And again about mobilization "foreign" Ukrainians: what men themselves think about her, the German Ministry of Justice and the Office of the President of Ukraine

DW spoke with Ukrainian men of military age in Germany and asked a lawyer who specializes in mobilization to comment on the possibility of their mobilization.

Rustem Umerov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, stated in an interview with Welt TV, Bild and Politico on December 21, that male Ukrainian citizens aged 25 to 60 who are currently abroad, must be mobilized in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2024, they must report to military recruiting centers abroad, and if the “invitation” is sabotaged, sanctions will be applied to them.

Edition DW talked with several Ukrainian citizens of military age and asked if they were ready for such an “invitation” in Germany (names changed at their request).

35-year-old Sergei has been in Germany under temporary protection since July 2022:

“It seems to me that this cannot be realized. Where will I have to report? To the military registration and enlistment office, which is not here in Germany? But it is not even the physical impossibility of realizing this that stops me. I ask myself the question: why should I do this?

At the beginning of the war, I was ready to go to the front, I was in the military registration and enlistment office twice, but they didn’t take me then. And then I began to ask myself, am I really ready for this, am I scared, what am I going to fight for? And answer these questions honestly. Now I’m here and, to the best of my strength and capabilities, I help the guys who are in the trenches, among whom are many of my comrades. I’m sorry that they are there, but I definitely won’t go there anymore. You know, the longer I am in Germany, the clearer for me is the picture of corruption in the state and the lack of accountability for it in Ukraine, which are still very widespread. And this really hurts me.

I believe that those men of military age who, during the war, left Ukraine legally, like me, or illegally and received temporary protection abroad, have already made their choice. There will be no one among them who will voluntarily respond to the call to go to the front. And coercion will definitely lead nowhere.”

42-year-old Nikolai has been in Germany under temporary protection since July 2023, fought from March 2022 to June 2023, demobilized for health reasons:

“For me, this initiative of the Minister of Defense is not at all clear. There are a lot of men in Ukraine now – they sit in entertainment establishments, walk, relax, drink and are not embarrassed to flaunt that they are not being taken to the front. And I saw this only in Kharkov, when I had the opportunity to come there for a day from the front. And there are also Kiev, Lvov, Ternopil and other large cities. There are various public figures, like one blogger who flaunted the fact that he once served, and now is engaged in what is from a peaceful he posts to his millions of people in the city, but he doesn’t go to the front.

Those people who wanted to go to war picked up machine guns and went – as volunteers or by conscription. And those who went abroad are afraid of this, they don’t want this war. They are not cowards, far from it, but they have fear for their lives, and it is stronger than anything. I don’t see the point in taking these men away from here; they will not be the support Ukraine needs. Because people who are afraid are a burden for the military; at the front they become “cannon fodder”.

I saw this with my own eyes, I know this from my own experience. Such a person hears a shot or an explosion somewhere and instinctively runs away from his position, or when his hand twitches in fear and a grenade explodes right in the trench – such situations have very tragic consequences for all military personnel who rely on fellow soldiers.

To gather people, there is no need to spend 500 billion hryvnia on mobilizing those who are abroad. This money needs to be spent on the army right now – to buy drones, weapons, ammunition for those who are already at the front.”

Ivan, 25 years old, student, has lived in Germany for 10 years, has Ukrainian citizenship:

“When Russia brutally attacked Ukraine, I went towards my homeland. I had a very strong urge to do this. But then, almost immediately, I encountered a stream of Ukrainian women with children who really needed help. And from then on it started to spiral it is with them – to accommodate, arrange, help with documents, enroll children in schools, transfer with doctors or in various institutions. This continues to this day – dozens of people call me now, these women and their children already have other problems here, because they are going through a process of integration.

I have a Ukrainian passport, I am a citizen of Ukraine, and therefore, if I am called to the Consulate General of Ukraine, I, of course, will arrive there. But now I don’t really understand the possible mechanism of such a procedure, because I am in Germany legally, I have an indefinite residence permit, I study and work here, I live here, this is my home. In Germany, issues of military service are very balanced; a friend of mine serves in the Bundeswehr and talks a lot about his experience. And given this, I can’t even imagine who and how at the Ukrainian consulate could force me to do something, against my will.”

