A bill to strengthen mobilization is being actively discussed in Ukraine. Its authors propose to include law enforcement officers and young pensioners of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the mobilization list.
There is logic in this, since these people can use weapons and have some experience, but at the same time they have “armor.” Some people's deputies and military experts believe that even current police officers could join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the National Police of Ukraine, Ivan Vygovsky, opposed such an initiative. How he justifies his disagreement and how many police officers and pensioners of the Ministry of Internal Affairs can be mobilized, read the material of Apostrophe.
Security forces to the front
The bill on improving mobilization and military registration proposes to mobilize those liable for military service who have the right to a deferment or “reservation”, provided that they have work experience in government agencies for at least two years and have held positions that involved the use of firearms.
According to MP Georgiy Mazurashu, this, in particular, applies to young retirees of law enforcement agencies, for example, the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“They have dealt with weapons most of their lives, and now, being liable for military service due to their age and condition, for some reason they are not called up for military service during mobilization,” the people’s deputy said.
, political and military analyst, ATO veteran, ex-company commander in the Aidar battalion, Evgeniy Dikiy, spoke on the same topic
“Do we really need 250,000 police on the home front during a war? Aren't there many people protecting our law and order? I don’t want to say that we need all of them to the front. Of course, we need law and order. And if we took all the police to the front, then tomorrow we would have a problem leaving the house. But, forgive me, 250 thousand is a bit too much. So I think that 50 or 100 thousand could easily be taken to the front,” said Evgeniy Dikiy.
According to him, this can be done in an elementary way; all it takes is one strong-willed decision to reduce departmental quotas for booking workers.
“I gave the example of the National Police because there are more of them. But in fact, besides them, there is also the DBR, NABU, NAPC, Fiscal Police, and Customs. These are those structures where all employees, by definition, undergo physical training, a medical examination, and have at least basic weapons skills. That is, they all already have a basic level different from the usual mobilized civilian. In total, this is about half a million people. 50-100 thousand can be taken away absolutely calmly, and this can be done very quickly,” says Evgeniy Dikiy.
Military expert, reserve colonel Roman Svitan also agrees with Dikiy.
“We don’t need so many security forces now. We had 40 million (population) and now there are only about 20 left in the country. The people left, but the security forces remained. And we no longer have the kind of crime that we had before the war. Now everyone understands perfectly well that the approach will be very tough. And some of the criminals also left. That is, there is no need for so many law enforcement officers when at least a third of the population has left,” Roman Svitan commented on the situation.
According to him, up to half of the Ukrainian security forces can be drafted into the army on a rotation basis.
“The optimal one is a third. A third is sent, two thirds remain within the country. And in this rotational mode, in six months - the next third,” noted Svitan.
All of them are professional, undergo a medical examination, and learn to use weapons.
“And they are motivated because they receive money from the state. In addition, I know from my own experience that police officers or security forces fight very well. These are smart, professional warriors,” the military expert concluded.
This initiative was reflected in the document on mobilization by its authors.
In addition, as we know from our own sources, the President of Ukraine also raised similar questions at Headquarters, however, as the source noted, this initiative did not find support from the person in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from the Office of the President.
Vygovsky against
The initiative of people's deputies to send Ministry of Internal Affairs officers to the front did not find support from the head of the National Police, Ivan Vygovsky. In an interview with Ukrainian News, he stated the following: “Some citizens, civil servants, officials say that the National Police has 250 thousand police officers, and propose sending 100 thousand to the front. It’s strange when this is stated not by “armchair experts”, but by people who work in the state system and do not know basic numbers, although you can contact us and we will provide staffing levels to the National Police.”
Vygovsky also clarified that today there are 120 thousand police officers in the state. Their maximum staffing levels were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.
And here the head of the National Police is right. On May 5, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers approved Resolution No. 450 , which established that the maximum number of employees of the central apparatus of the National Police (without security police) will be 3,000 people, including civil servants - 400 people. The number of employees of territorial bodies will be 138,330 people, of which 4,000 are civil servants.
Ivan Vygovsky also explained: “In fact, today we have about 100 thousand active police officers, that is, those in uniform. Of these, 20 thousand are women, 80 thousand are men. Every day, about 20 thousand of them enter the service. This is one shift. There are also about 15 thousand investigators and interrogators, 20 thousand operatives and thousands of people who fight at the front, in particular the “Lyut” unit. Therefore, regarding the proposal to mobilize 100 thousand police officers, I can say that we are already maximally involved in the Security and Defense Forces, and we are also taking care of the internal front and security within the country.”
According to the head of the National Police, those who wanted to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine did so at the beginning of a full-scale war and were not prevented from doing so.
“The issue of sending employees and pensioners of law enforcement agencies, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to the front is quite difficult, ” former SBU officer Ivan Stupak says in a commentary to Apostrophe . “I don’t want to say that these people do not need to be mobilized. This can be done, but it must be done carefully. Let’s say you can look at how many police officers are needed in the regions and reduce their number somewhere, from the central office. But, again, what if mass unrest suddenly breaks out in a certain region or the crime rate increases sharply, what to do? Transfer police from another region and expose them there? Or recruit, as in the USSR, people’s vigilantes?”
According to Stupak, people's deputies should meet with the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and carefully discuss this issue.
“In addition to the police, there are also customs workers, the Fiscal Police, the State Emergency Service, and rangers. All of them are also trained and know how to use weapons. But, again, I repeat, you need to weigh and calculate everything very carefully, and not wave your saber,” the expert concluded.
As for military pensioners, according to the Pension Fund in Ukraine there are more than 500 thousand of them. However, a certain number of them are already serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And there are no particular problems in raising information and seeing how many of them can still be mobilized.
