The war on men (part 2)

Ukrainian men and their loved ones around the world woke up to news that stunned even them, a nation used to unpleasant surprises.

I snapped this photo while waiting for Olya that Sunday evening in early April. All these people flying back and forth. What do they all need to do so? A valid passport.

Yesterday morning the anger was palpable as the first news emerged confirming that what had been a rumour was actually true. The Ukrainian government (which, they are quick to point out, remained in office without a wartime election, which was due according to the electoral schedule) had issued an order that effective immediately, as of April 23, 2024, all men aged between 18 and 60 would only be able to renew their international passports and access consular services within Ukraine after presenting military registration documents.

In other words, with this single document, the Ukrainian government threatens, as of now, to make potentially millions of Ukrainian men currently residing not in Ukraine holders of expired passports.

Here, in English.

I used the term stateless on “X” yesterday and was corrected for this. But an expired passport is essentially stateless. Without a valid passport one cannot travel. The ID cards issued in the EU, for example, to Ukrainians, are only valid until March 2025 and we still do not have information about a renewal, which we all hope for, but is not yet confirmed. If you are living, as I have most of my life, in a third country of which you are not a citizen, your home country passport becomes your identifying document, and without it, you are, basically, fucked.

The Ukrainian government knows all of this, of course. It dropped this bomb quietly while the eyes of the western press were on Washington, awaiting the vote in the Senate on foreign aid, which finally took place last night. It passed, and now awaits Biden’s signature. Ukraine will finally start receiving some of the military aid which could have saved thousands of lives had it arrived months ago when it was needed. In the meantime, Ukrainian men of all backgrounds have taken a look at the situation on the battlefield…

…and are desperately trying to find any and all ways out of the country. The new law on not renewing their passports abroad is not going to make any men return home. If they risked everything to leave because they did not want to die on the front lines, under-armed in a war against Russia many see as un-winnable for Ukraine at this rate, they are going to choose life in a third country with an expired passport over the chance of death on the battlefield at home. I think the part that most upsets me are the flag wavers from behind their computer screens who by the privilege of their birthplaces (i.e. pure luck) were born into countries without army drafts and wars, who do not understand why all Ukrainian men do not want to fight. The patriots, they all rushed to fight when Russia first invaded. Many, many of them died. In the meantime, others have learned the awful reality about what it means to serve in an army that until now put no end date on your service, was at times, like now, massively undersupplied, and massively outnumbered by an enemy that has an endless supply of male cannon fodder simply on the basis of its passive and massive population.

The fury online is real and palpable. I spoke yesterday with a woman who had recently returned from a trip back to Kyiv. She said the mood is “depressed”. She noticed injured servicemen much more present on the streets than previous trips. She confirmed that no one has an answer to the question of when will it all end. She says those in cities like Kharkiv, where many have said they are determined to wait out the war in their own homes, are still adamant despite the odds looking not great for waiting it out. She mentioned a date, sometime in April or May, when something terrible is expected from the Russian side. Interesting, I also heard a date from someone in Russia, someone with access to information, working for the state, wanting to conclude a commercial transaction before said date. In other words, it feels very ominous, and to put it mildly, not great.

I asked Ukrainians to share with me their thoughts on this new refusal of their government to renew passports abroad to Ukrainian men. There were huge queues at consulates all over the world. There were TikToks from Warsaw to Houston of men lining up to collect passports which had already been printing and then not being given them by consulate staff, citing the new law. Fury. That is the only word I can think of to describe the current situation, and I would bet a lot of money that it does not result in any more men going back to Ukraine, quite the opposite. The only thing I do expect is an opportunity in the near future for those well connected and with deep pockets to pay the right people to be able to renew documents “in Ukraine” without actually having stepped foot in Ukraine. That is my gut feeling on this mess.

One Ukrainian writes me this morning, in perfect English (I did not ask if male or female):

“Ukraine's imposition of a ban on providing consular services exacerbates the situation, further restricting the rights and freedoms of its citizens abroad. This ban undermines the principle of consular assistance and protection enshrined in international law and deprives individuals of crucial support in times of need. It intensifies the gravity of the violation, heightening concerns regarding the state's disregard for human rights and humanitarian principles.

The cessation of providing all consular services to men abroad without proper health screening is a violation of international standards, particularly the Convention on Consular Relations. This Convention guarantees the right to consular protection and assistance to citizens when needed.

Furthermore, such a move violates the constitutional rights of Ukrainian citizens to personal protection and ensures their right to consular assistance in other countries. Refusal to provide consular services may violate the right to freedom of movement and other constitutional guarantees.

The aim to compel citizens, who are currently in safety, to return to Ukraine and then forcibly send them to war without providing consular assistance and without proper health screening, constitutes a serious violation of human rights and international humanitarian law. This could lead to the loss of lives, even before their deployment to the front line, without proper assessment of circumstances and health status. Such an approach is not only senseless but also dangerous, violating fundamental principles of humanitarian law and human rights standards.”

