Ukraine and Latvia launch drone and electronic warfare coalition

Source: Ukraine’s defense ministry

Ukraine and Latvia are starting a coalition of drones and radio-electronic warfare. Other countries are welcomed to join the coalition.

Latvia initiated the creation of the coalition during a meeting of defense ministers in December 2023. This initiative will help the Ukrainian military in the war, where the use of drones has become an important element of combat operations.

‘Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the strategic value and effectiveness of using drones in combat. We must promote Ukraine’s superiority on the battlefield and demonstrate long-term support for Ukraine. That is why we set ourselves high tasks,’ Latvia’s defense minister Andris Spruds stated.

‘Ukrainian production is already showing results, and these are more than 70 samples of unmanned aerial vehicles. And now we need help scaling,’ said Ukraine’s deputy minister Kateryna Chernohorenko.

Partner countries have already expressed their support and understanding of the expediency of creating a coalition. They will announce their next steps on January 23 during the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine.

Amendments to Ukraine’s enforcement proceedings legislation, initiated by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, have entered into force. Among other measures, the reform provides for the automated lifting of attachments on bank accounts immediately after debts in enforcement proceedings have been fully settled. The main practical benefit for citizens is the complete elimination of the need to contact an enforcement officer in person and wait for paper decisions once the debt has been paid.

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In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.

Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.

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