Ukraine suspends consular services for military-age men abroad

Ukraine has suspended consular services for military-age male citizens living abroad except for those needed to return to Ukraine, a government helpline said on Tuesday, in what appeared to be a measure to boost conscription for the war with Russia. Ukraine is on the back foot on the battlefield facing a shortage of troops against a larger, better equipped foe nearly 26 months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Ukraine has suspended consular services for military-age male citizens living abroad except for those needed to return to Ukraine, a government helpline said on Tuesday, in what appeared to be a measure to boost conscription for the war with Russia.

Ukraine is on the back foot on the battlefield facing a shortage of troops against a larger, better equipped foe nearly 26 months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement on X that he had ordered measures to be taken to restore what he described as "fair treatment" for men of mobilization age. He criticised those who had left Ukraine before or during the war.

"How it looks like now: a man of conscription age went abroad, showed his state that he does not care about its survival, and then comes and wants to receive services from this state," he said. "It does not work this way. Our country is at war."

He said the foreign ministry would clarify the procedure for military-age men to obtain consular services soon. "Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland," he added.

In a separate statement, the state passport service said: "Unfortunately, due to technical reasons, the issuance of ready-made documents in foreign branches of SE (State Enterprise) Document has been suspended." The Eurostat database estimated about 4.3 million Ukrainians were registered in European Union countries as of January 2024 of whom about 20% are adult men, roughly 860,000 people.