IcelandReview | Ticket Sale Begins for Iceland vs. Ukraine IcelandReview Tickets for Iceland's FIFA World Cup qualifying match versus Ukraine go on sale tomorrow at noon, RV reports. The match will take place at Laugardalsvllur, Iceland's national football stadium, in Reykjavk on September 5th. This match will be ... |
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A recent raid of abitcoin mining farm in a state-owned, empty swimming pool in Ukraine raises questions about the legality of the cryptocurrency in the country. Following the event, the Ukrainian central bank promptly published a statement about bitcoins regulation and legal status.
Also read:150 Bitcoin ATMs Coming to Ukraine
Ukraines National Police arrested several suspects for illegally mining bitcoins last week, according to local publications. 200 computers were set up to mine the cryptocurrency in an unused swimming pool at a state-owned recreational center of the Paton Electric Welding Institute, which is located in Kiev, the capital and largest city of Ukraine.
The arrests followed Kievs Svyatoshinsky District Courts rulings last week which found that bitcoins were illegally mined, along with several other violations of Ukrainian laws. The court, therefore, gave permission to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to search and seize items and documents related to the mining operation, according to Inshe.tv.
The court found that the suspects had no right to use the swimming pool which is located on state-owned premises. They also breached the law of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) by emitting substitute money and forging documents to launder it, the Kyivpost detailed.
According to the NBU, which is the Ukrainian central bank, there is only one national currency, the hryvnia, and no other currency or substitute currency can be issued or used as a form of payment in Ukraine, the Kyivpost conveyed. However, the law does not specify what a substitute currency is, the publication noted.
Back in 2014, the NBU warned about bitcoin and its use in the Ukraine. The National Bank considers the cryptocurrency a money surrogate, which has no real value and cannot be used by individuals and legal entities within the territory of Ukraine as a means of payment, as it contradicts the norms of Ukrainian legislation.
However, lawyers were interviewed by Inshe.tvon the subject and they all agree that cryptocurrency mining in Ukraine is not illegal. Artem Afyan, a managing partner of the Yuskutum law firm said engaging in mining in Ukraine is absolutely legal, adding that:
The arguments of the National Bank that the cryptocurrency is an unsecured money surrogate are only a warning. It does not mean prohibition of their use.
A day after the Kiev mining farm news surfaced, the NBU issued a statement, reiterating that currently bitcoin does not have a definite legal status in Ukraine. The central bank also noted that the definition of such a status in Ukraine is complicated by the lack of a consolidated approach to the classification and management of bitcoin in the world, adding that:
In different countries, bitcoin is classified in different ways as virtual currency, money surrogate, intangible value, virtual goods and the like. For its part, the NBU has not officially supported any of the above definitions.
Meanwhile, the NBU has started discussing the legal status of bitcoin and its regulation with other relevant government bodies such as the ministry of finance. This issue will be considered at the next meeting of the Financial Stability Board, which is scheduled to be held before the end of August, the central bank declared.
What do you think the National Bank of Ukraine will do about bitcoin?Let us know in the comments section below.
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Arrests of Bitcoin Miners in Ukraine Spark Questions About Legality - Bitcoin News (press release)
This report is for the media and the general public.
Between the evenings of 11 and 12 August the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 12 and 13 August the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. In the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, an armed man pointed his assault rifle at SMM patrol members and threatened to shoot them.* The Mission followed up on a report of a civilian casualty in Dokuchaievsk; a DPR member told the Missionhe could not provide detailed information about the incident without the permission of other DPR members.The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. The Missions access was restricted there and elsewhere, including in Yasne. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Miusynsk. The Mission followed up on reports of interruption of power supply due to shelling-related damage in Katerynivka. It facilitated and monitored repairs to the Petrivske pumping station. The SMM visited two border areas not under government control. In Odessa, the Mission monitored the March for Equality.
In Donetsk region the SMM recorded fewerceasefire violations[1]between the evenings of 11 and 12 August, including about 70 explosions, compared with theprevious reportingperiod (about 140 explosions), and more between the evenings of 12 and 13 August, including about 160 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours.
