President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that there are currently questions about men liable for military service who left Ukraine illegally during the war. It is important not only to defend Ukraine at the front, but also to pay taxes to the budget. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a joint press conference with Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, an UNN correspondent reports.
Details
"Ukrainian citizens who left at the beginning of the war have questions. People were leaving. And it was obviously a war. None of the people knew what would happen tomorrow. We opened the borders to any country," Zelensky said, answering the question of whether Estonia should send men of military age back to Ukraine.
He noted that in this situation, the issue is not with Ukrainian citizens who left from the very beginning of the war, when the border was open, but with those who crossed it illegally.
"This is a question to these people, these men. If they are of mobilization age, they should help Ukraine and they should be in Ukraine. I am not saying that someone should be at the front and someone should not. There is a law. There is an ordinary human rule," Zelensky said.
The President reminded that six to eight taxpayers provide for one military serviceman, and "if men of mobilization age are in Ukraine and pay taxes, they are also defending the state, which is also very necessary.
"But if you are abroad and you are of mobilization age and not at the front, and you do not pay taxes, and you have left illegally, then there are questions. So, in principle, if we want to save Ukraine, to save Europe, we all have to understand: either we are helping Ukraine or we are not. Either we are citizens who are at the front, or we are citizens who work and pay taxes. If there is no money for the military, there will be no military and no one to defend Ukraine," the President emphasized.
Recall
Ukraine has not yet officially requested Estonia to extradite men subject to mobilization. However, consultations on this issue have already taken place.