Cyber Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be created
Creation of a separate type of troops within the Armed Forces of Ukraine in accordance with NATO standards, responsible for Ukraine's cyber defense, protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity in cyberspace. This is envisaged by the draft law No. 12349 on the Armed Forces Cyber Force, registered in the Verkhovna Rada.
This was reported by one of its initiators, MP from the Servant of the People faction, chairman of the Subcommittee on Cyberspace Security Oleksandr Fediyenko.
According to him, the working group that prepared the draft law included, in addition to parliamentarians, representatives of government and law enforcement agencies, including the National Security and Defense Council, the General Staff, the Ministry of Defense, the Communications and Cyber Security Command of the Armed Forces, and the Security Service of Ukraine.
"Many of the world's leading countries have created and are operating special units - cyber troops - that are used for both military and intelligence purposes," said Fediyenko.
According to the draft law, he said, the Armed Forces Cyber Force is proposed to be created as a military command and control body that will be able to involve a civilian component (cyber reservists) for the period of relevant cyber deterrence measures.
Cyber reservists are a trained human resource formed of Ukrainian citizens who have the necessary knowledge, training and skills to plan and perform specific cyber defense tasks, ready to be quickly deployed to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Unlike conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists, the status of a cyber reservist does not require the mandatory acquisition of military status to join the ranks of the Armed Forces Cyber Force, and may be of a periodic and temporary nature," Fediyenko said.
The cyber forces will operate under the direct military command of the Commander-in-Chief, and at the political level in the areas of national security and defense of the state, under the general leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the President.
According to the MP, the main tasks of the newly created Cyber Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are to build up and effectively use cyber deterrence capabilities.
"The cyber forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine must constantly conduct reconnaissance of cyber threats from both unfriendly states and its covert military formations, and in cases of open or covert armed aggression against Ukraine, conduct asymmetric military operations," said Oleksandr Fediyenko.