Israeli diplomats are helping get dual citizens out of Ukraine, including many fighting age citizens of Ukraine who are escaping the Ukrainian draft.
According to the Times of Israel, buses of dual citizens are being shuttled from across the country to the Polish-Ukrainian border, where diplomats then provide travel documents for them to cross over.
Because of Russia’s invasion, men aged between 18 and 60 who are Ukrainian nationals are not permitted to leave the country so that they can instead be called up to fight in the military.
“But by using Israeli papers and hiding their Ukrainian citizenship, dual citizens have been making it out with their families,” the Times of Israel reported.
Dual citizens are given Israeli laissez-passer travel documents, which work as emergency passports. Ukrainian border guards, however, can refuse to honour the pass if they suspect the holder is a Ukrainian citizen who is not legally allowed to leave.
“We have no idea if they’ll pass [border control],” Israeli consul Alon Shoham told the news outlet. “It depends on who is present at the border, and whether the authorities present identify them as Ukrainian or Israeli.”
According to the diplomat, around 10 buses a day of dual nationals had previously been shipped to the border at the start of the war. Perhaps due to these efforts, now only one a day was traveling out of the country.
“We are the only country in the world doing this, coming [into Ukraine] to take care of citizens even after evacuating our embassy,” Shoham said.
The Times of Israel observed one of the buses, including men with their families, making the attempt to cross, and saw that the dual citizens repeatedly refused to present Ukrainian passports when asked to do so.
“Doubtful that Ukrainian speakers with Ukrainian names on their way out of Ukraine really lacked Ukrainian citizenship or documentation of such, the border control guard gave brief interrogations,” reported Times of Israel. “Eventually she muttered, ‘Israelis, huh?’ and walked away with their travel documents.”
“After a tense 30 minutes she returned, handed over a stack of papers and left without saying a word. They were free to cross.”
Russia invaded Ukraine last month amid a years long standoff over the disputed Donbass region. Russia claims it launched a “special military operation” to protect ethnic Russians from Ukrainian state violence, while Ukraine and much of the international community insist the invasion was unprovoked.
Israel has largely positioned itself as a neutral arbitrator in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, refusing to take sides. Recently, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was seen leaving Israel in a jet headed for Russia by way of Turkey.
Current and former Israeli politicians also recently offered responses ranging from disappointment to outrage when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky compared the war to Hitler’s Holocaust while speaking to Israel’s Knesset.
