Ukrainian troops in Donbas beefed up – Poltorak

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has significantly enlarged its forces operating in eastern Ukraine, Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has said.

The ministry has formed a candidate pool from participants in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in Donbas who will fill vacancies among the ministry's high-ranking staff, Poltorak said during the Ukrainian government's report on its first 100 days on Thursday.

"A pool of 1,432 ATO servicemen has been created within a short time to fill vacancies for the high-ranking staff of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff […]. The troops in the east have been considerably been beefed up. The units are staffed on a mixed basis," Poltorak said.

The ministry's main priority is to create highly mobile, professionally trained and well-equipped armed forces, Poltorak said.

"Reform goes on at the Defense Ministry and the General Staff, namely, the duplication of functions carried out by both the Defense Ministry and the General Staff has been eliminated; interaction between the structural units has been improved, while managerial decision making has been simplified and excessive normative and legal acts have been repealed," the minister said.

Twelve Defense Ministry departments underwent reforms, four were dissolved and over 200 employees with non-core functions were dismissed, he said.

Poltorak also said that polygraph examinations have been introduced for all high-ranking officials who are appointed at the ministry, and a council of civil volunteers who will assist the military has been set up.

"The personnel of Ukraine's Armed Forces has been enlarged to 250,000 men, military-administrative and operational-strategic assignments have been adjusted to contemporary threats," he added.