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The defence ministers of Poland and Lithuania have pledged to help Ukraine repatriate its men who are of fighting age but have left the country to avoid being sent to the battlefield.
Kyiv needs to raise hundreds of thousands of men for its army, which is struggling to contain Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine. But the number of volunteers has dwindled and the government has recently adopted a new law to expand mobilisation, including for those abroad.
Poland is the main haven for people escaping the conflict and there are an estimated 200,000 Ukrainian men in the country, according to Eurostat and the Polish central bank.
Ukraine earlier this month suspended consular services for men of military age living abroad, including in Poland, making it harder for them to extend their stay.
“Ukrainian citizens have obligations towards the state,” Poland’s defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Wednesday. “We have long suggested that we are also able to help the Ukrainian side in ensuring that those who are obliged to perform military service go to Ukraine.”
He said those Ukrainian nationals would be deported and their right to stay in Poland not renewed. Asked whether Poland would agree to transport them back to Ukraine, he said: “Anything is possible.”
According to martial law imposed by Ukrainian authorities in February 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, most men between the ages of 18 and 60 are banned from leaving the country and are obliged to register with military recruitment offices.
Lithuania said on Thursday it was ready to take steps to return Ukrainians of fighting age. Defence minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas excluded deportation but said various options could be considered in co-ordination with Poland.
“It is possible [to restrict] social benefits, work permits, documents, there are options that I’ve also heard from the Polish side,” he said. “I think it is the correct way.”
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said that “staying abroad does not release a citizen from his duties towards his homeland”.
“If anyone thinks that some will fight far away on the front and risk their lives for the country, and others will stay abroad and use the services of the state, they are wrong,” Kuleba said.
Under the newly implemented mobilisation law, while Ukrainians of military age will not automatically receive draft notices, their access to consular services will be contingent on their registration for military service. Without the necessary registration, they will be unable to obtain passports.
Ukrainians in Poland queued for hours to receive their documents earlier this week, but consulate workers were unable to hand them out.
The restrictions triggered a backlash among Ukrainians abroad, with many accusing the government of infringing upon constitutional and human rights.
“It would be better to create training centres in Poland, where professional training could be provided for those who fear being sent to the front unprepared, like cannon fodder! That would be more useful!,” one Ukrainian national wrote on his embassy’s Facebook page.
Poland’s defence minister said he understood Poles who were outraged by the sight of young Ukrainians of military age “in hotels and cafés”. He expressed solidarity with Ukrainians fighting on the front and their grievances against compatriots who left the country.
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