Muzhenko states that ATO is over and will be reformatted into Allied Forces Operation

The Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Donbass is over. It is being reformatted into the Allied Forces Operation, which will be led by Ukraine's military leadership. Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko said this in an interview with Radio Liberty.

"The law, which was signed by Ukraine's president on February 20, systematizes the use of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the fulfillment of the tasks they performed in the ATO and a change of the format of the main operation. The ATO will be completed, and we will proceed to the Allied Forces Operation. This foresees a clear structure of the management system, subordination of certain forces and means to military leadership, the creation of the allied operational headquarters as the main governing body of this operation in the Donetsk and the Luhansk oblasts", - Muzhenko said.

According to him, this will help systematize the involvement of Armed Forces units and forces of other components of the security sector and "use the Armed Forces more effectively and within the legal framework".

He added that the allied forces headquarters would be headed by a "person with combat experience".

"We have appropriate candidates. They require a certain approval procedure, and after that, their names will be submitted to the president of Ukraine in the shortest possible time to approve such a candidate. It will be a person with combat experience and sufficient skills, knowledge, and practical experience to perform such tasks", - Muzhenko said.