DW also spoke with a lawyer, asking a specialist on mobilization issues to comment on the possibility of mobilizing Ukrainian citizens abroad. Lawyer at the Gracers law firm Sergei Savinsky explained that as of today there are no mechanisms through which, from a legal point of view, it is possible to mobilize Ukrainian military personnel abroad:

“There is no so-called legal infrastructure for this, because the person liable for military service must be properly notified, summoned to the military medical commission, examined, and so on.”

He emphasized that Ukraine is a rule of law state, and the key aspect in this regard is the rule of law for all entities located on the territory of Ukraine:

“This means that the principle of legal certainty operates, which obliges executive authorities to act within the limits and to fulfill their powers. And entities engaged in mobilization activities in Ukraine have the authority to give any instructions in Germany, Poland or wherever -where else are Ukrainian military personnel located? Until a mechanism is determined, until a certain legal infrastructure is built, which, in particular, will determine the interaction of territorial recruitment centers with the competent authorities of other countries, the mobilization of Ukrainians abroad will not be possible “.

What does the German Ministry of Justice say? In short: “We will not force Ukrainians into military service.” Deutsche Welle quotes Mark Buschmann, German Minister of Justice, representing the liberal Free Democratic Party in the German government:

“If Ukraine wants to draft men who left the country into the army, this will not have practical consequences for Ukrainians living in Germany. In Germany, they will not force Ukrainians in the country to perform military service. Forcing people to perform military service or perform military service against their will is “It is not our case. It is inconceivable to me how we can force people from other countries to serve in arms, given that, according to our constitution, German citizens are not obliged to do this against their will.”

He also said that the German authorities are striving to create such conditions for refugees from military operations in Ukraine so that as many of them as possible can quickly get a job and not live on social benefits.

Meanwhile, in Germany there were different reactions to Umerov’s statement. The vice-chairman of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) faction in the Bundestag, Johan Wadepoel, for example, said on the Welt TV channel that the “persistent moral appeal” of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense should be supported, without specifying how such support should be provided. However, according to him, Ukrainians who find themselves in Germany “are here because there is a war going on there, and they simply must contribute to ensuring that this war ends.”

On December 19, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said at a press conference following the results of the year that Ukraine intends to recruit an additional 450-500 thousand people for military service. He announced the preparation of a corresponding bill, which will then be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration.

The leader of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, said that the military command made a request to mobilize 500 thousand military personnel. The government is “making the rules”: “The military needs solutions to its problems. The public wants to hear answers to all sensitive issues.”

Chapter Advisor office of the president Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak spoke approvingly of the possible conscription by the Ukrainian authorities of refugees from this country for military service. “This is the right idea,” Podolyak said in an interview with Channel 24, published on December 22:

“Still, we need to be conscious, because it looks strange. Someone here must bear some responsibility for what is happening in the country. And someone there will wait until these people complete everything. Then we will come and continue as if nothing had happened build Ukraine. Here the minister is absolutely right.”

This issue needs to be discussed at the level of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and other ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Podolyak believes. Consultations are necessary with the governments of other countries where Ukrainian men are located, “from the point of view of whether they can continue to receive a temporary residence permit there, have certain preferences, and receive assistance,” he explained.

Our publication reported earlier that Ukrainians abroad who have not registered for military service can lose the right for consular and banking services. Member of the Verkhovna Rada Defense Committee Vadim Ivchenko believes:

“One of the consequences, for example, may be that consular services will not be provided, that is, if an expired passport, no one will provide a new one. They will not provide consular services in the form of a power of attorney, because many make powers of attorney for courts in Ukraine in order to either sell property , or somehow give it as a gift and the like. The next thing is the bank. The bank will also request a new identification, but this identification must contain this type, directly military registration. This means that even bank cards can be disabled.”

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