Revolting army draftees will be bought off with a 20-time increase of military pay

Photo: Reuters

The servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine participating in the acts of protest in front of the building of the Presidential Administration in Kyiv will not be punished. As Capital learned, contrary to the statement of Prosecutor General Vitaliy Yarema regarding the filing of criminal cases against them, they should be hired on a contract basis and given a raise in salary.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs suspects Russia’s FSS

Yesterday, Yarema stated that the military prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case against military service draftees of the National Guard demonstrating in front of the building of the Presidential Administration.

“Military servicemen and employees of law enforcement bodies are prohibited from picketing and holding demonstrations and acts of protest. At the moment, the military prosecutor’s office registered criminal proceedings and is attempting to establish those individuals that organized the so-called act of public disobedience,” he said. The prosecutor general noted that the organizers of this action can expect disciplinary punishment and if the fact of premeditated discrediting of the army is proven, they will face criminal punishment.

As a reminder, on Monday evening several hundreds of military service draftees of the National Guard of Ukraine abandoned the base where they were stationed in Novi Petrivtsti and went by foot to Kyiv. They held a protest in front of the building of the Presidential Administration demanding that they be informed of the date of the signing of the agreement on demobilization, which had already expired.

The demonstrators disbanded after Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Hennadiy Zubko promised that this issue would be discussed after the meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and Russia in Milan on October 16-17. Army draftees held similar protests in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv. On Tuesday, Capital requested the Central Military Prosecutor’s Office information about the articles of the Criminal Code, based on which the case was opened. The latter did not provide such information prior to publication.

The MIA notes that the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Military Counter- Intelligence Service of the Security Service of Ukraine should submit a report on this issue. The service admits that the reason for this incident was the uncertainty that Russia’s special forces took advantage of.

“Servicemen of the National Guard wanted to know when they could be discharged from the military service. If this was not an issue, the Russian special forces couldn’t have done anything,” advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Herashchenko told Capital. He pointed out that the act of protest was coordinated through the social network. The Security Service of Ukraine refused to comment on the situation, stating that it is “checking all messages on ensuring state security from infringement on the country’s sovereignty, the constitutional order and territorial integrity”.

Understand and forgive

Vice Chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast State Administration Svyatoslav Oliynyk, who participated in discussions with protesters in Dnipropetrovsk, believes the criminal proceedings launched by the prosecutor’s office are in vain. According to law, the soldiers should have been demobilized or informed about their future prospects, he added. “The boys were called to duty in the autumn of 2013. Their military demobilization is a thing of the past. It appears that the Prosecutor General’s Office does not read the laws. I think when they compare the situation with the requirements of the law, they will hit a dead end,” he told Capital.

Pursuant to the legislation, the term of involuntary military service is 12 months, but it may be prolonged for another six months in the event of an emergency situation in the country. In the spring of 2013, more than 13,000 individuals were recruited. 5,200 of them were called to service in the National Guard of Ukraine.

Head of the Press Service of the National Guard of Ukraine Viktoria Kushnir told Capital that all participants of the acts of protest are currently in service. Nobody has been punished. They are undergoing explanatory interviews on their responsibility for unauthorized deeds. She said the issue of transfer of soldiers to a contract basis is currently being considered. “Military servicemen that served for more than a year can sign a short-term contract with the state.

She told Capital that “the minimum wage will be UAH 3,284 hryvnia. At the moment, they are paid a petty sum of UAH 154”. The National Guard hopes that the military prosecutor’s office will take into account the difficult situation that young soldiers have to deal with, Kushnir underscored.