Upon the request of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Thursday a decree stipulating the recognition of the military ranks and education of Ukrainian officers willing to transfer to serve in the Russian armed forces.
“This concerns recognizing military ranks and education of the officers, who serve today in the Ukrainian armed forces and who have expressed wish to serve in not just the Russian armed forces but in other law enforcement structures as well. This concerns the Interior Ministry and Federal Security Service (FSB),” Shoigu said during a meeting with the president.
“This will allow for the taking of people into service, at least on a contract basis, until all other formalities are resolved, including those related to obtaining citizenship,” Putin said.
“Today many [Ukrainian] officers expressed the wish to serve in Russia and this is the document required to start such work,” Shoigu said.
