MATVIY, A 24-YEAR-OLD Ukrainian engineer, counts himself among the lucky ones. There were moments, he says, when he thought he wouldn’t make it. The frigid waters of the Tysa river, which form part of the border between Ukraine and Romania, proved far more formidable than he and the trio of fellow draft-dodgers had bargained for. The fast currents carried the strongest swimmer 200 metres downstream. Two were thrown twice that distance, reaching the other side only by a minor miracle. “We could barely breathe by the time we emerged,” Matviy says. “We very nearly drowned.”

War has turned the Tysa (or Tisza, as it also spelt) into a desperate frontier. Forbidden from leaving their country legally, thousands of Ukrainian men of military age (currently 18-60) gamble their lives by swimming across it. At least 33 have drowned since the start of the war, the youngest just 20. The death toll is probably much higher, Ukraine’s border service says, with bodies still stuck in the reeds under the water and unlikely ever to be recovered. After the tenth corpse was discovered, officials began posting graphic photos and videos in an attempt to deter others. But the growing fear of conscription and the promise of a better life in Europe mean the men keep coming. Romania says it recorded 2,373 illegal crossings from Ukraine in the first three months of this year alone.