Ukraine: Daily Briefing
February 2, 2018, 5 PM Kyiv time
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Image – US Embassy Ukraine
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1. Russian Invasion of Ukraine
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported at 12:30 PM Kyiv time that in the last 24 hours, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in action. In the last 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front 4 times in total.
2. European Parliament hosts conference on Crimean Tatars in fourth year of Russia’s occupation of Crimea
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Photo – Odesa Review
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The Odesa Review reported, “On January 31, the European Parliament in Brussels hosted a conference devoted to the issue of ‘4 Years of Occupation: Ways to support Crimea and Crimean Tatars.’
The speakers relayed the extreme difficulty of the situation faced by the Crimean Tatar people in the 4th year of the occupation of their ancestral homeland, the Crimean peninsula. […]The conference focused on technical issues related to the de-occupation of Crimea in Brussels, and featured the undisputed leader of the Crimean Tatar people, Mustafa Dzhemilev.
Two deputy Chairmen of the Mejlis, the deliberative assembly of the Crimean Tatar people, Akhtem Chiygoz and Ilmi Umerov – who were freed from Russian captivity in October – and other political activists also took part in the discussions. The Crimea SOS organization was represented by its founder, Tamila Tasheva, whose family had been exiled in 1944 to Uzbekistan and only later returned to Crimea. […]
The systematic repression faced by pro-Ukrainian residents of Crimea and the Crimean Tatar community include the systematic kidnapping and torture of civic activists, enforced passportization (without which life in Crimea and access to government services is functionally impossible), a ban on freedom of expression and a prolonged process of economic and ecological degradation in the Crimean peninsula. The Crimean Tatars in particular are being targeted by Russian security forces, and have suffered more than 95 percent of the 1000 searches that have taken place in the last four years. […]
Chiygoz stated that it was the second time the Russians had exiled the Crimean people from their own homeland and that the Russian authorities do not provide responses to official requests from Crimean Tatar lawyers. […]
Dzhemilev spoke movingly about his life`s struggle and the plight of the Tatar people to a film theater full of Belgian youth, as well as members of the Ukrainian diaspora living in Western Europe. It was the 1432nd day of the occupation and each new day involved the harassment and humiliation against the dignity of the indigenous people of the Crimean peninsula.”
The full report is available here: European Parliament Hosts Conference On Crimean Tatars in Fourth Year of Occupation
3. Ukraine opens Cyberthreats Response Center
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reported, “The Cyberthreats Response Center established under the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine is a practical mechanism for early detection of cyberthreats and effective counteraction to cyberattacks. This was stated by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov at the opening of the Cyberthreats Response Center.
According to him, the Cyberthreats Response Center was created using the world’s top cyberdefense technologies. ‘Today we have made a significant step towards building a national cybersecurity system,’ – Mr. Turchynov noted adding that period for responding to cyberthreats and notifications about them had already been reduced by ten times.
He reported that the technological capabilities of the Center allow not only to detect cyberattacks, but also to promptly alert to them, analyze vulnerabilities, anomalies, malware, and viruses, and immediately implement countermeasures.”
