Ukraine will lift from today a temporary ban on providing consular services for men of mobilization age living abroad, the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv reported, as quoted by Reuters and BTA.
"From May 18, men between the ages of 18 and 60 who are temporarily residing abroad will have the opportunity to apply for consular services,", the department said.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians of draft age are abroad at a time when Ukraine is in dire need of soldiers to defend against a full-scale Russian invasion.
Kiev introduced the ban in April and explained it as necessary to give technological time to stick to newly adopted legal amendments to the rules for wartime mobilization.
The freeze on consular services for this category of citizens was intended to limit the ability of persons subject to military service to quickly arrange their stay abroad before the new rules came into force, and thus save themselves from mobilisation. .
But the surprising measure was criticized by Ukrainians and some MPs. Others who serve in the military described it as fair.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba blamed men living abroad for not helping their country at a time when it is fighting for its survival.
Ukraine is experiencing a significant shortage of soldiers, so it has recently passed a number of laws aimed at providing fresh reinforcements and ending the numerous cases of evasion of mandatory military service, including through illegal escapes abroad.
About 4.3 million Ukrainians lived on the territory of the EU countries as of January this year, of which about 860,000 were adult men, according to the Eurostat database.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than two years ago, Ukraine imposed martial law, banning men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving its borders without special permission, and declared a mobilization of the male population to service in the armed forces.