“Responsibilities to the Fatherland”: Ukraine suspends consular services for men of fighting age

Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had suspended consular services for men aged 18 to 60 after the head of Ukrainian diplomacy announced upcoming measures to return fighting-age men to the country.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a temporary suspension of accepting new cases for consular services in relation to the specified category of citizens of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian diplomacy said in a statement, clarifying that this applies to men aged 18 to 60 years.

According to the source, for this category of men only the issuance of “identity cards for entry into Ukraine” is retained. The cessation of consular services, including the renewal of identity documents and other important administrative procedures, could theoretically encourage Ukrainians to return to the country.

“That’s not how it works.”

“Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his responsibilities towards the Motherland,” Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on his X (formerly Twitter) account. And he added: “A man of military age went abroad, showed his state that he does not care about its survival, then comes and wants to receive the services of this state: this is not so. »

Travel ban

Kyiv prohibits men of military age from traveling abroad with rare exceptions. However, according to media estimates, tens of thousands of men left the country illegally to avoid going to the front.

“A mechanism for updating and verifying information on the military situation of men aged 18 to 60 years who are temporarily abroad is being determined,” Ukrainian diplomacy said on Tuesday.

She clarifies that “further clarification” will be distributed once this intelligence work is completed and that men whose military status is “valid” will again be able to use consular services.

Wider mobilization

The Ukrainian army, weakened by a failed counteroffensive and dwindling Western aid, is in need of men and ammunition. In an effort to find volunteers, Kyiv has just expanded mobilization, lowering the age of those eligible to be drafted from 27 to 25, and passing a controversial new mobilization law.

The text, which markedly tightens sanctions for those who resist, caused a scandal due to the last-minute removal of a clause providing for the demobilization of soldiers who had served 36 months. A heavy blow for soldiers who had been fighting at the front for more than two years. The authorities have assured that the issue of demobilization will be regulated by a separate law, but the date for its preparation and adoption has not been set.