Ihor Klymenko: Despite persistent risks, police and rescuers serve in frontline regions
This was emphasised by Ihor Klymenko, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, during a meeting of the "Law Enforcement" Sectoral Working Group.
Ihor Klymenko said that in wartime, the functions of the National Police and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine extend far beyond those in peacetime. Currently, in addition to protecting public order, police officers are documenting war crimes committed by the russian federation, performing combat missions on the front line, demining territories and evacuating people from dangerous areas:
"In the third year of the great war, everyone knows that police officers have a large set of functions that exceed the usual ones in peacetime. This is an unprecedented experience – documenting and investigating war crimes committed by russia, identifying the victims of russian aggression. We are grateful to all the partners who have provided mobile DNA laboratories to the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Unfortunately, it was upon the Ukrainian forensic expertrs to master using the capabilities of this equipment. And we need more of both the devices and consumables".
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine also spoke about the tremendous work of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine, who daily eliminate the consequences of enemy attacks, demine areas contaminated with explosive ordnance and evacuate the population.
“For more than two years, police evacuation teams - White Angels and Phoenix - have been operating in the frontline regions. Armoured vehicles and protective gear in the regions of active hostilities are actually expendable. Hundreds of times, evacuation crews have come under targeted fire. Often with civilians on board”, – the Minister said.
Ihor Klymenko added that due to the constant hostile attacks, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, together with the leadership of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, changed the response protocols of rescuers. The rescuers have also started to use remote fire extinguishing using specialised equipment:
"This is especially important at energy facilities and in cases of the threat of repeated attacks. The use of robotic firefighting systems also allows us to respond effectively, saving the lives of our experts. We have also increased the number of rescuers engaged in high-altitude work to rescue people from multi-storey buildings. These algorithms will also be applied in peacetime. We train our personnel, improve their knowledge and skills. We are grateful to our partners who contribute to the cause".
The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine stated that since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine has carried out more than 191,000 rescue operations caused by enemy attacks, saving about 6,000 citizens.
In turn, National Police investigators have documented nearly 140,000 war crimes committed by the russian army in Ukraine.
“In total, thousands of police officers and rescuers ensure security and law and order in the frontline regions. This is the case now and will remain so after the end of the war. As a part of stabilisation measures, police officers and the National Guard will restore public order in these areas. Community police officers are among those who stay with local residents in the most critical moments. It is one of the most successful projects that has truly grown into a reliable security support for citizens on the ground”, – said Ihor Klymenko.
The event was attended by the heads of over 30 embassies of partner countries in Ukraine, heads of missions of international organisations, members of the Ukrainian Parliament - members of the Committee on Law Enforcement, heads of units of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigation and the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
Communications Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