On the evening and night of 11-12 August the SMM camera in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, one airburst, two projectiles in flight from west to east, one projectile in flight from south to north, one projectile in flight from west to east, five projectiles in vertical flight assessed as anti-aircraft cannon (type unknown) rounds, one burst of anti-aircraft cannon (type unknown) fire, three projectiles in flight from west to east and one airburst, all 2-6km at directions ranging from east to south-east.
On the evening and night of 12-13 August the same camera recorded, in sequence, 13 projectiles in flight from west to east, 34 projectiles in flight from east to west, one illumination flare in vertical flight, at least 40 projectiles in flight from west to east, two undetermined explosions, followed by aggregated totals of three illumination flares in vertical flight, 127 projectiles in flight (at least 58 from west to east, at least 56 from east to west, seven from south-east to north-west and six from south-west to north-east), all 4-6km east-south-east. The following day, positioned in Avdiivka for about five hours, the SMM heard 30 undetermined explosions 3-5km east-south-east and one burst of heavy-machine-gun fire 2-3km east-south-east.
On the evening and night of 11-12 August the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, one projectile in flight from south to north, 60 projectiles in flight from west to east, two undetermined explosions, 24 projectiles in flight from west to east, one undetermined explosion, 42 projectiles in flight from west to east, 12 tracer rounds in flight from east to west, one projectile in flight from south to north and three tracer rounds in flight from east to west, all 1-3km south. On 13 August the same camera recorded 44 explosions assessed as impacts of rounds of undetermined weapons 3-4km north-east.
On the evening and night of 11-12 August, while in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), in about two hours the SMM heard eight undetermined explosions and about 40 bursts and shots of automatic-grenade-launcher and small-arms fire, all 3-10km south-east and east. The following day, while in the same location, within a minute the SMM heard three undetermined explosions about 5km south-east. On the evening and night of 12-13 August the SMM heard 22 undetermined explosions and five bursts of small-arms fire, all 5-10km east.
On the evening and night of 11-12 August, the SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded, in sequence, one explosion assessed as an outgoing round of an undetermined weapon, one rocket-assisted projectile in flight from south-east to north-west, two undetermined explosions, eight tracer rounds in flight from west to east, one undetermined explosion, three bursts from west to east, one explosion assessed as an outgoing round of an undetermined weapon and one rocket-assisted projectile in flight from south-east to north-west, followed by aggregated totals of 46 undetermined explosions and 34 tracer rounds in flight (25 from west to east and nine from east to west), all at unknown distances north.
On the evening and night of 12-13 August the same camera recorded, in sequence, 49 undetermined explosions, two tracer rounds in flight from west to east, one undetermined explosion, one illumination flare in vertical flight, three tracer rounds in flight from west to east, two illumination flares in vertical flight, one tracer round in flight from east to west, one undetermined explosion, followed by aggregated totals of five undetermined explosions, one illumination flare in vertical flight, 14 projectiles in flight (11 from west to east and three from east to west) and 122 tracer rounds in flight (76 from west to east and 46 from east to west), all at unknown distances north and north-north-east.
In Luhansk region the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations between the evenings of 11 and 12 August, including 15 explosions, compared withthe previous reporting period(about 190 explosions). Between the evenings of 12 and 13 August it recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including, however, more explosions (46), compared with the previous 24 hours.
On the night of 11-12 August, while in government-controlled Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard nine undetermined explosions, about 350 bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, and ten shots of infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-2) cannon (30mm) fire, all 3-10km at directions ranging from south-east to south-west. On the evening and night of 12-13 August, while in the same location, the SMM heard 44 undetermined explosions, about 25 minutes of uncountable overlapping bursts and an additional 170 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, and one shot of small-arms fire, all 3-8km at directions ranging from north-east to south-east.
