“Civilian residents obstruct the Armed Forces”: Vereshchuk announced the introduction of forced evacuation by the Cabinet of Ministers
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk explained that the Ukrainian military previously declared the need to evacuate all citizens from settlements located near the battle line.
The Government of Ukraine is preparing to adopt a law on the forced evacuation of citizens from war zones. This decision was discussed during a joint meeting of the local authorities of settlements near Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, and the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories. About this reported Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on the air of the All-Ukrainian telethon.
At the meeting, which was attended by representatives of the Defense Forces, it was found that forced evacuation is necessary for the effective organization of defense against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
“Our military has clearly stated that the civilian population prevents our defense forces from performing the necessary tasks to repel the enemy,” Vereshchuk emphasized.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the need for forced evacuation was discussed at the last meeting of the Coordination Staff. The meeting was attended by the head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, Vadym Filashkin, the commander of the United Forces, Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov, representatives of the SBU and the National Police. They unequivocally stated the need for immediate evacuation of both adults and children from settlements where fighting is ongoing.
Vereshchuk explained that there is currently no legislation that would allow the forced evacuation of adults. Cabinet resolutions do not address this issue as the issue concerns human rights, prosecution and property rights. Therefore, the only way out is the adoption of the relevant law by the Verkhovna Rada. The corresponding studies are already being prepared, and they are scheduled to be considered on August 20.
The military has long emphasized that Russian forces use the local population as a human shield and influence it through propaganda. According to Vereshchuk, there was not enough political will to solve this problem before. However, it is necessary to act decisively now.
Vereshchuk emphasized that the forced evacuation will apply only to those settlements where hostilities are directly taking place, and which were pointed out by the command representatives. Residents of Selidovoy and Novogrodivka are currently being evacuated.
“We will appeal to the deputies with a request to support these changes, as they are necessary primarily for our citizens. If the military has identified a certain area as dangerous, neither adults nor children should be there.”, — said the Deputy Prime Minister.
