Parliament proposes bill to allow male students free travel from Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada is drafting a bill that will allow Ukrainian students enrolled in universities abroad to freely cross Ukraine’s borders. The potential change in legislature applies to male Ukrainian students enrolled full-time in higher education institutions abroad.

Deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada’s committee on human rights, Ruslan Horbenko said on Dec. 23 that the bill aims to strengthen the connection between young Ukrainians abroad and their homeland.

Martial law prohibits men aged 18-60 from leaving Ukraine, with few exceptions, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

“We must grant this category of citizens the right to leave and return to Ukraine without hindrance to update their documents, visas, or military records,” Horbenko was quoted as saying. “This is also necessary to maintain the connection between young people and their homeland, as well as their families in Ukraine.”

Once entering the country from abroad, most male students currently cannot leave Ukraine again.

The proposed bill is a departure from U.S. calls to lower the mobilization age in Ukraine. In recent months, U.S. lawmakers have pressured Ukrainian authorities to lower the mobilization age from 25 to 18.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 9 that Ukraine will not use “the youth of soldiers” to make up for its gaps in military equipment and training. Zelensky added that Ukraine’s focus should be equipping and training “existing brigades” and that allies should work together to end Russia’s full-scale invasion.