Zelensky’s travel ban relaxation will be selective – MP
Men under the age of 22 will only be allowed to leave Ukraine if they have a foreign-issued study visa, Sergey Yevtushok believes
The relaxation of Ukraine’s ban on traveling abroad for men under the age of 22 recently announced by Vladimir Zelensky will apply to very few people, opposition MP Sergey Yevtushok believes.
On Tuesday, Zelensky announced that he had ordered the rule barring all men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country be changed, lifting restrictions for men under 22. Such a step would help “many young Ukrainians to maintain ties” with their homeland and potentially return to Ukraine for study.
According to Yevtushok, however, a man in this age group seeking to depart will still need a “valid reason” to leave.
“A man reaching 18 years of age becomes liable for military service up until he reaches 60 under the law. That’s why I don’t think that the law will be changed,” he told the YouTube show Ranok.Live on Wednesday. The MP believes that a man in this age group seeking to depart will still need a “valid reason.”
Zelensky “sounds like anyone without exception will get the permit to leave,” Yevtushok stated, adding that he believes only those “having an invitation [from a foreign educational establishment] or a study visa” will actually be able to travel abroad, although he said that this was his “personal opinion.”
The Ukrainian authorities have struggled to deal with widespread draft evasion throughout the conflict. Potential recruits have in many cases tried to cross the Ukrainian border and flee abroad by surreptitiously traversing rough terrain or via water, often with fatal consequences.
Ukrainian border patrols have also stopped thousands of people trying to flee, even going as far as shooting some of them.
