Explaining: Drone industry development; military digitalization; statements on IDPs returning to occupied areas
DEVELOPMENT OF THE DRONE INDUSTRY
By the end of 2024, the International Drone Coalition will allocate €1.8 billion to support Ukraine.
● The Drone Coalition was established in February 2024 as a platform for developing the UAV industry.
● The goal of the coalition is to expand the industrial production of FPV drones in the West and Ukraine to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with an asymmetric technological advantage over the enemy.
● The coalition is co-led by Latvia and the United Kingdom and includes 17 countries worldwide.
● By the end of 2024, Ukraine, including foreign assistance, will allocate up to $5 billion for domestic drone production.
● Today, Ukraine has the capacity to produce 4 million drones per year.
DIGITALIZATION OF THE MILITARY
Starting from November 25, servicemen who submit requests for a change of duty station through "Army+" will see the transfer order number upon approval.
● The "Army+" application for servicemen was launched in August 2024 with the aim of reducing bureaucracy and paperwork in the military.
● The app's functionality is constantly growing. It launched an online learning service with verified military training materials in October.
● Starting on November 15, the app introduced the ability to submit a report for transfer between military units.
● In just 10 days of the service's operation, 4,500 servicemen submitted applications for change of service, of which 4,200 have already been processed and 900 have been approved.
● According to the UN's Online Services Index, Ukraine ranks 5th in terms of digital public services among 193 countries.
STATEMENTS ON RETURN OF IDPs TO OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
On November 25, Member of Parliament Maksym Tkachenko suggested that about 150,000 internally displaced persons had returned to the temporarily occupied territories. Later, the MP retracted his statement.
● There is no reliable quantitative data to confirm the mass return of internally displaced persons to the occupied territories.
● The narrative that people allegedly flee from the government-controlled territories to the temporarily occupied territories is being promoted by Russian propaganda as an “advertisement” for the occupation.
● The true realities of occupation are the lack of housing, unemployment, repression, as well as conscription or mobilization into the army of the aggressor state.
● The Ukrainian state and international partners are doing everything possible to meet the basic needs of displaced persons.
● In particular, on 20 November, a draft law was adopted, which provides for the inventory and creation of a public housing database suitable for IDPs.
Photo: State Special Communications Service
