Minister Klymenko: “A police officer is trained to shoot at a criminal, but it has nothing to do with trenches”
21 June 2024 11:56
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko believes that police officers are not adapted to combat operations at the front. He said this in an interview with Radio Liberty, according to "Komersant Ukrainian"
“About the ‘policeman is trained’. A police officer is trained to use force and weapons against a criminal. But this has nothing to do with trenches, with engineering structures, nothing to do with actions as part of a squad, platoon or company. Or as part of a mechanised unit. It has nothing to do with that. Shooting a gun at a criminal is one thing. This is an action in the city. But this is not an action in the field, not an action in the forest, and so on,”
– the minister explained.
He acknowledged that law enforcement officers are indeed subject to reservation, but stressed that despite this, about 50% of the National Police of Ukraine will be involved either in direct participation in hostilities or in servicing areas close to the war zone.
“The police are now working on the edge of their limits,”
– klymenko added.
National Police and the war
on 5 May 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine issued a resolution stipulating that the number of the National Police of Ukraine should not exceed 141,330 people. According to the head of the National Police, Ivan Vygovsky, at the end of 2023, the National Police had 120,000 employees.
According to Minister Ihor Klymenko, the field units that are directly involved in hostilities number about 6,000 people.
Earlier, it was reported that not all police officers would be reserved from mobilisation, but the government has recently “improved the conditions for reservations” by amending Resolution No. 76 of 27 January 2023. Now the police can reserve all their employees.
“For police officers and employees of the State Emergency Service, in case of a justified need of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the number of booked employees may exceed 50%. That is, up to 100% of employees can be booked, subject to justification and separate approval of the Minister of Defence,”
– the government said.
