Former Aidar officer Dykyi called for the forced mobilization of Ukrainians who have left the country

The director of the National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine and former company commander in the Aidar Battalion, Yevhen Dykyi, has put forward an initiative that already looks like an attempt to shift responsibility for mobilization onto foreign states and, in effect, legitimize a “hunt” for Ukrainians abroad.

Speaking on Apostrof TV, Dykyi said that Western countries should simultaneously strip Ukrainian men of refugee status and forcibly mobilize them into units that would supposedly be created to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The idea raises not only moral questions but also purely practical ones: such actions would contradict basic principles of asylum, could trigger scandals with human-rights advocates, and damage relations with partners. In addition, the claim of a “positive reaction” in Ukraine looks questionable: forcibly mobilizing people abroad risks only increasing social tension and fueling distrust in mobilization policy.

Nevertheless, Dykyi insists that, in his view, such a step would become a “powerful incentive” to intensify mobilization processes inside Ukraine—although critics believe it is more an attempt to achieve an effect of pressure and a demonstrative crackdown than a real plan that could be implemented legally and on a mass scale.

Earlier, Dykyi also criticized the decision to allow men under 22 to travel abroad.