The defense ministry insists on the need to strengthen the country's military potential and to continue moving along the path of European integration.
Deputy Minister of Defense for European Integration, Lieutenant-General Anatoly Petrenko has named priority areas requiring a boost on the part of Ukraine to repel Russia's hybrid threats.
“What are Ukraine's main challenges in countering Russian hybrid aggression? There is one recipe for a military component. It is to be successful in reforms, develop defense forces that will be self-sufficient to fulfill the tasks of protecting their Homeland, and at the same time military criteria for membership in the Alliance will be achieved," Petrenko said, speaking at an international conference "The Hybrid War Decade: Lessons Learned to Move Forward Successfully" held in Kyiv Wednesday.
At the same time, he named the main tasks that Ukraine should be fulfilling immediately against the background of the latest developments.
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“First, we need to dramatically boost our naval potential,” he said. According to the military official, it is not only about the ships but also about the whole range of issues related to coastal infrastructure and situational capability through the deployment of new radar stations. "This is also about obtaining and being ready to use the latest-generation missile systems in order to eliminate any threat from the sea," said Petrenko.
“Second, we need to raise the bar to achieving technological superiority,” the deputy minister said.
Another important element Petrenko named was infrastructure development.
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He also said that protecting cyber domain as a separate war theater requires joint efforts by international and Ukraine. The deputy minister is convinced that Russia will focus its forces and means on undermining stability of the Ukrainian defense ministry, its control over Ukrainian troops, protection of key facilities and infrastructure security.
“Against this background, we must continue our confident and gradual movement toward Euro-Atlantic integration,” he said.