Ukraine does not want to forcibly repatriate the men who fled the mobilization

Authorities in Kiev have no plans to force conscription-age men back from abroad, a senior government official said Tuesday, despite a shortage of troops needed on the front lines to repel Russia’s 26-month-old invasion. reports DPA, taken over by Agerpres. Previously, Poland and Lithuania had shown their willingness to support such an initiative.

“There will be no restrictions and there will be no forced return of Ukrainian citizens, regardless of gender or age, to a country at war,” Olga Stefanişina, the deputy prime minister responsible for European integration, said on Tuesday in a comment for the post German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. However, she admitted that there are no “pleasant solutions” in matters of war. “Let’s not forget that the war is on and we have to win it!” she said.

Pressure on Ukrainians abroad

Regarding Ukraine’s recently tightened recruitment regulations, she said that a registration at the district office of the replacement of the armed forces does not automatically mean a call to the army. Stefanishina said the new law was designed to help the Ukrainian government “understand to what extent we can replace the guys on the front lines.”

The army has more and more problems in recruiting new soldiers. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 who are fit for military service are only allowed to leave the country in exceptional circumstances. Despite this fact, several hundred thousand recruits from Ukraine are registered as refugees in the European Union alone.

In response, last week, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry banned the issuance of new travel documents for these men. Also, a law that went into effect on May 18 obliges all Ukrainians eligible for military service to renew their personal information in the military register within two months.

Ukrainians living abroad will then receive consular services only upon presentation of a valid military service permit, and Ukrainian consulates will issue documents to unregistered men only for the purpose of return travel.

Poland and Lithuania, willing to support forced repatriation

Poland, a country where, according to the UN refugee agency, 952,104 Ukrainian refugees, of which 152,656 are men of mobilization age, are officially registered, last week expressed its willingness to collaborate with Ukraine for their repatriation.

“I am not at all surprised that the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything to send soldiers to the front,” said Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. “We have been suggesting for a long time that we can help the Ukrainian side to ensure that people subject to compulsory military service go to Ukraine,” he explained in a statement to Polsat television last Thursday.

“Everything is possible,” replied the Polish minister after being asked if the government in Warsaw would respond positively to a possible request from Kiev to transport the mobilizable men to Ukraine.

His Lithuanian counterpart, Laurynas Kasciunas, declared on the same day that his country could follow Poland’s example in this regard. “I think this is the right solution,” he told the press, referring to the Polish minister’s remarks.

“Ukraine has a great lack of mobilizable reserves (…) It is not fair to the citizens who are fighting for their country,” said the Lithuanian defense minister. He refused to say how many Ukrainian men have taken refuge in Lithuania, saying only that their number is small.