The issue of the right of Ukrainians to own weapons for their own defense should be resolved after taking into account all the weapons that they now have – to think through everything step by step to avoid complicating the crime situation, said the head of the National Police Igor Klymenko.
In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on the results of the survey, which showed the demand of Ukrainians for possession of weapons to protect themselves and their families, Klymenko emphasized the need to “separate military operations and peaceful life.”
“When the full-scale war of the Russian Federation in Ukraine began, the right, in my opinion, decision was made to arm our citizens. This made it possible to stop the enemy and be in relative safety for those who were at some distance from the line of military clashes,” the head said. National Police.
At the same time, he added that Ukrainians are returning to the de-occupied territories, the country is trying to return to peaceful life.
“Since the beginning of hostilities, only criminal investigation officers have seized more than a thousand firearms, more than 100 grenade launchers and 350 thousand ammunition from illegal circulation. Thousands of weapons in their hands can pose a threat to the lives of peaceful and law-abiding citizens,” the head of the National Police stressed.
“So, everything must first be returned to the warehouses, taken into account or blown up, as explosive experts do, and then we return to the issue of weapons possession. That is, first of all, we must take into account all the weapons that our citizens currently have” , – expressed the opinion of Klimenko.
According to him, the police in the first days of the invasion issued about 18 thousand weapons, they were taken into account, and the military also took into account the weapons they issued. “But there are a lot of captured weapons, of unknown origin, ammunition,” the head of the National Police added.
Klymenko also pointed out that the criminal world, which “quieted a little” at the beginning of the war, will be active again, and crime will rise to the level of peacetime.
He summed up: “Therefore, there should be a step by step: first, a register to understand how many weapons are on hand, who has them. And only after that we can talk about what weapons, what caliber and what class should be in the hands of our citizens – be it a machine gun, a carbine or a pistol.”
Arms for Ukraine today are the key to world food security, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak said.
“One should understand the cause-and-effect relationships of global processes. Russia threatened the food security of the world by unleashing war in Ukraine. The only way to restore order is to help Ukraine win. Weapons for Ukraine today are the key to the food security of the world,” he wrote in Twitter.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany is studying the list of weapons requested by Ukraine and plans to “find out what can be supplied quickly.”
“The lists include anti-tank weapons and air defense weapons,” Scholz told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday following a video conference with US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders.
According to him, weapons that the Ukrainian army already knows how to use should be supplied. At the same time, the chancellor stressed that the possibilities of the FRG to supply arms were “almost exhausted.”
Scholz also said that NATO would not interfere in the conflict in Ukraine.
“NATO will not interfere in the conflict,” he said.
In turn, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, speaking in the House of Commons, that “NATO’s long-term goal should be to strengthen and strengthen Ukraine to such a level that Russia will never dare to invade again.”
At the same time, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, following a video conference, said that the EU will create a special Ukraine Solidarity Fund, which will be used to support and restore Ukraine.
“We discussed with US President Joe Biden and like-minded partners a further coordinated response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. We discussed the need for further humanitarian, financial and military assistance. The EU will create a Solidarity Fund with Ukraine to immediately support and restore democratic Ukraine,” wrote the President of the European Council Charles Michel on Twitter.
Germany has already sent large volumes of weapons to Ukraine and is working to increase such supplies, the German Embassy reports, citing the German Defense Minister.
“Large volumes of weapons have already arrived in Ukraine from Germany. And we work hard every day to give her even more. Therefore, we are constantly in touch with the government of Ukraine […] But we do not talk about the details, for which there is a reason: Ukraine has clearly asked us about this, ”the embassy quotes the speech of German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht in the Bundestag.
Ukraine and Malaysia are working out plans to expand bilateral military and technical cooperation, and the Malaysian side shows its interest in procurement and joint production of a wide range of Ukrainian weapons, the press service of the Ukroboronprom State Concern reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, military and technical cooperation between Ukraine and Malaysia became the subject of negotiations between Ukroboronprom Head Pavlo Bukin and Malaysia’s top military leadership, which were held as part of the 16th Defense Services Asia 2018 (DSA) exhibition, which is taking place in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on April 16-19.
According to the report, Bukin, in particular, held a meeting with Chief of Army General Tan Sri Dato Zulkiple Bin Hj Kassim during which they discussed the possibility of supplying the Malaysian side with Ukrainian-made 4×4 combat vehicles. During the talks, the chief of the Malaysian army expressed his country’s interest in acquiring Ukrainian ATGMs from Luch Design Bureau. At the same time, the sides stressed the need to intensify the work of the bilateral commission on military and technical cooperation, the report says.
Bukin also held talks with Chief of Navy Admiral Tan Sri Ahmad Kamarulzaman Hj Ahmad Badaruddin, during which they discussed the possibility of supplying to Malaysia the floating docks manufactured by Pallada Kherson State Plant, part of Ukroboronprom, as well as the possibility of establishing cooperation for their production with a Thai manufacturer.
In addition, as part of the exhibition, Bukin met with Commander of the Royal Malaysian Air Force General Dato Seri Affendi Buang.
“The sides discussed a range of issues on cooperation in the field of aircraft building. In particular, they talked about the possibility of supplying to Malaysia the Antonov airplanes with the possibility of localization of production facilities. A separate topic of the talks was also the possibility of supplying Ukrainian vertical take-off and landing UAVs to the Malaysian side,” the report says.
