of these groups on Telegram. He offered to buy a proven escape route from Ukraine or pay for a “turnkey” service: order a car with an experienced driver who will bypass checkpoints in Ukraine and bring you to the border while “his own shift” of border guards is on duty on the Belarusian side. The interlocutor asked for $16,000 for assistance in illegal departure for two men. This amount includes organizing an escape to Belarus, and then to the EU.
“Look, they will pick you up from Kyiv, they will pick you up from anywhere. There is no problem with that. They will pick you up right from your home. <…> You pay when you get in the car. Exclusively,” he assured.
During martial law in Ukraine, men aged 23 to 60 are restricted from leaving the country. Only those who fall under the border crossing rules and have the appropriate documents, such as those who have lost close relatives in the war, can do so.