Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas to be reformatted into Allied Forces Operation - Muzhenko

Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko said this in an interview with Radio Free Europe/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 Donetsk and Luhansk regions," 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 respective nominations. They need a certain procedure of approval. After that they will be submitted to the Ukrainian president at the earliest possible time for approval of such a candidate. It will be a person who has combat experience and sufficient skills, knowledge and practical experience to perform such tasks," Muzhenko said.

As reported, on February 20, President Petro Poroshenko signed the law on the peculiarities of state policy on ensuring Ukraine's state sovereignty over temporarily occupied territories in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which reformats the ATO and defines Russia as an aggressor.

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