Takeaways from Zelensky's Latest Meeting with National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

A meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) was held under the chairmanship of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which the state of civil defense facilities, the acceleration of judicial reform and further steps towards gaining the European Union membership by Ukraine were discussed.

NSDC members listened to the reports of Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko and Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin regarding the results of rapid civil defense facilities inspections.

According to the results of the inspections, the work to ensure the readiness of shelters in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy regions (in particular, in Konotop district), Zhytomyr district of Zhytomyr region, Bila Tserkva district of Kyiv region, as well as in the cities of Kyiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Dnipro, Konotop, and Bila Tserkva was recognized as being unsatisfactory.

Based on the results of consideration of problems with shelters for people, the NSDC has instructed the Cabinet of Ministers, regional and local authorities to take steps to bring to disciplinary responsibility officials for maintaining civil defense facilities in those settlements where their condition is recognized as unsatisfactory.

The government is also tasked with identifying civil defense facilities of strategic importance and ensuring systematic inspections of shelters.

In addition, the NSDC has instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to create a commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine, Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov to inspect the state of bridge structures.

The NSDC has instructed regional administrations, as well as local self-government bodies, to prepare the existing shelters, ensuring round-the-clock unhindered access to them. Online access to information about available shelters should also be provided. The task of local authorities is also to increase the fund of shelters in order to provide a shelter to 100% of residents, in particular, by building modular shelters and adapting the underground space to these structures.

The participants of the NSDC meeting also heard the issue of speeding up judicial reform in Ukraine and overcoming manifestations of corruption in the justice system. Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy, MP Denys Maslov and Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna reported to the meeting participants.

Based on the results of consideration of the issue, the NSDC appealed to the subjects authorized to submit legislative initiatives regarding the need to strengthen criminal liability for corruption offenses in the sphere of justice, providing for imprisonment for a period of 10 to 15 years with confiscation of property, strengthening the role of the institution of jury trials, expanding the list of cases where it can be applied and toughening checks of judges, in particular, using a lie detector.

In addition, Stefanishyna reported on further steps that must be taken to ensure gaining the full European Union membership by Ukraine.

The NSDC recommended the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada to speed up the development and adoption of legislative acts aimed at implementing the recommendations specified in the European Commission's conclusion regarding Ukraine's application for EU membership.