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MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. The lion’s share of young Ukrainians who left the country after the lifting of travel restrictions for men aged 18-22 will not return, Sergey Yevtushok, a lawmaker with the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkovna Rada, said on Friday. "Those who left Ukraine, 80-90% [of them] are not returning. And these are very serious challenges for the country," he said in an interview with Novosti Live news broadcaster. According to the lawmaker, after Ukraine allowed citizens under the age of 22 to leave the country, Ukraine essentially said goodbye to "its working and educational potential." "These are our youth, this is our future. This figure is really huge considering the outflow of personnel who have now left," Yevtushonok emphasized. The outflow of young people from the country has been confirmed by some reputable sources outside Ukraine. The British-based Daily Telegraph newspaper reported earlier citing data from the Polish border guard service that after the restrictions had been lifted up to 100,000 men left Ukraine. According to the daily, most of them headed to Germany, where 1,400-1,800 of Ukrainian nationals arrive weekly. On August 28, men aged 18 to 22 began crossing the border out of Ukraine on the very first day that they were permitted to do so. On August 12, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky instructed the government and military command to ease border crossing restrictions for men aged 18 to 22. The government did not adopt the resolution within the promised timeframe. Then, on August 25, Verkhovna Rada lawmakers introduced a bill allowing men under the age of 24 to travel abroad. After that, Zelensky held a meeting with Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko, and on the evening of August 26, she announced that the government had adopted a resolution allowing men aged 18 to 22 inclusive to leave the country. The resolution was officially published on August 28 and took effect today.
