Ukraine halts embassy support for military-age men who ‘do not care about the homeland’

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, at an award ceremony for soldiers in Kyiv on Monday – AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine has stripped military-age men abroad of access to consular support except for help in organising their return home in an effort to boost conscription.

Hundreds of thousands of military-age Ukrainian men are living abroad and the country faces an acute shortage of troops against a larger, better-equipped enemy nearly 26 months since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister, said in a statement that he had ordered measures to be taken to restore what he described as fair treatment for men of mobilisation age.

“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 on X.

“It does not work this way. Our country is at war.”

Mr Kuleba 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,” Mr Kuleba said.

Ukrainian soldiers fire a M101 howitzer at Russian positions on the front line, near the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region – Efrem Lukatsky/AP

Some 4.3 million Ukrainians were living in European Union countries as of January 2024, of whom about 860,000 are adult men, the Eurostat database estimated.

Ukraine imposed martial law at the start of the full-scale war, banning men aged 18 to 60 from travelling abroad without special dispensation and beginning a rolling mobilisation of civilian men into the armed forces.

Yaroslav, a 24-year-old business analyst in Kyiv, told The Telegraph he fears being conscripted will cause his death.

“Ninety per cent, yes. I will be dead,” he said. “I love my country with all my heart, but I’m not ready to die for it with no real prospects.”

He said the idea of conscription is “very stressful” and causes “pure anxiety” among his friends.

“I don’t understand how it is possible to fight with our young people without this proper military preparation. For me, it makes no sense.”

Yaroslav said he would consider paying a smuggler to help him leave Ukraine.

“Maybe if there were some ways to figure it out, to give somebody money, to find the right person, I would do it.”

Some military analysts say the shortage of manpower is Ukraine’s most significant battlefield weakness. It also faces an acute lack of artillery shells, although Kyiv hopes US military aid will replenish its stocks soon.

There have been numerous cases of draft dodgers trying to flee the country. The border guard service said it had detained eight men trying to cross into Hungary illegally on Tuesday.

The state passport service said the issuance of ready-made passports had also been suspended for “technical reasons” for all citizens abroad except children under the age of 12.

A foreign ministry helpline said the suspension of consular services would remain in place until clarification on how to implement the new law overhauling the way the mobilisation effort is conducted.

The law, which comes into effect next month, aims to improve and speed up the way the military mobilises civilians into the armed force.

The law will require all military-age men to report to draft offices to update their papers, remotely or in person within 60 days. Military-age men abroad would need those papers to receive consular services.

Volodymyr Fesenko, a Kyiv-based political analyst, predicted the suspension of consular services would not be a very efficient way to get people to update their personal data for military papers.

“But sooner or later many men will have to choose whether they will confirm their Ukrainian citizenship. Some part of people will delay, they will use corrupt ways and consular services abroad will earn good money on it,” he said.

Play The Telegraph’s brilliant range of Puzzles – and feel brighter every day. Train your brain and boost your mood with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the fearsome Killer Sudoku and even the classic Cryptic Crossword.