Ukrainians will soon be able to take part in drills aimed at boosting their ability to respond to emergency situations in the event of a potential conflict, Kiev has announced, amid a series of claims that Moscow could be set to order an invasion of the Eastern European nation.
On Tuesday, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Denis Monastirsky, shared his department’s plans to conduct training camps nationwide for citizens.
According to the high-ranking official, “the best specialists and instructors of the State Emergency Service, the National Police, the National Guard and the State Border Service will be involved in the exercises.”
Weighing in on their expertise, Monastirsky noted that all of the trainers have undergone “extensive coaching overseas in Britain, the US, Canada, Poland and other countries.” He also said that the training would focus on the “safe handling of explosive objects.”
Sergey Kruk, the head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, revealed that the agency had already commenced preparation for the boot camp.
“The State Commission for Anthropogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergency Situations was assembled online so that local authorities could understand the content of the exercises,” he said.
Kruk said that they had “discussed the main issues together: sounding the alert, the order of the use of protective structures and evacuation. All of these are the most basic things you need for the normal functioning of the civil protection system.”
Ukrainian and Western officials have sounded the alarm about an imminent invasion several times in recent months, pointing to Moscow’s troop movements near its border with Ukraine. However, the Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it intends to launch an offensive, arguing that the movement of its armed forces in its own territory is an internal matter and of no concern to anyone else.
Earlier this week, the secretary of Kiev’s National Security Council, Alexey Danilov, attempted to squash fears of the purported threat of an offensive, stating that “the buildup of Russian troops isn’t as rapid as some claim.”
