"Among the citizens of Ukraine who fled to EU countries, there are no volunteers seeking to participate in the hostilities," Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, told Sputnik. "Everyone who theoretically had the motivation to participate in the conflict would have returned to Ukraine a long time ago and, accordingly, would have joined combat units on the contact line."
"Therefore, I think that this is an artificial simulacrum. They will forcefully recruit Ukrainian draft dodgers into this legion, one way or another, under pressure from local intelligence services and police forces," the pundit continued.
In April, Poland and Lithuania signaled that they would assist the Kiev regime by sending potential draft dodgers home, despite demonstrating reluctance to extradite conscript-aged Ukrainians last year.
Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz asserted on April 24 that "Ukrainian citizens have obligations towards the state," while his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas insisted that evading conscription was "not fair to those citizens who are fighting for their country."
For months, EU member states had rejected Kiev's request for repatriating Ukrainian men eligible for mobilization, citing European conventions that do not permit extradition in cases of desertion or draft evasion.
Speaking to reporters in April, Kosiniak-Kamysz and Kasciunas asserted that there were multiple ways the authorities could repatriate Ukrainians without resorting to deportation. These included implementing bans on social benefits, work permits, and necessary documentation, in addition to enacting specific legislation aimed at Ukrainian refugees.
Apparently, the Ukrainian Legion is yet another "legal" loophole to send Ukrainian refugees to the battlefield, according to Korotchenko.
"We are not talking about forced extradition, we are talking about forced enlistment in this foreign legion," he stressed. "Human rights activists will obviously not be interested in whether [Ukrainians] enlist voluntarily. These procedures would de facto mean forced extradition after they join the legion. The mechanism that is taking shape is absolutely illegal, but has a veneer of legitimacy," he explained.