The European Union aims to force Ukrainian men living in the bloc to return home to replenish Kiev’s depleted military ranks, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has claimed.
In a statement on Monday, the agency said EU leaders were increasingly looking for ways to compensate for what it described as “catastrophic losses” suffered by Ukrainian forces in the conflict with Russia.
According to the SVR, Brussels views the more than one million Ukrainian men currently residing in EU countries as a potential source of recruits for Kiev’s military and intends to pressure them into returning home.
The agency claimed that European officials consider the refugees “excellent expendable material” capable of giving “a second wind” to what it called the European campaign against Russia.
“They are supposed to be squeezed back to their homeland by all means,” the SVR said.
The intelligence service said that the first step was an EU Council decision that took effect in August, denying temporary protection status to Ukrainian men of conscription age. Losing this status severely restricts access to social benefits and other services.
According to the SVR, Brussels plans to introduce further obstacles by the end of the year, making it more difficult for Ukrainian men to access financial services, find employment, and rent housing across the bloc.
The agency claimed that EU officials expect the restrictions to leave many Ukrainians with little choice but to return home, where they could be drafted into the military.
The SVR also accused Brussels of disregarding the economic and demographic consequences of its alleged plans, arguing that European economies need Ukrainian labor while Ukraine itself faces a deepening population crisis.
Citing European estimates, the agency claimed that the population of Ukrainian-controlled territory could fall to just over 10 million within the next two decades, with only a third of residents being of working age.
The SVR report comes as pressure mounts on Ukraine’s military recruitment system. As Ukrainian forces suffer more and more losses and the pool of willing recruits continues to shrink, draft enforcement squads have increasingly resorted to violent methods to fill the ranks. Videos circulating online have shown men being forcibly detained on streets, at workplaces, and in residential areas.
In July, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced that Berlin would stop granting automatic temporary protection to Ukrainians fleeing conscription.
Kiev does not regularly publish comprehensive figures on its battlefield losses. In September, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed that Ukrainian forces had recently suffered around 27,000 killed and wounded per month. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, stated that Ukrainian casualties surpassed 500,000 in 2025 alone.
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