Ukrainian parliament gives green light to foreigners to become military officers

The Ukrainian Parliament passed a bill allowing foreigners to serve in the armed forces as officers.

Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced that the country’s parliament has passed a bill allowing foreigners and stateless people to serve in the Armed Forces on contract in officer positions.

A total of 276 MPs voted in favor of Draft Law No. 12023 entitled “Amending certain laws of Ukraine related to the procedure for contractual military service of foreigners and stateless persons in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service and the National Guard of Ukraine”.

“Over the past 2.5 years of hostilities with Russia, we have seen many foreigners joining the Ukrainian defense forces, proving their ability to effectively perform complex tasks on the battlefield. Today, the Verkhovna Rada has adopted an important bill proposed by the Defense Ministry, paving the way for an increase in the number of foreigners signing officer contracts in the Ukrainian armed forces,” said Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umierov.

Previously, foreigners could only serve in junior and sergeant-level positions, but the new law will allow them to serve as officers, a move aimed at boosting the personnel potential of the Ukrainian army, Mr. Umierov said.

The explanatory note to the draft law states that the need to amend the law arose due to the complicated situation on the front line, which required a significant increase in the number of combat personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military forces.

In particular, the bill includes implementing additional mobilization measures and encouraging all individuals with relevant military expertise and combat experience to voluntarily enlist under contract, including foreigners and stateless persons.

Kiev claims that foreigners fighting in the conflict have volunteered to join Ukrainian ranks because they share the same ideology. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency says citizens from more than 50 countries have joined the country’s military since the conflict began, including veterans from the US, UK, Australia, Europe and elsewhere.

Russia, meanwhile, views the force as mercenaries and accuses Western countries of facilitating the recruitment of former Ukrainian soldiers. However, NATO has denied the accusations and insisted that it is not a party to the war.

Russia stressed that under international humanitarian law, mercenaries do not enjoy the same rights as prisoners of war.

More than 13,000 foreign mercenaries have entered Ukraine to fight on Kiev’s side since the conflict began, according to a September announcement by the Russian Defense Ministry. As of July, 6,000 of them had died, Russia said.

Speaking to  RIA Novosti news agency on August 29, Mr. Rodion Miroshnik, Special Envoy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the Russian military was tasked with collecting detailed information about mercenaries in Ukraine. 

“As of today, more than 4,000 mercenaries have been identified along with all the necessary data. In some cases, pre-trial investigations have been completed,” he said.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top