Maramures, Romania
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Viktor Pinkhasov can’t stop smiling. He has just managed to escape Ukraine after hiking alone for five days across the Carpathian Mountains.
“I want to go and be free, to live,” the 34-year-old told CNN in disbelief after arriving in neighboring Romania. He is one of dozens making the illegal crossing from western Ukraine every week.
After nearly four years of pushing against Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine is facing a growing manpower crisis: Kyiv’s forces are trying to hold a more than 600-mile front line against Russian troops who are pressing a relentless war of attrition.
CNN spoke to half a dozen draft evaders…
.jpg "Πρωτιά…Νικόλα Παναγιώτου!")
