Before the full-scale invasion, the main problem for border guards in this region was tobacco smuggling. Now, the same people have switched to crossing the border illegally, a less costly and risky business with a much higher income.

"As soon as a chance to make money illegally arises, these opportunists immediately get involved," says Lesya Fedorova, referring to local organized crime. She adds that it is usually a "village authority" who has subordinates with different roles. "Someone looks for clients, another meets them, another takes them in for the night, another leads them to the border, and others scout, get vests, wetsuits, inflatable boats. It's not a big and serious hierarchical structure, but a fairly well-trained grassroots self-organization of up to seven or eight people."

It is quite easy to find such advisers and accomplices on social media. A quick search and dozens of Telegram channels promise men a "legal departure" abroad, either as a volunteer under the Shlyakh system or with a conclusion from a military medical commission that they are unfit for military service. The first scheme currently charges $700 per person, and the second - $1,300. Some offer a "package of services": escort through the checkpoint, work visa, employment, and accommodation.

Most of these Telegram channels are quite primitive, with the only function of going to a chat with a "consultant". However, some of them focus on diversifying their "services" and advertising, sharing feedback from satisfied "clients," and spreading news and disinformation in a way that encourages the part of the audience that is still hesitant. Like, “we told you that it will only get worse, so hurry up and book the last slots”.

"It is important for them to drag a person here, but on the spot, a completely different dialogue begins," Lesya Fedorova cites an example from last fall, when the detachment detained violators from Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad, and Odesa oblasts, and they all testified the same way: they were promised "the right shift" at the checkpoint by phone, but during the meeting they were taken in a roundabout way. "’Guys, here's the deal, it didn't work out, there's no shift, you'll have to go through the green line’. And if someone starts protesting, they intimidate them."

The cost of transportation depends on the season and the amount of "services" provided. In winter, it is $4,000-6,000 per person, and in the warm season, it is $2,000-3,000. "In the summer, there are many more individual attempts, so the prices go down. People believe in their abilities. They think that the river is visible, of normal temperature and depth, and it is not so scary and cold in the mountains," explains Oleh Selezniov. Now he is pulling men out of the Tysa, and last spring he rescued them in the Carpathians.

"It's a business. Whoever agrees on what, that's how it will be," adds Volodymyr Starynets from the Luzhanka border guard department. "In his area, Roma men from the surrounding villages are frequent border violators. "They take from 10,000 hryvnias ($262) to 1,000 euros ($1,079) from local 'clients' and the same $4,000-6,000 from visitors."

"The guides also vary. There are those who just want to take a certain amount of money, show you where to go on the map, and then it's your problem. And there are those like the one we caught yesterday: they will take you to the border, even cut the fence with wire cutters, tell you where to go, and wait to see if you succeed."

Usually, the organizers do not see each other and may not contact their "clients" at all. They direct them by phone, change their numbers and route, move them from place to place, and make sure they are not tailed. When it comes to the river, they try to bring the offenders to the shore at night so that they do not fear visibility and are more trusting.

"Traffickers are salesmen. They convince people that the border guards are writing nonsense: ‘Don't listen, it’s like a stream you cross, the river is narrow, I'll find you a good place," says Lesya Fedorova. "People who come here do not fully understand the danger they are in. It is only later that they all recognize that the risk is not worth it," adds Oleh Selezniov.

Minors who grew up in the area are often involved in crossing the mountains, taking them to a certain point, and then leaving. Just recently, there was such a case when border guards rescued a man from Dnipro on the second day of his journey. Although by all indications he had help, he never admitted that he was not walking alone.

"He was wearing light pants, sneakers, and had no belongings – it was clear that he was not going to the mountains. But given the route he took and the condition in which we found him, he had something to keep warm and something to drink and eat. According to our guesses, he was brought to that place and left there." Lesya Fedorova says that in the mountains, there is a connection at certain points that the locals know about.

"Violators are brought there, instructed to call Romanian rescuers, and return home to avoid getting caught." "But the Romanians looked at the geolocation and sent the information to us. He was three kilometers from the border."

"As they change, we change," Lesya Fedorova summarizes the border guards' strategy to counteract illegal crossing schemes.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, smugglers led men through official checkpoints with forged documents: birth certificates of a child or the death of a wife, then there was a period of pension certificates, a package of documents about studying at a foreign university, and then, to this day, conclusions of the military qualification commission and temporary certificates of persons liable for military service. Nowadays, there are fewer of these things, but attempts to circumvent border guards have become more frequent.

"They are constantly studying us, just like smugglers used to do. They set up round-the-clock surveillance of border patrols to catch the moment, to find a loophole through which they can smuggle people. They are trying to buy the same vehicles as ours, radio stations, night vision, and thermal imaging devices. But we are also constantly improving," explains Lesya Fedorova.

A border regime is now in place in Zakarpattya and other neighboring regions. If a non-local enters the region on the way to the border, he or she passes several checkpoints (roadblocks), where he or she has to explain and confirm the purpose of his or her stay: visiting family, work, or vacation.

"The operatives at the checkpoints are focused on filtering: they check, question, and identify people who intend to cross the border illegally. In 90% of situations, they are right. If a person has no legitimate purpose, they don't hold out for long, they confess right away," says Oleh Selezniov.

"Although different things happen. Once we detained a man whose friend tried to smuggle him through the checkpoints in an ambulance. Another was allegedly traveling with his family on vacation. We checked their documents and found that they had booked places. Later in the evening, we detained him in the mountains," adds Lesya Fedorova.

"They resort to various tricks. We know all of them and try to be one step ahead to act long before the border." In addition to checkpoints, border guards have units in the rear, as well as operatives who work in social media to identify organizers and their "clients."

Each area has its own protection mechanism. For example, in the area under the jurisdiction of Oleh Selezniov's department, there are local houses and a highway close to the river, which is also the border. That's why mobile patrols are constantly working here, operating on the principle of "see and react." Everything happens instantly, in a minute or two.

On Volodymyr Starynets's site, the methods are combined, depending on the proximity to settlements, previous experience, and risk analysis. They actively use photo traps and seismic sensors with a quadcopter: "Where we have a photo trap, we don't put people there. When a photo is triggered, a photo is sent to the duty officer's phone, and he sends a response team if necessary. If the seismic sensor is triggered, we determine by the impulse whether it is a person, animal, or car. Then a quadcopter takes off, and within five minutes it is on the spot and adjusts where the patrol should go."