Families of Ukrainian servicemen gather Kyiv seeking the return of loved ones fighting in war

(27 Oct 2023)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv, Ukraine - 27 October 2023
1. Women demonstrating in Independence Square holding signs which call for the return of their relatives after 18 months of military mobilization, shouting (Ukrainian) “Warriors have families too”
2. Relatives of soldier holding signs reading (Ukrainian) “Why is dad not coming back?” and “Voluntary demobilization after 18 months of service”
3. Demonstrators shouting (Ukrainian) “Life to our soldiers”
4. Close of sign reading (Ukrainian) “Approve law 9142 - voluntary demobilization.”
5. Wide of protest
6. Protesters holding Ukrainian flag and signs
7. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Valeriia Koliada, 35, protester:
“I’m here because my husband has been a volunteer since the beginning of full-scale invasion on 24 February (2022) and I don’t know when I could see him back at home. I live in constant fear for his life, it’s nerve wracking for me, he is tired as well. We are a young family, I also want to have a child and sleep calmly at night, without checking my phone. It’s not mentally hard only for the boys but for us as well.”
8. Close of Ukrainian flag flying on top of a building, protesters in the foreground
9. Wide of protest
10. Close of woman holding sign reading (Ukrainian) “My husband gave time for others to prepare (for war) - It’s time to replace the first (who went to fight)” and shouting (Ukrainian) “Demobilization for the mobilized ones”
11. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Viktoriia Samoilova, 23, her husband and father are serving in the army, and her father is wounded in hospital:
“We are here to ask for the right of demobilization after 18 months for our soldiers, they are all psychologically and physically tired. They cannot stay there from the beginning of the war and defend us all Ukrainians, they need to get some rest. They need to able to come back and at least get some rest.”
12. Ukrainian flag flying, close of hand of protester holding sign in the foreground
13. Protesters holding sign
14. Women protesting and shouting (Ukrainian) “The time for others (to serve) has come”
15. Various of protest
STORYLINE:
Families of Ukrainian servicemen gathered in central Kyiv on Friday to demand their loved ones return home after serving 18 months in the military as the war with Russia nears its second year.

Chanting “demobilize the soldiers” wives, mothers, children and relatives demanded the government approves a law enabling soldiers to choose if they want to opt out of service after a year and a half.

The protesters, many of them children of soldiers, carried banners calling for the return of their loved ones.

“Why is dad not coming back,” asked a placard carried by a child. “Warriors have families too,” another sign read.

“I live in constant fear for his life, said Valeriia Koliada, 35, whose husband joined the military as a volunteer.

“It’s nerve wracking for me, he is tired as well. We are a young family. I also want to have a child and sleep calmly at night”, she added.

Similar events were reported in Ukraine’s largest cities, including Lviv.

Ukraine has ordered a general mobilization of the male population between ages of 25 to 60. The vast majority joined the military as volunteers when Russia launched its military operation in February 2022.

But, as the war continues, Ukraine has ramped up drafting men. Soon after the beginning of the Russian invasion, Ukraine closed the borders to those of conscription age.

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