President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, at which the Defense Plan of Ukraine was approved and a decision was made to apply special economic and other restrictive measures to a number of individuals and companies.
In particular, the National Security and Defense Council approved the Defense Plan of Ukraine, the work on which lasted for almost two years. This document responds to the challenges facing the Ukrainian state, in particular, defines the interaction of state authorities in the event of aggravation of the security situation.
"This is the first such fundamental document since independence," Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said at a briefing following the meeting.
The National Security and Defense Council has also approved a Biosafety and Biosecurity Strategy, according to which public authorities should address the challenges in this area, in particular to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the NSDC considered and adopted the Information Security Strategy of Ukraine, which, among other things, provides measures to counter Russian propaganda.
The National Security and Defense Council also decided to apply special economic and other restrictive measures to a number of persons involved in organizing and conducting illegal voting in the State Duma elections in the temporarily occupied Crimea and in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. According to Oleksiy Danilov, sanctions were imposed on 237 people, mostly members of election commissions, who organized the pseudo-election process in these territories.
The NSDC also considered the application of sanctions against the Russian network of discount stores MERE. It has no right to work on the territory of Ukraine, as it works in the occupied Crimea.
The National Security and Defense Council also supported sanctions against the Republic of Yemen in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution.
The NSDC also heard a report by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Justice Denys Malyuska regarding the hearings of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea concerning the case of Ukraine against the Russian Federation on the detention of Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews in 2018. This issue remains under the control of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as it is extremely important for Ukraine to defend its interests.
Reports of the heads of the Odesa customs, as well as representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Odesa region, on the issue of combating smuggling were also heard. According to the reports, state budget revenues increased by UAH 47 billion, but at the same time there is information that people who were previously under sanctions have not stopped their activities completely.
Therefore, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested holding a meeting early next week with the participation of the Head of the State Customs Service, the Minister of Finance, the Head of the Security Service and representatives of other agencies to consider strengthening staffing at customs.