My friend, the draft dodger.
M- lives in an undisclosed location near Kyiv. The location is undisclosed because I never ask him to disclose it.
M- is Ukrainian. I know him as well as two people can know each other who work together on a daily basis for five years via messaging apps.
Such is the modern world.
Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war he has been living near Kiev. I figure he’s in hiding, trying not to get drafted to the front lines.
But I never actually ask until now.
In the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion, we engage in lots of back and forth about what’s happening and where he is.
He and his wife leave Kyiv during the initial phase of the war, and their apartment either gets bombed or they don’t feel able to go back.
A few months into the conflict, this is the kind of discussion we have.
Hey Arthur! Thanks for the walkthrough. All clear, deadline is ok, Tuesday 15th.
Every now and then, unpleasant shards of light slip through.
Hey Arthur! Thanks for the new project, it seems very promising in case of design upgrade. The only thing I’d like to ask is to move deadline one day ahead if it’s possible. I’m currently have an emergency travel to another city (500 miles from our current place of living) for Canadian visa appointment. They scheduled my visa arrangements for tomorrow morning, so me and [his wife] had to take a train this morning. I can work on laptop while travelling though, I did it plenty of times, it just not as comfortable as at my desk PC, so I’m asking a bit flexible deadline. Regarding the deck I have no questions, all clear, will start working on it ASAP.
As well as being a great designer, M- plays in a rock band.
For a few tepid moments, I investigate the possibility of promoting a concert for his band in Norwich so that I can get them visas to come to Britain so they can defect and… stay with me?
That plan never gets beyond idea stage.
Then I start seeing these kind of videos.
At no time do I directly ask ‘why aren’t you in the army?’
I guess it probably boils down to three possibilities.
The most flattering is that he benefits from some kind of amnesty because I pay him good, regular USD
The most far fetched is that he is secretly assembling drones in a residential setting, as apparently happens
The most likely is that he is in hiding to dodge the draft.
When I take my job at Substack, the only slight hesitation is that I had been sending so much design work to M- and now I won’t.
But, honestly, my Pitch Deck business has been drying up for cultural and economic reasons. And Substack is my dream job. I don’t hesitate for long.
I give him a wee bonus and we part ways.
Yesterday, some urgent design work comes up at Substack. One designer is on holiday, and another we use has just had a baby.
I know exactly where to go.
I send the job to M- who is happy to do it. Happy to hear from me again.
This time, I decide to ask…
I’m OK, but not completely safe. Our mobilization methods mixed with corruption are beyond basic human rights.
I can’t drive my car or walk streets safely – I just can be grabbed by military police and in 1-2 days (without any physical preparations, teaching and medical procedures) be somewhere on the front. And of course it has a price to avoid this. We live in a very corrupted state.
And thus I come face to face with some unpleasant facts about M-’s life.
And unpleasant feelings about my own.
What would you do in my situation?
What do you make of M-’s?