The MPs Taras Batenko, Oleksandr Shevchenko, Oleksandr Dubinin, Valentyn Didych, Andriy Denysenko (all of them are the members of inter-faction union UKROP), as well as the lawmakers Andriy Antonyschak and Oleksandr Dehtyarchuk demand that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine should amend the order improving organization of transportation and preservation of the bodies of soldiers who died during military service. “Today, the relatives of perished soldiers complain that dead bodies cannot be saved from complete decomposition,” state the MPs in their appeal to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak. According to the deputies, military medical establishments of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that are located in ATO zone (or related areas), should include mobile teams with refrigerator truck for further transportation of the bodies to the place of disposition. It is also necessary to provide every military base with the department for transportation of dead bodies (or deceased), consisting of at least two carriages and cars like Volkswagen T4 or Mercedes Sprinter with cooling unit for cargo van. “We believe that the mechanism of transportation and preservation of dead bodies needs urgent improvement, under new conditions and in order to meet the current needs of Ukraine,” emphasize the MPs. It is to be recalled, the order providing preservation and transportation of the bodies of soldiers who died during military service in ATO zone, is now regulated by the instruction signed by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine in 2001. According to this instruction, personal responsibility for organizing transportation of the bodies of fallen troops to the place of disposition is laid on the commander of the military unit where the perished soldier served. But very often commanders, due to objective reasons, including military situation in ATO zone, cannot ensure proper organization of preservation of the dead bodies and their further transportation to the place of disposition.
