Ukraine Joins NATO’s Tech Cooperation Project

FILE PHOTO: An instructor trains members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine (PTI)

Ukraine has become an associate member of the Multilateral Interoperability Program (MIP), which coordinates technological cooperation of the armies of NATO member states, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has said.

“Ukraine has strong IT (Information Technology) potential and it is a worthy NATO ally. I am sure that we will bring our expertise to the development of collective security,” Reznikov was quoted as saying by the Defence Ministry’s press service.

According to the ministry, the associate membership in the MIP gives Ukraine a right to join the development and introduction of key NATO standards related to the interaction of combat control systems and related practices, Xinhua news agency reported.

The MIP is a program of technological cooperation between the Armed Forces of NATO member states, which was established at the level of national developers of combat control information systems and aims to achieve interoperability of national C2IS systems.

Meanwhile, it has been found that since Russia began its ongoing invasion of Kiev on February 24, at least 346 children have been killed in Ukraine. In its latest update, the Office of the Prosecutor General said 645 children have also been injured, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

The Office however, said that the figures were “not final, as work continues to establish the data in places of active hostilities and in the temporarily occupied and liberated territories”. Due to the relentless bombing and shelling by the Russian forces, 2,108 educational institutions in Ukraine have been damaged, of which 215 have been completely destroyed.

In a report last month, the Unicef had said 3 million children inside Ukraine and over 2.2 million children in refugee-hosting countries are now in need of humanitarian assistance. Almost two out of every three children have been displaced by fighting, according to the UN agency.

The Unicef further warned that the war has caused an acute child protection crisis. Children fleeing violence are at significant risk of family separation, violence, abuse, sexual exploitation and trafficking.