Ukraine needs movement for soldiers' rights

The contrast between official rhetoric and the real attitude of society towards soldiers is particularly striking. Society, not just the government.

Do ordinary people know, for example, that if a soldier is wounded, he may not be allowed to go abroad for treatment for months? Do they know that there are hospitals where senior medical staff can ignore a wounded soldier who arrives from the front line for several days?

Do ordinary people know that a significant number of specialists who are very much needed by the state and the army die on the front line without waiting for a transfer to the right place, because the transfer takes six months?

Does the average person know how many staff generals demand assaults from field commanders for the sake of assaults, so that they can report to political leaders about the next 100 meters of land taken?

Doesn't anyone in the public know that the state arms procurement process is still run by people whose names were legendary for their stupidity 7 years ago?

We need people's pressure. This will not be changed by the government or the opposition. This will not be changed by fighters from within. This system has Soviet genes, it is well-equipped to suppress the will and mind of the ordinary soldier.

Who should stand up for the soldier, if not those in the rear, who are not within the military framework, where a soldier, by definition, should not complain about anything?

Will ordinary people and the authorities be able to do this without being told off, without another siege of Kyiv?

When will a broad movement for the rights of soldiers and for reforms in the military sphere emerge, meaningful and not politicized?

Source

About the author. Ihor Lutsenko, journalist, soldier with of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.