MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. Approximately 400,000 men under the age of 23 have left Ukraine for European Union countries since August 2025, according to statistics provided by the EU, reported Ukrainian Minister of Social Policy, Family, and Unity Denis Ulutin.
"According to Europe, about 400,000," he said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine. Meanwhile, the minister claims that Kiev, for its part, does not keep statistics on young Ukrainians who have left the country. Ulutin admitted that such a number of Ukrainian refugees in European countries "is a strain" on the EU.
On August 28, 2025, men aged 18 to 22 inclusive were allowed to leave Ukraine during martial law. In Ukraine, men are subject to mobilization from the age of 25, but due to martial law, all men from the age of 18 were previously prohibited from freely traveling abroad.
In February 2022, Ukraine started general mobilization, which has been renewed multiple times since. Initially, men between the ages of 27 and 60 were subject to conscription, but in April 2024, the minimum age for mobilization was lowered to 25. Ukrainian authorities are making every effort to replenish losses in the military, frequently revisiting the idea of lowering the mobilization age to 18. On February 11, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced contract enlistment for men aged 18 to 24. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called these contracts for Ukrainian youth a one-way ticket.