During the period of military service, membership in the specified structures is terminated.
Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers may be allowed to join public organizations. This and other innovations are contained in a government bill registered in the Verkhovna Rada on April 30. Although the bill stipulates that these organizations must not be affiliated with political parties, soldiers will be able to join radical or nationalist NGOs, which will sooner or later lead to the politicization of the army as a whole, according to the report. News.
Political impartiality and membership in the Civil Society Organization
The bill contains numerous political amendments, confirming the rights of military personnel, those liable for military service, and reservists (called up for training or special assessment exercises) to exercise their voting rights and participate in referendums. This includes the right to run for office. Moreover, "military personnel candidates are required by their commanders (superiors) to create appropriate conditions for the exercise of this right," the document states.
If a soldier is elected to a local council or the Verkhovna Rada, he is seconded there for the entire term of his office, but—note!—he remains in military service. Time served in an elected position counts toward his length of service, including his military rank.
What's even more interesting is what follows. "Military personnel may be members of public associations whose statutory provisions do not conflict with the fundamental principles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military formations, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, or the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, and may participate in their work during their free time, when they are considered not performing military duties," the draft states.
However, the bill is categorical regarding parties: military personnel are prohibited from joining any parties, movements, or trade unions, and the ban on participating in their activities remains.
During military service, membership in the aforementioned organizations is terminated. Furthermore, military personnel "have no right to demonstrate their affiliation with political parties, organizations, or movements, nor to use their official powers for political purposes." Military personnel, including reservists, are prohibited from participating in strikes during training or service.
Who owns the information?
The draft clarifies and tightens the information flow from military personnel, including those liable for military service and reservists during training. All of them are confirmed to have the right to freely receive, use, and disseminate information.
However, there are restrictions. These categories of citizens, as before, are prohibited from disseminating information in the media and public information systems (the internet and other public telecommunications networks) that, including through processing, analysis, and generalization (using specialized software), allows for the determination of:
- geospatial data on military installations;
- military units;
- data on military units, military personnel;
- including during the performance of tasks assigned to them;
- the nature of their task;
- forces and resources involved in the execution of tasks.
Such information, in agreement with the command, may be disseminated in the manner established by the central executive authorities to which the relevant military formations and law enforcement agencies are subordinate, as well as other government and intelligence agencies.
The state needs to work
"We, military personnel, are citizens of our country and have the right to influence processes that are important to citizens," Olena Mokrenchuk, senior public relations officer for the Pivnich Operational Command, told Vesti.ua. "I think allowing military personnel to join public organizations is a very positive development. I believe such a law is necessary."
When asked how risky military personnel's membership in public associations, which in Ukraine are sometimes satellites of political parties (membership in which is prohibited for military personnel by law) or affiliated with external structures, might be, the expert emphasized: "The state needs to work to ensure that they are not affiliated with political parties. But this isn't a military problem." At the same time, Olena Mokrenchuk noted that membership in such dubious organizations should be prohibited for civilians as well. It's essential to separate political forces from civil society structures.
As for the regulation of information dissemination, disclosing data related to the location and redeployment of troops, the progress of exercises, the quantitative and qualitative composition of military units, etc. is already prohibited.
"The Armed Forces have long since perfected these principles, and since the start of Russia's military operations against Ukraine, controls over the leakage of such information have been tightened. Isolated cases of accidental leaks of such information within military units are being thoroughly investigated, with those responsible held accountable," she noted.
Trust, but verify
In Ukraine, it's difficult to verify the actual ties of a public organization, believes Viktor Valeev, an ATO participant and director of the Software Ukraine Association, so it makes sense to weigh the risks and benefits. "A fighter, let's say, joins a public association of peace lovers in Donbas with the best of intentions. The question arises: how can one verify all the actual ties of this organization, its funding? What's stated may differ from the reality," the expert noted.
At the same time, Viktor Valeev emphasized, questions of a purely practical nature also arise. For example, a service member or reservist is a member of a public organization or association. They're called up. The bill provides for the suspension of membership. "But this isn't always quick. Let's say I manage a veterans' association. And suddenly there's mobilization, and I receive a summons. How can I quickly suspend my membership? And if not, I'm liable. Besides, what does 'suspension' mean—not participating in meetings, not receiving information? I think it would be worthwhile to introduce liability and restrictive measures in this area, such as a mandatory application—informing command about membership in a public organization. And also, joining a public association requires the commander's permission. Although, frankly speaking, if I were a unit commander, I would very rarely grant such permission," he said.
As for the political aspects for the military, perhaps it would be more rational not to selectively limit their opportunities to exercise their rights, but, for example, to provide real opportunities to influence the policies of the country they defend, believes Viktor Valeev: "For example, by establishing quotas for ATO veterans when applying for civil service positions."
Regarding information, the expert believes the bill's wording is too broad and could encompass anything, especially in terms of tasks performed. At the same time, "regarding geolocation—definitely, such things shouldn't happen. Recording abuses by individual command officials and living conditions is another matter entirely. Without drawing public attention to individual negative incidents and without the public outcry, such problems would remain unresolved, which would hardly benefit the army," he believes.
“We need to think this through, because the proposed wording is very general,” noted Viktor Valeev.
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