The military writes about the threat of a second invasion of Russian and, possibly, Belarusian troops from the north. Obviously, based on intelligence and assessing Putin's latest decisions regarding the mobilization of Russians. But, unfortunately, despite such a threat, the authorities practically do not support the volunteer formations of territorial communities (DFTG), which should significantly strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine in providing resistance on more than a thousand-kilometer northern border.. Moreover, threatening tendencies towards the disarmament of the members of the DFTG are obvious today, as, for example, this is happening in the Kiev region, Sumy region, etc..

Over the past three years, I have had to not only study law, but also participate in two-week camps, many exercises, meetings, meetings, etc.. I had to communicate both with ordinary volunteers, military personnel and members of their families, and with the generals, people's deputies, and the top leadership of the state. I have accumulated a lot of information, the use of which, in my opinion, should eliminate a number of problems in territorial defense, which will accelerate our victory over the enemy and reduce the number of victims among Ukrainians.

TRO Doctrine.

In July 2021, the Law of Ukraine “On the Foundations of National Resistance” (hereinafter referred to as the Law) was adopted, which was supposed to come into force from 01. 01. 2022. Then it seemed to many that we would finally build a system of reliable large-scale protection of Ukraine. However, from the very beginning, no one could understand what idea (concept) the legislators put into the concept of " On the one hand, part 1 of Article 20 of the Law declared the territorial principle of the TRO (and this would be logical), but part 2 of the same article gave the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the right to violate this principle. The call \! » became irrelevant. Subsequently, this led and is leading now to serious problems..

The law contains a link to the TRO Doctrine, which was approved by Volodymyr Zelensky in January 2022. It should clearly define what territorial defense is, for what needs it is being created, whether it will operate on a territorial basis, who can form TROs, how this will be done, etc.. But it's like putting the cart before the horse.. Should have done the exact opposite.. The President of Ukraine, as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, by his Decree, immediately introduces the doctrine proposed by the military and only then submits to the Verkhovna Rada the draft law developed in accordance with it. Now there's chaos in the legislation.

According to the Law, territorial defense has become a branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in wartime it can be used not according to the territorial principle in any area of \u200b\u200b\\u200b\\u200bdefense, including at the forefront, which raises the question: why was it called that at all Since 2014, there has been a discussion among military experts about what the real TRO should have been..

One of the progressive ideas was that in the formation and use of territorial defense, one should not neglect the principle of territoriality. Divide the defenders into two parts. The first is those liable for military service who meet the requirements for health and age, for example, up to 45 years.. Of these, first of all, form the Reserve Corps and during a special period (martial law) mobilize directly into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Then the philosophy of the TRO with the principle of territoriality could remain, and the TRO would be formed from people aged 45 and older who cannot be mobilized for health reasons or have other legal grounds not to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (three or more young children, a dependent disabled person and. In this case, they would be forbidden to be thrown into the front lines, and these people would focus on protecting their own masses..

Terodefense, which would be formed according to the above principle, would essentially perform in its bulk the functions of helping police officers, rescuers, state authorities and local self-government. And now Article 3 of the Law states that one of the tasks of the TRO is to provide conditions for the strategic (operational) deployment of troops (forces) or their regrouping. Moreover, on June 12, 2022, the norm came into force, according to which not only the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but also the DFTG can be sent to the line of contact with the enemy. I think this position is wrong..

The problem is that the DFTG is not a personnel unit of the Armed Forces, but a group of patriotic residents of the community, many of whom are civilians (can be doctors, researchers, entrepreneurs, etc.).. ), however, volunteered to defend their bulk where combat experience is not needed. People of retirement age, those who, for health reasons or for other reasons (parents with many children, caring for a disabled person, etc.). ) cannot be mobilized. The vast majority of DFTGs, of which there are currently more than 800, are insufficiently provided with uniforms, bulletproof vests and other protective equipment, and first aid kits.. Most members of the DFTG have no experience with any weapons other than small arms, which these civilian volunteers have fired no more than a dozen rounds of during their service..

If such people come into direct contact with the enemy, in a tank attack, under heavy shelling or air strikes, they may experience panic or severe psychological stress, inadequate reaction or complete stupor.. The result is injury or death.. After all, they are not properly prepared and / or not healthy enough to resist a heavily armed enemy.

Their use on the front lines will have a negative effect when mothers and wives learn about the deaths and injuries of their breadwinners and start to protest or the survivors will be so psychologically traumatized that they will not be able to continue their military service.. And this can also lead to mass desertion, a decrease in morale and public accusations against the Ukrainian military command..

Therefore, I believe that it is impossible to take volunteer formations of territorial communities into the combat zone, but if it is necessary to strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is possible on a general basis to mobilize conscripts into the Armed Forces through military registration and enlistment offices, each of which has all the necessary information about members of the DFTG.

Artificial restrictions in the formation of TrO and DPTG.

On April 1 of this year, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 2170-IX on improving the recruitment and social security of the Forces of the Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the DFTG, which, in my opinion, only creates chaos and worsens the country's defense capability.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky doubted for a long time: contrary to the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, he did not sign this law within 15 days and did not veto it. He waited until June, but then he agreed with this law, and from 12. 06. 2022 it came into force.

What changed? Article 9 of the Law determines that citizens of Ukraine are enrolled in the military units of the Forces of the Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the DFTG at the place of their registration. In the event of the introduction of martial law, they can be enrolled there directly in the areas of military (combat) operations..

At first glance, this provision of the law helps to fight those who evade the protection of the state and, for this, join the Troop and DFTG away from the war zone, for example, in western Ukraine or Transcarpathia. That is, the man was registered in Kyiv, but at the beginning of the war he left for the Lviv region and there he joined the defense or volunteer formation of a territorial community. It seems that now the authorities a priori consider such a person to be “avoidant”.

