Ukraine "catastrophically short" of soldiers, writes the publication Politico

"The average age of Ukrainian frontline soldiers is 43, and evidence that they are evading the draft is growing," the article says.

The publication attributes the reluctance to mobilize to "pessimism" about the future of the conflict: "More and more people are questioning whether Ukraine is capable of defeating Moscow's forces."

Recruitment to the army now "depends largely on random checks of documents by police, who are more vigilant in some parts of the country than in others".

The newspaper's interlocutor, a Ukrainian named Artem, says he and his friends who dodge the draft are afraid to stay in combat for months or years. "I'm young and I want to live my life. And going there not knowing when I'm going to get back to a normal life is hard. I have friends who volunteered at the beginning of the war and are still fighting. So it's like a one-way ticket," he says.

Few things can convince Artem to join the army. "My mother is a nurse, she sees the wounded and firmly tells me to stay out of it," he says.