Staying abroad does not relieve Ukrainians of their duties to homeland: Foreign minister

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Tuesday that staying abroad does not relieve Ukrainians of their duties to the homeland, amid reports of restrictions on consular services abroad for draft-eligible men.

“That is why yesterday I ordered measures to restore fair attitudes toward men of conscription age in Ukraine and abroad. This will be fair,” Kuleba wrote on X.

Expressing the protection of the rights and interests of Ukrainians abroad has been and remains a priority for the Foreign Ministry, Kuleba said that at the same time the main priority is to protect the country as the conflict in Ukraine continues.

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

He said the obligation to update one's documents with conscription centers existed before the adoption of the new law on mobilization.

“If anyone believes that while someone is fighting far away at the frontline and risking his or her life for this state, someone else is staying abroad but receiving services from this state, then this is not how it works,” he said.

He added that the Foreign Ministry will provide clarification on the procedure for obtaining consular services.

Ukrainian newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia reported Monday that the Foreign Ministry instructed diplomats abroad to temporarily suspend consular services for draft-eligible men living abroad, citing a letter by First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

The restrictions, which concern men aged 18-60, exclude consular services related to processing documents for returning to Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law a bill last week on mobilization previously retracted in December after public discontent.

The law, which requires men to update their draft information, as well as increases incentives for volunteers and introduces additional penalties for those evading the draft, will take effect one month after its signing.

Earlier this month, Zelenskyy signed into law three other bills amending mobilization, one of which notably lowered the conscription age to 25, while the other two introduced the creation of an online register for conscripts and implemented a requirement for those given waivers from specific kinds of military service to undergo reexamination.​​​​​​​