Poland claims it could send 'military age' Ukrainian refugees back home to fight Russia, as Kyiv ramps up efforts to replenish its depleted and exhausted military.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said late Wednesday that Warsaw could help in getting military-aged men back to Ukraine.
'We have suggested for a long time that we can help the Ukrainian side ensure that people subject to compulsive military service go to Ukraine,' he told Polsat television.
'Everything is possible,' he added when asked if Warsaw would agree if Ukraine asked for people subject to the draft to be transported to Ukraine.
As of February 2024, 952,104 Ukrainian refugees were registered in Poland, 16 percent of them, or 152,656 people, men of military age, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Ukrainian citizens are seen arriving at the Medyka pedestrian border crossing in eastern Poland on February 25, 2022, fleeing the conflict in their country
A Ukrainian tank of the 17th Tank Brigade fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024
Ukrainian servicemen practice combat exercises in Donetsk Oblast on March 28, 2024
Ukraine is now scrambling to recruit troops after more than two years of war and has recently passed a mobilisation law, lowering the fighting age and toughening penalties against draft dodgers.
Late Wednesday it said it would stop issuing new passports abroad to some military-aged men, according to legislation published on the government website.
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As a result, men aged between 18 and 59 living abroad will be unable to renew expiring passports or obtain new ones when the law comes into effect in May.
Ukraine will also suspend consular services for men aged 18 to 60 living abroad, sparking fury among expatriates in Poland and elsewhere.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry insisted the suspension 'is a temporary step caused by the necessity to solve issues connected with military registration of persons liable for military service who are currently abroad'.
The Ministry stated separately that once the bill comes into effect on May 18,'the process of receiving and considering the applications for consular services will be resumed, taking into account new requirements which derive from the bill's provisions'.
Eurostat estimates that as many as 650,000 men of military age have fled Ukraine, as the armed forces struggle to replenish troops on the front line.
In December,Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned an extra 450,000 to 500,000 soldiers would be needed to resist Russia in 2024 alone.
Amid a desperate effort to replenish numbers on the frontline, Zelenskyy estimatedearlier this year that Russia will attempt a new offensive in Ukraine by May, requesting material support from Western allies.
'The most important source of Ukrainian weakness is the lack of manpower,' Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military consultancy in Poland, told BusinessDay.
'I would expect the situation to probably continue to deteriorate over the next three months, but if mobilisation goes according to plan and the US aid is unblocked then the situation should improve from autumn onwards,' he said, ahead of the passing of the colossal $95bn package - with $61bn set aside for Ukraine.
Zelenskyysaid on Sunday the package would give Ukraine a 'chance at victory' over Russia.
'Now we have all the chance to stabilize the situation and to overtake the initiative. And that's why we need to actually have the weapon systems,' he said.
'When we get it, when we have it in our arms, then we do have the chance to take this initiative and to move ahead and to protect Ukraine.'
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also promised the UK's largest ever military support package for Ukraine this week.
Ahead of a visit to Poland, Sunak stressed the urgency of aid to Ukraine and warned that Russia would 'not stop at the Polish border' if it continues to make gains in Ukraine.
The UK plans to give Ukraine munitions and vehicles on top of an additional £500mn in military funding, amounting to a total of £3bn this financial year.
Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz (R) and UK Secretary of Defense Grant Shapps (L), during a press conference in Orzysz, northeast Poland, 13 March 2024
Refugees proceed to a gathering point after crossing the Ukrainian border with Poland at the Medyka border crossing, southeastern Poland, on March 11, 2022
Refugees from Ukraine queue as they wait for further transport at the Medyka border crossing, after crossing at the Ukrainian-Polish border, southeastern Poland, on March 23, 2022
People who fled the war in Ukraine rest inside an indoor sports stadium being used as a refugee centre, in Medyka, a border crossing between Poland and Ukraine, on March 15, 2022
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fled the war, with most passing through Poland.
Many Ukrainians were in Poland prior to the outbreak of the war.
Poland, a staunch historic opponent of Russia, has suggested in the past helping Ukraine by returning those who are subject to military service to their country to fulfill their civic obligation, Kosiniak-Kamysz told Polsat News television.
'I think many Poles are outraged when they see young Ukrainian men in hotels and cafes, and they hear how much effort we have to make to help Ukraine,' he said, without giving any details on how Poland will help.
Some 4.3 million Ukrainians are living in European Union countries as of January, 2024, of whom about 860,000 are adult men, the Eurostat database estimates.
Poland has granted temporary protection status to 950,000 Ukrainians, the second-largest number after Germany.
