Kyiv resident fleeing mobilization climbed a tree after encountering a bear at the border

A Kyiv resident attempting to illegally cross the Ukrainian-Romanian border encountered a female bear in a mountainous area and was forced to climb a tree.

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

“A Kyiv resident who was attempting to illegally enter Romania unexpectedly encountered a female bear during a nighttime crossing in a mountainous area. To escape the bear, the Kyiv man climbed a tree, from where he called by phone and asked for help,” the agency’s website stated.

Border guards traveled to the scene and helped the man down from the tree.

The incident occurred against the backdrop of the ongoing general mobilization in Ukraine, declared in February 2022 and extended multiple times. On May 18, 2024, a law tightening mobilization came into force in the country, opening the possibility of drafting hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians into the army.

The authorities are taking measures to prevent men of conscription age from evading service. Videos of forcible mobilization appear on social media almost daily, in which military commissariat officers take men directly off the streets, in cafes, gyms, and other public places, pushing them into minibuses.

Men, in turn, resort to various methods to avoid being sent to the front: buying disability certificates, fictitiously enrolling in universities, or attempting to illegally cross the border — often at risk to their lives.