A mother writes me, whose son is a university student in Vienna:

“My son is 18. His Ukrainian passport expired on his birthday. He must apply for a new one, but the embassy will not give him a new passport without the military registration document. If he goes to Ukraine to get this document, and receives it, then he will not be let out of Ukraine and he will not be drafted until he is 25. It is like a mouse trap. I think they are not idiots, those who came up with this, these steps were taken by those in power to create nightmares for the population. It will force the population to accept giving up territory and an end to the war.”

A mother of young children writes me (and yes, it is written like a stream of consciousness):

“I am of course against the government overstepping its bounds, in addition to them already extending martial law which according to the constitution should only be for a maximum of 90 days, after which there should be a war declaration (not a threat of war as was written in their first declaration), but under such conditions you cannot sell gas, wheat, electricity, and businesses close, but then you would not have to support a ton of parliamentarians, the Parliament should go to war and the military should create a war administration. What we have now is the entire military apparatus AND the Parliament, can you imagine what a position the military registration offices and the police now have, and that is why people are so upset. They are also pushing us all to the military registration offices where they take money not in rubles but per the new law, all men have to show up and refresh their status, and this means they will take bribes, many people sold their apartments in order to pay to be able to leave legally, and they have no more money left. The government does not want its own children to serve in the army, all of the sons of the bureaucrats are protected, during the war they sell land but did not pass laws, and they do not discharge those who are wounded or injured, they pay them miserly compensation of €60 (without an arm, without a leg, you have to buy your own medicines), ALTHOUGH on the other hand, if they did not have Ukrainian passports, Europe would not have accepted those men with such nice conditions!! Most importantly, the politicians whose terms are up (more than 5 years in office) continue as if they think they can rule forever. In May, the president’s term is up, although they say there cannot be a change in power, but there should be elections, those are already not taking responsibility…they pass such laws.”

She explains to me that in the new law on mobilization, even men with excuses not to serve, such as handicapped relatives or three kids, they are forcing everyone to go to the military registration committee, and these documents approving your exception could easily get “lost”, and then you can be drafted, and once you are taking in…you don’t get out.

In short, Ukraine looks set to finally get the U.S. aid it has been waiting months for (and at what cost of lost time and lives), while its own population is livid about the government’s attitude towards men as purely potential manpower for the army. This anger may also surely exist in Russia, especially as more and more families are touched by loss. I spoke recently with someone from a privileged position in Moscow who had lost a close relative in the war. The young man had volunteered, he believed he was a patriot. He even had distant Ukrainian roots. But Russians do not have the option to flee across a border into welcoming arms of a neighbouring country. Ukrainians do. Europe, for the most part, does not ask men if they are here “legally” or “illegally” in the eyes of the Ukrainian state. And legal can mean anything from father of three young kids to accompanying a sick granny as her legal guardian, to papers (real or not) that you have a handicap and therefore cannot serve. But if you ran across the forest into Hungary or Romania, and made it, Europe, with perhaps the exception of Poland, does not ask questions.

An expired passport, however, that is a whole other can of worms and I shudder at the thought of it. I think it is hard for people to understand who have lived their entire lives in one country what it feels like to be always grappling for one more document to make yourself “legitimate” in your place of residence. I also think you have to imagine how much of Ukraine has already been occupied by Russia, and understand why men from those territories would not like to fire artillery on their own relatives who decided to stay and accepted Russian passports and life in what is now “Russia”, like in the Donbas and parts of Zaporozhye and Kharkiv regions.

Anyone who tries to make this black and white “the men should go defend their country” doesn’t understand the first thing about the complexities of this war, of the situation inside Ukraine, of the ability of well-connected citizens to bribe their way out of complicated bans like this, while potentially millions of ordinary men are left scrambling. One thing it is not going to do — it is not going to drive them to go home and serve. I would like to see a real opinion poll of the Ukrainian government at this moment. I imagine the approval ratings would not be higher than Biden’s.

So here we are. Already there are calls for western human rights organisations to speak up on this. I am genuinely curious if they will. I somehow doubt it. Washington is proud to have finally done the right thing, but so late. In the end, only a handful of MAGA Senators voted against the bill, along with a few leftist Democrats. In Russia, they arrested a deputy defence minister for corruption (the Navalny team is gloating because they did a report about Ivanov specifically some time ago). Considering the defence department and corruption are basically synonyms in Russia, he must have really pissed off someone important and overstepped in his greed.

Here in Austria, it is basically business as usual. I am preparing my waiting list of card requests, and hope to receive some fresh cards soon from Mario who is placing a new order now (thank you for all the birthday donations). I am also receiving thankful texts from those who received cards through our website in the latest batch of cards Mario send out. As families often wait many months for this, they are so pleasantly surprised and relieved when the cards finally arrive. One woman called me yesterday and said she would use it to shop for her daughter’s upcoming birthday. As one Ukrainian said to me yesterday, people can get used to anything. Really. She was back in Ukraine for a visit, and found herself missing Vienna towards the end. It is now home, and her job here is now her job. I imagine many Ukrainians abroad already feel this way, which is why the passport decision is such a literal stab in the back from the government. Because people on this earth do not choose where they are born, and Ukrainians will not be the first nor the last individual men to run from facing death on a battlefield between nation states.

Here is a Kyiv Independent story on the government announcement yesterday.