Even employers have to hand out military drafts, and in addition to cramming men from the street and public areas into vans and taking them to military assembly points, they also mobilize people who have disabilities and are clearly unfit to fight.

The Supreme Council of Ukraine will make a decision this week on the extension of martial law and general mobilization, representative Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on the Telegram messaging application. According to his information, the Ukrainian parliament has decided to extend the maintenance of martial law for another 90 days from February 19.

Meanwhile, the forced queues are getting rougher again. Even employers have to hand out military drafts, and in addition to cramming men from the street and public areas into vans and taking them to military assembly points, they also mobilize people who have disabilities and are clearly unfit to fight. It also happened that a visually impaired man was taken away, and, contrary to the law, many fathers with large families were also found in their hands with the so-called "narrative". Even in the smaller Hungarian villages of the Subcarpathians, the police and military presence is often present, the purpose of which is to uncover the terrain about the number and whereabouts of men who can still be conscripted. The men still left in Transcarpathia are afraid to go out into the street, and everyone is held captive by the thought that a policeman or soldier emerging from a hidden section of the road will force them to accept the military summons, or in the worst case, they will be immediately transported to a military collection point.

Despite the continuous power outages in the Subcarpathians - and the regular shutdown of border crossings as a result - a large number of people are flocking to Ukraine's western borders. Those who can leave the country. During the past weekend, on Saturday alone, almost 10,000 people arrived from Ukraine to Hungary, according to the information provided by the National Police Headquarters on Sunday. According to the State Border Police Service of Ukraine, almost 65,000 people and 17,000 vehicles crossed the border on Friday, of which 34,000 left Ukraine and headed west.

According to the facts, it is unlikely that the war will take a milder turn. Even before the outbreak of the disaster, emigration from Transcarpathia increased enormously, especially among young people - hoping for a better, more stable and sustainable living situation. Since the beginning of the war, most of the men, some alone, some with their families, left the country, leaving behind everything they had built up until now. The streets are empty, you can hardly see a man or a young person, and those who remain live in fear, compounded by the constant air raids and power outages. Power generators, batteries, gasoline generators, and alternative light sources are now the greatest necessities of life in Transcarpathia. People don't even notice the sounding of the air raid siren anymore, it has become such a part of their everyday life.

We must express our respect for those who, despite all this, decided not to leave their homeland and keep the spirit in the community that remained there.

Author: BMV

Opening image: illustration. Source: pmg.ua