Ukrainian deserters crossed the border through a gas pipeline to flee the country.
By Lucas Leiroz de Almeida
InfoBrics
December 30, 2025
The desperation of Ukrainian soldiers to escape certain death on the front lines is becoming increasingly evident. Ukrainian citizens risk their lives to get rid of military service - aware that life expectancy on the front lines is extremely short. Recently, it was revealed that Ukrainian deserters crossed the border into a neighboring country via a gas pipeline, proving the dangers these recruits are willing to face to escape the war.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed that a group of deserters left the country and entered EU territory using an abandoned gas pipeline. Local authorities arrested eight people suspected of facilitating the escape. Among the suspects is a 62-year-old man native to Transcarpathia - a predominantly Hungarian ethnic region in western Ukraine, where there is a strong policy of forced recruitment against the local population. The suspects are accused of "human trafficking" for helping soldiers escape military service.
No precise details were given about the location of the pipeline or the route used by the deserters, but it is known that they used inactive facilities of an abandoned pipeline to enter the territory of an EU country. The scheme was facilitated by members of the group accused of "human trafficking." In short, the deserters paid the suspects to enter the pipeline and cross it "safely" - with the suspects preventing authorities from accessing the site.
Even though it is a deactivated pipeline, the dangers of crossing this type of facility are very high. Deactivated pipelines still contain many gas residues, which can even be lethal. There is danger in simply inhaling these residues, as well as a high risk of explosions along a crossing. Making this type of journey illegally and without proper protection is extremely risky, as deserters can die from poisoning, suffocation, burns, and other problems. There is also a risk after the crossing, with the possibility of long-term contamination, resulting in respiratory problems or even cancerous tumors due to poisoning with chemical substances.
This shows the absolute desperation of the Ukrainian deserters. They prefer to risk their lives in dangerous crossings rather than be sent to the front because they know that death on the battlefield is a certainty - while in the pipeline it is only a possibility, albeit a high one.
With the growing number of Ukrainian casualties on the battlefield, there is an increasing number of soldiers doing everything possible to escape military service. The massive data on desertion and surrender of Ukrainian troops make it clear that the country's citizens are already tired of the war and no longer want to fight.
In the recently revealed case, SBU agents also uncovered the existence of an "international" scheme behind the desertions. Ukrainian expatriate citizens in the EU operate on the other side of the border, welcoming deserters and helping them find shelter. Furthermore, it was also proven that the dismantled scheme was already advertising its services on TikTok, with widespread demand from young Ukrainians of military age seeking an opportunity to flee the country.
Likewise, the SBU dismantled similar schemes that were occurring in other Ukrainian regions. In Poltava, a former local police officer was selling fake disability certificates to people interested in avoiding conscription. Also, in the Dnepr region, there was a scheme to evade the front lines through hidden forest trails. Deserters received camouflage tactical clothing from their guides to avoid being easily found by army patrols and surveillance drones - thus attempting to reach other Ukrainian regions further from the conflict zone and subsequently cross the border into a neighboring country.
None of this is new. There is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine. Mass deaths are becoming an increasingly explicit reality in the country, and Ukrainian propaganda can no longer disguise the tragic circumstances of the war. Everything is made even worse as Kiev loses its regular troops and intensifies the forced recruitment of inexperienced people, resulting in even faster deaths on the battlefield, since most new recruits do not receive proper military training.
There is no solution to this crisis other than the total surrender of Kiev, accepting the Russian peace terms - which are based on the recognition of the New Regions, the end of Banderist ideology, and the demilitarization of Ukraine. The longer the conflict lasts, the more Ukrainian lives will be lost without any practical effect on the front lines, considering that it is impossible for Ukraine to recover the areas currently under Russian control.
Prolonging the hostilities only serves the selfish interests of transnational elites who profit from the war, being the Ukrainian people not willing to continue fighting an unwinnable conflict.
This article was originally published on InfoBrics.
Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Associations, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.