Zelenskyy Introduces Ukraine’s First Military Ombudsman: Who Is This?

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has established the post of Ukraine’s first military ombudsman, appointing human rights defender Olga Reshetylova as Commissioner for the Rights of Servicemen.

The head of state announced this in an evening address to Ukrainians, thanking the people’s deputies for adopting the relevant bill.

“This is about real protection of the rights of our soldiers. The law has already been signed and published. Today, I signed a decree to implement it — a decree establishing the Office of the Military Ombudsman. The regulations governing this institution have also been approved. And I will appoint Olga Reshetylova, a person well known to our soldiers, as Ukraine’s first military ombudsman,” Zelenskyy said.

The President emphasized that the launch of this new institution should provide effective protection for service members and their families.

“This must be felt at every level of Ukraine’s Defense Forces: we are doing what strengthens the army, and we are also doing what strengthens the soldiers who serve in it,” he added.

As a reminder, on June 3, the Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading draft law No. 13266, which provides for the creation of the institution of a military ombudsman to protect the rights and freedoms of servicemen. The document received 287 votes from people’s deputies.

Also, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights has received 1,964 complaints about the actions of military unit commands.