Serving the Country
The question of serving the Country in the Armed Forces is always relevant, and not only today. The main value of the state is its people, they determine the vector of its development and defence. We are talking about human potential in the broadest sense of the word, but to have people does not mean having a controlled society, ready to support the government and its initiatives in the era of rampant democracy. The masses do not generate ideas – we need individuals who could offer and ignite associates with this idea, organize them into a force and offer a lot of ways to implement this idea, which becomes the aim of the society’s movement forward.
Today, many active and wealthy people who declared themselves during the period of the “open door” into public ownership, are trying to stir up the masses, throwing into the crowd sparklers (instead of a focused spark), which having hissed, go out under the feet of indifference. Without an idea – the fire of the soul dies. An idea and a goal are needed for moving forward. We do not mean political goals of a huge number of parties (there are more than two hundred of them) – we are talking about the defence of the Country in which all political parties struggle for power, and the task of defending the Country is common to all political movements. When this is so, all citizens of Ukraine (except enemies, living on its land) should take care of strengthening of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, capable of protecting its interests. This is the main task of the Country, which has received as a gift from God, its INDEPENDENCE, and now it stands in the fight – it is a vector of focusing of every patriot’s efforts.
For individuals who are serving, or by the call of their hearts stood up or are able to defend their Fatherland, the society must create conditions for self-realization in the sphere of military service. What does it mean to create appropriate conditions for realization of the needs of citizens in the defense of the Country? It is very simple. The warrior’s work should be decently paid for, the military profession has to be prestigious among other professions, to serve in the Armed Forces should the best of the best. All the military servicemen must be in the public service and have a guaranteed social protection. The state should pay special attention to citizens who with arms in hands defend its independence, or perform some combat missions to protect Ukraine’s interests. The same state’s attention and social protection should have the families of the fallen and of disabled veterans. Without serving in the army or other military formations created by the laws of Ukraine, State Service for men should be limited. It is necessary to ensure a fair approach to the promotion of military personnel in the service, free training of military servicemen at universities sent there by the Ministry of Defence or other power structures. I list offhand what in many countries has long worked for their defenders.
How many citizens – defenders of Ukraine are needed? In the broadest sense – not less than thirty-six million, who would stand up themselves and sent their children and grandchildren to defend the Fatherland. Ukraine can and should have a PEOPLE’S ARMY, not hired, but created based on the voluntary will of the young and healthy people who want to defend their people. At first, the Army must be completed by a mixed system. Contract service in the Armed Forces has the right to life, like all professions in the society, but in Ukraine should be preserved the ability to call young people for military service. Every citizen (female included) should be able and ready to defend him/herself, his/her loved ones, his/her home and his/her country. People should be taught this holy case from childhood, involving qualified teachers from Cossack units and reserve officers. Ukrainian Cossacks should enter into the life of local communities at all levels of government, have authorized representatives in government and law enforcement agencies. In the latter there should be Cossack units and subunits. Particular attention should be paid to formation of Cossack territorial defense units with a mandatory legalization of weapons for each registered Cossack. Each village (several villages) should have a Cossack hundred, a regional center – a kurin (a unit of Zaporizhzhya Cossack troops), a city should form a Cossack regiment. Service in Cossack units should be regulated by the Law of Ukraine, as well as service in other law enforcement agencies of the state. Registered Cossacks and Cossack reservists of the territorial defence must serve in the reserve. Each reservist assigned to Cossack units of the territorial defense will go through scheduled trainings in their units with real tasks in case of liquidation of results of natural disasters, man-made disasters, and protection of communications, important enterprises and projects under the threat of terrorist attacks or armed attacks of the enemy. His service in the reserve should be motivated, and social protection guaranteed. In the sacred duty of defending the Country, there will be work for every patriot.
It is important to prepare the society to realize a person’s need to be useful to the people in the sphere of defence of the society. Unfortunately, our society is skillfully manipulated by unscrupulous people who abuse the trust of voters because of the society’s indifference and disappointment in the government. The latter, clearly demonstrating its isolation from the people, speculates by the force and protects rogues close to it. Where is our pride, what has happened to many officials’ dignity and honor and not just theirs? How did it happen that during the years of its independence, Ukraine has lost its defense capability, sold its own Army’s weapons and became defenseless against armed challenges of our times? The younger generation will provide answers to these questions with the help of in-depth analysis of the “predecessors”; it will define the role and place of each of those in power in the political and economic failures, stealing state property, which led to the loss of the state’s defense capability.
