The National Guard of Ukraine will be able to use means of forcibly stopping vehicles, handcuffs, and tasers – the Verkhovna Rada supported the draft law

The Verkhovna Rada has passed a bill in its first reading that grants National Guard servicemen the right to use means of forcibly stopping a vehicle if the driver fails to comply with lawful demands of a serviceman or attempts to avoid a checkpoint.

This is evidenced by the document’s card on the parliament’s website.

The initiators of the bill propose that National Guard servicemen be authorized to use the following coercive measures:

• Physical force;
• Special means;
• Weapons, armament and military equipment;
• Armament of aircraft.

Physical force can be used for:

• Ensuring personal safety and/or the safety of others;
• Preventing an offense;
• Detaining a person who has committed an offense.

According to the text of the bill, National Guardsmen will be able to use handcuffs, binding nets, protective barriers, tourniquets, rubber and plastic batons, electroshock devices (both contact and contact-distance), means of forcibly stopping vehicles, stun grenades, water cannons, armored vehicles without their regular weapons and other special (specialized) vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic countermeasures.

The use of coercive measures is prohibited against women with obvious signs of pregnancy, elderly people, individuals with visible disabilities and minors (except in cases where such persons commit group and/or armed attacks), as well as in premises and on land plots belonging to diplomatic missions.