Ukraine has stopped issuing new passports abroad to some military-aged men, according to legislation published on Wednesday, as part of measures to push them to return home amid manpower shortages in the army.
Men affected by the measure will not be able to receive passports from 鈥榝oreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine鈥�, according to amended legislation published on the government website on Wednesday.
The exact scope and period of the measure remains unclear.
It was announced a day after the suspension of consular services for men aged 18 to 60 living abroad, until the new law on mobilisation is implemented.
Ukraine鈥檚 foreign ministry released a statement on Wednesday saying its own consular procedures 鈥榬emain unchanged鈥�. his implies that military-aged men whose military details are up-to-date would still be able to get passports once the mobilisation law comes into effect.
Ukrainian men have been prohibited from leaving the country since the invasion began, apart from a few exceptions allowing men to legally cross the border.
Some fled illegally 鈥� while others who lived abroad prior to 2022 did not return when the war began.
But Kyiv鈥檚 forces have been struggling on the battlefield, partly due to manpower shortages.
And many soldiers have been fighting with little or no break since February 2022.
This forced the government to adopt new measures to crack down on draft dodgers and encourage conscription, despite some delays and criticism.
Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged drone and artillery fire on Thursday, leaving at least seven dead, regional officials on both sides of the frontline announced.
The uptick in civilian deaths came as Russian forces are pressing in hard in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, ahead of events in Moscow on May 9, hailing the Soviet Union鈥檚 victory in World War II.
A Ukrainian attack drone left two dead in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and two more were killed by Ukranian artillery fire in the southern Kherson region, officials said.
The Kremlin claimed to have annexed both regions in late 2022 even though Russian forces are still battling to gain full control over them.
鈥楢 man and a woman were killed as a result of a strike on a civilian car. Their four young children were orphaned,鈥� the Russian-installed head of Zaporizhzhia, Evgeny Balitsky, wrote on social media.
He said the children would be taken into care and provided with psychological assistance.
The Russian head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said separately that two more people were killed by Ukrainian fire in the village of Dnipryany.
The two frontline regions saw intense bouts of fighting in 2022 and the summer of 2023, when Ukraine launched a counteroffensive that failed to meet expectations in Zaporizhzhia.
The brunt of the fighting has since moved to the eastern Donetsk region, which is also claimed by Moscow as Russian territory.
The Ukrainian head of the Donetsk region, Vadim Filashkin, said three people had been killed in separate bouts of shelling in the villages of Udachne, where two people were killed, and in Kurakhivka, where one person was killed.
鈥楾he final consequences of the shelling have yet to be determined,鈥� he said.