Stories of Belarusian army (non)evaders

In Belarus, the autumn conscription begins. Those who don't want to join the army have almost no choice: if there are no other reasons for deferment, the only option is to become unfit—the guys who could have told us how to do it. And yes, it's legal.

Euroradio tells the stories of two young men who can inspire others to take a close look at their health and confidently stand up for themselves so they don't lose a year or a year and a half of their lives. 

Maksim, 25, says it's scary to go to the military recruiting office and say he's gay.

"I started preparing for the possibility of being drafted about six months before the draft board. I realized that "shit, I'm going to be in the Army soon," and I didn't want to serve. I started studying various disease lists on the Internet and reading about other people's experiences on forums.

At first, I thought about avoiding the draft because of my eyesight. Of course, I have bad eyesight, but it was not bad enough to avoid the Army. I also have flat feet, but that's not an option either.

I also suffered from sleepwalking as a child, and at the age of 20-21 (when I had to deal with the military recruiting office) it manifested itself, but not too much. I didn't even bet on it, but it worked out later.

My main trump card was the sexual orientation trick. I prepared myself, found out from acquaintances, and interviewed friends who managed to use this scheme.

But it was a little scary to go to the recruiting office and say: "Hi, I'm gay." So I decided that would be Plan B, and Plan A would be to sleepwalk out of it.

I was surprised to find sleepwalking on the list of diseases. Even though everyone discouraged me, I decided to give it a try.

When it was time to go to the draft board, I said that I could scream and walk in my sleep. The reaction there was, "Oh, really? Okay, we'll send you to a mental institution.

That year, the tragedy in the Pečy military unit was still fresh in people's minds, so at the slightest suspicion, everyone was sent for examination - just in case.

On the seventh or eighth day of my hospital stay, I began to sleepwalk. My roommates noticed that I got up during the night, sat on the bed, and said something. So I called the doctor. The guys confirmed that I was indeed sleepwalking, and then it was noted at the final medical board meeting.