Poroshenko says 18-25-year old soldiers must be discharged from service
The Verkhovna Rada has finally resolved the legislative conflict on the mobilization of those liable for military service of limited fitness aged 18-25, but the issue of those who are already at the front still needs to be resolved, said MP of Ukraine, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko.
"The Verkhovna Rada has just supported our initiative, and the issue of conscripts aged 18-25 has finally been resolved. This is an achievement, but we will continue to insist, because it turns out that those conscripts aged 18-25 who are currently serving and have certain health restrictions remain in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Poroshenko said at a briefing, as reported on the European Solidarity website on Thursday.
"We tried to figure out what numbers we were talking about. We were bombarded with numbers, they said at first that 54,000 people were in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then this figure was reduced to 18,000, and now this figure is already 6,000. We agreed that within two weeks our initiative would be considered, a bill would be developed and, ultimately, the indicated issues would be settled," the politician noted.
As the co-chair of the parliamentary faction European Solidarity Iryna Gerashchenko added that it is proposed to demobilize these people by reducing the percentage of those reserved in the security forces.
"The demobilization of those 18-25-year-olds of limited fitness, who are currently in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is a very important issue … Our team has provided its proposals on replacements for them. We consider it completely unfair that, for example, the State Bureau of Investigations, the prosecutor's office and other law enforcement and repressive agencies have a 100% waiver (from serving in Ukraine’s Armed Forces) today. If the civil service has only a 50% waiver, this mechanism should also be used. This is our specific proposal," Gerashchenko said.
It is reported that Poroshenko also initiated the creation of a "hotline" in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for appeals on corruption in territorial recruitment centers and violations of mobilization rules. The deputy raised this issue during a conciliation council with the participation of the Minister of Defense and representatives of the General Staff.
"According to my proposal, which was supported by the leadership of the Armed Forces, we are creating a ‘hotline’ where every Ukrainian can contact the leadership of the Armed Forces about the violation of their constitutional rights and freedoms and corrupt actions by representatives of the Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support … Complaints are coming to our team from different areas. When, despite the fact that people are reserved, there is a corresponding decision in Diia, a corresponding order of the Ministry of Economy, they ensure the functioning of critical enterprises for Ukraine, including defense industry enterprises, due to the arbitrariness and violation of the law by representatives of the Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support, the activities of these enterprises are destroyed. Theoretically, we agreed that within two weeks we will be able to report that this line is open," he said.
"We are creating a ‘hotline’ specifically for violations of the law on mobilization. Not only the Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support, but also the actions of the police, ‘minibuses,’ all those who violate the rights. As a rule, in 70% of cases this has corruption grounds. As a rule, they deliberately create problems in order to demand money later. From my own experience, I want to say: when both the leadership of the Armed Forces and the commander of the Ground Forces, to whom the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support is subordinate, receive verified and confirmed information, the reaction is immediate. I would like to thank you separately for this," Poroshenko added.