Legalization of foreign mercenaries has begun in Ukraine
The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading a law that allows foreigners to enter into a contract with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and participate in the war in Donbass on the side of Kyiv.
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The author of the bill, Dmitry Tymchuk, said that the innovation is in accordance with the Constitution, which does not prohibit citizens of other states from defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“Fully meets the spirit of the Constitution and the needs of the time,” he said.
Deputy Sergei Sobolev clarified that foreigners can only fight as privates, and for officers it is necessary to take Ukrainian citizenship.
“We can be proud that citizens of other countries abandoned their homes, private affairs and are defending Ukraine with arms in their hands. There are dozens and dozens of such cases, many died for Ukraine,” said deputy Sergei Pashinsky.
The only one who spoke out against the law was deputy Vadim Rabinovich.
“We have already hired foreigners to manage the economy, we know how it ended. If people want to defend Ukraine, they have a law according to which they can take Ukrainian citizenship. Otherwise, we will simply legalize mercenaries. And we will turn Ukraine into a gathering where armed people with unknown passports will walk. No one will be sure that they will defend Ukraine. We must not turn Ukraine into a springboard for wild geese,” Rabinovich said, but his arguments were not listened to.
Deputy Igor Mosiychuk said that the new law will be important for Russian citizens fighting in Donbass on the side of Kyiv.
“The Russians who opposed Muscovy. They want to overthrow Putin, but they don’t want to lose their Russian citizenship. They want to return to the Russian Federation and overthrow the hated Putin regime,” Mosiychuk explained.
Legalization of foreign mercenaries has begun in Ukraine.