In response to the shortage of troops, the Ukrainian government has implemented stricter regulations, temporarily prohibiting military-age men from applying for passports abroad.
These measures, along with a subsequent clarification from Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, were unveiled on Wednesday.
The announcement came a day after Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba suspended consular services for males aged 18 to 60 until May 18.
Kuleba criticised those residing abroad for not participating in the ongoing 26-month-long conflict against Russia.
Hundreds of thousands of military-age Ukrainian men are living abroad, including an estimated 860,000 in the European Union, and the country faces a shortage of troops in the campaign against Russia’s better equipped and larger military.
The Foreign Ministry said private agencies would no longer be able to handle passport applications, only government missions.
It said the new restrictions did not apply to nationals now permitted to cross state borders while martial law is in force, including those with disabilities.
In his remarks regarding the suspension of consular services on Tuesday, Kuleba highlighted the inconsistency of men subject to conscription residing abroad while expecting to access state services.
“Remaining abroad does not exempt a citizen from their obligations to their homeland,” he stated on social media platform X.
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