The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the petition with the demand to veto Law No. 8271 on strengthening the responsibility of military personnel.
The President stated that Law No. 8271 is aimed at improving military discipline and law and order, increasing the combat readiness of military units and their ability to perform specified tasks.
Zelensky noted: when he made the decision to sign the law, he took into account the position of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi and the commanders of military units, who believe that the law will allow not only to strengthen responsibility for violations, but also to avoid unjustified losses of personnel.
In addition, in order to improve the mechanism of applying responsibility to the military for military administrative and military criminal offenses, Zelenskyi initiated an additional study of this issue before the government.
"The key to the combat capability of military units and ultimately the victory of Ukraine over the aggressor is, among other things, the observance of military discipline, which is based on the awareness of servicemen of their military duty, responsibility for the protection of the Motherland, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, on their loyalty to the Military Oath." Zelensky added.
- On December 13, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 8271, which increases the responsibility of the military for desertion, disobedience, failure to perform combat tasks and other actions that contradict the military statute and are considered crimes or administrative violations. This decision caused outrage among human rights defenders and the military themselves.
- And on December 19, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi recorded a video message in which he asked the president to sign the law.