(Dan Tri) – Ukraine announced a new policy that could force men of military age who are abroad to return home.

Ukrainian soldiers during a training exercise (Photo: Reuters).

Ukraine announced on April 23 that it would stop consular services for men of military age who are abroad.

This move may cause Ukrainian men living abroad to return home to carry out administrative procedures that Kiev’s diplomatic agency previously assisted in carrying out.

According to Reuters, this is considered Ukraine’s effort to promote military recruitment efforts when the war of attrition with Russia shows no signs of cooling down.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men of military age are living abroad while Kiev faces a serious shortage of forces to deal with Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement that he had ordered measures to restore what he described as fair treatment of military-age men.

`A man of military age went abroad, showed that he did not care about Ukraine’s survival, then came to (diplomatic establishments) and wanted to receive support from the country

The Eurostat database estimates that about 4.3 million Ukrainians were living in European Union countries as of January 2024, of which about 860,000 are adult men.

Ukraine imposed martial law at the start of the full-scale war, banned men between 18 and 60 from traveling abroad without special exemptions, and began rotating men into the armed forces.

Military analysts say the lack of manpower is Ukraine’s biggest weakness on the battlefield.

In recent times, Ukraine has recorded many cases of military draft evasion.

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a new military recruitment law, which includes a provision to lower the mobilization age from 27 to 25.

The law requires all men of military age to visit a recruiting office to update their documents, either remotely or in person, within 60 days.

Men of military age abroad will need those documents to receive consulate assistance in performing services, such as issuing a passport.

`Living abroad does not lessen a citizen’s obligations to his homeland,` Mr. Kuleba emphasized.

In January, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukrainian men of military age who are abroad to at least repatriate to build their economy as a way to protect the country.

`If we want to defend Ukraine, if we want to defend Europe, then we all have to understand that either we will go to the front or we will work and pay taxes. If we don’t pay taxes, we will