93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade launches "Leave house" campaign: serviceman explains who it targets. VIDEO
The 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodnyi Yar" has launched an advertising campaign called "Leave the house", aimed at helping civilian men of conscription age who are hiding from military recruitment centers overcome their fear of mobilization. It consists of several short videos.
In a comment to Censor.NET, the brigade’s chief sergeant, Vitalii Piasetskyi, said he had responded positively to the creative campaign and appreciated its humor.
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One video shows a draft evader going outside in women’s clothing, a wig and a mask. After returning home, he removes the disguise. The doorbell rings. The young man looks through the peephole and sees a drone carrying a sign that reads "Leave the house". Below it, the words "as a man" appear.
Serviceman hopes the videos will make men think
"I would very much like these videos to strike a chord with men who have consciously chosen this place for themselves in society. It would be good if they thought about who they are and what they are doing, first and foremost, for themselves and their families. I won’t talk about the state or the country because, unfortunately, quite a few people here do not identify with it for some reason. But everyone has a family to protect. Let them consider whether their choice is costing them their dignity. Perhaps they should join Ukraine’s Defense Forces after all. At the same time, I don’t really believe that will happen. Yes, I hope it will strike a chord with someone, and he will make a conscious choice. At the very least, when TCR and SS staff approach him and ask for his military registration documents, he won’t put on that disgusting spectacle we so often see now, screaming and calling on women and children for help. Instead, he will respond normally, undergo training, and do his job. However, I think a large part of society will react aggressively to this campaign. A high proportion of the comments under the video are precisely along these lines: ‘Drag Mindich and Yermak into a van first, then we’ll think about it,’" he said.
According to the serviceman, men avoiding military service are reluctant to be mobilized because they fear the unknown, death, losing a steady freelance income, distrust the system, or have other concerns.
"It’s different for everyone: some are more afraid of death; others have read too many Telegram channels spreading anti-mobilization narratives, such as: ‘Mobilized yesterday, sent to the front line without training, killed today,’ and so on. Russian propaganda actively contributes to this. Of course, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that some fears do have a basis, as certain units have had negative or ambiguous cases involving mobilized personnel. But for the most part, people are being deliberately whipped up through Telegram. There are also other issues, such as uncertainty. Everyone can see that being discharged from the Armed Forces of Ukraine without suffering serious damage to your health is practically impossible, even for those who have been fighting since 2014. All these factors matter and translate into aggression towards military recruitment center staff, for example, or into this kind of primal fear, where a person shuts himself away at home, relying on food deliveries or relatives. To some extent, this fear can be compared to what a serviceman experiences when he enters an active combat zone. At that moment, you realize that if you hide in a corner and simply wait, you will most likely die. But if you start taking action, your chances of survival increase. Yes, it is frightening. However, a person needs to take this one step, and everything will change — leave the house and go to the recruitment center of the unit he has chosen. In other words, this fear is something you can primarily overcome on your own. But that requires critical thinking and a sober assessment of the situation and how it may develop in the future," Piasetskyi stressed.
