The regional veterans' meeting was held on March 27 in Dnipro.
According to the results of the vote, Mykhailo Karabut, a military man originally from Siverskodonetsk, nominated by the public organization "Veteran Knows," was elected as the representative of the Luhansk region.
It should be noted that the second candidate, Vitaliy Tkachenko, voluntarily withdrew from the election due to his transfer to a senior position in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, so Mykhailo Karabut became the only candidate in the vote. Despite this, he received the unquestioned support of his colleagues: each of the 31 veterans present in the hall voted unanimously for him.
Mykhailo is a well-known figure in the veteran community. In 2022, he volunteered for the front.
He served in the ranks of the 3rd separate assault brigade, participated in the defense of Luhansk region (in particular, in the battles for Rubizhne and Popasna) and the battles near Bakhmut.
In addition, Karabut is the founder of the "Veteran Knows" project, the goal of which is to inform Defenders about their rights, benefits, and assist in adapting to civilian life.
Currently, the veteran continues to serve in the Separate Regiment of Unmanned Systems "Kraken 1654" as part of the Third Army Corps and actively participates in the work of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada on the issue of finalizing the wording of the Veterans Code.
In his address to his fellow veterans, Mykhailo declared that as part of the Veterans Council, he plans to focus on examining regulatory acts in order to make the state support mechanism as digital as possible and free from corruption risks.
A separate priority of its activities will be lobbying and implementing effective housing programs for Defenders-refugee refugees from Luhansk Region and persons with disabilities as a result of the war.
An active dialogue took place between the parties, during which they discussed the implementation of innovations in veteran policy, in particular the Veterans Code, and cooperation between the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and regional authorities.
The head of the Luhansk OVA, Oleksiy Kharchenko, set his tasks for the future member of the Veterans Council: "First of all, you must consolidate the veteran community of the Luhansk region. The Veterans Council must become a partner of the authorities, not be its opponent! There must be no destructiveness!" he noted.
The transparency and legitimacy of the voting procedure was monitored by Kateryna Markina, an observer from the Chesno movement, and Iryna Polozheshna, deputy head of the department for ensuring the activities of specialists supporting war veterans and demobilized persons of the Department of Veteran Education and Business of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.
