The Armed Forces of Ukraine began the "restructuring" of their army according to NATO standards. This was announced by the AFU General Staff on its Facebook page.

As part of the reorganization, new APU commands were created: combined forces, support forces, communications and cyber security forces, and medical forces.

“In pursuance of the general directives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the first stage of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been completed,” the statement said.

It is noted that the reform of the army is aimed at achieving a clear delineation of powers between all bodies of military command on the NATO model.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, at the moment, for the further transformation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, work is ongoing to improve the legislation and the regulatory framework of the country.

The creation of new commands within the framework of the Armed Forces fits into the general course of Ukraine towards joining NATO, said the head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of REU named after G.V. Plekhanova Andrey Koshkin.

“Already in the Constitution of Ukraine is written down - the state has set as its goal the accession to NATO. And military units are the basis for membership in the North Atlantic Alliance and must fully comply with the norms and standards that are established in NATO. So this decision is in the context of the foreign policy doctrine that exists in Kiev, ”said Andrei Koshkin in an interview with RT.

However, according to analysts, the ongoing reforms of the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have a deep structural character, but rather relate to the appearance of the army.

“This modernization began with Poroshenko. He strove to reform the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces as soon as possible so that the army would take on the appearance that corresponded to the standards of the alliance, ”Andrey Koshkin recalled.

Redecorating

Recall that the active movement of Ukraine towards NATO began after the 2014 coup. In 2016, joining the alliance was outlined as the goal of the country's foreign policy, and in February 2019, the intention to join the organization was officially enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution.

According to experts, after the election of President of the country Vladimir Zelensky, the situation has not changed.

“Zelensky continues the concept that Poroshenko promoted with regard to NATO and the EU,” emphasized Andrey Koshkin.

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In 2017, Petro Poroshenko approved the state program, according to which the Ukrainian army should achieve full compatibility with NATO by 2020. We are talking about the rules of STANAG - agreements on the standardization of military ranks, calibers of small arms, uniforms, weapons and military equipment in NATO countries. As a result, Ukraine passed a bill introducing new ranks for the Armed Forces sergeant corps.

According to experts, it is unlikely that such a "modernization" will seriously improve the condition of the Ukrainian army.

“Military experts from NATO countries conclude that the Armed Forces of Ukraine still have many problems. This is due to the training of personnel and command personnel, and to corruption in the army, and to the interaction structure of AFU units. So for now, the result of the reforms leaves much to be desired, ”notes Andrey Koshkin.

However, Kiev failed to complete the modernization of its Armed Forces by the deadline indicated by Petro Poroshenko.

On February 5, the Ukrainian government approved the new annual Ukraine-NATO national program. According to the plan, the country must meet the requirements of joining the alliance in five years.

“Our government has included an ambitious goal in its program of activity: that in five years Ukraine meets the criteria for joining NATO. What will be the level of NATO standards in Ukraine? This is a state for which the safety and welfare of a citizen are in the spotlight, ”said Prime Minister Alexei Goncharuk.

Foggy prospects

According to experts, the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO is doubtful, since Kiev and the alliance have not developed a clear plan for the country's entry into the organization.

“The Alliance did not promise this (joining NATO. - R T) Ukraine. And to say that there is a clear and understandable algorithm for Ukraine’s joining NATO is obviously premature, ”said Denis Denisov, director of the Institute for Peace Initiatives and Conflictology, in an interview with RT.

Moreover, despite the fact that the United States declares support for Kiev’s plans to join the organization, NATO itself has repeatedly noted that it is not going to accept Ukraine into the alliance in the near future, the expert recalled.

So, in a report published in October 2019 by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on the degree of Ukraine’s readiness for membership in the organization, it is noted that Kiev is still too far from NATO and EU standards. In particular, despite “significant progress,” the problem of corruption in the defense sector is still not resolved. In addition, the document states that there is a “serious risk” that the country will not be able to fulfill the task set to achieve compliance with the standards of the alliance by the end of 2020.

According to Denis Denisov, the North Atlantic Alliance is satisfied with the situation in which Ukraine will remain the “eternal” partner of the bloc.

“At the moment, we can state that the representatives of NATO have chosen in the form of their strategic position an approach in which Ukraine will be a partner of NATO, meet NATO standards and, quite possibly, provide infrastructure facilities in the future, as well as its Armed forces for the needs of the alliance . This is of most concern, ”the expert explained.

  • Joint exercises of Ukraine and NATO
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  • © Gleb Garanich

Recall, February 7, Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Zagorodniuk said that Kiev intends to build two military bases according to NATO standards in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

“We plan to build several high-quality infrastructure facilities so that everyone knows that we can also have military bases according to NATO standards. In particular, these are two objects that we are building in the open field. These will be military bases: one in Mariupol, the other in Severodonetsk, ”the press service of the Ministry of Defense quoted the head of the department.

Andriy Koshkin notes that the situation in which NATO can use the territory of Ukraine even without its joining the alliance poses a potential threat to Russia.

“Any major new structures that will be located on the borders with the unrecognized republics of the DPR and LPR or on the borders with the Russian Federation are a potential threat to Russia's national security. Because these bases can be used in the future, including by the North Atlantic Alliance. And this, of course, is a direct threat to Russia's national security, ”Andrei Koshkin emphasized.

However, according to analysts, Russia has enough mechanisms to counteract this NATO eastward movement.

In particular, Denis Denisov believes that Moscow can use the mechanism of cooperation with neighboring countries within the framework of regional organizations such as the CSTO.

“Russia can intensify cooperation in this area with its key key partners. And to take preventive measures to counteract such steps on the part of NATO and Ukraine, ”the expert summed up.