National Security and Defense Council: The President of Ukraine appointed the NSDC Head

WATCH IN ENGLISH

Kyiv, 16 December 2014 – Today the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has appointed Oleksandr Turchynov the Secretary (Head) of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine. “Apart from the situation at the front and the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions including in the military, security, business, economic and social dimensions there is an extremely important task to stabilize the internal political situation. As one of the key elements of the enemy’s strategy is to have Ukraine destabilized from inside and its society split. This challenge needs to be adequately responded,” these words of the President of Ukraine were quoted by Colonel Andriy Lysenko, spokesman of the Information Analytical Center of the National Security and Defense Council at a briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center.

The tendency for the decrease in number and intensity of shelling stands. Last night passed calmly. “At the same time yesterday during the day time some terrorist gangs fired several times at the positions of Ukrainian military to provoke. Our servicemen stopped several attempts that militants made to expand their presence to neutral territories in the conflict zone. A subversive group of 12 was neutralized, they attempted to get into the rear of our troops near Holubovske-Novotoshivka localities. As a result of effective counter-subversive actions the group was localized,” noted the spokesman of the NSDC’s information center.

No casualties among Ukrainian servicemen were reported within the last 24 hours.

The Ukrainian side reinforced control over the movement of goods through the control points on entry/exit to the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone. Ukraine’s special forces and law enforcers keep conducting reinforced control measures to neutralize terrorist groups and stop the illegal flow of weapons from the area temporary controlled by militants. Up to 10 lawbreakers are detained daily by Ukraine’s Security Service and Interior Ministry resulting from above violations.