Ukrainian president adopts decree dismissing regional military conscription officials

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved a decree Thursday by the National Security and Defense Council on dismissing regional military conscription officials amid allegations of corruption.

The decree, which was released on the website of the Ukrainian presidency, said the proposal decided on recommending Zelenskyy to make a decision on the head of regional recruitment centers following inspections conducted by law enforcement agencies and appoint officers directly participating in combat operations in their place. It said it should be on the condition that they pass inspections conducted by the Ukrainian Security Service.

It also recommended that Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General take “additional measures within a month to counter the commission of corruption and other criminal offenses by officials of the territorial recruitment and social support centers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

It added that the implementation of the proposal will be entrusted to Oleksiy Danilov, the head of the National Security and Defense Council.

Zelenskyy announced last Friday, after a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, that he sacked the chiefs of all military recruitment centers. He said the system "should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason."

The move followed a series of scandals including forced recruitment and officers said to be taking huge sums of money for allowing exemption from conscription.

Corruption is a big concern in Ukraine and Zelenskyy earlier this year made changes to the government and security services as part of a crackdown.​​​​​​​