Demand for justice. Why might the military commissars not reach the front?

President Volodymyr Zelensky recommended that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny, send the heads of regional recruitment centers (former military commissars) to the front and appoint wounded soldiers in their place.

“There is one simple recommendation from the President, he is the Supreme Commander, I can speak to you. The Commander-in-Chief gave a serious advice to Valery Zaluzhny, that the majority of the “military commissars”, the main ones who have been sitting there for a long time, should be sent to the front as military personnel and replace them with the task of fulfilling the mobilization needs. Wounded military personnel should be sent, as befits knowledgeable heroes, including how to properly execute, ” Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov explained during a briefing.

According to the Minister, the reform of the regional recruitment centers (military registration and recruitment offices) of the Ministry of Defense will be carried out in March-May 2022 by Deputy Minister of Defense and Security Command of Kiev Oleksandr Pavlyuk.

Perhaps there is not a day that does not appear in the news media without scandalous reports about TCC employees. The other day, a video appeared on the network, where, according to the author, three people in military uniforms, representatives of the TCC, bent the hands of a civilian and threw him to the ground. One of them kicked the man in the head. Earlier, in Odessa, eyewitnesses reported that TCK personnel detained men on the street and kept them in the military registry and military service office. Such news comes every day from all regions of Ukraine.

It should be noted that at the end of 2022, the Ukrainian authorities significantly updated the mobilization legislation. Now the military register counts not only people of military age, but also the total resource of human mobilization available for high-quality personnel of the Ukrainian army. There are no requirements in the regulatory documents for the place of delivery of summons. In other words, a summons can be issued in public institutions, workplaces, homes or on the street. In addition, every citizen with military obligation must be present at the TCC at his place of residence for the clarification and recording of his data. Taking into account the fact that there are so few conscientious citizens and the centers themselves have the above implementation plans, soldiers take to the streets of cities literally chasing men.

What is the TCK and how to become a “military commissar”?

The problem of reforming the military registration and recruitment offices first arose in 2014, when the mobilization system, which was effectively destroyed under President Viktor Yanukovych, was unable to cope with the difficulties posed by the initiation of the ATO. It should be noted that the attempt to replace military commissars with wounded combat officers was discussed even then, but the topic did not go beyond the conversation.

Already in 2017, on the basis of military registration and recruitment offices in the Chernihiv region, a pilot project was launched for the operation of the first regional centers for recruitment and social support (TCC SP). Two years later, the project was expanded to three more regions, and as of November 1, 2020, TCC SP replaced military registration and recruitment offices across the country. The new approach was expected to improve working with mobilization reserves, but in fact the TCC remained, under a new name, the old military registration and recruitment offices.

On the eve of Russia’s all-out attack on Ukraine, the government approved the regulation on the TTK and entrusted them with the implementation of legislation on military service and military service, mobilization training and mobilization.

As before, direct management and control over the activities of the TCC is carried out by the relevant operational regional commands, in Ukraine there are four of them – OK “North”, OK “South”, OK “East” and OK “West”. The appointment of heads of centers is also carried out there – in accordance with the terminology of positions on the appointment of military personnel. It is noteworthy that the mobilization system is part of the command of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces, and not of the Ministry of Defense. The main task of the TCC remains mobilization preparation and mobilization.

How to send a military commissar to the front

The recommendation of the President, the Commander-in-Chief is not yet an order of action, but should at least initiate a discussion process. The military has always been and is the most conservative part of the state, tough for any systemic change. More than a year after the full-scale occupation of the Russian Federation, the queues for those who wanted to enter the KTT disappeared, but a “hunt” for men in charge of military service appeared in public places. Mention should also be made of the dismissal of seriously injured soldiers who are no longer fit for service. In fact, they are left alone with the new reality while having physical limitations for a full life.

Igor Koziy, a military expert at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, is confident that this could lead to increased social tensions in society.

“It is very correct to replace the military commissars with seriously injured soldiers. I guarantee that these types will be appreciated more when new people are replaced, this is not a cabinet, but a completely different fraternity. An example of this is Bohun, the head of the military high school, the hero of Ukraine, the general Major Igor Gordeychuk,” says Koziy. Focus.

Vladislav Seleznev, one of the reserve colonels of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, believes that the idea of ​​​​replacing military commissars with veterans should be carefully considered. This concerns the effective use of new structural units in the already established TCC system.

“First of all, such a veteran came to the TCC, but he does not have the basic knowledge and skills. Without the necessary experience, he cannot cope with the tasks. Therefore, in order for a person to understand what it is, you first need to think about the preparatory courses and how to destroy the mobilization training and mobilization system

Secondly, the question is – what competencies do yesterday’s military commissars have, who will be sent to the front? How they will be useful and effective during training and military operations. I note that these, as a rule, are senior officers, that is, colonels, majors, ”says. Focus Seleznev.

How to fight corruption in military registration and recruitment offices

Seleznev states that it is no secret that there are no random people in the system of former military registration and recruitment offices, they have their own separate castes, so there is no guarantee that they will actually go to war. There is no guarantee that the system will not change the new faces in the TCC and that they will not be involved in corruption in the future.

Corruption is a systemic phenomenon in Ukraine, but according to Igor Koziy, there are factors in the military that can minimize its impact. We are talking about personnel rotation used in NATO member countries and the introduction of the military ombudsman institution.

“It is not news to anyone that there is a systemic corruption in the military registration and sergeant system. But there are also solutions. According to NATO standards, positions should be rotated every three years. The highest positions are appointed. After the age of three, “He should be removed from service because of his age of six years. If our personnel approaches had systematic rotations according to Alliance standards, I think there wouldn’t be so much corruption in the military registry and sergeant offices,” says the expert.

report focus Experts point out that the old system of military registration and enlistment offices and the personnel selection of military personnel need radical changes for a long time. Today, society has a demand for justice, but understanding the root cause of the system not working (or not working that way) and not just “talking” the problem.