Ukraine not preparing for war after martial law decree, expert says

Ukraine’s government hasn’t taken measures to prepare
for war and repel Russian aggression following parliament’s decision to impose
martial law on 10 regions, Ukrainian military expert Ivan Aparshyn told a Dec.
10 television talk show. The Cabinet of Ministers only approved a plan for
martial law, without an official resolution to complement the president’s
decree with actions, he said. Parliament voted on Nov. 26 to allow martial law
to be introduced in 10 regions of Ukraine bordering Russia, and Russian satellite
territories, in response to a Russian attack on Ukrainian navy ships the prior
day. The president signed a decree imposing martial law the same day.

Besides the plan, no decisions have been reached to
enhance the nation’s defense capabilities or adopt a wartime economy, Aparshyn
said. “The government is playing games,” he said. “It is making decisions that
don’t correspond to the situation. You are not preparing the country for the
event of a large-scale armed aggression,” he said. Aparshyn has been a member
of the Civic Platform party led by presidential candidate Anatoliy Grytsenko.

Zenon Zawada: Indeed
parliament’s decision to approve martial law was strictly political, without
any intention to change the daily functioning of the government and people’s
daily lives, particularly in the urban centers. The Cabinet is merely
reflecting the parliament’s intentions. Moreover, numerous Cabinet members
don’t support the president’s policies, including PM Volodymyr Groysman.

It’s dangerous for President Poroshenko to
politicize something as serious as martial law. Without following up with the
necessary measures, he runs the risk of the public not taking the Russian
military threat seriously, and not being prepared, whenever the need for
martial law might truly emerge. In this sense, the attempt to rally the public
around him ahead of the March presidential elections might backfire if he’s
further exposed for manipulating the war, and public consciousness about the
war, for his own political ends.