Draft law on new grounds for temporary restriction of citizens’ departure registered in the Rada
16 November 14:16
The Verkhovna Rada has registered draft law No. 14210, which proposes to expand the grounds for temporary restrictions on the travel of Ukrainian citizens abroad for employees of critical enterprises.
The corresponding initiative was published on November 14, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
It was initiated by five MPs: Iryna Friz (European Solidarity), Yuriy Mysyagin (Servant of the People), Dmytro Pryputen (Servant of the People), Roman Kostenko (Voice), and Solomiya Bobrovska (Voice).
The draft law is related to law No. 13335, signed by Zelenskyy on October 31, which regulates labor relations under martial law and introduces temporary reservation of persons liable for military service at critical infrastructure and defense companies for 45 days from the date of signing employment contracts.
The text of draft law No. 14210 and its explanatory note have not yet been made public, but co-author Iryna Friz explains that the bill provides for a temporary travel restriction only for those people who have violated the law on military registration and have received a preferential reservation for 45 days to eliminate violations. Once they are corrected and they have a reservation, these citizens will be able to travel abroad without additional restrictions.
According to her, employees booked under the standard procedure can travel to sign international contracts, deliver humanitarian aid and other international activities provided for by the state.
Freese noted that the Defense Ministry opposed preferential booking for violators of military records, but the majority in parliament did not take these reservations into account. She emphasized that the adoption of the law without control could create a risk of new “schemes” for traveling abroad.
“Its adoption should only guarantee that the reservation will not be used as a legalized scheme for vacations or business trips during martial law,” Freese wrote on Facebook.
Oleksandr Fediyenko, a member of the Servant of the People party, said that the bill, which provides for a temporary ban on traveling outside Ukraine for people booked for the period of mobilization and martial law, is a “fake” bill.
“If a person is officially booked as critical for the country, he or she must be physically present in Ukraine to perform these functions,” he wrote on his Telegram.
Fediyenko noted that the initiative is intended to eliminate situations where a person formally has the status of “critical” but is actually abroad.
What is known about border crossings during martial law in Ukraine
Ukraine has been under martial law since February 24, 2022. For this period, travel abroad is restricted for men aged 18 to 60 who are subject to mobilization. However, the following categories are allowed to travel: people with disabilities, parents with many children (all children under 18), guardians, accompanying persons with disabilities, students of foreign universities, and certain other groups.
Each category has its own list of documents. Border guards emphasize that the decision to allow passage is made individually at the checkpoint.
on August 26, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced that the Cabinet of Ministers had updated the procedure for crossing the state border. Now, men aged 18 to 22 will be able to leave Ukraine freely during martial law. This applies to all Ukrainians of the same age.
After the government updated the procedure for crossing the state border for men aged 18 to 22 inclusive, and citizens of this category have the right to travel abroad during martial law, they need to have
- A passport document entitling them to travel abroad;
- Military registration document (including in e-form), which is presented at the request of the border guard.
