The European Union aims to force Ukrainian men living in the bloc to return home to replenish Kiev’s depleted military ranks, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has claimed.

In a statement on Monday, the agency said EU leaders were increasingly looking for ways to compensate for what it described as “catastrophic losses” suffered by Ukrainian forces in the conflict with Russia.

According to the SVR, Brussels views the more than one million Ukrainian men currently residing in EU countries as a potential source of recruits for Kiev’s military and intends to pressure them into returning home.

The agency claimed that European officials consider the refugees “excellent expendable material” capable of giving “a second wind” to what it called the European campaign against Russia.

“They are supposed to be squeezed back to their homeland by all means,” the SVR said.

The intelligence service said that the first step was an EU Council decision that took effect in August, denying temporary protection…