The Verkhovna Rada finally adopted a law according to which the category of persons entitled to receive the status of combatants includes members of unofficial armed formations that were not subordinate to the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
A member of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Policy and Protection of the Rights of Veterans, a deputy from the Servant of the People, Anatoly Ostapenko, made a report on the law, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The bill proposes to grant the status of combatants to volunteers, namely, persons who voluntarily defended and are defending the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, directly performed and are performing combat missions in the zones of anti-terrorist operations and joint forces operations...
Based on the results of the preparation of the bill for the second reading by the people's deputies of Ukraine and members of the committee, a number of proposals were taken into account, in particular, regarding the provision of the opportunity to obtain the status of a participant in hostilities to persons who, as part of volunteer formations, took and are taking part not only in the anti-terrorist operation, but also in the operation joint forces,” the deputy said.
At the same time, according to him, in order to be granted the status of a participant in hostilities, it will only be necessary to obtain the testimony of three witnesses who will confirm the person’s direct participation in the so-called “ATO” or “JFO.”
According to the voting results, this law was supported by a majority - 329 out of 398 deputies voted “For”.
Let us recall that earlier a deputy from the ruling party, Anatoly Ostapenko, who presented the bill, got into a scandal with intimate correspondence right at the plenary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, agreeing on the WhatsApp messenger about an intimate meeting with a certain Alexei Silchenko.