President Volodymyr Zelensky registered in parliament draft law No. 14059 on the approval of the Decree “On the deployment of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to other states”, - reported Judicial and Legal Newspaper on September 22.
As stated by Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal in the explanatory note, adoption of the law will allow deployment of AFU units to the Republic of Turkey and the United Kingdom. This will ensure the implementation of measures related to guaranteeing national security and defense.
Implementation of the law will also contribute to improving the process of receiving military equipment from partner countries, staffing the relevant units with personnel and the acquired equipment, whose mastery and preparation for use requires long training cycles.
It is proposed to approve the President’s decision to deploy AFU units to other states:
To the Republic of Turkey:
- Corvette of the Naval Forces of Ukraine Hetman Ivan Mazepa (of the “Ada” class) with a regular crew of up to 106 servicemen.
To the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
- Minesweeper Cherkasy (of the “Sandown” class) — crew up to 39 servicemen;
- Minesweeper Chernihiv (of the “Sandown” class) — crew up to 39 servicemen;
- Minesweeper Mariupol (of the “Alkmaar” class) — crew up to 39 servicemen;
- Minesweeper Melitopol (of the “Alkmaar” class) — crew up to 39 servicemen;
- Minesweeper Henichesk (of the “Alkmaar” class) — crew up to 39 servicemen;
- Command of the 1st Division of Minesweepers of the Ukrainian Navy Flotilla — mine action headquarters numbering up to 20 servicemen.
As Shmyhal explained, due to the ongoing large-scale armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine and the aggressor’s growing efforts to further seize the territory of our state, there has arisen a need to deploy servicemen within units on the territory of partner states. This will facilitate the receipt of advanced military equipment and professional mastery of its application to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty.
At the same time, the position of the Republic of Turkey, based on the provisions of Articles 19 and 20 of the Convention on the Regime of the Straits (1936), does not allow the return of AFU units mentioned in item 1 of the draft Decree to their permanent deployment locations.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the crossing of Ukraine’s state border by these units, stationed on warships received (built) on the territory of other states, had been carried out in advance.
Financing of expenses related to the deployment and stay of AFU units on the territory of the Republic of Turkey and the United Kingdom, in the amount of 135 million UAH, is planned to be carried out within the appropriations of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for 2025.