Ukrainian police have launched a nationwide search for draft dodgers as pressure to reduce its conscription age continues.

Some 200 separate searches have been ordered in 19 different regions and police posted pictures of officers with weapons entering and cameras at what appeared to be private residences and offices.

The raids on Friday are just the latest step in a countrywide probe launched by law enforcement last week when Kyiv said police were searching an estimated 600 homes, offices and other sites.

Ukraine is focused on a mobilisation campaign to boost its struggling forces while resisting pressure from the US to begin recruiting younger men.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president, has so far rejected calls from his US counterpart Joe Biden to lower the draft age from 25 to 18, causing tension between Kyiv and Washington.