In difficult times for our country of the late 2013-2014 fateful events took place in our country, which poured batons and fire, red-hot iron and bullets on the best of the best representatives of our people, who had rebelled, defending their choice of the European vector of development, their dignity and the right to have a sovereign and independent Ukraine; who now with arms defend our country against the Russian invasion on the eastern front. Ukrainian people are waging a holy war of liberation for its Ukraine. In that war our best people are killed and wounded every day. Senseless and criminal bombing peaceful settlements by Russian weapons have led to deaths of thousands of citizens of Ukraine and hundreds of thousands fled their homes and find refuge with relatives and friends in the central and western Ukraine. Sacrifice and kindness of the Ukrainian society cannot be compared with the “hospitality of the Russian Federation” and the aggressive neighbor’s so-called “humanitarian convoys”.
Russia, ignoring international norms, throws over the uncontrolled by Ukraine border military equipment and weapons for separatist groups, which together with the Russian Federation’s regular troops destroy infrastructure, industrial base and housing of the Donbas, and its inhabitants. It never occurred to the aggressor that Ukrainian patriots, contrary to the fed separatism and Yanukovych’s treacherous government, would become stronger in spirit, would get united in their desire to defend their homeland against the enemy and would stop this invasion. This is our younger generation, our children and grandchildren, who in their mind have become independent from the Soviet past, free in mind, with the spirit of millions of unconquered in the Gulag camps, are reviving the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They are supported by the whole nation in the holy struggle for freedom and independence.
Our nation has defended its dignity on the Maidan and expressed the will to defend its future, regardless of the bandit and openly hostile actions of the anti-people government.
Revolution of Dignity, Yanukovych’s government’s betrayal and escape, the annexation of the Crimea, support for separatism and military invasion of Russian troops into the Donetsk and Luhansk regions did not occur spontaneously. They were preceded by years of “dependent and criminal” indifference of the authorities to problems of the Ukrainian people and to the fate of Ukraine itself, whose sovereignty is based on the state’s defense capability and combat readiness of the Armed Forces.
I am not suggesting my personal impressions of visits to foreign military units at the invitation of the armed forces of many countries and I will not compare the combat capability of the armies of our neighbors. There is a lot we should learn from our neighbours’ armies. We are losing to many foreign military forces in armaments and equipment, but should be proud of capabilities of the Ukrainian society and our Armed Forces. Our Army had to be strong in numbers and armed with modern weapons, equipment and supplies. Why was it not? You may already have the answer to this question, if you have read about the early years of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in my book “Notes of the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. You have learnt about their mighty primary basis and can compare it with the Army’s miserable state as of 2014, when repelling the Russian Federation’s aggression.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine are getting revived in battles thanks to sacrifice and patriotism of our people.
Defense of the State and combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has leaked like sugar sand, between the fingers of the “leaders” of the state, having dissolved in water and having left a sweet aftertaste for arm dealers and embezzlers of state property. Deceitful and dishonest “elite” of Ukraine was inherited from the corrupt Communist Party’s leadership of the Soviet Union and could not imagine its independence from Moscow. Even when Russia was shamefully treating the problem of energy supply of Ukraine, demonstrating its power and disregard, when were broken the developed and tested for decades economic ties and cooperation in vulnerable for Ukraine sectors of its national economy, our authorities were not able to calculate real threats to the state and to build a defence system and to minimize their impact. Consciousness of the “elite” was dependent on inherited slave stereotypes of the majority in the government and society. The biggest blow was dealt to the personnel policy of the country, when, under Moscow’s influence in Ukraine was active the fifth column, which formed the government at all levels. The latter did everything to limit the funding of the Armed Forces, mechanically reducing the cost of maintaining the Army, modernization and restoration of the equipment and weapons, depriving the military of decent pay and hope to get decent housing during their service. The Army’s difficult situation does not mean that in other sectors of the economy and spheres of public life of our country the state of affairs was better.