On 13 August, while an SMM patrol was positioned immediately south of the broken section of the pedestrian bridge south of government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), next to a forward LPR position inside the disengagement area, a man in military-style clothing armed with an assault rifle (AK-variant) approached the patrol, disengaged its safety catch and pointed it at the patrol from about 3m away. The armed man then gestured with his rifle to the patrol to move, calling the SMM patrol members spies and threatening to shoot them. The SMM immediately returned to its armoured vehicles and departed the area. The Mission informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) about the incident and requested that it follow up.* (SeeSMM Spot Report 13 August 2017.) On 14 August, a Russian officer of the JCCC informed the SMM that the abovementioned man had been discharged from service at an LPR position on the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge.
The SMM followed up on a media report of acivilian casualtyin DPR-controlled Dokuchaievsk (30km south-west of Donetsk). On 11 August at the hospital in the town, medical staff told the Mission that a man (aged 66) had triggered a booby trap and died from bleeding on the spot and that his body had been brought to the hospital for a post-mortem examination. The next day, the SMM visited the former residence of the deceased man at 3 Polova Street in Dokuchaievsk where a group of five residents (three men, aged 50-60, and two women, aged between 40-50 years) together told the SMM that the mans family had left for his funeral, adding that the incident occurred in the area between Dokuchaievsk and DPR-controlled Yasne (30km south-west of Donetsk) on the morning of 10 August. They said that the deceased man had been found dead by his son who had been searching for him. The residents also said that the son noted that his father had likely triggered a booby trap and that the area of the incident had been frequently visited by local residents despite its close proximity to the contact line. A DPR member told the SMM that the man had set off a grenade connected with a trip wire, but that further information could not be provided without the permission of other DPR members.* Russian Federation officers of the JCCC told the Mission that the man had triggered a booby trap while walking 300-400m from the contact line and showed the Mission a letter that they said certified the mans death on 10 August.
In DPR-controlled Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, 23km north-east of Mariupol), the SMM met with the mother of a 19-year-old girl who was killed in the village by gunfire on the night of18-19 June. (SeeSMM Daily Report 22 June 2017.) The mother told the Mission that after the incident she and her family had moved to DPR-controlled Novoazovsk (40km east of Mariupol) and that she visits Pikuzy for work.
The SMM continued tomonitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areasof Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote (60km west of Luhansk) and Petrivske (41km south of Donetsk), as foreseen in theFramework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardwareof 21 September 2016. The SMMs access remained restricted but the Mission was able to partially monitor them.*
On the evening and night of 10-11 August, the SMM camera in government-controlled Zolote recorded seven projectiles in flight from north-west to south-east, all 3.5-5km east-north-east and assessed as outside the disengagement area. On the night of 11-12 August, the same camera recorded, in sequence, one projectile in flight from north to south, one projectile in flight from south-west to north-east, one projectile in flight from north-west to south-east and one projectile in vertical flight, all 8.5-13km east and assessed as outside the disengagement area. The camera then recorded, in sequence, four projectiles in flight from north-west to south-east, one projectile in flight from south-east to north-west, five projectiles in flight from north-west to south-east, one projectile in flight from south-west to north-east and one undetermined explosion, all 2.6-5.5km at directions ranging from east-north-east to south-east and assessed as outside the disengagement area.
On 12 August, positioned at the eastern edge of LPR-controlled Pervomaisk (58km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard three undetermined explosions about 3km south-south-west. Later in the day, positioned in government-controlled Zolote-4 (60km north-west of Luhansk), the SMM heard one burst and six shots of small-arms fire about 600m north-east. Approximatelyone hour later, positioned 1.5km west of Zolote-4, the SMM heard one undetermined explosion and saw subsequent smoke rising 5-7km north-east. The SMM assessed that all these ceasefire violations had occurred outside the disengagement area.
On 13 August, positioned in Zolote-4, the SMM heard one shot of small-arms fire 300-400m south-east, assessed as outside the disengagement area. Aboutfour hours later, the Mission heard one shot of small-arms fire about 1km south-south-west but it was unable to assess whether the ceasefire violation had occurred inside or outside the disengagement area.
