Ukrainians in Warsaw Protest Passport Office Closure

Hundreds of Ukrainians crammed up against a closed passport office in Warsaw, furious over Kyiv's suspension of consular services for fighting-aged men in a bid to force them to return home and bolster troop numbers.

Ukrainian authorities said that they were "temporarily" blocking men aged 18 to 60 from accessing consular services, after Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said they were letting compatriots fight in their place on the front lines.

The move is seen as part of Kyiv's efforts to reinforce its army as soldiers struggle to hold positions against Russia.

But in Poland, which hosts hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians -- both refugees from the conflict and those who were already living in the country when Russia invaded -- there was anger among those who felt they were being unfairly targeted.

Some said they had spent the whole night queueing up.

The agency issuing passports to Ukrainian residents in Warsaw blamed a "technical error" for the problems, not the new directive from Kyiv.

A heated argument broke out at the passport office when women accused a group of men of blocking the entrance and stopping other people who wanted to submit applications.

As the crowds swelled, the agency called in the Polish police, whose officers spoke with those queueing up but did not otherwise intervene.

Diana Petrenko, deputy director of the Warsaw passport office, said that technical issues were to blame.

"Unfortunately, the documents are not issued due to technical reasons," she said, refusing to elaborate on the nature of the alleged glitch.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said that the suspension applied only to new applications and that any requests submitted before then would be honored.

The foreign ministry said the suspension of consular services was a temporary measure needed to "resolve technical issues" linked with the implementation of the new law.