Ukraine's Defense Ministry says Umerov speaks in general about recruitment, not about mechanisms for calling up men from abroad

The head of the press and information department of the Defense Ministry, Illarion Pavliuk, said this, the Babel reports.

"He generally spoke to journalists about recruitment and the need to convey to Ukrainians abroad how important it is for them to join the army. No discussion of mechanisms for drafting into the Armed Forces from abroad was on the agenda," the report says.

Welt first published an interview with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

According to him, Ukrainians of conscription age between 25 and 60 in Germany and other countries will have to be invited to the armed forces' recruiting centers. "The Ukrainian military wants to mobilize another 450 to 500 thousand soldiers to repel the Russian invasion. However, the financial and political framework conditions have not yet been clarified," the statement said.

Umerov also said that justice is important. Despite the ban, many Ukrainian men have fled abroad to avoid conscription.

• On December 19, at a press conference on the results of 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared information that the General Staff had asked for the mobilization of an additional 450-500 thousand Ukrainians.