The same day, positioned in government-controlled Bohdanivka (41km south-west of Donetsk), outside the disengagement near DPR-controlled Petrivske, the SMM noted a calm situation.
The SMM continued to monitor thewithdrawal of weapons, in implementation of the Package of Measures and its Addendum, as well as the Memorandum.
In violation of withdrawal lines, in non-government-controlled areas, aerial imagery revealed the presence of eight multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) (type unknown) on 9 August at a possible training area about 5km south-east of Miusynsk (62km south-west of Luhansk) where previously at least 16 MLRS had been observed. (SeeSMM Daily Report 31 July 2017.)
Beyond withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites in non-government-controlled areas, aerial imagery revealed the presence of 11 self-propelled howitzers, eight towed howitzers and 16 tanks (type unknown) on 9 August at a possible training area about 5km south-east of Miusynsk where previously nine self-propelled howitzers, 12 towed howitzers and 18 tanks had been observed. (SeeSMM Daily Report 31 July 2017.)
The SMM observedarmoured combat vehicles
[2]and tracks of armoured personnel carriers (APC) in the security zone. On 12 August the SMM saw two APCs (BTR-4) one stationary and the other heading north near government-controlled Makarove (19km north-east of Luhansk). On 13 August the SMM saw fresh tracks assessed as those of three or four APCs (MT-LB) near LPR-controlled Dovhe (22km north-west of Luhansk).
On 12 August the SMM again saw the presence of armed formations in a residential area of Yasne where the Mission had recently observed damage to civilian properties. (SeeSMM Daily Report 1 August 2017.) At the south-west end of Lenina Street, the SMM saw at least ten armed DPR members. As three of them approached the SMM, it saw the safety catches of assault rifles (AK-variant) carried by two of the men were disengaged (set for full automatic fire) and another man was filming the Missions interaction with them. One of the two men asked the SMM about the purpose of the visit and said he was not pleased with the presence of the Mission in the village. The SMM did not consider it safe to stay in the village and left the area.*
The SMM observedthe presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and mine hazard signs. On 11 August the SMM, for the first time, observed the tailfin of an 82mm mortar round sticking 2cm out of the asphalt about 90m south-east of the junction between Akhmatovoi and Peremohy Streets in the centre of Pikuzy. The SMM assessed the mortar round had been fired from a north-north-westerly direction. The Mission informed a resident in Pikuzy of the presence of the UXO. The following day, the SMM informed a Russian officer of the JCCC in DPR-controlled Bezimenne (30km east of Mariupol) about the presence of the UXO as well as two previously observed unexploded 120mm mortar rounds and a crater on the E-58 road between Bezimenne and DPR-controlled Sakhanka (24km north-east of Mariupol). (SeeSMM Daily Report 11 August 2017.)
The SMM followed up onreports of interruption of power supply due to shelling-related damagein government-controlled Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk). A group of three women (aged between 40-70 years) together told the SMM on 13 August that the power company had stopped electricity supply to the village in the early morning, as a result of information from a resident that the power distribution system in the village was damaged by shelling that occurred on the night of 12-13 August. The SMM then visited the power company in government-controlled Hirske (63km west of Luhansk), where staff confirmed the power cut and said the power distribution system in the village would be repaired, while noting a shortage of technical staff to conduct repairs in the village and its surrounding areas.
The SMMfacilitated repairs to essential infrastructure, co-ordinated by theJCCC. On 12 August, positioned on both sides of the contact line, the SMM continued to monitor repair works at the Petrivske water pumping station near government-controlled Artema (26km north of Luhansk). (SeeSMM Daily Report 9 August 2017.)
