Ukraine officials, lawmakers banned from travelling abroad

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

Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for Ukraine's border guard service, told AFP on Monday that the measure -- adopted last week -- had entered force.

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

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

Under the new measure, senior officials will only be able to travel abroad if they are visiting their children, or in the event of medical treatment or following the death of a loved one, said 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 vacationing abroad including Ukraine's deputy prosecutor Oleksiy Symonenko who had gone on holiday to Marbella, a popular Spanish resort.

Symonenko was among officials who resigned last week in Ukraine's biggest political shakeup following a series of corruption allegations.

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