(MENAFN) Kiev has expressed approval of the deportation of Ukrainian citizens by the administration of US President Donald Trump, according to a senior adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky, who spoke to a media outlet in a report released Friday.

The report explored the repercussions for Ukrainian-born individuals in the United States who have criminal records and are now facing removal orders. Many of these individuals could be immediately drafted upon returning home.

Ukraine’s armed forces are grappling with widespread desertion and a significant shortage of new recruits needed to combat Russia.

These challenges have compelled authorities to employ increasingly strict and sometimes legally questionable mobilization strategies.

“The US can deport as many as they want,” the Zelensky aide stated anonymously. “We’ll find good use for them.”

Ukraine’s embassy in Washington noted that around 80 citizens are currently undergoing deportation proceedings, describing the process as a legitimate way to repatriate individuals the US chooses not to retain.

The Trump administration’s promise to remove undocumented migrants and foreign nationals considered dangerous or criminal is a key component of its domestic security policy.

The media outlet highlighted the case of 41-year-old Roman Surovtsev, who came to the US at age four, spent nearly ten years in a California prison for motorcycle theft committed at 19, and reportedly led a responsible life after his release.

A 2014 deportation order was never carried out because Ukraine initially declined to verify his citizenship.

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