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Scoop of the day: NSDC insists security situation 'under control'

Scoop of the day: NSDC insists security situation 'under control'

Security meeting

The security situation in Ukraine is absolutely under control and there is nothing new in the current events, National Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov has said after a meeting on security measures against internal and external threats.

"There have been a lot of information events lately, a lot of paramilitary fiction in the media," Danilov said.

He urged Ukrainians to "tone it down".

"If necessary, we will stand side by side to defend our country. But as of today we do not see the situation that is being hyped up in the mass media when politicians raise this issue," he said.

President urges "no panic"

"Everything is under control, there are no reasons for panic," Zelenskyy said after the NSDC meeting.

He said that the first issue of the meeting was the situation in eastern Ukraine, while the other was the issue of energy. He said that Ukraine has enough energy resources for the heating season.

"There is enough coal in Ukraine's underground storages, and they have already exceeded 1m tonnes at power plants and ports," Zelenskyy said.

Cyber security

During a cyber attack on the night of 13-14 January, 22 government websites were affected, six of which suffered significant damage. The NSDC said that 70 websites were shut down at the behest of law enforcers. Sensitive information was not lost.

A distinctive feature of the cyber attack is that all the targeted websites were built on the same control system. Three scenarios of the attack are being investigated: an attack on the supply chain and exploitation of several vulnerabilities.

The attackers defaced the websites. The data collected points to the involvement of Russian hacker groups. The attack included a destructive component, that is the allegations of a data leak. This information has not been confirmed.

To prevent further attacks, cyber defence officers are planned to be posted at strategic enterprises and government agencies.

Economy

There are no threats to the functioning of the national economy, except for disinformation and other destabilizing factors, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said after the NSDC meeting.

He mentioned one of the highest levels of gold and foreign currency reserves ($30.1 billion). This, he said, makes it possible to keep the exchange rate stable in the currency corridor.

Evacuations

The heads of the foreign ministries of Latvia, Poland, Hungary and Georgia said that their agencies were not considering evacuating their representatives from Ukraine amid the threat of Russian invasion. The French embassy in Ukraine issued a similar statement.

On 24 January, the US Department of State allowed employees of the US embassy in Kyiv to leave the country voluntarily. Their family members should do so on a mandatory basis. The decision was taken "out of an abundance of caution due to continued Russian efforts to destabilize the country and undermine the security of Ukrainian citizens and others visiting or residing in Ukraine".

Britain is also withdrawing some of its diplomats from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry considers this decision premature and calls it an excessive measure.

Security situation

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said at a meeting of the Servant of the People faction that the current situation on Ukraine's border with Russia is not fundamentally different from last spring, now the tension is in the information space.

"The situation is fully under control and the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other security agencies are fully prepared to carry out their tasks. At the same time, our state is receiving serious support from foreign partners," Reznikov was quoted as saying.

Kharkiv Region

The head of the Security Service of Ukraine directorate in Kharkiv Region, chairman of the regional ant-terrorist centre, Roman Dudin, has said that Kharkiv law enforcers are ready for any emergency situation.

"Certain political parties, organizations and movements in Kharkiv Region are whipping up hysteria about a possible potential military threat. As of today, there are no grounds for this specifically in Kharkiv Region. Because if people took to the streets with weapons today, it would be a very 'fun surprise' for some - the number of people and groups who have already been trained," he added.

Arms

Lithuania will hand US Stinger man-portable air defence systems and thermal imaging cameras over to the Ukrainian army.

A relevant draft parliamentary resolution envisioning the free transfer of 24 thermal imaging devices from the Lithuanian Armed Forces to the Ukrainian Armed Forces has already been prepared, LRT has reported, citing a statement by Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas.

Normandy Four

The head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, has denied that the withdrawal of the draft law on the transition period is linked to Moscow's preconditions for a meeting of the political advisers of the Normandy Four leaders.

"This government only accepts the demands of the Ukrainian people. And the main demand of the Ukrainian society today is to do everything to prevent escalation, which we are working on 24/7. I want to say absolutely officially. There were no preconditions for holding this meeting in the Normandy format," Yermak said on ICTV.

Coronavirus

Ukrainians who made a booster shot will receive a 500-hryvnya motivation award, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He noted that vaccinated people take Covid-19 lighter than others and that only 28% hospital beds for Covid-19 patients are occupied.

Polio

Another case of poliovirus type 2 has been confirmed in Transcarpathian Region, the Health Ministry has said.

"According to the mother, they refused to have the baby vaccinated," the report said.

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