Lidiia Karpenko is a Ukrainian journalist living in Toronto and a member of PEN Canada’s Writers in Exile group.
Ukraine, which is struggling to reverse Russian gains in the gruelling war, is trying to boost its military manpower by pushing citizens abroad to enlist. While the urge to boost the fatigued Ukrainian military is understandable, the results of the new law might not have the impact the Ukrainian government hopes it will. While I understand the country’s desperate needs right now, I don’t think this policy will be effective in boosting our fortunes in the war.
In mid-April, the Ukrainian parliament passed a new mobilization bill stating that all men aged between 18 to 60 must provide their personal data to military recruitment centres, and there’s some skepticism that the online portal will be up and running soon. At the end of April, Ukrainian consulates around the world temporarily stopped providing services to military-age male citizens. They are not accepting applications for passport renewal or new passports, nor are they assisting with getting other documents, such as marriage certificates. Consulates will resume service to these men after the mobilization law comes into effect on May 18, but only for those with military registration documents.
At the same time, government officials decided that men aged 18 to 60 have to pick up their new passports in person in Ukraine. The exceptions include men with disabilities, guardians of people with disabilities, or military personnel who are being treated abroad. Men who go to Ukraine to get their passports might not be allowed to leave. And after being examined by a military medical commission and receiving confirmation of health, the men will receive military training and be sent to the front. However, Ukrainians living abroad who don’t renew their passports may not be able to travel and could face difficulties renewing temporary immigration permits in their new countries of residence.
These moves are being framed as an issue of justice, given the exhaustion that current soldiers are feeling as the war drags on. “This is fair to the men who stayed in Ukraine,” said Dmytro Kuleba, the country’s Foreign Minister. But while the new rules may play well to a domestic audience, they will do little to boost military manpower. Ukrainians living abroad who are opposed to fighting are unlikely to be lured back, in particular those who were already in other countries before the war started and children who are coming of age abroad. Instead, many may choose to cut ties with Ukraine entirely.
The rules are causing serious worries for many Ukrainians living abroad who are upset about being denied government services. Some are pointing out that the Ukrainian constitution guarantees care and protection to citizens abroad.
In 2014, Anna Ryzhenko and her 18-year-old son Volodymyr fled their native Donetsk, and they now live in Kilwinning, Scotland. But Volodymyr’s passport expires next summer, and Ms. Ryzhenko worries they will have to spend money to fly back to Ukraine, where they have nowhere to stay. “Our home is in Donetsk, which is still occupied,” she told me. “How will an 18-year-old boy live in Ukraine? Where and how will he work, how will he rent an apartment?”
After the announcement of the consular restrictions, Poland and Lithuania initially expressed their willingness to help Ukraine bring the men home, perhaps by requiring men to show their passports before receiving public services. However, other countries, such as Estonia, have said they won’t expel Ukrainians with expired passports.
Within Ukraine, opinions range on the issue. Some support the return of Ukrainian men through the restrictions, while others say Ukraine should open its borders and allow men who are avoiding the war to leave and support the country financially instead. In 2023 alone, Ukrainians abroad sent more than $15-billion in remittances to those in the country.
The Kremlin is watching the tensions growing within Ukraine and in the diaspora, and is likely rubbing its hands with glee. Russia has a much larger pool of recruits to draw from, but we should hope that in our current era, wars are decided by more than just the numbers of soldiers that can be pushed onto the battlefield. Winning the war against Vladimir Putin is essential for all democracies. More than just manpower, Ukraine needs more robust and consistent military and financial support from abroad to change the trajectory of the war.