JonPreston:
"BBC: 650,000 conscription-aged men have left Ukraine for Europe" OK, so let's first look at Russians who fled Russia since February 2022:
"Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in late February 2022, more than 300,000 Russian citizens and residents are estimated to have left Russia by mid-March 2022, at least 500,000 by the end of August 2022... and an additional 400,000[1] by early October, for a total of approximately 900,000.
This number includes economic migrants, conscientious objectors, and some political refugees.[2][3][4][5][6]"
Ukrainian refugees are counted as:
"An ongoing refugee crisis began in Europe in late February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Nearly 6 million refugees fleeing Ukraine are recorded across Europe,[1] while an estimated 8 million others had been displaced within the country by late May 2022.[needs update][2][3][4]
Approximately one-quarter of the country's total population had left their homes in Ukraine by 20 March.[5]
90% of Ukrainian refugees are women and children, while most Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are banned from leaving the country.[6]
By 24 March, more than half of all children in Ukraine had left their homes, of whom a quarter had left the country.[7][8] "
How many actual Ukrainian draft dodgers are there?
"BBC says nearly 20,000 men fled Ukraine to avoid conscription
Story by VALENTYNA ROMANENKO • 1w""The BBC has found that nearly 20,000 men have fled Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war to avoid being drafted into the country's army.
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service (SBGS) is unaware of such figures, adding that attempted illegal border crossings fell in 2023.
"Source: BBC; Colonel Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for SBGS, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda
"Details: The BBC says it established this number by requesting data on illegal border crossings from Ukraine's neighbours Romania, Moldova, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
The data indicate that 19,740 men illegally crossed these countries' borders between February 2022 and 31 August 2023."
So who are those 650,000 Ukrainian men refugees also reported by the BBC?
"Approximately 650,000 Ukrainian men aged 18-60 have left Ukraine for Europe since the start of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, BBC Ukraine reported on Nov. 24. Citing data provided by Eurostat, the official statistical record-keeping agency of the EU, the report notes over half a million male refugees are currently residing in the 27 EU member states, as well as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, many of whom are undocumented."
"...The statistics do not provide details on the number of men who departed legally as fathers of three children, individuals with disabilities, or other eligible categories for travel outside of Ukraine.
Nor do statistics specify the number of men who may have traveled to Europe from the territories temporarily occupied by Russia.
"As Ukraine faces the challenge of maintaining adequate military personnel, recent reports indicate that nearly 20,000 Ukrainian men have managed to evade conscription, finding various routes to leave the country."
So, 20,000 are known draft dodgers, the rest could be legitimate, including escapees from Russian controlled regions of Ukraine.
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