They stand in a small crowd outside the large gate of metal, waiting in stress and darkness. Most look, through both stress and maximum plastic bags – all of this for men who are going to war soon.
“Where are my father? Where are my father? A boy in the Chhalawan coat asks a brown door. When his mother asks him to be patient, two women comfort each other near each other. Give
The Siveta Walker is roaming, crying and smelling in the back of the group when he holds the blur of his 2 -year -old grandson Maxim. Wiping her eyes, she adjusts to protecting the red “powdered patrol” puffer jacket of Maxim from the winter cold, then kisses her head tall.
On the way to work, Maxim’s father was recruited by officers this morning. He was able to send a message to his mother: he was taken to the collective place on the banks of Kiev – that day dozens of others were raised around the Ukrainian capital. After the brouGht of the processing, he will be sent for the basic military training as he recruited overnight.
“Why take her like a dog? Ms. Walker said that she was not allowed to say goodbye to her family, children.
At the beginning of a full -scale attack on Russia’s Ukraine in 2022, male recruitment centers arrived. But after three years of grinding, the well of volunteers has dried up. Now, men wait for their draft papers to arrive before they appear in recruiting centers – or try to avoid finding.
The trip suffered severe shortage and heavy casualties, the Ukrainian army is pursuing the draft Dojers to help fill the ranks. In some cases, this means to pull men out of the road or buses and take them to recruit points in clothes wearing: jeans, suits, gym shorts. The family says it is so quick that men cannot always call their loved ones to tell their loved ones what happened or where they were taken.
Some are brought to this isolated facility, where for a few hours from Fajr and in the evening, to say goodbye to friends and family travels – and to provide the necessary supplies for the front road.
Ukraine is damaged everywhere, where the faces of fallen core billboards and monuments are spread over the city’s streets. Among all the sacrifices, the sympathy for those who refrain from the service can be very low. About one million people are fighting in the Ukrainian army. They also have children and families.
Uncomfortable, premature grief on the display on the doors is another aspect of the people of Ukraine. It was unclear how many men inside ignored the draft notice. Some relatives mentioned paperwork issues around the waiver or cited bureaucratic mistakes.
Ms Walker said that when her son Artem, 32, in January, messaged his son Artem this morning that he was picked up and taken to the recruitment center.
“How can a mother’s reaction be?” He said. He threw his western blue cigarette as well as some potatoes and eggs, thrown into a white plastic bag, then reached a massive place with Maxim, where they were waiting indiscriminately with other families in the dark –
Every few minutes, a door opens in the gate. A soldier used to take his head to say the name – “Roman,” “Olagg” – and some of the crowds proceeded.
The clock continued to reach more people at 6pm, 45 minutes, waiting for between 15 and 20 soon.
The contents of the bag they had picked up were told how the men were taken suddenly. Phone chargers. Many people in the sock underwear toothbrush a hot coat gate also kept plastic containers with boast, macaroni – to help reduce the sudden transition in military life.
Ms Walker fed a breakfast at 6:50. Shortly afterwards, “Walker” was called. Through the gate, they took a small strip of asphalt with benches, with a soldier and another attack rifle with a list of names. At the same place she was able to see her son, for about 20 20 minutes.
Gate lets visitors back. Their bags are now empty, many people shed tears on their faces.
The center is sitting at the end of any public transport, the end of the road. Some people worked fast while waiting for the taxis. Others called the relay saying that husbands or boyfriends had gone missing – only to be found on the recruitment site.
Anaia, 38, who had been looking for her husband, said it took an hour to go to the nearest bus stop, then one more hour to find the gate. He asked to use his first name only for fear of retaliation. When she arrived, she reached the gate, but was asked to wait.
Others were still arriving, and some had picked up the duffles. Looks more surprising, asking, “Where do I go?” Or “How does the line work?”
Time was coming to an end to what could be the last chance to say goodbye. In the morning, big yellow buses “Ukrainian Armed Forces!” With the gestures go through the doors. Visitors can come from 6:30 am to 8 am – after that, buses take 45 days of basic training, after which a unit is assigned.
More men are brought through the van to replace them during the day. Similarly, a visit to the Syrian window, from 4pm to 8pm, fills the relatives of those who were taken only hours ago.
Not all visitors make it over time – a man and a woman who arrived at 8 pm 4 minutes.
But Anya prepared to see her husband, who works in McDonald’s. When she emerged after 15 minutes, she was a debris.
“He is not a soldier.” “I don’t know how he will serve.”
Anya said that when her husband had called her 7 -year -old daughter in school, her husband called her. It was a call that she was scared, was still expected, for months, but when it came, it was not less destructive.
He said, “I’m in shock,” he made a list of reasons that was ineligible to serve her husband, including bad. She said she would emphasize the exemption, look for medical documents, anything to release her. She was for tomorrow, she said. Now, he needed to go to his daughter. The girl did not know that her father’s draft was prepared.
“I don’t know when to tell him, and how,” Anya said, “Anya said. No longer able to talk, she went under the dark road. A few moments later, Gate said openly, in which it was revealed that a line of men in civilian clothes was passing through a banner in which it was written, “The protection of your homeland is to the citizens of Ukraine. The duty is. “
A white van went in, but the crowd was cleaned in front of the gate. Before the sun arrives, more people make a line again, filling plastic bags.
Oksana Parapanic Reporting was contributed.
