voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. on ukraine's southern border, security is being tightened. conversation over radio. not to keep its enemies out, but to keep its own men in. explosion since the start of russia's invasion, it's been illegalfor men who can fight to leave, but thousands are trying... ..some helped by corrupt officials.

we've been given exclusive access to the border forces in ukraine and moldova. we meet some of the men risking it all to leave... ..and those trying to stop them. we investigate how many are escaping and why they don't want to fight. it's the start of the daily patrol along ukraine's border with romania.

vladyslav is a 22—year—old lieutenant in ukraine's border vladyslav is a 22—year—old lieutenant in ukraine's border service. the border runs mostly along a river and a mountain range, making it difficult to protect. the border guards film their operations.

these young men were arrested just metres from romania's border. it's illegal for men under 60 to leave without a valid exemption from military service. those caught trying to do so face up to eight years injail.

dog barks since the start of the war over 4,000 men have been stopped trying to cross into romania. elsewhere, the numbers are higher. dinu is a senior officer with the moldovan border police.

on average, 22 ukrainian men a day are making it out over this 1,200km border. this man hasjust been found... ..and taken to the local border police station. yevgeny is 37 and a construction worker from kyiv. it's been six months since he saw his family.

he says he left because he was struggling to survive. yevgeny says he's avoided the draft. men like him with no fighting experience haven't been called up yet.

most men like yevgeny attempt the journey at night. a thermal camera is used to spot them. in this recent footage, the men seem to know how to dodge the border patrols.

ukraine's border with moldova has become the most popular illegal way out. since the war, over 11,000 men have used this route. sneaking across the border is not the only way to escape the war. with the right paperwork, you can get an exemption from military service. we heard that some men are paying substantial bribes to get their hands on these documents. to find out how this works, we asked a localjournalist to pretend to be a man who wants to leave.

got my cover story. my name is andrei, i'm 29 years old and i'm looking to leave ukraine as soon as possible. i want to see and visit my family in germany. a quick search reveals at least six groups offering help on the messaging app telegram. they have a lot of reviews from other people who leave the country with their services. so i'm going to write to them. they immediately send you all their options, how to leave the country. one of the most popular is a medical exemption,

known as a white ticket. it means that they can write there that they have some disease, or some medical problems. and i cannot serve in the army until the end of my life. and also, with this document, you can leave the country and come back any time. officials at these centres work closely with military doctors to decide who can get a medical exemption. they sent me an example of this white ticket, it's for me to document. it looks real. probably, they know somebody at that office, so this is corruption.

it seems increasing demand for white tickets is pushing up prices. corrupt officials are also demanding higher bribes. they're more worried this is a dangerous job for them. in those groups, there is quite a lot of men who want to leave, so i think this business is quite busy. recently, the government tried to crack down on this booming business by sacking those in charge of military recruitment. since the start of the war, nearly 7,000 men have been arrested for using fraudulent paperwork,

including white tickets. men who are sick or disabled say getting an exemption through the official channels isn't easy. in a refugee centre in moldova, we meet erik, who has arrived on foot from ukraine.

but erik says his troubles began some time before, when he became critically ill. erik says he wouldn't survive in the army. when the war broke out, he desperately tried to apply for a white ticket, but wasn't successful. erik is a musician.

fearful of the call—up, he says music helped him to cope. he's hoping to go to the us, where his family is.

400km away in southern ukraine, vladyslav is back on shift, on the banks of the tisza river. crossing it is one of the most popular ways out of ukraine,

but smugglers don't always warn people about how dangerous it is. these men were caught trying to swim across. since february last year,

i9 bodies have been recovered here. it isn't known how many people have died trying to leave ukraine. in moldova, yevgeny is being escorted to the nearest immigration centre. ukrainian men running from the war have the right to claim asylum in neighbouring countries. low chatter

next, he will need to go to the capital, to proceed with his asylum claim. yevgeny is one of around 20,000 ukrainian men who crossed illegally and claimed asylum in neighbouring states. yevgeny hopes it won't be long before he's reunited with his family in the uk.

we lost touch with him. he plays soft tune but we did hearfrom erik. it's seven months since he left ukraine.

ukraine does not release official figures on the size of its army, but the country's defence minister claims it has 800,000 troops. our investigation shows that more than 40,000 ukrainian men have tried to get out

or succeeded in leaving the country illegally. we put these findings to a senior politician from the ruling party, fedir venislavskyi. man speaks ukrainian he acknowledged there is corruption in the issuing of exemption papers. he says the number of men leaving is having no impact on the war effort.

but the end of the conflict with russia is nowhere in sight. as this turns into a war of attrition,

ukraine will need all the soldiers it can get. hello there. we've got some very strong winds and some heavy rain on the way for tuesday, that brings with it the risk of some disruptive weather. little sign of that yesterday across northern england and scotland, with clear, blue, sunny skies for many. however, towards the southwest of england, the waves were picking up as the winds increased, all tied in with the next weather system. now it's this lump of cloud that's out to our west that we're watching, to develop

into quite a nasty—looking area of low pressure. now, through the remainder of the night, one band of rain clears eastwards, another one heading into scotland, a bit of snow up over the scottish hills for a time, as well. and then we've got the next pulse of rain working into the southwest. now, bear in mind, we've already got lots of flood warnings in force, and that's before, really, the next dollop of heavy rain works in. so the rain, heavy enough to cause some localised flooding, but as well as that, into tuesday, some very strong winds heading into southwest england, southern wales, and round the bristol channel. top gusts could reach 60, maybe even 70mph — strong enough to bring down one or two trees, hence the risk of disruptive weather. very windy for the northern isles, and the winds will be increasing inland across england and wales as this area of rain becomes much more extensive through the course of the day. and then we get a second swathe of really strong winds across parts of lincolnshire, east anglia, southeast england, especially through the dover straits. could get gusts again getting up into the 60s of miles an hour, maybe even towards 70. so, there is the threat of some disruption —

weather from the heavy rain and the risk of flooding, or the strong winds that could be strong enough to bring down a few trees. either way, that lot will be clearing out of the way as we head into wednesday, but just to be followed by another unsettled day — a day of sunshine and showers. the showers heavy with hail and thunder across england and wales, blustery conditions here. lighter winds for northern ireland means the showers could last a bit longer. some heavier, more persistent rain for northeast scotland, perhaps causing one or two issues, and cold enough to see some of the rain start to turn to sleet or snow over the hills in shetland. quite a lot going on, then, but the weather will eventually calm down. low pressure later this week is going to start to slide away from our shores — and instead, we get an area of high pressure building in as we head towards the end of the week and the weekend beyond. indeed, quite a long spell of dry, settled weather conditions is on the cards, notjust on the weekend but well into next week. with the sunshine comes much lower temperatures and a return of some sharp overnight frosts.

live from washington, this is bbc news. at least eight people have been killed after a major earthquake struck japan. thousands evacuated from coastal areas, though all tsunami warnings have now been lifted. south korea's main opposition leader has been stabbed during a public event. the country's president has called the attack unacceptable. israel's supreme court strikes down judicial reforms that sparked widespread protests last year. it's seen as a blow to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. hello. i'm helena humphrey.

it's good to have you with us.