Dafuq?
Using non-uniformed combatants is a straight-up Geneva Convention violation, and would result in those people having the status of "illegal combatants" - the least-protected status in warfare.
Remember, the Geneva Conventions guarantee special protections to people of the following status:
- "Civilian": You're not a legitimate target. "Proportionality" restricts whether you may be killed as collateral damage in a strike against a legitimate target near you.
- "Privileged combatant" (i.e. regular soldier): You must be properly treated as a POV when captured.
An "illegal combatant" has neither of those protections.
Thus it's something you really don't want to call on your population to become, except as a matter of last resort in the face of extinction.
So either, the Ukrainian ministry of defense is
really desperate - or they're assholes who would gladly sacrifice their citizens' legal protections in an effort to hold on to power.
... Or maybe they're just banking on the Western world / courts not giving a fuck about the Geneva Conventions anymore in the Current Year, and simply declaring all that Russia did illegal, and all that Ukraine did legal, by fiat.
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Disclaimer: IANAL, just a fellow sperg.