Ukraine does not want to bring home men who fled war abroad, even as it suffers from a shortage of soldiers

Ukraine has no plans to force conscription-age men back from abroad, a senior government official said Tuesday, despite a shortage of soldiers needed on the front lines to repel Russian invaders.

“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 in a comment to the post German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

However, she acknowledged that there are no “palatable solutions” in matters of war. “Let’s not forget that the war is on and we have to win it!” she said.

Regarding Ukraine’s recently tightened regulations on recruitment, 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 came 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.

Editor: Adrian Dumitru

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