KYIV - The Ukrainian government has banned senior public servants and lawmakers including women from travelling abroad during the war with Russia.

Mr Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, told AFP on Monday that the measure – adopted last week – had entered into force.

“They can now leave only as part of a work mission,” he said.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb 24 in 2022, Ukrainian men of fighting age were ordered to remain in the country barring a few exceptions.

Under the new measure, senior officials will be able to travel abroad only if they are visiting their children or in the event of medical treatment or following the death of a loved one, said Mr Demchenko.

The ban extends to women civil servants as well as local deputies.

Ukrainian lawmaker Iryna Gerashchenko denounced what she called a “populist decision”, stressing that around 15,000 local deputies were women and some worked as volunteers.

“At first, the authorities called on everyone who could, to leave for the winter with their children; now, they are not allowed to leave,” she said, on Facebook.

“The authorities continue to take thoughtless steps that have nothing to do with the fight against abuses.”

The measure was adopted after several officials were accused of holidaying abroad, including Ukraine’s deputy prosecutor Oleksiy Symonenko, who had gone to Marbella, a popular Spanish resort.

Mr Symonenko was among officials who resigned last week in Ukraine’s biggest political shake-up following a series of corruption allegations.

An influential media outlet on Friday reported that former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko had taken a holiday in a luxury villa in the United Arab Emirates. AFP