The new trend of “evading” military service is gaining more and more popularity in Ukraine
Recently, “interesting” videos shot by young men who are running away from conscription for military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine are becoming too popular on social networks such as TikTok, Instagram and others. Most of the authors of such videos are citizens who fled the territory of Ukraine illegally, although some of such authors still remain in the country.
Young people show their daily life through funny videos to the “song of the dodger”, showing sea views, dining in restaurants and trips abroad. Quite often, such materials are filled with sarcasm, incompatible jokes, and humiliation of both the military cause and the overall military situation in Ukraine. This creates a rather strong contrast with the life of Ukrainians, and especially those who are currently serving in the front line. There are already certain statements from the GUR regarding such a trend, where it was indicated that the Russian Federation may be behind this wave of publications, indicating possible support for informational and psychological warfare.
What exactly confirms this trend and why is it gaining such popularity? AI “FACT” conducted research and found out.
“Waking up and freaking out”: what is currently trending among young people and why.
Many videos on this topic have already appeared on social media platforms – to energetic music, young people demonstrate their comfortable and rich “evasiveness”. Someone flaunts a luxurious life with dinners in overseas restaurants and trips in expensive cars, shares vivid landscapes and cities where they are now. Others intentionally show sarcastic doubts and incomprehension: choosing between a double cheeseburger or dual citizenship. And someone even walks through Ukrainian streets, signing his records with the words: “Any weather is good when you’re a dodger.”
Moreover, marketers, who are always more sensitive than others to modern trends, have already been able to “catch” this trend: in the space of online stores, you can now order special paraphernalia, such as T-shirts and sweatshirts, caps, paintings, gift sets and other things with the slogan ” Mr. evasive”. (This confirms the product search on Google)
Another interesting moment is the appearance of similar content from girls. Women in Ukraine have always been one of the key driving forces of all socio-political processes in the country, but currently there are quite a few Ukrainian women who film their boyfriends and boast that they are evasive, demonstratively playing according to the script of such characters.
The active and patriotic part of society (this is an unequivocal majority) is strongly outraged by similar trends and behavior among young people. A passive (and much smaller) part of citizens treats this with humor. We, as analysts, see in this phenomenon a growing antagonism between “military patriotic Ukraine” and “ordinary peaceful Ukraine”, which is trying to exist as if nothing is happening at all. We will find out and explain what exactly such a confrontation indicates and what it can lead to.
Currently, our unequivocal conclusion is that such a trend, generated by great social tension and dissatisfaction of society, carries many subtexts and causes various reactions of citizens.
How did it happen that Ukrainians do not want to serve in the army?
Through humorous and satirical videos, a general systemic problem is revealed: the majority of Ukrainians do not want to participate in hostilities.
This is evidenced by numerous facts: “street mobilization” on the part of TikTok, data from the State Border Service on the number of attempts to cross the border illegally, the results of sociological surveys and the analysis of a large number of open information sources.
According to a survey by the Info Sapiens company, 63% of Ukrainians of draft age do not want to be mobilized, among whom 50% indicate that the draft is illegal and inhumane. However, the other 25% believe that everything is going as the state of war in Ukraine predicts, and another 20% are not against serving in the Armed Forces.
Such results can be explained by social psychology: any society, especially one with such strong patriotic energy as the Ukrainian one, can mobilize as much as possible at a critical moment. This is what happened in 2022, when a full-scale war began, but this “psychological spring” cannot be compressed forever and the condition of any person during military operations cannot remain stable. It is possible to rally and become active in such emergency conditions only for a certain time in order to survive such events, but not everyone is capable of constantly living in conditions of stress, anxiety and uncertainty. Society has certain limits of being in a state of maximum tension, and today this limit is much lower than it was before. At the same time, a very certain share of Ukrainians represents a very individualistic society of consumers who, basically, put their personal “I” and their own desires much higher priority than those of the state. They forget that the war has been going on for the third year and, unfortunately, no one can see or understand its end.
In these conditions, dissatisfaction and apathy spreads among the “risk group” (young men and men of draft age), which is expressed in “evasive songs” and the desire to live as if nothing is happening. Such people can be justified to some extent – they want a normal, ordinary life, but sarcasm, jokes and irony in such important and topical issues are unacceptable. It is much easier for the majority of the population to accept and understand those who are outraged by such attitudes and videos of “evaders”, because they (or their relatives) shed blood while someone “evades” and makes a trend about it.
The GUR declares that the “evasion trend” is the enemy’s IPSO, and that in any case, it is a gift for the Russian Federation, and it will definitely try to make the most of it. In our opinion, the roots of such a problem lie much deeper: this trend not only reflects the general state of opinion among young people, but also strengthens antagonism in society. On the one hand, many perceive it with humor, understanding that young people express their dissatisfaction with the situation. On the other hand, this trend can provoke deep social reflection and criticism of military obligations and state policy.
Therefore, such videos do not pose a particular threat to the government and the state, and in many cases it remains inappropriate humor, not political statements. However, such sarcastic videos, especially against the background of the mobilization law passed by the parliament, demonstrate a deeper problem: the unwillingness of a large part of society to live and die in an endless war. You can understand such people: everyone wants to have a choice and live in peace and tranquility. However, in another, belligerent part of our society, this causes indignation, which, certainly, will not contribute to strengthening the unity of Ukrainians in the conditions of war. Paying attention to such phenomena is extremely important for a general understanding of the deep social, political and psychological problems that Ukrainian society is facing.