The Defence Secretary has today announced the UK will gift around £500,000 worth of first aid kits to the Ukraine Armed Forces (UAF)

January 20, 2016 (gov.uk) The first aid kits will help the UAF to meet an urgent need for life-saving equipment. Delivered at the request of the Ukrainian government, this package comprises individual first aid kits that will help the UAF treat casualties who have been injured as they continue to respond to separatist aggression in East Ukraine. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:

We are committed to helping Ukraine defend its territorial integrity and this builds on packages of support and training we have already provided. It will help the UAF treat casualties, strengthen their defensive capability and build their resilience.

The UK has already gifted over £1million worth of non-lethal equipment, including helmets, night-vision goggles and global positioning systems. Cold weather protective clothing and field tents will also be delivered in the coming weeks. The gifting of equipment is in addition to training being provided by the UK Armed Forces to the UAF in areas such as medical skills, logistics, infantry and intelligence capacity building.

A new reprint of Swedish bestseller by Peter Englund

January 19, 2016 As it was stated by the director of Ukrainian publishing house “Folio” Olexander Krasovitsky the book “Poltava. Berättelsen om en armes undergong” by Peter Englund will be reprinted in February 2016. This very publishing house has printed a Ukrainian edition of this book in 2009 within the framework of the project initiated by the Swedish Institute (Svenska Institutet) and the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine. In accordance with Mr. Krasovitsky’s statement the new reprint will not contain any additional data.

I was very happy to be invited by the Swedish Institute to join this project in 2002. My responsibility was to search appropriate graphic materials in Swedish archives, museums, and libraries. I met Peter Englund in Swedish Institute and we were discussing Ukrainian edition of his bestseller. Then this picture was taken by Susanne Concha Emmrich, who was a Swedish Editor of the Ukrainian edition. Nowaday there are three editions of this book in my library: Swedish (with Peter Endglund’s presentation inscription), Russian, and Ukrainian, which is on my understanding is the best one.

Artificial Swan Lake in the Western Ukraine

January 19, 2016 This unique swan lake is located near the West Ukrainian village of Chortoryia. About twenty years ago on the spot of former sandpit a few warm springs have welled out. So this artificial lake does not freeze even in severe frosts. It happened so that this non-freezing lake is only one in the whole Bukovyna region and hundreds swans have chosen it for winter stay. To save the birds from starvation, local inhabitants feed them. Three tons of cereals have already been procured for them by local farmers. The swans are also fed by tourists who drive into Chortoryia on their way to Bukovel and Bukovyna popular ski resorts.

Ukraine to stop trading with occupied Crimea from Jan 17

January 17, 2016 (UNIAN News Agency) According to the government's decision of December 16, 2015, Ukraine stops trading with the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The government's decision comes into force from January 17, 2016. According to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, the ban does not apply to personal belongings of citizens, which are transported in carry-on baggage and/or accompanied baggage, as well as to socially important food products, the total invoice value of which does not exceed the equivalent of UAH 10,000, and the total weight does not exceed 50 kilograms per person. "The decision does not apply to the supply of electricity from the temporarily occupied territory to another territory of Ukraine and/or from the other territory of Ukraine to the temporarily occupied territory, which is carried out in accordance with the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, for the supply of goods from the temporarily occupied territory to another territory of Ukraine that are of strategic importance for industries and national security, on confirmation of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. In addition, the decision does not apply to the import of humanitarian aid in the temporarily occupied territory, which is provided by international humanitarian organizations, according to the list approved by the Ministry of Social Policy," the report says.

Read more on UNIAN: http://www.unian.info/economics/1238403-ukraine-to-stop-trading-with-occupied-crimea-from-jan-17.html

Ryska hackspetten i norra Ukraina

January 10, 2016 "Duga" ("båge" på svenska) var ett sovjetiskt Skapar Over-the-Horizon - försvarssystem som sände ut den ökända "Ryska hackspetten", en signal som kunde höras på kortvågsradioband runt om världen mellan juli 1976 och december 1989. Den lät som ett skarpt, repetitivt knackljud, på 10 Hz, vilken gav den namnet "Hackspetten". De slumpmässiga hoppen mellan frekvenser störde legitima sändningar och amatörradio, vilket resulterade i tusentals klagomål från många av världens länder. Signalen troddes länge vara från ett försvarssystem och denna teori bekräftades efter Sovjetunionens fall. Det är nu känt att källan var "Duga-3", som var en del av det sovjetiska Antiballistisk missil - systemet. Detta var något NATO:s underrättelseverksamhet var väl medveten om när de fotograferade anläggningen och gav det NATO-rapporteringsnamnet "Steel Yard".

Detta mästerverk av teknik trodde skapades i tiden för kalla kriget som en del av det sovjetiska systemet av anti-missilförsvar. Den enorma antennarrayen har byggts nära beklagligt välkända staden Tjernobyl.

Med en början på det sena 80-talet sändes signalen mer sällan, och den försvann helt och hållet 1989. Även om inga officiella anledningar till stängningen av Duga-3-anläggningen har blivit tillkännagivna, så är det sannolikt att nedtrappningen av kalla kriget spelade en ledande roll.

Sedan slutet av 1980-talet har "Duga" radarstation helt försummas.

Hela artikeln om Sovjet over-the-horisonten radarsystemet finns på

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duga_radar

En amatör video om Duga radarsystem finns på

https://youtu.be/UfijGx5HtHA

Swedish-Ukrainian Musical New Year Greeting

January 4, 2016 Georgiy Matveev who is a teacher in Odessa National A. V. Nezhdanova Academy of Music has prepared a special musical greeting for the New Year. He performed a melody of famous song “Happy New Year” by the Swedish group ABBA on Ukrainian folk string instrument called Bandura.On my understanding it is simply beautiful!

The video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hPE0QadnfQ4