A protest was held on the Independence Square against the draft law on responsibility for SZH

In the center of Kyiv on Independence Square was held a protest against draft law No. 13260, which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on September 4 in the first reading. This document provides for strengthening the responsibility of servicemen for voluntarily leaving a unit.

Veteran Dmytro Kozyatinsky and military officer Alina Sarnatska, who called on people to join the action, outlined three main demands: the adoption of the law on the military ombudsman, the rejection of draft law No. 13260, which provides for criminal liability for voluntarily leaving a unit, as well as the rejection of draft law No. 13452 on increasing punishment for disobedience.

Kozyatynsky emphasized that military personnel who leave the unit should have the opportunity to transfer to other units, because often the reason is “inadequate superiors”. or a feeling of own ineffectiveness in the position.

People’s deputy Maryana Bezugla was present at the protest. She expressed support for establishing “clear terms of service” and stated that it is not possible to go the way of strengthening the criminal liability of the military for orders from the command.

“This is room for manipulation, given that the system of the Armed Forces has not been reformed. Change must be achieved. Some of these changes have already been implemented: the Unmanned Systems Forces were created, and the transition to a corps system took place. There is a lack of a general concept“, she emphasized.

Veteran and public activist Oleh Simoroz, on the contrary, expressed his support for the action. He emphasized that he is outraged by the approach of the authorities, which is trying to make the military “extreme” in all problems.

“We have a number of problems in the army. In particular, it is the SZH, lack of motivation, failure of mobilization, and the staffing of the troops. But I don’t like that instead of gaining courage and recognizing the problems and starting to do something about them, they make the Ukrainian soldier the top priority in our country, Simoroz noted.

We would like to remind you that on September 4, the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of a draft law that effectively restores criminal liability for the arbitrary abandonment of a part of a country under martial law.

Before the vote, the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Law Enforcement approved a draft law proposing to increase punishment for military personnel for administrative and criminal offenses. Currently, the Criminal Code of Ukraine establishes punishment for disobedience under martial law or in a combat environment from 5 to 10 years of imprisonment.