Day 708
Draft legislation on forced military conscription has captured the attention of civilian men aged 25 to whatever, especially the ones who never ever thought they would be told to put on a uniform and clear a trench. This includes the slice of the country’s pampered pro-Russia bourgeoisie that produced millionaire comics turned politicians.
Anti-Terrorist Operation veteran (Aidar Battalion commander1) Zhenya Dikiy has been a vocal critic of the new law, arguing that it provides too many loopholes for draft dodgers and fails to discriminate between desk duty and actual combat time in service. 36 months guarding a medical stabilization point 300 kilometers from the zero line shouldn’t count the same as raiding enemy foxholes, he argues.
According to Dikiy, Ukraine’s law-enforcement agencies are equipped to neutralize pro-Russia provocateurs who are already organizing anti-draft movements in the rear.
Draft dodgers are like frightened rats. They become especially dangerous when they band together into packs. …Under martial law, the authorities have sufficient grants of authority to handle them. There are many strong men in the rear who can protect the population from agent provocatuers… Authorities can handle small groups of them legally. But If these draft dodgers gather in large numbers we will have to deal with them extra legem, that is, my fellow ATO veterans and I will be forced to take matters into our own hands. Believe me, if that happens, nothing will be left of them. — Evhen Dikiy, ATO veteran
It was reported on Monday that President Zelensky asked Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny to resign, allegedly over differences of opinion on mobilization numbers.
We don’t take seriously reports from The Washington Post because they published an exclusive report alleging Colonel Roman Chervinsky helped blow up natural gas pipelines underneath the Baltic Sea2.
The Aidar Battalion in which Zhenya served during 2014 was a rag tag bunch. The unit was formally disbanded in early 2015 "to prevent illegal actions of some representatives of volunteer units3.”
"Айдар" переформировали в отдельный армейский батальон (Korrespondent, March 2, 2015)