Having already sacked the heads of Ukraine’s regional army recruitment centers, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans to review “a significant number” of medical exemptions from military duty.
The decision comes in the wake of numerous instances of corruption amongst Ukraine’s military commissariats who were found to be taking between $3,000 and $15,000 in bribes to declare draftees medically unfit for duty.
Zelensky said that the Military Medical Commission's (MMC’s) decisions related to disability and military service unfitness, particularly those after Feb. 24, 2022 – the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – will be reviewed.
Zelensky said that statistics were presented at the National Security and Defense Council on Wednesday, Aug. 30 that evidenced widespread corruption.
“There are examples of regions where the number of people removed from the military register due to the MMC's decision has increased tenfold since February last year. It is absolutely clear what these decisions are. Corrupt decisions,” Zelensky said in his nightly address on the same day.
Zelensky said that law enforcement agencies must meticulously probe instances of unwarranted decisions and discover physically fit people who’ve evaded service during Russia's full-scale invasion.
“Specific evidence has been recorded. It has been presented behind closed doors,” Zelensky said, adding that corruption has been found in different regions of the country and amongst different officials.
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The Ukrainian government also decided to let civilian doctors take part in medical checks. Some places are already doing this, but others need to speed up, Zelensky said.
“We want Military Medical Commission checks to happen in regular hospitals all over Ukraine. The military and civilian doctors should work together to make this happen,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky also announced plans to make the MMC system fully digital.
“People shouldn't have to wait in line for MMC checks or for the results. The government needs to fix this,” he said.
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