Every day they go out into the streets with fear, they monitor the checkpoints online and the whole family works to prevent the father from being taken to the Army. Of course, black money for bribes can still be a solution. But how much and for how long longer?
Daily increases the number of graves in it Uzhhorod Calvary Cemetery. In the last two and a half years, this has become the memorial site for the martyrs of Transcarpathia.
According to US estimates, up to 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers died in the war against Russia.
Go or stay?
In the early days of the war, the Hungarian fathers and sons of Transcarpathia They fled en masse to Hungary to escape compulsory military service. Many had already been working on this side of the border, especially in construction. They had to stay and resign themselves to the fact that they would not be able to lie down peacefully for long. Women often stayed at home to handle domestic work and, because they could travel freely, they joined their loved ones along the border on vacation.
But not everyone escaped. The number of Hungarians in Transcarpathia has been declining drastically for decades, and it is feared that if they leave because of the war, the Hungarian minority of Ukraine will disappear soon. And without Hungarians there is no Transcarpathiathey say.
The last bastion
Although it is possible to travel from Transcarpathia to 3 European Union countries, the region has long been one of the most underdeveloped areas of Ukraine. The Soviet regime focused attention on the industrialization of the eastern provinces. The largest factories, mines and power plants were established there. Now it is in these areas where the fighting takes place, from Donetsk until Mariupol.
Transcarpathianfar from the front, has become an island of peace. It was here that the inhabitants of eastern Ukraine fled who did not want to leave their homeland, but wanted safety. In two years, the population of You will wear it again It almost doubled and many luxury apartments were built. Is the only big city without a night curfewso parties and bachelor parties can be organized.
All women; men are on the front lines
What is surprising, however, is that the streets are almost exclusively full of young women. Men between 18 and 60 years old have been brought to the front or they are still hidden.
Most of the Hungarians who stayed in Transcarpathia preferred the second option. They feel that this is not their war. They do not want to go to kyiv or Moscow, they just want to preserve their traditions and use their language without being disturbed.
Besides, They don’t understand why they should fight in the Eastwhen the people there save their fortune in Transcarpathia and try to disappear there. In the gardens of ruined houses, sports cars and yachts wait for the war to end.
Tens of thousands are hiding
The team of ‘Euronews‘He managed to interview exclusively two of the residents of the area who do not want to fight. For your safety, we cannot give your name or whereabouts. In the following we will refer to them as K y H.
If their identity were revealed, they would almost certainly end up in a trench in Donetsk. And not only them, but also their colleagues, since there are only men in uniform at their workplace.
For more than two years, K He starts working every morning knowing that if he is caught at a checkpoint, by the afternoon he will be hundreds of kilometers away, in a recruitment office.
K also showed ‘Euronews‘that on the Internet, groups of tens of thousands of people give each other a helping hand to ensure that there is no risk in sight.
But H swears otherwise.
At home, however, everyone is safe because the recruiters don’t bring a search warrant. They are not necessary secret rooms or escape tunnelsit is enough for a neighbor to say that the person they are looking for has moved away a long time ago.
ADVERTISINGThere is always a loophole
We met Peter not far from UngvarHe is now retired, so he has nothing to worry about. He knows the border like the back of his hand. He referred to the human smuggling that used to take place in Little boy. The border of Trianon ran through the town between two houses, so in exchange for a small payment, the neighbors used to bring people from their gardens to Slovakia simply using some stairs portable.
Since the beginning of the war, off-road cars have been regularly used to cross the green border, where smugglers dropped off those who wanted to go to the West. Recently, in Ball they found a military vehicle and uniforms abandoned, which means that deserters They are also numerous.
Peter says that if they catch you, you shouldn’t despair, as there is a long tradition of corruption in the area in all areas. But it is a fact that the amount of bribes It has also increased with the rigors of war. One villager told him that he had recently been freed by recruiters in exchange for 800 euros, but there were others who paid 5,000 euros, almost two million forints, for his freedom.
Payment without guarantee
Furthermore, the soldiers do not provide any protection, they simply open the door. If one of their companions stops them 100 meters later, they have to negotiate again. Furthermore, the police They also receive the equivalent of 50,000 forints, about 127 euros, if they arrest a uniformed officer. It’s not little money in Ukraine, so the authorities are very motivated.
ADVERTISINGOne thing is certain: everyone who can flees the terror of war. Russians seek refuge from Georgia until BaliEastern Ukrainians hope for peace in Transcarpathia and Hungarians tremble to see if peace will come. Policeor as they call it: the car of broken dreams.
