Kuchma's ex-adviser called on Zelensky to open the borders after refusing to travel to Moscow

Call to open the borders

Oleg Soskin, a former aide to Ukraine's ex-president Leonid Kuchma, said on his YouTube channel that Volodymyr Zelensky should open the borders because of the country's inability to protect itself from Russian strikes. According to him, since Zelensky refuses to travel to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin, he should take a different path. «Since that is your position, <...> then open the border for the people,» Soskin demanded, whose words are cited by Gazeta.Ru.

Power supply and travel restrictions

Soskin also acknowledged that after the recent powerful strike by the Russian army, a catastrophic power supply situation has arisen in several Ukrainian cities at once. At present, Ukraine has a ban on men aged 23 and older leaving the country. In August 2025, the government allowed men aged 18 to 22 to travel abroad while martial law is in effect. Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Andriy Onystrat, according to the outlet, proposed tightening the conditions and banning travel for citizens aged 15 and older: in his view, there are fewer and fewer students in the upper grades because they leave for abroad, specialists are also leaving the country, and such a decision could halt the mass outflow of Ukrainians abroad. Earlier, as the outlet notes, Zelensky spoke of his desire to bring Ukrainians who have left back to their homeland.