Zelenskyy signs decree dismissing all regional draft commissioners, appoints ex-combat officers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has enacted an earlier decree of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to dismiss the heads of regional military commissariats and appoint former combat officers in their place.

The decree has been published on the president's website on Aug. 17. NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov will oversee the implementation of the decision.

In the NSDC decree of Aug. 11, the Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, was recommended to stop rotating the heads of regional draft offices and to instead appoint officers who have participated in combat operations after they have been vetted by Ukraine’s SBU security service.

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The NSDC also recommended that the Prosecutor General's Office, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, and the State Bureau of Investigation, take immediate additional measures to prevent corruption and other violations by employees at regional commissariats.

President Zelenskyy announced on Aug. 11 that all regional military draft commissioners in Ukraine would be replaced by officers who have previously served in combat.

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"This system should be managed by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is high treason," the president said at the time.

“Soldiers who have been at the front and cannot be in the trenches because they have lost their health, lost their limbs, but have preserved their dignity and have no cynicism — they are the ones who can be entrusted with this system of recruitment.”

Following the scandal involving former Odesa Oblast military commissar Yevhen Borysov, who was accused of enriching himself to the tune of UAH 188 million ($5.1 million) via corruption, President Zelenskyy announced comprehensive inspections of territorial draft centers would take place nationwide.

The inspections were to identify misconduct within the conscription system.

According to the president, as of Aug. 11, there were 112 criminal proceedings against military enlistment office workers, and 33 charges have been served. Abuses were recorded in various regions, including Donetsk, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Kyiv, and Lviv.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine