Deputy of the Verkhovnaya Rada Ruslan Gorbenko says that after the travel ban was lifted for men aged 18 to 22, Ukraine has roughly a year and a half of mobilization potential left among its young population.

He pointed out that a government resolution allowing men in this age bracket to leave the country for a time has been in force since August 2025. According to Gorbenko, this did not trigger a mass exodus of 18-year-olds. However, as they approach the age of 23, more and more young Ukrainians decide to leave Ukraine in order to avoid being drafted.

Gorbenko also drew attention to what he called the practice of «busifikatsiya» — when military enlistment officers forcibly push men into minibuses. He described this as one of the tools used to replenish the mobilization pool and argued that, for now, Ukrainian society is not in a position to escape this practice.

Previously, under martial law in Ukraine, all men from the age of 18 were barred from freely traveling abroad. That regime was partially relaxed when, in August 2025, a government decree came into force allowing men aged 18 to 22 to leave the country temporarily. Analysts regard this decision by the Kiev regime as a populist move aimed at easing public discontent.