Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko: Patrol Officers to Live at Training Grounds, Military and Veterans to Become Instructors

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that after the April 18 shooting in Kyiv, police response protocols and training programs must be revised. He advocates for military personnel and veterans to become instructors for new recruits, and for police officers themselves to be deployed to the front or frontline areas for several months.

Klymenko emphasized that patrol police officers will live at training grounds in shifts. Military personnel with combat experience from the 1st and 2nd army corps of the National Guard and the State Border Guard Service will be involved as instructors. This applies first to the patrol service, then to district departments.

The Minister conveyed these wishes to Oleksandr Fatsevych, Deputy Head of the National Police, who is temporarily acting as head of the Patrol Police Department. Klymenko demands that only those with combat experience be appointed as deputies for service training. Demobilized veterans who can teach will be offered to continue service in the police combat training system.

By order of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, response protocols and training programs, including tactics for using weapons, must be reviewed. Klymenko stressed that a police officer should not fear explosions or bullets, as they risk their lives for others. Most of the personnel have already completed rotations in combined units for several months.