According to Zelensky, this law is aimed at improving the state of military discipline and law and order during military service.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the petition with a request to veto the law on strengthening the responsibility of military personnel in conditions of martial law or in a combat situation.
As stated in the response on the website of the petitions, the guarantee of the combat capability of military units is, in particular, 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.
“The law I signed… is aimed at improving the state of military discipline and law and order during military service, increasing the combat readiness of military units and their ability to perform certain tasks related to the protection of the Motherland,” Zelensky emphasized.
The head of state added that the position of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and commanders of military units was taken into account when making the decision to sign the law. In their opinion, the Law will allow not only to strengthen responsibility for committing criminal and administrative offenses committed in a combat environment, but also to avoid unjustified losses of personnel.
“In order to improve the mechanism of applying responsibility to military personnel for military administrative and military criminal offenses, I have initiated an additional study of this issue before the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian leader concluded.
The Military Accountability Act: Reaction
On December 15, a petition appeared to the president asking him to veto the bill on increasing punishment for military personnel. More than 30,000 people signed it in just one day.
On December 19, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhnyi publicly supported the scandalous bill and called on the President to sign it.
On January 25, Zelenskyi signed the document.