The logic of the authorities that the place of registration of the defender should influence the protection of the state is at least false, and in my opinion - and harmful to the country's defense. If you check how many servicemen of the Troops of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are enrolled in military units in violation of the new legal norm on the place of registration, then you can find out that many of the commands, regional departments, brigades and battalions involuntarily fell into lawbreakers. What to do now, live in anarchy and lawlessness? Or \?

I'm not talking about the formation of the DFTG, of which there are about 800 in Ukraine, with more than 100 thousand personnel.. Since 2014, serious demographic changes have taken place in Ukraine associated with the movement of people from the occupied and adjacent territories. With the beginning of the active phase of the war on February 24, 2022, the number of such people reaches millions. Most of them cannot change their place of registration for various reasons.. All these people now do not have the opportunity to join the large-scale national resistance to the aggression of the Russian Federation. In fact, the actions of legislators are aimed at reducing the number of volunteers and worsening the state of the defense.

Separately, it is worth noting that in Kyiv and other cities where territories were actively built up before the war, there are many residential complexes and high-rise buildings where people have been living for years without registration, since their housing has not yet been put into operation.. Now their residents will not be able to join TRO or DFTG at their place of residence. The authorities artificially limited their ability to fulfill their duty to protect the motherland, as provided for in Article 65 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

I consider the adoption of Law No. 2170-IX regarding the formation of the Troubleshooting Organization and the DFTG at the place of registration of a citizen a mistake that should be corrected immediately.

Problems of Deployment and Operation of Troops.

Let's start with a discussion of the problems that territorial defense and the formation of territorial communities have faced since the beginning of the war.. Now I propose to discuss exclusively legal errors and ill-conceived rules of law that harm rather than contribute to the defense of the state.

I want to remind you right away that the Law was adopted in July 2021 and the government was given a period of up to a dozen resolutions by the end of the year to ensure the effective functioning of the national resistance. Article 12 of the Law provides that a list of important facilities and communications, other critical infrastructure facilities subject to protection and defense, the procedure for their additional equipment and taking under protection must be approved. As well as the procedure for using the infrastructure (funds) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the infrastructure (funds) of the components of the security forces and defense forces, local governments for the deployment of military units of the Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine within the boundaries of the relevant administrative-territorial units.

What is observed now? Eighth month of war and more than a year of government inactivity. Neither a list of objects for protection and defense, nor a procedure for solving infrastructure issues of the TRO. And if we consider that there is still no information about the approval of the regulation on the resistance movement, then what is this - direct sabotage or criminal incompetence and negligence?

Legislative provisions also need to be improved.. So, in the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 1449 dated 29. 12. 2021. on the formation of the DFTG, the procedure for signing a contract with the commander of the DFTG, the reappointment of a new commander, the possibility of disbanding the DFTG in case of violation of the law by its members, the rights of other people. This makes it much more difficult to uphold the rule of law when the circumstances arise..

In the Model Regulations on the headquarters of the zone (district) of territorial defense, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1442 dated 29. 12. 2021. , issues of interaction between the forces of the Troops and the National Police, counterintelligence of the SBU, border guards, the National Guard, and other units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not been resolved. These headquarters are either not deployed in Ukraine at all yet, or they function extremely inefficiently, which worsens the country's ability to resist..

Current DFTG problems.

Here are the main issues that prompted me to write this article. The reason was the failed state policy, actually aimed at demotivating volunteers to defend their country, curtailing the activities of the DFTG, their mass disarmament. And this definitely leads to a decrease in the defense capability of our country.. And done when the enemy only raises the stakes.

On the example of the Gostomel DFTG, I want to explain what is happening. The hero city of Gostomel, where I live, was one of the first to meet the enemy. Since March of this year, we have formed the DFTG, which included more than a hundred patriots. After the retreat of the Russians in early April, our territorial defense volunteers are still actively involved in patrols, are on duty at checkpoints, help in demining, eliminating the consequences of hostilities, etc.. They do everything at the call of the soul, for free.

Now the state should pay attention to such people throughout the country, support them. But everything is done exactly the opposite.. Article 24 of the Law states that the members of the DFTG during their participation in the preparation and implementation of territorial defense tasks are subject to the guarantees of social and legal protection provided for by the law “On social and legal protection of military personnel and members of their families”. Contrary to this norm, a mechanism has not yet been developed, according to which members of the DFTG can receive monetary allowance, even from the local budget. In practice, the norm of Article 119 of the Code of Labor Laws, which provides for the preservation of a volunteer's place of work (position) and average earnings for the duration of the performance of state or public duties, turned out to be “dead”. The authorities also ignored my initiative to amend the Law, which would clearly define the minimum amount of local budget expenditures guaranteed to be allocated for the defense..

Returning to Gostomel, I will say that the military administration does practically nothing to support the DFTG. Moreover, he is trying to stop his activities. And the commander of the military unit of the Troop, coordinating the activities of our DFTG, decides on the mass disarmament of our volunteers. Such disarmament is now taking place throughout Ukraine, mainly in the northern regions.. But the threat of an enemy attack in this direction has not gone away..

I filed a complaint with the SBU about this and recently received a response from the head of the Department of Military Counterintelligence Alexander Dubrovin that there is no reason for concern. Has history taught us nothing

conclusions.

I believe that the top leadership of the state should immediately begin the reform of the defense. Start with the Doctrine, where to draw a line of demarcation between those liable for military service and those who cannot be mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but want to defend their bulk on a territorial basis. Develop and implement new legislation that will support the volunteer movement to organize mass effective resistance to the enemy, provide for the possibility for volunteers to receive monetary allowances. Stop the current disarmament, demotivation of the members of the DFTG and, on the contrary, support them in every possible way.

[votes id\u003d"