A draft dodger, while trying to escape to Hungary, nearly drowned in a swamp and called border guards for help

On the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, officers from the Mukachevo Border Detachment rescued a man who had become lost and nearly drowned in a swamp while attempting to illegally cross the border.

This was reported by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

Late at night on October 23, a 29-year-old resident of the Ivano-Frankivsk region called the State Border Guard’s hotline, saying he wanted to surrender. He admitted that he had tried to enter Hungary without passing through official checkpoints but became lost in a swampy area and couldn’t find his way out.

Using his coordinates, border guards quickly located him near the “Horonghlab” border service area. A response team found him stuck in the Charonda Canal, where he had become trapped in a swamp. They pulled him out of the water, provided him with dry clothes, and helped dry his belongings.

However, the man now faces legal consequences for attempting to illegally cross the border.

Previously, border guards reported that during the war, they dismantled 650 groups that were smuggling draft dodgers across the border. Given that the war in Ukraine has been ongoing for 972 days, this means that, on average, one such group was caught every 1.5 days, not counting individual draft dodgers crossing the border independently.

Recently, Ukrainian draft dodgers have started exploring a new route, with more frequent attempts to break through into Belarus.