‘Traveled 700 kilometers to get his passport’. What Ukrainians say at the passport center in Warsaw

Today, journalists from the AFP agency spoke with Ukrainians at the passport center in Warsaw, where conflicts arose yesterday due to the refusal to issue passports.

They reported this on their social media accounts.

One of the visitors, a truck driver, explained that Ukraine does not inquire about the basis for his departure, so he does not understand why he is considered a draft dodger if he left legally.

“This is a struggle with people who are fleeing from the army. They don’t ask us why we left the country… Why am I considered a draft dodger if I left the country legally?” said Maxim, a 38-year-old truck driver.

Another man believes that the state is pressuring people and pushing them to the point where everyone will have to register.

“The state has put me in a situation where I have no way out. I think our state simply pushes people to the point where we all have to do it. The doors are blocked. They fear that if I enter, I won’t leave until I get my passport. I know it’s there,” said Pavel Lyashenko, a 35-year-old entrepreneur who left for Poland long before the war.

He received a message that his passport was ready but cannot retrieve it.

Yet another driver wonders what documents he will need to obtain for the ones they paid for.

“I drove 700 kilometers to get my passport because I received a text message saying I could pick it up. No one is giving out passports. What are our next steps? What do we need to do just to get our documents that we paid for?” said Bogdan, a 27-year-old truck driver.

Earlier, a lawyer predicted that Ukrainian men would file lawsuits over the suspension of consular services. The decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to suspend consular services for men abroad was also called “semi-legal” in the Verkhovna Rada.

As a reminder, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine announced that it would resume consular services for men of mobilization age abroad on May 18, 2024, after the mobilization law comes into force “taking into account new requirements arising from the provisions of the law.”