Reforming the territorial recruitment and social support centers is necessary, but so far there have been no tangible changes in their work. Ihor Terekhov, head of the Association of Frontline Cities and Communities, said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, reports UNN.
"At the beginning of the year, the president instructed the defense minister to reform the territorial recruitment and social support centers. Unfortunately, there has been no tangible progress so far, and reform is certainly needed," Terekhov said.
He described cases of corruption among territorial recruitment and social support center employees as one of the problems negatively affecting public attitudes toward the mobilization process.
"The first thing that concerns society is that some territorial recruitment and social support center officials are exposed taking bribes—they take money to release people, and then this gets into the information space, and there is no trust left. If these are isolated cases, that is one thing—a 'bad apple' can be found everywhere. But if it becomes a system, the attitude is completely different," said the head of the Association of Frontline Cities and Communities.
Terekhov named the attitude of territorial recruitment and social support center employees toward people as another issue that needs to be resolved as part of the reform. According to him, high-profile incidents during mobilization measures harm not only the recruitment and social support centers themselves but also trust in the Armed Forces.
"We have seen terrible cases; I commented on them, and people took to the streets because of this. This must be eliminated—it undermines trust in the Armed Forces," Terekhov emphasized.
He added that he had discussed this problem directly with military personnel stationed in the hottest areas of the front.
"I communicate with real servicemen who are fighting in the hottest areas of the front, and they say that such behavior destroys their image—they themselves despise such methods," the head of the Association of Frontline Cities and Communities concluded.