PBS News Hour

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Today, a U.S. official said Ukraine should consider dropping the age of eligibility for military conscription from 25 to 18 years old.

It is a stark acknowledgment that Ukraine simply doesn't have enough troops to fight the seemingly endless volume of Russian soldiers, especially now that they're being bolstered by North Korean troops.

Special correspondent Jack Hewson looks at Ukraine's dilemma and the country's sometimes harsh solutions.

JACK HEWSON: The promise of excitement, thrill and adventure.

This ad is one of hundreds designed to appeal to young Ukrainians to sign up to fight.

But some are not well-suited for the role.

Anton is one of them.

ANTON, Ukrainian: I'm the pacifist.

So, I avoid any violence.

And I can't imagine now that I will shoot someone.

But if I have two options, go to the war or go to the jail, I will choose go to the jail.

JACK HEWSON: Others have chosen to leave the country.

These men were caught trying to cross a river into neighboring Hungary by night on an inflatable dinghy.

Dozens have been drowned or rescued after attempting to swim.

Many are smuggled out of the country in the back of vehicles.

Rather than join them, for now, Anton has simply gone into hiding.

ANTON: I have to look around.

All my actions are blocked.

I don't use any bus, metro.

Wanted to avoid the situation where I stay alone on the street.

JACK HEWSON: And he does this because young men are increasingly being stopped in public spaces by recruitment officers.

As Ukraine's casualties have mounted, a new law has mandated all men over 25 to update their contact details so they may be called on to replace the fallen.

If I were Ukrainian and wishing to avoid military service, then this would be a very hazardous place to be.

Territorial recruitment officers can approach me and ask to see my documents.

And if they're not in order, I can be summoned.

If I refuse to be summoned, the only person who legally is supposed to be able to detain me is a policeman.

But, in reality, territorial recruitment officers have been bundling men into the back of vehicles and sending them off to training centers and then on to the front.

Scores of videos of men being dragged off of the street have emerged on social media.

And there are many more who have been deceived in other ways.

Mykhalio, speaking to me independently of the military chain of command at his new base in Donbass, was tricked into driving straight to a training camp when he voluntarily updated his details at medical commission office.

MYKHALIO, Ukrainian Soldier: And before they took me to car, they was very polite.

They smiled at me and said: "Everything will be OK. No, no, no, don't worry.

It's just two hours and you will come back."

And when I sit to their car, it's like, I was like a prisoner.

JACK HEWSON: So how did that make you feel?

You must have been very angry.

MYKHALIO: Yes, I was confused, angry and lost about this, because they even -- even didn't give me time to go home to kiss my wife, to kiss my baby.

JACK HEWSON: Compounding this anger has been arrest footage of government officials with literal piles of cash allegedly harvested from draft-dodging scams.

This woman, Tetiana Krupa, is a regional medical commission head accused of taking bribes to certify individuals as disabled, enabling them to skip military service.

The Ukrainian government declined our request for comment on the allegations.

President Zelenskyy has condemned the scandal.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): I expect swift and decisive action from law enforcement.

JACK HEWSON: Many like Mykhalio are incensed at the system's injustice.

MYKHALIO: I think that a lot of people don't want to go to army now, because they see how corrupted is our government.

JACK HEWSON: Despite this, the mobilization drive is still attracting recruits, like Call Sign Gart here trained to be a drone pilot near the eastern city of Kharkiv.

CALL SIGN "GART," New Recruit: Basically, we have two choices.

Either we don't fight, and we all die one way or another.

Russia will occupy us.

They will kill us, rape us.

The other choice is to join military and fight.

And then we have a chance to win and have a safe life.

So, for me, the choice is obvious.

JACK HEWSON: But there aren't enough young men and women now making this choice.

At the beginning of the war, hundreds of thousands volunteered.

Now the majority are drafted, some against their will.

On the front line, the lack of keen recruits is sorely felt.

We visited an artillery unit near to Chasiv Yar to ask what is most severely needed.

Ammunition shortages are a major problem in the face of Russia's advance.

But troop shortages are just as critical, in particular, an acute lack of infantry.

Can you feel any difference from the recruitment drive?

ANDRIY, Artillery Commander (through translator): No, we don't know where the newly mobilized people are.

Almost nothing has changed for us.

They don't add people to help here, yet they may even take some from here instead.

JACK HEWSON: Many of those on the front are close to exhaustion.

Some haven't had a break since they first signed up when Russia invaded in 2022.

Andriy dutifully told us that morale was high, but his face seemed to tell a different story.

ANDRIY (through translator): We feel that fatigue from this war, but, you know, if we give up, then the situation will be far worse than it is now.

But, yes, we are tired.

We are all so fed up with this war.

JACK HEWSON: And so Kyiv's glossy recruitment campaigns continue, as the country seeks desperately to persuade young men and women to replace the thousands who have been killed and injured, fending off a far bigger invading force.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jack Hewson in Ukraine.