Today, on July 16, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Law №5557 on the Fundamentals of National Resistance. 313 people’s deputies voted for this decision in the second reading.
The Ukrainian society needed this law back in 2014. It was developed under the general leadership of the President of Ukraine by the joint efforts of security officials of various types of troops, representatives of veterans’ organizations, volunteers, and experts.
This Law takes into account the experience of NATO member states, in particular Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, modern practices of establishing comprehensive defense and national peculiarities in organizing resistance to the aggressor.
It envisages the introduction of a system of general military training of citizens, the development of territorial defense and the resistance movement, covering Ukraine’s wider population.
The Verkhovna Rada also adopted Law №5558 “On the Number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” by 312 votes. It provides for an increase in the maximum number of the Armed Forces by 11 thousand: 10 thousand for territorial defense and one thousand – for special forces. These measures aim at ensuring the implementation of the tasks set by the Law on National Resistance.
The adoption of laws №5557 and №5558 is a landmark event for Ukraine. It will allow increasing the country’s defense capabilities as quickly as possible in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war and threats from the Russian Federation.
One of the key factors determined by the law on national resistance is the social and legal protection of participants of territorial defense and resistance movement.
Earlier, NATO advisers, Ukrainian veterans, and volunteers spoke in support of the Law on National Resistance. Representatives of veteran and volunteer communities went to the Verkhovna Rada to hold the rally “Veterans support national resistance. Vote for the draft law № 5557”.It bears reminding that “national resistance” is the involvement of the general population to counter the aggressor, and also preparation for such counteraction. This approach assumes that defending Ukraine is a nationwide matter and is carried out both in the controlled and in the occupied territories of our state.
The territorial defense will operate throughout Ukraine outside the hostilities, and the resistance movement will be conducted in the temporarily occupied territory. Moreover, the military training of Ukrainian citizens is a significant contribution to the national-patriotic education of Ukrainians