UKRAINE’S CRAZY, DANGEROUS LABOR MARKET
Written and photographed by Pavel Kuljuk
June 29, 2026
Journalist Pavel Kuljuk, who lives in Kramatorsk, shares with The Saint his experiences in the midst of war.
In a normal country, employment is just employment. But in a crazy country like Ukraine, employment is a choice between life and death, freedom and prison. The slightest mistake and a tragic turn of fate are inevitable.
"Inna, hello. Are you hiring a packer? Will you be exempt from military service from day one?" I asked.
"Good afternoon. We're reserving conscription after two weeks of internship," Inna replied.
"I can't survive that long without protection from the army. In the winter, you provided protection from conscription after just one week of work," I replied.
Then I added, "I need to get to your company somehow. Do you provide a cover letter?"
"I can give you a cover letter, but that doesn't work," the hiring manager told me.
I'm forced to look for a job with protection from conscription. Because my status as partially fit for military service doesn't fully guarantee I won't be drafted. Zelenskyy has a shortage of soldiers. Therefore, there's no strict selection process for the army. However, in addition to work with protection from conscription, I have a backup option. This is illegal work without protection from conscription. In other words, I have access to two of the three types of work available in Ukraine. The war has divided the Ukrainian labor market into three distinct parts: illegal employment, legal employment without protection from conscription, and legal employment with protection from conscription.
My old bicycle. I bought this bike for $100 over 10 years ago online. Since then, I've replaced the tires five times, the seat and chain twice. The gear shift on the bike is broken. The brakes don't work well. But this old bike is more precious to me than new bikes. It's more than transportation. It's part of my history.
Illegal employment is the simplest, most common, and most dangerous form of employment. The employer pays no taxes and provides no social benefits. But these are minor matters. The main thing is that the illegal employer does not report the worker to the authorities. Therefore, such workers are not registered with the authorities and are not conscripted into the army. If the worker is not caught by representatives of the recruitment center (RC) on the way to or from work, he will avoid conscription into the army. However, illegally employed Ukrainians are forced, like wild animals, to hide from the authorities at any moment of their lives. Therefore, illegal work is often offered along with the opportunity to live on the premises of the company where the employee works. This reduces the risk of being caught by officials.
Legal employment without a reservation against conscription is the least popular. Because it's tantamount to being conscripted into the army. Ukraine has been experiencing a severe recruitment shortage for three years now. Therefore, people are conscripted into the army with virtually any illness, regardless of other obstacles. If a man takes an official job without a reservation against conscription, he's immediately taken to a recruiting center and drafted. Because of this, either men under 25 or men over 60 are hired for this type of work. Men of this age are legally exempt from conscription.
My wife does Yoga, Pilates and aerobics. Svetlana has been practicing every morning for two years. Each workout lasts an hour. The workouts are conducted by teachers online.
I'm washing the dishes. It's 6:30 a.m. on June 24th. My wife usually does the dishes. I only do it occasionally. I enjoy washing dishes. I don't like cleaning and doing laundry.
Legal employment with a reservation from conscription is the most prestigious, yet difficult to obtain. People with this protection can move around Ukraine without fear and live a normal life. It's a jackpot! However, such vacancies are very few. The largest job site in Ukrainelists approximately 110,000 vacancies. However, only 12,000 are listed as reserved. It's no surprise that the possibility of being reserved from conscription is sold for bribes and often becomes a pretext for fraud. Authorities often initially increase the number of people reserved from conscription. People, trusting the authorities, take such jobs. However, the authorities then reduce the number of people reserved from conscription. And people are sent from their jobs to the army to die.
As of June 24th, I found several illegal employment opportunities with live-in options. These include work at a poultry farm and a concrete plant. They're constantly hiring because the work is very difficult, and officials often catch people and send them to the army.
