After welcoming the Polish and Lithuanian presidents for a support visit, and as a new cyberattack targets its sites, the Ukrainian government is taking drastic measures in the hope of better preparing for the conflict.
February 23 was a busy day in terms of news for Ukraine.
On this former (Soviet Union) Red Army Day – still celebrated in several former USSR countries (including Belarus and Russia) as “Defender of the Fatherland Day” – the Ukrainian government first announced, as reported on its website Radio Free Europe, the recall of reservists between the ages of 18 and 60. The first installment of this recall currently concerns 36,000 men.
State of emergency and recall of reservists
Then the Rada (the National Assembly) approved the bill, which had been under consideration for a long time, authorizing “the possession of handguns for Ukrainian citizens”, indicated Oukraïnska Pravda. A law that “liberates the conditions for owning a firearm in the country, while increasing criminal liability for illegal use”.
Moreover, on the proposal of the National Defense and Security Council (RNBO), the Rada also voted to establish a state of emergency throughout Ukraine, explains the news site Tsenzor.ua. On this occasion, Prime Minister Denis Chmyhal took the floor to explain this measure, but also to reassure his fellow citizens:
This decision will allow our military and law enforcement personnel to better control the situation. It will have no influence on people’s lives and the operation of businesses. The state of emergency is a means of being ready to react quickly to any challenge or scenario according to the development of events.
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky received Andrzej Duda and Gitanas Nauseda, his Polish and Lithuanian counterparts, in Kiev during a visit
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