Ukraine suspends consular services to men aged between 18 and 60 and announces measures for the return of Ukrainian men to the country

Ukraine announced on Tuesday the suspension of consular services for men between the ages of 18 and 60, after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced future measures to return to Ukraine men of fighting age, reports AFP, quoted by News.ro.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a temporary suspension of the receipt of new files by the consular services regarding the category of Ukrainian citizens mentioned”, the Ukrainian diplomacy announced in a press release, stating that this concerns men between the ages of 18 and 60.

According to the ministry, only the provision of “identity cards for the purpose of returning to Ukraine” is maintained in the case of this category of men.

Ukraine, which has been fighting for two years against the Russian invasion, needs the military, especially in the context in which Kiev expects Russia to launch a new offensive in the coming weeks and months.

“The fact of staying abroad does not exempt a citizen from the debts he has towards his homeland”, Dmitro Kuleba wrote on X, announcing that he had ordered “measures to restore equity between men of the age of mobilization in Ucrsina and those from abroad”.

Dmitro Kuleba does not specify the nature of these measures.

He limited himself to announcing that the ministry “probably will provide clarifications” regarding the new procedures to be followed in order to “access consular services”.

Ukraine bans men of fighting age from traveling abroad – with a few exceptions.

But, according to some media estimates, tens of thousands of men fled Ukraine illegally, to avoid being sent to the front.

On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians lived abroad before the Russian invasion.

Numerous Ukrainian personalities criticize Minister Kuleba’s announcement – which they consider ineffective, if not illegal.

“This will not oblige any man who went abroad (…) to return to Ukraine and go fight”, says a former deputy of the Minister of Justice, Serghi Petuhov, on Facebook.

Ukraine, whose army is struggling against Russian troops, has passed a mobilization law to toughen punishments for recalcitrants. This law lowered the age of mobilization from 27 to 25.