The President called on the Verkhovna Rada and the government to “promptly support the innovations that will be proposed.”
>President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the start of the work of the military ombudsman.
He stated this in an evening video address.
“There was a request from our military – and this is an objective need – to create a special institution of military ombudsman. We need a person who will be able to protect the rights of our soldiers, and such a systemic capacity so that the ombudsman, together with the Ministry of Defense, with all the others who are needed, could really influence the situation and really help the soldiers, the relatives of our soldiers,” he emphasized. Zelensky.
He noted that he discussed the creation of such an institution with the Minister of Defense, the military command and also with representatives of civil society.
“And now the first decision has been prepared – a decree on the appointment of the Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Family Members of Our Soldiers. In order to begin this work and prepare the launch of the ombudsman institution,” Zelensky said.
He also said that he had already chosen a candidate for this post.
“A strong candidate. The decree will be published tomorrow. As a result, we will agree on the relevant bill with the new commissioner, the human rights community and the Ministry of Defense…, as well as the relevant systemic foundations of his activities: powers, finances and everything else,” the president noted and asked the Verkhovna Rada and the government “to promptly support the innovations that will be proposed.”
- The Ministry of Defense discussed plans to create the military ombudsman institution last year. This official will have to check reports of violations of the rights of the military and their complaints, in particular about the failure to provide vacations. In November 2024, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that there were several candidates for the position.
- In early December, Umerov announced the submission of a corresponding bill on the creation of the military ombudsman institution.