The SMM visited twoborder areas not under government control. On 12 August, at the border crossing point in Marynivka (78km east of Donetsk), in about one hour, the SMM saw 53 cars (29 with Ukrainian, 11 with Russian Federation and one with Lithuanian licence plates, and 12 with DPR plates), five trucks (three with Ukrainian, one with Russian Federation and one with Belorussian licence plates) and one bus (with Ukrainian licence plates) in a queue to exit Ukraine. The SMM also saw 19 cars (11 with Russian Federation and five with Ukrainian licence plates, and three with DPR plates) and one bus (with Ukrainian licence plates) entering Ukraine.
On 13 August, at the border crossing point near Voznesenivka (formerly Chervonopartyzansk, 65km south-east of Luhansk), in about one hour, the SMM saw 62 cars (36 with Ukrainian, 24 with Russian Federation and two with Georgian licence plates) in a queue to exit Ukraine. The SMM also saw ten cars (seven with Ukrainian and three with Russian Federation licence plates) enter Ukraine.
On 13 August the SMM monitoreda march in Odessa. The Mission observed about 120 people (men and women, aged between15-35 years) gathered at the beginning of Prymorskyi Boulevard, some of whom told the SMM that it was the March for Equality organized by activists of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community. It saw about 100 police and National Guard officers nearby. When the participants marched towards the end of Prymorskyi Boulevard, they were stopped by the police about halfway due to the presence of about 100 activists, some of whom were recognized by the SMM as members of Svoboda, Young Right, Sokil and Street Front. The Mission saw the activists loudly shout such messages as Father, mother and a child is a strong Ukraine. The LGBTI march participants then sat down on the street, stating that the police should let them proceed. Aboutone hour later, the participants left the area while being escorted by the police. The event ended without further incidents.
The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi and Kyiv.
Restrictions of SMMs freedom of movement or other impediments to fulfilment of its mandate
The SMMs monitoring and freedom of movement are restricted by security hazards and threats, including risks posed by mines, UXO and other impediments which vary from day to day. The SMMs mandate provides for safe and secure access throughout Ukraine. All signatories of the Package of Measures have agreed on the need for this safe and secure access, that restriction of the SMMs freedom of movement constitutes a violation, and on the need for rapid response to these violations. They have also agreed that the JCCC should contribute to such response and co-ordinate mine clearance. The SMMs operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained restricted followingthe fatal incident of23 Aprilnear Pryshyb; these restrictions continued to limit the Missions observations, including at the disengagement area near Petrivske.
Denial of access:
Related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:
Other impediments:
[1]Please seethe annexed tablefor a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations as well as a map of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions marked with locations featured in this report.*** Please see the section at the end of this report entitled Restrictions of SMMs freedom of movement or other impediments to fulfilment of its mandate.
[2]This hardware is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.
For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit:http://www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine/335671
Contacts:
Alexandra Taylor 26 Turhenievska Street 01054 Kyiv Ukraine mobile:+380 67 650 31 57 alexandra.taylor@osce.org
Mariia Aleksevych 26 Turhenievska Street 01054 Kyiv Ukraine office:+380 44 392 0849 mobile:+380 50 381 5192 mobile:+380 93 691 6790 mariia.aleksevych@osce.org
The rest is here:
Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 13 ... - ReliefWeb
This article first appeared on The Daily Signal.
In September 2014, I watched a tank battle from a hilltop in Mariupol, Ukraine.
I toured that battlefield, the day the first cease-fire was signed, on Sept. 5, 2014. I witnessed a wasteland of charred, destroyed tanks, and armored personnel carriers.
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And scores of dead soldiers who reminded me of the plaster molds of the dead in Pompeii, the way they seemed to be frozen in the moment and the motion of their deaths.
The conflict was then, and it remains today, a real war.
In the early months of the war, with Ukraines regular army on its heels, everyday Ukrainians filled the ranks of a partisan army that stopped an offensive by combined Russian-separatist forces, which was, at that time, leapfrogging across the Donbas.
It was a grassroots war effortan example of a society that didnt need to be coaxed into a war by propaganda but by a spontaneous, organic realization that the homeland was at risk.
Ukrainian society, not its armies, repelled Russias 2014 invasion of the Donbas.
