Ukrainians have coined a word for mobilization: “busification.” The name is already outdated. These days, it’s rarely a bus — more often a van or an ordinary car, sometimes with a police escort, sometimes without. It pulls up near a market, a metro station or a gym. Sometimes just a street or a residential courtyard.
Recruitment officers have learned to pick their ambush spots carefully. Upon noticing a draft-age male, they get out of the vehicle and begin what everyone around understands to be a hunt. The prey sees the men in camouflage and runs.
For a long time, the Western press avoided this topic. Politicians proved better informed. On July 15, European Union ambassadors agreed to extend temporary protection for Ukrainians until March 2028 but excluded men ages 23 to 60 from the new measure. Beginning in March 2027, protection will be granted only to those who have fulfilled their military obligations in Ukraine.
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