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In an attempt to preserve the rights of Ukrainian citizens in the long run. Surrendering to Russia would have more impact than the draft does.

The UN acknowledges this conflict to some extent; https://www.ohchr.org/en/conscientious-objection

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Shockingly sexist policy.

And as per usual because its harmful to men no one cares.

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The constitution made it impossible to make a less sexist law, because it says that women cannot be forced to military service. It is an old document, and it is based on old role models. Modernizing the constitution would require 2/3 majority, and the government was already struggling with making a law at all.

This is an explanation, not a justification.

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Fuck the constitution if it can't treat all equally
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> The constitution made it impossible to make a less sexist law

with the right level of public exposure citizens would surely have been able to put enough pressure on the government to make this happen. But instead zelensky kept repeating the talking points that we should not be concerned about the war because the risk had not changed since 2014. Near-zero effort was made to evacuate ukrainians living near the russian border or those who would be in the way of russian troops. The intelligence had been there for at least six months before the war began

> and the government was already struggling with making a law at all

what do you mean?

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In a scenario where you are losing a significant part of the population to war, it's better that it be men.
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Only if you ignore free will. Feels unlikely that women will suddenly abandon monogamy and forced procreation à la the draft is probably very unpopular especially given that women would be a majority. Not that they’re wrong to disagree, but there are more conditions here than the biology of procreation.

The modern answer would be immigration, and that’s gender-agnostic.

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And russia has been violating this too, along with other much worse things, as usual.
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Hard to feel the same sympathy for Russian men to be honest, I've seen many gallivanting abroad, whilst majority of Ukrainian men are stuck either in hiding in their own country or have been sent to the front lines. Only a few got out early or by paying bribes.
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honestly i am happy for the russian and ukranian young men and women i meet here in NL each day. Glad for them they can dodge the draft. most simply drove out, some had more hastle than others.

war is shit on all sides and thinking one or the other suffers less because you dont like their colours is very short sighted.... i think we had enough time by now to realise it.

and dont call it cowardice if someone doesnt want to fight for a bunch of 'rich pricks' playin with their money while normal people get to die in the streets. It has never been good or normal and should never be.

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It's objectively worse on the Ukrainian side. Imagine you haven't been able to leave your house in 4 years for fear you'll be grabbed by a draft officer. Russians do not know this fear.

To boot, many Russian men have been paid handsomely for their participation in the SMO and get to live nice lives abroad.

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Did you just forget about the mobilization drive Russia had in 2022, where they grabbed young men off streets and from their houses?

It was very unpopular, lead to people fleeing the country, and was pushed out of the public eye as soon as they figured out how to forcefully volunteer people instead.

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Nobody grabbed anyone. It was an unusual, but otherwise a normal bureaucratic process. Got handed a paper, signed, have to appear. Many probably didn't have plans to go voluntarily, but felt it unmanly to dodge. I was at one of such sites and saw a man who got there too drunk and was handed over to the police; he was very disappointed he is not allowed go with the fellas.

It wasn't hard to dodge; you could just refuse to take the papers pretending it's not you or get sick the very day or something like that. The system had a number and once it was reached (very quickly) no further action was necessary. The only change so far us that the employers started to follow their military tracking procedure to the letter; before that it was required but not really enforced, but now all the paperwork gets done by the book.

Some people indeed left the country but those are the kind you don't want to have your back anyway.

Forceful volunteering is pure imagination. At most it's intensive persuasion or a new way to get out of jail, but if you don't want to go, nobody will force you.

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> Nobody grabbed anyone

Around the Moscow elite, no. In the outer provinces, we have ample evidence of forced conscription.

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It's not like it's zero-sum though; the world outside Russia and as Ukraine isn't going to become so full that there's no room for more or them to leave to dodge fighting in a war, so the parent commenter can easily be happy for any of them regardless of their country of origin.
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Factually untrue, Russian men can and do leave the country. Also, nice whataboutism bro.
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How about Russians from abroad, do they often go back to Russia?
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The men I know try not to go unless it's absolutely necessary. The women generally prance to Russia and back all the time. (Exceptions exist, of course.)
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You started with bringing Ukraine up under an article about Germany, so how is your comment any less a whataboutism than mine?
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That was a different user and not me, but fair point.
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> Nobody even questions why men in UKR. cannot leave the country

Because the answer is obvious - Ukraine fights war.

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Why is it only *forced for men? Does that sound equal and civil to you? note we are not living in middle ages and there is no world war.
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The constitution says so and at the moment it's unlikely for a qualified majority to be found to change it. It's as simple as that.
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> Why is it only *forced for men?

Because since mass armies are the case it always was so, and all can men do now is whine on the internet, because they are not going to do anything.

> Does that sound equal and civil to you?

Not really, but however it sounds has no impact of it being the case.

> note we are not living in middle ages

In middle ages most men had no obligation to fight wars.

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You can now simply change the gender in your passport as a german, so practically it would be very easy to get around this.

But it is very easy to see from this all that some people are very vocal about equality when in reality they want privileges.

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