Men of the Ukrainian volunteers battalion of Donbass rest in the village of Shirokine, Donetsk region on June 6, 2015. ALEKSEY CHERNYSHEV/AFP/Getty
And now, three years after the war began, and more than two years after the Minsk II cease-fire went into effect, Ukrainian soldiers are still out there in the trenches, weathering daily artillery attacks, mortars, snipers, tank shots, and rockets, in a static war that feels like it has no end.
The war is mainly fought from trenches and fortified positions along about 250 miles of front lines in the Donbas. Its a long-range battle, in which soldiers hardly ever see whom theyre shooting at.
Its a terrifying type of combat, which I had never experienced during my career as an Air Force special operations pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The February 2015 cease-fire, known as Minsk II, is a farce. The war is still going on, and soldiers and civilians, on both sides, are still dying and being wounded almost every day.
Yet, the war has hardened Ukraine, both its citizens and its soldiers, and proven that the country is ready and willing to fight for its freedom.
During my years of reporting on the war, Ukraines military evolution has been nothing short of remarkable.
In 2014, the Ukrainian army was a rudderless force, which had been gutted in equipment and personnel by 25 years of purposeful neglect and dismantling by successive, corrupt governments that were beholden to Moscow.
In the past three years, and while fighting a war, Ukraine has rebuilt its military into the second-largest in Europe, comprising about 250,000 active-duty troops and 80,000 reservists. On the Continent, only Russias military is bigger.
Its like building a boat while youre already out at sea, Luke Coffey, director of The Heritage Foundations Foreign Policy Center, told me.
Additionally, Ukraine increased its military budget by 23 percent the year after the war began. Ukraines current defense budget of about $6 billion represents roughly 6 percent of the countrys gross domestic product. And military spending is set to increase by about 10 percent annually.
Ukraine now operates more than 2,800 tankscompared with 423 in France, 407 in the U.K., and 408 in Germany.
Similarly, Ukraines arsenal comprises 625 multiple launch rocket systemscompared with 44 in France, 42 in the U.K., and Germanys 50.
Yet, while Ukraine maintains a numerical advantage over other European nations in terms of troops and conventional weapons, its military needs to modernize. Much of its arsenal dates from the Cold War.
Many of the Kalashnikovs the Ukrainian troops use have serial numbers from the 1970s, some from the 1960s or older.
Yet, in a complete about-face from the Cold War, Ukraines strategic military doctrine now identifies Russia as the countrys top security threat. Resultantly, Kiev is rebuilding its military with the specific objective of defending against a Russian invasion and adopting NATO standards by the year 2020.
To modernize, Ukraine is revamping its military-industrial complex.
In 2015, Ukraine was the worlds ninth-largest weapons exporting nation. In 2016, Ukraines arms exports contracts jumped by 25 percent from 2015 levels, totaling about $750 million.
Petro Poroshenko, Ukraines president, has called for Ukraine to rank among the worlds Top 5 weapons exporting countries by 2020.
Yet, in my opinion, the revamp of Ukraines military-industrial complex has been misguided.
Ukraines nationalized defense production conglomerate, Ukroboronprom, has focused on building showcase items like tanks, sophisticated rocket systems, and armored personnel carriers. Thereby siphoning limited funds from dealing with practical battlefield needs.
For example, after more than two years of a static conflict, there are still no mobile army surgical hospital units off the front lines to provide initial medical care for wounded troops. If wounded, Ukrainian troops travel across potholed roads, often in the back of civilian vehicles, to get to the nearest hospital for treatment.
Ukrainian troops are still mostly dependent on non-governmental organizations and civilian volunteers for things like combat medical training, individual first aid kits, body armor, uniforms, food, and water.
At most places, Ukrainian soldiers still used Soviet-era paper maps of the battlefield. Although some enterprising university students have created apps for tablets, which can be used for targeting artillery on a digital map of the war zone.
But the soldiers still have to buy the tablets on their own.
