Fighting Ukrainian aged men who are “staying abroad” to dodge military conscription have been told this “does not relieve” them of their duties as “citizens” to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has imposed a ban on issuing new passports to those fighting aged men who are choosing to stay abroad instead for fighting for their “homeland.”
President Zelensky has made this move to stop men from fleeing Ukraine to do their patriotic duty and fight against Russia.
However, he has come under fire by Volodymyr Viatrovych, the opposition European Solidarity Party who is angry at Zelensky.
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He said, “It is a blatantly illegal and [an] extremely harmful step.
“Obviously, the government wants to force Ukrainians to return to Ukraine as soon as possible. However, the result will be exactly the opposite.”
There is around 650,000 Ukrainian men of fighting age who have fled to Poland and are sending a message to Kyiv that they “do not care about its survival,” but still want “to receive services from this state.”
According to Eurostat there is around 4.3 million Ukrainians living across European countries, including some 860,000 men.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said last week, “A man of conscription age went abroad, showed his state that he does not care about its survival, and then comes and wants to receive services from this state.
“It does not work this way. Our country is at war.
“If anyone believes that while someone is fighting far away at the front line and risking his or her life for this state, someone else is staying abroad but receiving services from this state, then this is not how it works.
“Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland.”
Oleksandr Pavlichenko, acting head of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, warned, “In some countries, Ukrainians will begin to lose their legal status as persons under protection. They will have to apply for refugee status.”
This month President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a new piece of law on Ukraine’s mobilsation regulations.
All men of fighting age have been ordered to report with Ukraine’s military, if they have fled to another country to escape fighting then their passports will not be renewed.
Zelensky has signed the new decree as they have lost thousands of soldiers and many military experts have warned that Russia could win the war within “a matter of weeks” or within “six months.
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