Smartest thing would've been - move out of Ukraine. Shit went sideways long before borders got closed. There were plenty of red flags.

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verelo 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Funny, not funny, this friend and I met up in early 2020 and had a beer down the road. He was telling me he'd rented his apartment in Liviv and was moving here next week. He had to go home to get some things, hand over the unit, and then he'd be back.

Next week was the pandemic, borders closed. He never left, and now he /still/ cant.

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Scrapemist 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They are proud people who want to defend their country.

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abc123abc123 19 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Let politicians fight and die in their own wars. If russia "visited" my country, I'd follow it with a drink in my hand from the bahamas. No piece of dirt or earth is worth dying for, ever.

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anticodon 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Several millions left the country immediately, and the rest cannot do it because borders were closed immediately. Ukraine borders with Europe are all barbed wire, anti-personnel mines, drones and guards with automatic weapons ensuring "proud people" don't even think about leaving.

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kakacik 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This is a lie, please stop spreading those. There are no "all barbed wire" borders, no anti-personnel mines, "guards with automatic weapons" sounds like some meme from 80s video games (which border guards anywhere in the world don't have some rifle with automatic fire mode?). Young people from Ukraine can currently travel free as far as I know.

You were thinking about russia, weren't you. Its not true even for that shithole, but much closer.

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koonsolo 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I work with plenty of people from Ukraine. And recently, someone went abroad. So it's definitely still possible.

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anticodon 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Very unlikely. Men of ages 18-60 are forbidden to leave Ukraine since February 27 or 28 of 2022. Women cannot cross the border since 2023.

Of course, there should be some exceptions. For example, some people need to go abroad to bring Western supplied munitions, officials can leave to visit other countries, etc.

But almost 100% of the population cannot leave Ukraine under any circumstances.

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tasuki 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> Women cannot cross the border since 2023.

I have spoken with several Ukrainian women who have crossed the border several times since 2023. They live and work in Poland or Czechia, but go visit Ukraine once or twice a year. Note they're Ukrainian citizens, and do not have Czech nor Polish citizenship.

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koonsolo an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Very unlikely.

Well, the guy I know fled Ukraine last year, and is now alive and well abroad. So I would say very likely.

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kakacik 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Untrue, why the heck do you keep spreading lies all over here? Young people including men 18-22 can leave Ukraine these days.

This change was all over the world news at the end of December. You are not on the top of your game, are you.

	▲	gpderetta 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		A not so great man once said: "To think badly is a sin, but you're almost always right".
	▲	anticodon 30 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I don't follow Ukrainian laws closely. I remember they allowed young men of ages 18-22 to cross the border in August 2025 (!). That caused enormous lines on the borders as the first day after this law 11,000 young men fled the country. But that only about men of age 18-22. Men of age 22-60 still cannot leave the country. And 18-22 couldn't leave the country for three years.

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crystal_revenge 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The world we're headed for there is no "other place" to escape to. Many people's view of survival during collapse ultimately assumes the existence of a fairly large "safe haven" space for which they just need to survive until they get there.

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koonsolo 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

That depends on a lot of personal things. I remember a Ukrainian I personally know, leaving after the 2014 invasion.

When Russia was doing "exercises" at their border in 2022, I asked them in a meeting what they felt (guys living in Lviv). Most of them thought Russia would have done it in 2014 already, and now it didn't make much sense. Only 1 person responded he filled up his gas tank. But in the end, nobody left Lviv right after the invasion.