The Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrid Šimonite, noted that her country does not plan to facilitate the return of conscripted Ukrainian men to Ukraine. Still, there is one condition under which this is possible in individual cases.
Lithuania does not plan to return conscripted Ukrainian men to Ukraine
Shimonite emphasised that her country's government guaranteed protection to Ukrainian citizens, including men, at least until March 2025.
According to her, Lithuania will not issue a wanted notice for Ukrainian citizens who evade military service in Ukraine.
We will not organize deportations or look for Ukrainian men in the country, because that would be illegal, emphasised Ingrid Šimonite.
She emphasised that if Ukraine provides evidence that its male citizens are guilty of evading military service, they may be denied a permanent residence permit.
The Prime Minister of Lithuania emphasised that this is precisely how her country plans to help Ukraine by strengthening the potential for replenishing the ranks of the Armed Forces.
How the Kremlin is trying to discredit the mobilisation in Ukraine
According to Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) at the National Security Council, on the national newscast, the Kremlin promotes theses to discredit the mobilisation process in Ukraine with the help of controlled lawyers.
Viktor Medvedchuk built an infrastructure of influence in Ukraine a long time ago through the creation of law firms and the involvement of a large number of lawyers to promote decisions beneficial to the Russian Federation. In particular, many lawyers are currently entering the media field, offering their services and giving advice on how to avoid fraud, Kovalenko notes.
According to him, Kremlin propagandists are actively spreading these theses with the help of Ukrainians who have gone abroad.
A large number of Ukrainians who have left, including media representatives, post dozens of posts every day, highlighting the evil of mobilisation. The appearance of a large number of artificial comments under videos with military personnel is also recorded. For these videos, the first 20 comments try to promote bots with the same narratives. For example, if a military man is sitting in a studio, having returned from the front, they write to him, "First go to war yourself, and then force others," emphasises the CCD chief.
He also noted that Kremlin propaganda manipulates the statements of individual Ukrainian politicians trying to increase their ratings by discussing issues related to mobilisation.
In Ukraine, we have some politicians who take up the topic of mobilisation. From the point of view of protecting, they say, men who want to be dealt with according to the law. These politicians understand very well that this is their only chance to get into the media field. But the Russians use some of these people for themselves. They cut part of the video and reflect the alleged position of the Ukrainians, Kovalenko explains.