Once in power, Viktor Yanukovych’s team demonstrated its solidarity, and “eager-unanimously” through the Constitutional Court it introduced a number of changes to return Kuchma’s powers to Yanukovych, organized regionals (members of the Party of Regions) and defiantly declared “European choice” of Ukraine. This surprised and alarmed half of the society, and put the other half to sleep.
Viktor Yanukovych had not forgotten his defeat in 2004 – there was a series of lawsuits and active oppositionists were imprisoned. Yulia Tymoshenko, Yuriy Lutsenko and Anatoliy Makarenko were indicative prisoners of Yanukovych’s regime. President Yanukovych demonstrated to the Ukrainian people his support for the process of “European integration and the rule of law in the state”. One wave of the Deputy Chechetov’s hand – and laws were adopted by a majority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The Party of Regions demonstrated solidarity even after the tragic murder during hunting of the MP Kushnarev, who was the true leader of the regionals. Domestic activity of law enforcement agencies was focused on protection Viktor Yanukovych’s “family’s” interests. A new round of redistribution of land and property in Ukraine began, the state and the Ukrainian people were robbed with new unprecedented eagerness. Close to Yanukovych MPs Oliynyk, German, Tsarev, Shufrych, Yefremov and many others were persuading the people that the “Party of Regions” had holy goals and that the honour leader of the party Yanukovych was exclusive. Was actively raised the issue of “protecting the Russian language” and federalization of Ukraine, appointments took place on the basis of belonging to the “Donetsk” clan. To lead the Ukrainian Armed Forces were called volunteers from the Russian Federation – Dmitriy Salamatin and Pavel Lebedev, who caused the last crushing blows to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The trading company “Ukrspetsexport”, with the connivance of the most influential persons from the environment of the State’s President and the SBU, Ukraine was actively getting rid of weapons, competing and cooperating with the same company of the Russian Federation. The Security Service of Ukraine, in its turn, received FSB’s significant aid in the form of trained officers, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was working closely with the police of the Russian Federation, even in matters of personnel and was appointing “reliable” leaders in all regions of the country. Ukraine’s information space was fully open to foreign media and in the Crimea and in the East of Ukraine in fact it actually belonged to Russia. Beginning with the 2000, media space had been usurped by our northern neighbor. The education system in the state was getting signs of degradation due to the widely known “love” for all Ukrainian of the profile Minister Dmitriy Tabachnyk.
Ukraine peacefully, without any resistance from the authorities, was depriving itself of independence, the people were fooled by “European choice” on a new wave of Russification. The people’s common sense was in no hurry to negatively assess President Yanukovych’s foreign policy activity, hoping that the instinct of self-preservation will make him sign the Association Agreement with the European Union. How wrong the common sense was! Mykola Azarov’s government made a U-turn. We had been the first on the way to Europe and became the last ones, because we had been going in the wrong direction.
February 15, 2015 Afghan veterans came together with military-servicemen internationalists, who had shown their military work in many parts of the world, to once again bow to the thousands of victims in armed conflicts in the world, to remember the past and raise a glass to the defense of Ukraine, who defend our freedom and independence in the Donbas. The fire in the area of the ATO has become less intensive, but it has not stopped. From Russia there come new “convoys”, columns of tanks, armored vehicles, “Grads” and other equipment have uncontrollably crossed the Ukrainian border. The strength is being accumulated on Donetsk and Mariupol directions.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine expect a new blow.
The efforts of countries and their armed forces to implement the program “Partnership for Peace”, in support of peace and security in conflict zones, deserve deep gratefulness.
The international community’s political support of Ukraine in connection with the armed aggression of Russia in 2014 is priceless. The world woke up, but has not yet realized the real military threat from Russia. The war in Ukraine is reconnaissance in force in the war with Europe. The heroism of the Ukrainian people, who took the strike upon itself, is obvious. We are not just observers of tumultuous events (because most of Ukraine lives by standards of a peaceful time) – we are creators of both, our present, and our future. Despite the difficulty of the situation, the people of Ukraine are determined to win and they are not alone.
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!
A. Lopata
