Ukraine president avoids endorsing proposed changes to ATO

Legislation to change the format of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Ukraine’s Donbas region should be completed this week, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov told reporters on June 14. He said he hopes the president will submit the bill to parliament, which he hopes will approve the bill by the summer recess. The bill establishes the fact of Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory, creates the legal mechanism for defending against Russian aggression under the conditions of hybrid warfare, and defines the military and diplomatic steps needed to free this territory, he said.

The bill also calls for a headquarters with complete authority over military structures and local governing administrations to carry out the liberation of the occupied territories, Turchynov said. “There’s supposed to be a strict chain-of-command that ensures the functioning of these regions under martial law, when necessary,” he said.

When asked by journalists about his view of these proposals, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko offered a vague response that fell short of an endorsement, as reported by his Presidential Administration’s website. “If we cancel the anti-terrorist operation and don’t give the military the right to act adequately in conditions of aggression, we’ll leave Ukraine defenseless,” he said. Instead, the president said he ordered the drafting of legislation that outlines all the measures necessary to reintegrate the occupied territories of Donbas and establish a legal order.

Zenon Zawada: We expect the president will take some measures to change the format of the anti-terrorist operation by the campaign season, since it is highly unpopular with the public. However, it looks as though that won’t happen as quickly as Turchynov wants it. Since the two men are close political allies, we don’t see such comments as a rift, but rather the early stages of determining a revised approach to the Donbas war.