The Verkhovna Rada submitted a draft lawaimed at restricting the travel abroad of teenagers aged 16 to 18 years.


According to the authors of the initiative, this step is intended to solve the problem of underage children being taken away from Ukrainian refugees by social services in the European Union.Such cases mostly arise due to differences in legislation. For example, a situation may arise if the grandmother of a Ukrainian child does not have a power of attorney to represent him or her, while the mother remains in Ukraine.


The presented document proposes to introduce the following conditions for crossing the border by teenagers:

• If accompanied by one of the parents with the consent of the other parent;
• If accompanied by an authorized person;
• If it is an orphan child or a child deprived of parental care, with the permission of the guardianship authority. Such permission will be issued in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Immediately after reaching the age of 18, citizens of Ukraine will be able to travel abroad on their own without being accompanied by parents or authorized persons.


Previous media reports, referring to the lawyer, informed about cases when Ukrainian border guards could not allow 17-year-old boys to cross the border if they were not registered for military service.