You're reading: National Security Expert Council: Russian invasion of Ukraine requires several urgent steps from authorities

The military and political situation in Eastern Europe and around Ukraine in particular will continue deteriorating in the mid-term outlook, and confrontation in Russian-Ukrainian relations will be intensifying, and thus the Ukrainian authorities must implement a number of immediate steps, reads a statement by the Expert Council on National Security.

The statement was signed by expert organizations and individuals that make up the Council, in particular, the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament (Director Valentyn Badrak), Defense Express Information and Consulting Company (Director Serhiy Zgurets), New Ukraine Institute of Strategic Studies (Director Andrew Yermolayev), as well as the following experts: former Director General of Ukrspecexport Serhiy Bondarchuk, former Defense Ministers Ihor Teniukh and Volodymyr Shkydchenko, former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and First Deputy Defense Minister Anatoliy Lopata, former First Deputy Defense Minister Leonid Poliakov, former Deputy Defense Minister Mykola Neschadym, spokesman for the National Institute for Strategic Studies Vadym Tiutiunnyk, and former -chief of Ukrainian airmobile troops Ivan Yakubets.

The first step, the statement says, is the introduction of a system to govern the state in wartime and amid the defense of the country, in particular, the cabinet’s round-the-clock work to address issues of the defense of the state.

“The planning and conduct of military operations must primarily involve making it impossible for terrorist groups from the Russian Federation to replenish their reserves,” the statement said.

The second step is to prepare the people of Ukraine for a large-scale attack by Russia and to the defense of the state within the shortest time possible.

“The main this should be the accelerated formation of powerful military reserves … To maximize the involvement of the available servicemen,” the statement said.

Also, given that in the next 1-2 weeks the Russian Federation may apply combat aviation for air strikes not only on military targets, but also on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, the need has been declared to prepare bomb shelters in the southern, northern and central regions of Ukraine.

“Particular attention should be devoted to ensure readiness for combat operations, particularly, in the fight against reconnaissance and sabotage enemy groups in towns and villages in the select regions,” the experts said.

The statement also notes the importance of development and implementation of motivational incentives for combatants through the use of administrative resources.

The third recommended step is to consider the rescheduling of a snap parliamentary election for the period after the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine is stopped.

“As Russian President Vladimir Putin does not take into account any steps made by Ukraine except for armed resistance, the sanctions introduced by Western states are not effective, and diplomatic possibilities are almost exhausted. Therefore, under such circumstances, the only way to make the Russian side give up the aggression against Ukraine and plans to occupy its new territories is to carry out such operations against the aggressor that will lead to severe losses among its armed forces. This becomes a factor to save Ukraine as an independent state,” the statement concluded.