But in two weeks, I haven't been able to find a job offering protection from conscription. This happens for three reasons.The first reason is that jobs offering protection from conscription are mostly offered by either military enterprises or energy companies. But I don't have the skills to work for such companies. I can only work as a journalist, a loader, a general laborer or an agricultural worker. The second reason is that I decided not to pay bribes for such employment. It's shameful to pay corrupt officials and buy my right to live. God gave me this right for free. I don't want anyone to sell me this right for money. The third reason is the most important. Protection from conscription is not given in advance. In most cases, I have to work for a certain period of time at the enterprise. Typically, it's a week, a month or even three months.Only then does management grant the employee protection from conscription. But working through this probationary period without protection is almost impossible. Officials catch people and send them to the army. Even getting to a new job without protection is next to impossible. That's why I need a job where protection is provided from the first day of work or even in advance.
The first cucumber has ripened in our garden. This year we only have two cucumber bushes so there won't be a big harvest.
Blackcurrants are ripening in our garden. This year we have a good currant harvest. In this small garden, we have two red and black currant bushes and one yellow currant bush. In the big garden, there are almost 40 currant bushes. But we can't visit our big garden now because it's dangerous due to the fighting.
If I don't find a job exempt from conscription, I'll either go to work illegally or stay home. But I consider military service unacceptable. Here's why.
It is my deep conviction that the Ukrainian state ceased to exist 12 years ago. In 2014, Ukraine was completely occupied by European and Russian invaders. The Europeans disguised their invasion as the will of the Ukrainian people.European politicians organized the Euromaidan and, using Euro-collaborators, seized most of Ukraine. The Russian government made no secret of its intentions. The Russians sent troops into Ukraine and seized a smaller part of the country. The current war in Ukraine is a war between European and Russian invaders. In this war, Europeans and Russians are exploiting the population and territory of Ukraine.
However, there is a significant difference between these occupiers. Russia is conducting a classic military invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin relies primarily on Russian citizens, conscripting them into the army. The Europeans are conducting a military operation under a false flag - that is, the flag of Ukraine. This means that for the war with Russia, the Europeans constantly need Euro-collaborators from among Ukrainian citizens.
The European occupiers use propaganda to influence Ukrainian citizens and turn them into Euro-collaborators. After this, the Ukrainians are sent to die in the war. Participation in the war against the Russians is not connected with the war for Ukraine's independence. This war is connected with the interests of the European politicians who have seized Ukraine. Donald Trump correctly assesses the situation and is trying to stop this dirty war, which the Ukrainian people do not need.
My dumbbell for working out. I bought this used dumbbell at the local market almost 10 years ago. But the dumbbell wasn't in one piece. I bought the metal rings to increase the weight later, which is why the dumbbell looks so strange. It weighs about 30 pounds.
My move to Transcarpathia and finding work there is an attempt to survive this war. Although Transcarpathia is a rear region, life there will be more difficult for me than in a combat zone. Transcarpathia borders the EU. This means there are many Ukrainians there who want to illegally cross the border and flee to Europe. Therefore, all of Transcarpathia is overrun with police, special agents and border guards.
The realtor who offered me a plot of land was frank with me. She said, "You'll be in full view there. When we went to inspect the plot of land, we were stopped by border guards. There's a restricted area 200 feet from the plot. Civilians are not allowed to move there. The border is nearby."
This is not encouraging. Transcarpathia has particularly strict population control. But people still flee abroad or hide at home from the authorities. Two million Ukrainian men have hid from conscription. Another 200,000 soldiers have fled the army. Almost 70,000 Ukrainians have illegally crossed the border and fled to foreign countries. Attacks by civilians on employees of military recruitment centers occur every day. This figure has increased several times over the past two years. Ukrainians are thus defending their freedom.
I am not alone in my desire to disobey the European occupiers. We all want the same things. A safe home. A good job. An end to the war. But European and Russian politicians are not listening to us.
God bless America. Because it is the only country that can stop this carnage.
