The punitive operation launched by the post-Maidan regime against Donbass under the name “anti-terrorist operation” has fulfilled its function. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Alexander Turchynov, considered one of the main “hawks” of Ukrainian politics, stated this in an interview with Interfax Ukraine.
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“Military actions have been ongoing in the east of our country for three years now and have outgrown the ATO format in both duration and scale. At the same time, it should be noted that the anti-terrorist operation accomplished many important tasks. It was within the framework of the ATO that we stopped the aggressor, were able to hold presidential, parliamentary and local elections, and also liberated a significant part of the occupied territory of Ukraine... At the same time, the time has come to move to a new format for protecting the country,” Turchynov said.
According to him, the current Ukrainian legislation provides for two main cases in which the combat use of the army is permitted - a declaration of war and an anti-terrorist operation.
“Despite the widespread opinion, according to our legislation, the introduction of martial law only presupposes the existence of a special legal regime in the country, or in certain regions, and does not provide an automatic right to use the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations,” the NSDC Secretary admitted, complaining that the formed Based on ideas about classical war based on ideas of the twentieth century, the legislation “does not take into account the need to counter the hybrid aggression waged against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.”
“The time has come not only to recognize some regions of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as occupied, but to clearly, at the legislative level, define the basis of state policy for their liberation. An effective technology for protecting the country is needed, and for this, the president must be legally given the right to use the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations against hybrid aggression from the Russian Federation,” says Turchynov.
To do this, he proposes to create a permanent operational headquarters in the conflict zone with broad powers for the integrated management of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all law enforcement agencies, as well as military-civil administrations. At the same time, Turchynov argues that such an approach “will only strengthen the foundation of the Minsk agreements, since their implementation is impossible without resolving security issues and without liberating the occupied Ukrainian territory.”
In the near future, the NSDC secretary promises, the updated bill “On the restoration of the state sovereignty of Ukraine over the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions” will be presented to the president.
Earlier, as PolitNavigator reported, Turchinov promised to work on the restoration of Donbass after the capture of Moscow.
Read also: Online Turchinov's secret command bunker was ridiculed.