In the front-line town of Marinka, Ukrainian troops have to steal electricity from the local power grid becauseafter three years of warthe government hasnt yet given them generators.
Even something as simple and inexpensive as modifying off-the-shelf drones for reconnaissance and targeting mortars is still being done by civilian volunteers. Many of whom are patriotic university students.
The bottom line: Ukraines military-industrial complex is being undermined by corruption. Altogether, its more committed to building weapons for export than meeting the needs of Ukraines troops in the field.
The Ukrainian government allocated 13.5 billion hryvnias (about $500 million) in 2016 to repair, modernize, and produce new weapons for its armed forces.
Ukroboronprom, however, said it received only one-third of this amount from the government, and is operating at less than half its production capacity.
Yet, despite its materiel shortfalls, Ukraine now has a battle-hardened military that has been fighting a type of conflict, with which virtually no active-duty U.S. troops have combat experience.
Ive had the chance to observe the U.S. Armys training operation at Yavoriv, in western Ukraine. And the overall impression I had was that the Ukrainian soldiers had more to teach the Americans than vice versa.
Trench warfare, tank battles, artillery and rocket barragesUkraines army has years of experience fighting a conventional war with no air support, scant possibility of air medevac, and limited supplies. Theyre used to being on the weak side of a fight. Thats not a familiar place for most U.S. troops to be.
Ukrainians also have years of experience defending against Russian hybrid warfare, including cyberattacks and targeted propaganda. In short, Ukraine has a lot of experience, which the U.S. military and its allies, if they are wise, should study to understand what a war with Russia would look like.
The war in Ukraine is a case study in Russian hybrid warfare. And Ukrainian troops, with limited means available, have improvised a successful defense against it.
After three years of war, in which more than 10,000 Ukrainians have died, morale remains good among the Ukrainian troops. Although theyre weary after three years of war under difficult conditions.
Each time I visit the front lines, I ask the Ukrainian soldiers what theyre fighting for. Throughout three years of unending combat, their answers have not changed.
They say theyre fighting for their countrys freedom. They believe that if they laid down their arms, left their positions, and went home, Russia would simply invade behind them.
Underscoring this existential threat to the homeland, Ukrainian society has militarized due to the war.
Across the country, civilians regularly meet on the weekends for military training. They comprise a network of partisan forces called territorial defense battalions, which can be rapidly mobilized to defend against a Russian invasion.
This grassroots defense mindsetwhich saved Ukraine from disaster in 2014promises a protracted guerrilla conflict should Russia ever again launch a major offensive in Ukraine.
Ukrainians have the will to fight. Theyve proven that by fighting and dying for their freedom, singlehandedly, against the worlds second-strongest military for more than three years. But they need help.
The U.S. has, to date, provided Ukraine with some technology, which has proven useful on the battlefield. Ive observed Ukrainian troops using the U.S. Raven drone on the front lines outside the town of Marinka, to target their mortars on enemy positions and vehicles.
The U.S. has also equipped Ukraines military with counter-battery radars, which are now deployed to protect some military positions.
They are not being used, however, to defend civilian areas, like the towns of Marinka and Avdiivka, which frequently come under rocket and artillery attacks.
A Ukrainian military official told me: These units, although nonlethal, are still considered to be weapons, therefore we do not place them in residential areas or cities in order to not attract enemy fire and jeopardize the safety of civilians who live there.
The perennial question here in Washington is whether the U.S. should send Ukraine lethal, defensive weapons. Based on what Ive seen, and from conversations with Ukrainian officials, U.S. lethal weapons would, at this point, be a largely symbolic gesture. But it would send a strong message to Moscow about U.S. resolve to defend Ukraine from more aggression.
It would also be an affirmation for the right of any people, no matter whose sphere of influence within which they find themselves, to choose their own destiny.
Yet, to truly make a difference on the battlefield, as it exists today, Ukrainian troops still need the basics like body armor, night vision goggles, encrypted radios, and first aid kits.
One last, quick aside before I close.
