Facing hard wartime choices, Ukraine puts spotlight on men abroad who are absent from fight

Ukraine is facing hard choices as it decides who to call up to the fight against an all-out Russian invasion that has lasted more than two years.

Men as young as 25 can now be drafted, down from age 27 previously. This week, the government said militaryage Ukrainian men - with lim‐ ited exceptions - cannot have their passports renewed out‐ side Ukraine and consular services won't be available to them in the weeks ahead.

"Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, underlining Kyiv's position on citizens' obligations to their country.

Ukraine is already esti‐ mated to have roughly one million people in uniform. But after such prolonged fighting with Russia, there is need to find fresh recruits to ensure Kyiv does not lose the ongoing battle.

"This is ... a short-term need that must be fulfilled," said Khrystyna Holynska, a California-based assistant policy researcher at the RAND Corporation thinktank.

WATCH | What U.S. aid can do for Ukraine:

If this can't be met, Holyn‐ ska said there may be no point in discussing longerterm needs for the state.

"Ukraine's existence as a country is at stake," said Holynska, who holds a PhD in political science from Taras Shevchenko National Univer‐ sity of Kyiv.

And the longer the war goes on, the more people that will be needed to carry on the fight - a reality that is playing into some tensions over those who have been able to avoid the front lines so far.

"Volunteers seem to have almost run out," Ukrainian journalist Andriy Kulykov, the chairman of Hromadske Radio, said via email, quoting a Ukrainian soldier who re‐ cently spoke to his media or‐ ganization.

Outside the war zone Reaction to Kyiv's con‐ sular-service pullback for mil‐ itary-age men outside the country has ranged from up‐ set to shrugged shoulders.

Anatoly Nezgoduk, a 21year-old Ukrainian studying abroad in Canada, did not see reason to criticize what Kyiv is doing.

"I understand very well that there is a war in our country, so I can't call this move weird, illegal or incor‐ rect," he told Reuters. "In a way, this distances me from Ukraine's official representa‐ tion abroad."

Kulykov, the Hromadske Radio journalist, said Ukraini‐ ans understand there are le‐ gitimate reasons why some people are exempt from mo‐ bilization - such as those looking after relatives with disabilities.

"Those who do not have a legitimate excuse are viewed by many as cowards and trai‐ tors," Kulykov said.

"Then again, there are quite a lot of people in Ukraine who have the 'No one wants to get killed' atti‐ tude, and they may be envi‐ ous of these men's safety but do not condemn them."

Viktor Kovalenko served in the Ukrainian military a decade ago and remembers what it was like to see others shirk a call to duty, while he was taking part.

"It was painful for me," said Kovalenko, a former journalist who now lives in the United States after spending his first 45 years in Ukraine, where he was born.

Kovalenko said he saw friends and colleagues avoid military service, leaving him feeling "alone." Some of these same peers later ad‐ mitted to having ignored con‐ scription notices sent their way, he said.

In his estimation, when a portion of society is "indiffer‐ ent" to serious national threats, it's a serious prob‐ lem.

"Who will defend in a case of aggression?" Kovalenko said.

Delayed aid

Ukraine had been waiting for urgently needed military aid, which U.S. legislators fi‐ nally approved this week.

As a result, the U.S. will now speed a $1-billion US military package - including ammunition for air defences, rocket systems and anti-tank weapons - to Ukraine.

The U.S. believes Ukraine can prevail over Russia, al‐ though as U.S. National Secu‐ rity Adviser Jake Sullivan put it, "there is no silver bullet in this conflict," despite the pro‐ vision of various weapons, in‐ cluding long-range missiles.

Giorgi Revishvili, an analyst and author of the Russia Analyzed newsletter, said Ukraine was left trying to cope with ammunition shortages while it waited for the U.S. aid to come through.

He said the delay had an effect on the battlefield both directly and indirectly.

"It ... affected the Ukraini‐ ans' fighting spirit and fight‐ ing force," said Revishvili, a Fulbright scholar at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.

"Because if you don't have munitions, [having] only bravery and courage will not help you defend your home‐ land."

The mobilization issue has not gone unnoticed in Russia, where the state news agency TASS has frequently men‐ tioned Ukraine's related legis‐ lation in recent days.

"Every sensitive issue re‐ garding war in Ukraine ... Russia will try to exploit," said Revishvili.

Reading the room

Several observers saw Kyiv's consular and passport actions as being rooted in domestic political considera‐ tions.

"My personal feeling is that the authorities are re‐ sponding to the mood in the country," said Hromadske Ra‐ dio's Kulykov.

Ukrainians are fighting an opponent with a "huge ad‐ vantage in numbers" that re‐ minds them that some peo‐ ple have avoided the fight by being outside the country, he said.

He's skeptical these moves will generate many new conscripts.

"The opinion seems to prevail (and I share it) that an absolute majority of those who felt the urge (or deemed it feasible) to come back and join the fight either in the ar‐ my or in supporting the economy, have done so," said Kulykov.

Yet Holynska, the RAND Corporation expert, said the Ukrainian government may also be trying to discourage efforts to leave the country.

"I do think that part of the calculus ... was to deter more people from leaving Ukraine and from avoiding the draft," said Holynska.

WATCH | What mobiliza‐ tion could do for Ukraine:

This could also include discourage people aiding others in avoiding conscrip‐ tion by demonstrating Ukraine has legal mechanis‐ ms to address the issue, she said.

But Kyiv's approach could also have consequences on how enthusiastic Ukrainians living abroad are about re‐ turning home.

"Actions like this ... are not incentivizing them to keep ties with Ukraine," Holynska said.