Ministry of Defense aware of number of Ukrainian men of conscription age abroad - Umerov

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is aware of the number of Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 who left Ukraine after the start of the full-scale war and did not return home.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said this in an interview with Suspilne, Ukrinform reports.

"For the past one-and-a-half months, we have consolidated all databases. That is, we see how many [men of military age] we have in Ukraine and how many abroad. We are verifying this [number] together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that is, we have such information," he said.

Asked to comment on reports of the search for ways to return men from abroad to fulfill their duty to defend the state, Umerov said: "If we make a decision by category, we will send an invitation to everyone."

He said his task was to do everything "possible and impossible" within the legal framework and involve the necessary number of people to defend Ukraine. He also stressed that the number of those who want to serve the Ukrainian nation was than higher the number of those who want to avoid this.

Umierov earlier said in an interview with German media outlets that Ukraine would like all Ukrainian men of military age, who are currently abroad, to report to the recruitment centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Press and Information Department clarified that Umerov had called on all Ukrainian citizens to join the Ukrainian army wherever they were. The issue of punishing those who are outside Ukraine is currently off the table.