The strange role of conscription in Ukraine’s war

IN UKRAINE’S WEST families flee from war as one, but crumble into pieces upon arrival. Using powers conferred by martial law, the government has banned all men aged 18-60 from leaving the country. Instead they must report for duty at a military recruitment office. And so Anna was this week one of many women to bid her husband goodbye as she crossed the border to safety. She is seven months pregnant. Back in Kyiv, her abandoned apartment is full of baby clothes and the cot that she has chosen for her daughter. Anna’s husband, she says via phone from Hungary, “believes that I will give birth in Kyiv,” because peace will come by May. “But I don’t believe it.”

The Ukrainian army enjoys stratospheric morale and is punching far above its weight against Vladimir Putin’s troops, tanks and missiles. Thousands of foreigners have flocked to join its newly created International Legion, while Russian troops abandon their posts. Volodymyr Zelensky, the country’s president, knows his country’s fight is just, whereas Russia’s is rotten. For that he derides Mr Putin, who "collects reservists and conscripts from all over Russia to throw them into the hell of war”.