Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is expected to approve a commander of the Joint Forces Operation in the Donbas – as Kyiv now terms Russia’s war on Ukraine — in the next few days, General Staff Judicial Service Officer Colonel Yuriy Bobrov said during a March. 6 briefing in Kyiv.
According to Bobrov, the General Staff has already selected its candidate for head of the Joint Operative Headquarters, the body that is to take operational command of all of Ukraine’s forces in the war zone.
“I’m sure that this candidate is a decent commander,” Bobrov told the Kyiv Post during the briefing. “He is a battlefield general with combat experience, who has been commanding combat formations and successfully fulfilling missions since the very start of the Russian aggression.”
The new appointment comes in the wake of the widely debated Donbas integration law, which was approved by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, on Jan. 18 and signed by President Poroshenko on Feb. 20.
The law stipulates that Ukraine’s military campaign in the Donbas war zone will be conducted by the Joint Operative Headquarters of the Armed Forces, the head of which must be nominated by the Chief of the General Staff and then approved by the president.
Under the new legal order, the so-called “Anti-Terrorist Operation” declared back in April 2014 and formally led by Ukraine’s SBU security service must be reorganized to the Joint Forces Operation under military command.
Earlier, following the signing of the law, Poroshenko ordered the Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko to complete all preparations to establish the Joint Forces Operation commander by April 1.
Since November 2017 the Ukrainian military contingent fighting Russian-led forces in the Donbas has been under the command of Lieutenant General Mykhailo Zabrodskiy, a top commander of Ukraine’s Airborne Forces who was awarded “Hero of Ukraine” following his successful campaign against Russian-led forces in the summer of 2014, widely known as “Zabrodskiy’s Raid.”
Colonel Bobrov said during the briefing that the top military command has already worked out all of the regulations determining the authorities and responsibilities of the Joint Operative Headquarters in the Donbas war zone, and these are also expected to be reviewed and approved “in a very short time.”
The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) will also be declared in a special decree issued by President Poroshenko, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed according to Ukraine’s Constitution.
The official also added that the ongoing anti-terror operation (ATO) might not necessarily end with the start of the new regime – according to him, the ATO and the JFO might go on in parallel until the SBU Anti-Terrorism Center decides to wind up its operation.
The Donbas integration law declares Russia an aggressor state that occupies parts of Ukraine and governs those territories through its occupational authorities. Thus, preceding from the international law, Russia is obligated to protect the human rights of those living in the occupied zone, and ensure they have proper living condition.
Without declaring martial law in the war-torn industrial region, the new law imposes certain restrictions on the constitutional rights of citizens living in the affected zones of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
According to an official explanation by the Ministry of Defense, the law enables the military and law enforcers “to resort to using weapons or special equipment” on those committing crimes, as well as to arrest them and hand them over to the police. It also allows Ukrainian forces to check documents, inspect belongings and vehicles, and detain unidentified individuals in the war zone.
One of the provisions also permits Ukrainian troops to enter residential and other buildings, as well as civilian-owned land plots.
Bobrov said the rule of law in the war zone would not be threatened by the increased powers of the Ukrainian troops and law enforcers, as the military prosecutor’s office and National Police are still entitled to investigate all crimes in the region – including those committed by military servicemen.
“Believe me, the system will allow us to keep an even closer eye on crime, and prevent crime more effectively than in the rest of Ukraine’s territory,” the official said.
“After all, there is stricter order in (the Donbas war zone), there are checkpoints and constant checks on the movement of people and goods.”
