Soldier in shackles takes to Maidan demanding fixed terms of service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Over the weekend, serviceman Oleksandr Moskaliuk held a solo protest on Independence Square in Kyiv — in shackles.

He demanded that clear terms of military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine be enshrined in law and that the possibility of demobilization be provided for, calling the existing system slavery.

Moskaliuk published photos and video of the protest on his Facebook page. In the accompanying text, he addressed the authorities on behalf of servicemen who have been in the ranks of the AFU since the first days of the full-scale invasion.

“Most of us who have been in the ranks of the AFU since the first days of the full-scale invasion are already morally exhausted and physically broken. We have the right to expect that the leaders we elected would, after so much time, have found at least partial options for our release from service,” — Moskaliuk wrote on the social network.

The serviceman also rejected the authorities’ attempts to shift responsibility for the situation in the army onto those who do not wish to serve.

“Do not shift the blame onto a society that does not want to join the ranks of the AFU. This is entirely your fault — a failed mobilization in a constant race for ratings. You have demotivated the people, and now most citizens feel caught between the millstones of two totalitarian regimes,” — he stated.

Against the backdrop of the protest, it emerged that Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had presented a service reform in a non-public format. Under the proposal, servicemen would be able to receive a break after a certain period of service — however, full demobilization is not on the table.

At the same time, the draft budget amendments to be considered by the Verkhovna Rada does not include the pay raise for servicemen that the authorities had previously promised.