Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Photo: UP).
During a press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, President Zelensky said that Ukrainian men of military age who are abroad should return to Ukraine to support the country's economy and also protect their homeland.
Earlier, Mr Zelensky was asked whether Estonia should force Ukrainian men who are in the European country to return home to join the fight against Russia.
Mr. Zelensky replied that in the early stages of the war, Ukrainians of different genders and ages went abroad because no one knew what would happen next. He said that the Ukrainian people saved themselves and that neighboring countries opened their borders to them.
However, he said the situation had changed, so at least Ukrainian men should return home.
"We have regained 50% of the territory that was controlled by Russia when Moscow started the war and pushed the enemy back. The Ukrainian army has been fighting for two years. And there are men who have illegally crossed the border during this time. This is their problem. If they are of military age, they must help Ukraine and stay in the country," he said.
"I am not saying who will go to the front line and who will stay behind. Ukraine has laws and regulations for that. But I told the Prime Minister of Estonia that the cost of one Ukrainian soldier will be paid by 6-8 Ukrainian taxpayers. Ukraine will have to take care of this, we do not receive any financial support in this regard," he explained.
"If you stay in Ukraine, you don't go to the front line but you work and pay taxes, you are also defending the country. And we need that. But if you are of military age, you don't go to the front line and you don't pay taxes and you leave the country illegally, you will face many questions," the Ukrainian President said.
"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, there will be no money for the army. And if there are no salaries for soldiers, there will be no one to defend Ukraine. That's the law of life," he explained, calling on men in Ukraine to at least return home to pay taxes to build the country.
Ukraine declared a general mobilization shortly after the start of its conflict with Russia in February 2022. The order banned most men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country.
However, Ukraine’s conscription campaign has faced a number of negative developments and draft dodging. In August 2023, Mr. Zelensky fired all heads of conscription agencies in the country’s regions and launched an investigation into suspected corruption involving these agencies.
At a press conference on December 19, 2023, Mr. Zelensky said that Ukraine is considering the army's proposal to mobilize an additional 450,000-500,000 new recruits in the coming time.
Last November, he instructed Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Chief of the General Staff Valerii Zaluzhnyi to draw up a new process to boost recruitment after Kiev struggled to send more troops to the front lines in its nearly two-year war of attrition with Russia.
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