Ukraine's Military Draft Brings War Home for Thousands

The knock on the door for Andriy Gerus came on a Monday morning in July. Fresh from getting his MBA in London, Gerus, a managing director at Ukrainian investment company Concorde Capital, was preparing to take his baby for a stroll in the pleasant Holosiyevo district of Kiev. Instead, the surprise visitor handed him orders to report to the Ukrainian army’s commissariat, the agency in charge of the draft. Gerus says his heart raced. He knew next to nothing about firearms. “I imagined myself with a gun, marching,” Gerus, 32, says over drinks in a cafe in central Kiev. When he had calmed down, he headed to the commissariat. He will probably be drafted into the army within days. “Everyone has two choices,” Gerus says. “To obey Ukrainian law, go with your conscience, and prepare to be mobilized or avoid joining the army by skipping town and risking three to five years of prison. I prefer the first choice.”

The war is coming home for thousands of Ukrainians as the third mobilization since March drafts men into service. The most widespread reaction to the draft is fear: The fact that a third mobilization is needed is a sign the war is far from over. The extra manpower is meant to contain the pro-Russian insurgency that started in April in the easternmost regions of Ukraine.