"Inconsistent with the realities". ATO format was needed to be changed long ago - Tymchuk

The ATO format was needed to be changed long ago. This was said by the People's Deputy of Ukraine Dmytro Tymchuk in the comment to OstroV.

"The very name of ATO did not correspond to the conflict that existed in the Donbass from the very beginning. The legislation that we had in the spring of 2014, the law on ATO in particular, did not provide for any broad participation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at all. It was tooled for the classical antiterrorist operations: taking of hostages, facilities, threat of sabotage and terrorist attacks, etc. Therefore, the Armed Forces could be applied very limitedly… Consequently, we were making some changes in the legislation according to what was happening after the fact of ATO. But no matter how we extended this notion of ATO, the basic principles of ATO are inconsistent with what we observe in the area of combat operations", - he said.

He noted that, according to the current legislation on ATO, the operational command is carried out by the SBU.

"How can the SBU command the troops, make plans for defence and offensives, use artillery, tank units, etc.? The SBU works quite efficiently, but this is a specialized tool, it is not designed to operate with whole mechanized brigades. Of course, this format was needed to be changed long ago", - the People's Deputy added.

"From a technical and legal point of view, we have come to the conclusion that ATO is absolutely inconsistent with the realities we observe today", - Tymchuk stressed.

The People's Deputy from the People's Front Andriy Teteruk had earlier stated that a bill on the end of ATO and the beginning of a new format of the operation in the Donbass may appear in the Verkhovna Rada next week.