Zelensky appoints Ukraine's first-ever military ombudsman
President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Olha Reshetylova as Ukraine's first-ever military ombudsman, the President's Office announced on Oct. 16.
The appointment comes a month after the Ukrainian parliament passed a law formalizing the institution. Reshetylova previously served as the president's commissioner for the rights of military personnel and their families since December 2024.
As military ombudsman, she will be responsible for addressing issues related to military service, handling complaints, initiating inspections, and proposing policy recommendations.
"This is about the real protection of our soldiers' rights," said Zelensky.
Over five months of work, Reshetylova reported receiving more than 7,000 complaints regarding violations of service members' rights as of this June.
As the full-scale war enters its fourth year, challenges related to military service are becoming increasingly apparent in Ukraine. One of the most urgent issues now is accountability for soldiers going absence without leave (AWOL). As of September, around 290,000 criminal cases have been opened into soldiers' AWOL and desertion.
Work is underway to establish the Military Ombudsman's Office, a permanent body under the president, responsible for civilian oversight of rights across all components of Ukraine's defense sector — from active soldiers and reservists to volunteers, resistance fighters, and combat police.
In 2014, Reshetylova co-founded Come Back Alive, one of Ukraine's largest fundraising organizations that works to equip the army.
She later worked as a journalist and co-founded the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR) in 2016 — an NGO dedicated to documenting crimes and human rights violations committed during Russia's war against Ukraine.
