The issue of veterans' policy affects the motivation of Ukrainians to mobilise to defend the state and continue their military service, said Roman Kostenko, ATO/JFO participant, MP, Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.
During the discussion "A Country of Veterans: Opportunities and Challenges" at the New Country project, he said that incorrect and unnoticeable veteran policy, when people do not understand what will happen to them after completing military service or in case of injury, affects how the state motivates people to go to defend the country. This affects people who will come to defend the country in the future.
"We cannot forget about veteran policy and talk about mobilisation. We cannot talk about mobilisation without remembering how our soldiers are serving now," the MP said.
He believes that veterans' policy should start with a social contract for those who are just joining the army, not just those who have already been mobilised.
The motivation of soldiers must be a fact. Kostenko noted that it will be difficult to win this asymmetric war with the military mobilised on the streets alone.
"This requires special people with special skills and special abilities. Having some experience, I see that this category of people exists in all age groups, but most of them are people aged 17 to 27, whom we do not conscript for the most part. I'm not saying that we should grab them, throw them into buses, and transfer them to frontline. But we have to create a policy where these people will go to the army themselves and perform the tasks that the army needs now. And for this, society must motivate them," he said.
The MP believes that these people should have benefits and high salaries. "It is necessary to lay down the vision that millions of people who are not fighting should take care of a million of those who are fighting at all stages of their stay in defence of the state.
For this purpose, Kostenko believes that a military tax can be raised, when people will specifically pay for this million to fight for them. In case of injury or disability, a defender must be sure that he or she will be provided for the rest of his or her life.