While I was embedded with the Ukrainian army in Pisky in June 2015, I made friends with an impressive 19-year-old soldier named Daniel Kasyanenko. He was afraid that the war was ruining his soul, he told me, and that he had seen too many horrible things to ever be happy again.
Two months after I met him, a mortar killed Daniel while he was fighting in the trenches in eastern Ukraine.
Yesterday, I emailed Daniels mother, Marina, and told her I was in Washington DC to tell people about the war, and what her son had died fighting for.
She replied to me: Thank you. The whole world must learn the truth about the war in Ukraine. You do what you can to prevent our boys from dying.
Nolan Peterson, a former special operations pilot and a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, is The Daily Signals foreign correspondent based in Ukraine.
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Thirty-five of 85 medical students of the Osun State University who were sent to Ukraine University for medical studies by Governor Rauf Aregbesolas administration have returned to Osun.
The medical doctors checkout at the Arrival post of the Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos few minutes past9pmon Saturdaynight and were received by a state government delegation led by the Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Engr Remi Omowaiye and Special Adviser to the governor on Higher Education, Bursary and Scholarship, Prof Grace Akinola.
They returned home after graduating from the the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkov, Ukraine and certified as medical doctors.
About 15 of the medical students stayed back in Ukraine for future pursuit.
It would be recalled that 50 of the 85 UNIOSUN students recently graduated and were inducted as qualified medical doctors after passing the 2017 KROK 2 Ukraine National Medical Exams June this year.
The UNIOSUN students were sent to Ukraine by the Aregbesolas administration to complete their medical studies in Ukraine in 2013 as a result of non-availability of teaching hospital for their clinical studies.
One of the medical students, Miss Latifat Abiola Oyeleye was declared the over best medical student of the Karazin Kharkiv National University as well as the 2017 overall best students in the entire Ukraine with an outstanding score of 95.6% in KROK 2 Exams.
Receiving the young doctors at the Government House, Osogbo, Aregbesola welcomed them and urged them to let their skills, knowledge and education speak for them.
Aregbesola explained that sending the students to Ukraine was not about nationalism but about justice and fairness, stating that the students were admitted for medicine and it behoved the university and government to fulfill their obligations.
He said: We had advertised the medical course and admitted the students, it is the obligation of the government to see the students through the program. Human being will only succeed when he upholds justice and fairness. So, what informed our decision on this students is justice and fairness.
Aregbesola who said education is not about one discipline but about having skills, motivation and knowledge, said he was happy and proud for the success in their academic program.
The governor urged the young doctors to be professional, humane and Godly in discharging their duties in hospitals and everywhere they find themselves.
In their remarks, the students attributed their academic success Aregbesolas commitment to promoting functional education and concern on their plights when they were stranded in UNIOSUN.
They promised to embark on service to humanity and give back to the community, particular Osun state in appreciation of their free medical studies.
Oyeleye, the overall best students said: I am one of the beneficiaries of Aregbesolas gesture, I am one of the 85 medical students sponsored by his administration to one of the best universities in the world.
We have studied and graduated. We thank God that today, we have been made medical doctors through the support of Osun Government. It is a dream comes true for me and my family.
Osun Government has made history through this, Governor Aregbesola has done excellently well in our lives to attain this giant feat in academic because if not for him, we might not be celebrated like this today.
Another beneficiary, Dr. Oluwasayo Motunrayo said, I will forever be grateful to Aregbesola for making our dreams come to pass. He has done well to ensure that we did not fail in meeting up with our medical carrier in life.
Ezekoye Maria, an indigene of Anambra state, who is part of the medical students, said: We had lost hope when there was no teaching hospital to proceed to for out medical studies at UNIOSUN, we were all stranded.
But Governor Aregbesola restored our hope, he made us realise our dreams by sending us to one of the best universities in Ukraine for medical studies free of charge. Today, we are certified medical doctors. We are all proud of Osun government.
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UNIOSUN medical students return from Ukraine, become medical doctors - Vanguard