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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Ukraine war: Male citizens living abroad to be asked to join army |
| 2023-12-21 |
| [BBC] Ukrainian men between the ages of 25 and 60 living abroad will be asked to report for military service, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has said. He described this as an "invitation" - but seemed to suggest anyone who did not comply would be sanctioned. However, a spokesman later clarified that no call-up was being considered. President Zelensky told journalists on Tuesday that 450,000-500,000 new soldiers were needed but achieving this was a "sensitive issue". This comes as Ukraine's recent counter-offensive appears to have stalled. Kyiv has also seen setbacks in provisions of aid, with US Republicans blocking a $61bn (€55bn; £48bn) military package and Hungary stopping an EU financial deal worth €50bn ($55bn; £43bn). In an analysis of figures from EU statistics agency Eurostat in November, BBC Ukrainian found that some 768,000 Ukrainian men aged 18-64 had left the country for the EU alone since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. The figure does not include citizens living outside the EU, or those resident anywhere abroad since before February 2022. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #2 Very sad. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-12-21 10:34 |