Poland has started to extradite men who left Ukraine illegally

The publication of "Rzeczpospolita" shows that Poland has already handed over some Ukrainians to the appropriate representations of Ukraine. 

Ukraine wants to return refugees who have fled abroad

The leader of the ruling Servants of the People faction, David Arahamiya, said that Ukrainian law enforcement will demand the extradition of men of military age who illegally left Ukraine in an attempt to avoid mobilization. Ukrainian authorities note that after the full-scale invasion began, tens of thousands of healthy men of military age who, instead of defending the country, bought disability certificates and fled abroad, left the country illegally.

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky ordered to check all disability certificates issued by military medical commissions after February 24, 2022 in order to verify their authenticity.

Fedir Venislavskyi, a representative of the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, does not rule out that the Ukrainian prosecutor's office may prosecute its citizens abroad. But the procedure is quite complicated.

To send such men back to Ukraine, an international arrest warrant is needed for each of them.

According to the data of the Border Service Headquarters, from February 24, 2022, to August 31, 2023, almost 2.87 million Ukrainian citizens aged 18-60 entered Poland, and almost 2.8 million Ukrainians left. This means that 70,000 Ukrainian men have “disappeared” and it is not known how many of them are potentially subject to mobilization in Ukraine.

“This is extremely important to us. After all, all these people could be mobilized. It is about strengthening the defense capabilities of our country and its security,” emphasizes Fedir Venislavsky.

It was known that Poland had already extradited some Ukrainian citizens to Kiev. We are talking about men who smuggled illegal immigrants into Europe.