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Known for its religious architecture, striking monuments and fascinating Eastern history, Kiev (Kyiv) straddles the Dnieper River dividing the Ukraine.

The countrys capital will host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest from Tuesday May 9.

Visitors have already begun flooding in from all over the world to participate and spectate at the famous event.

To mark the occasion, Lonely Planet local Pavlo Fedykovych has revealed to Express.co.uk his top seven things to do in the charming city.

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With its bohemian atmosphere and attractive hilly setting, this street has always been the home of Kyivs artists.

Its lined with independent galleries and quirky workshops, making it the perfect place to pick up a handmade souvenir from one of the local artisans.

Ukrainian food is just as tasty as it is cheap. Try traditional varenyky (filled dumplings) or for a typical Kyiv urban snack, the perepichka (sausage in a fried bun). Kyivska Perepichka, a popular vendor outside Teatralna metro station is the best place to grab one of these.

Kyivs eclectic cityscape makes it a perfect destination for architecture lovers. On a single street, you can find baroque buildings next to Soviet-style apartment blocks, or elegant Art Nouveau palaces overlooking newly built skyscrapers.

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Eurovision 2017: Meet the contestants

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Kyivs splendid churches gave it the nickname City of Golden Domes. Two unmissable examples are the Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra monastery complex and the grand St Sophias Cathedral, both Unesco World Heritage sites.

You can spend days admiring the medieval frescoes and baroque facades.

Kyiv spreads along the wide Dnipro river, and its numerous islands offer a great range of outdoor activities.

Truhaniv island is the perfect spot for relaxing walks or cycling with beautiful river views.

During the summer, Hydropark becomes leisure central with sandy beaches, water activities and fancy bars.

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For visitors from the UK, Kyivs prices are fantastically cheap

Kyiv was once the third-largest city of the Soviet Union, so its no wonder that colossal apartment blocks, socialist-realist frescoes and bizarre modernist buildings are found pretty much everywhere in the Ukrainian capital.

But theres one structure you simply cant miss: the enormous Rodina Mat (meaning Motherland) memorial, part of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. With a height of 102m, its a distinctive element of Kyivs skyline.

For visitors from the UK, Kyivs prices are fantastically cheap. For example, one metro ride will cost you about 0,15 euros, while opera tickets start from just one euro.

Food and accommodation costs are also much lower than in other parts of Europe which makes the Ukrainian capital a very tempting budget-friendly destination.

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Eurovision 2017: Seven things you HAVE to see in Ukraine capital Kiev - Express.co.uk

by Rob Harding

Yeah, its another one of these. Might as well. These days the local news is moving so fast, and so depressingly, that Id rather talk about Eastern Europes most recent frozen conflict and a three-decade-old nuclear disaster zone.

Day 1: As we depart for the airport, my companion alerts me that the US has just dropped a massive bomb in Afghanistan and is now threatening to fight North Korea.This is fine

Lviv is one of Ukraines westernmost cities, furthest from the fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the Crimean peninsula, on the eastern side of the country. As is apparently standard in Ukraine at the moment, there are soldiers everywhere. Most are apparently on leave and none are armed even the police, unusual for the region. However, theyre still omnipresent, even hitting some of the same tourist attractions as we do in this small but pleasant city. Members of the Berkut militia, famed for their brutal intervention during the 2013 Euromaidan uprising, stand around the station, unarmed, in ludicrous blue-and-white camo gear.

Members of the Berkut militia, famed for their brutal intervention during the 2013 Euromaidan uprising, stand around the station, unarmed, in ludicrous blue-and-white camo gear.

In the main market square, a shack has been set up with blasting music, piles of spent mortar shells and hundreds of photographs and profiles, memorialising the dead of the Euromaidan and the war. It sits on its own. Most people ignore it.

Nationalism and war propaganda have taken hold in a curious way in Lviv through tourism. The standard tat-ridden hole-in-the-wall shops and stalls sell anti-Putin and pro-Ukrainian merchandise (patriotic t-shirts, even) alongside woven rugs and wooden swords. I bought a doormat with Putins face on it, and I am informed it calls the Russian dictator something extremely unpleasant. Im aware I might have just funded the Ukrainian nationalist far right, but since I did so to the tune of around 2 (the Ukrainian Hryvnia isnt a particularly durable currency, and Ukraine is cheap), I can probably live with myself.

In one corner of the rather pretty central square is the Pravda Beer Theatre, which sells nationalist merchandise, including a Putin-branded beer that depicts the man naked (and poorly endowed) against a backdrop of Russian soldiers invading Ukraine. Its not great beer, but the message Putin Huilo (or Putin is a dickhead (rough translation)) is everywhere. They also sell Trump Beer, a fine Imperial Mexican lager that goes down very smooth and made the customs officers laugh when we brought it through the airport.

He greets visitors with a machine gun, and offers a late-night shooting range (against Putin-shaped targets, of course).

Elsewhere, theres a hidden WWII partisan-themed bar beneath the square, with a doorman who requires the password:Slava Ukrayini!. He greetsvisitors with a machine gun, and offers a late-night shooting range (against Putin-shaped targets, of course). The place isnot quite as depressingly nationalist as the rumoured bar elsewhere in the city, run by the right-wing ultranationalist group Right Sector (Source: Russian. Treat with caution), but it speaks to a general trend.

Incidentally, if youre visiting Lviv, I can say that both those bars pale in comparison to the Masoch bondage cafe (link SFW-ish). Both a celebration of Leopold Von Sacher-Masochs ideas and the ultimate extension of Ukrainian wait-staff rudeness (both national institutions), it serves excellent cocktails and reasonably decent beatings.

The war is still a long way from Kiev, but it still has the trappings of a city at war. Soldiers are omnipresent, as, of course, are flags. The propaganda is muted, oddly confined to advertising billboards which would otherwise promote local restaurants and space exhibits at nearby museums. Nevertheless, it is there mostly recruitment posters, occasionally featuring heroic soldiers standing alongside warriors from Ukraines past.

Below the Peoples Friendship Arch, a soviet-era monument symbolising the friendship between Ukraine and the other Soviet nations (mainly Russia, of course), the inscriptions have been spray-painted out with the colours of the Ukrainian flag, and daubed with anti-Russian slogans. Shortly after we left, the arch began being painted in the colours of the rainbow for the upcoming Eurovision.

the situation is much more fluid towards the frontlines, where many are less inclined to take sides or even actively resentful at being forced to choose

Theres an interesting display at the WWII memorial museum at the south end of town. We went there to climb the 62m statue of Mother Motherland (which only takes cash, if youre wondering. Bring 200 UKH each, there are no cash machines), but found a new exhibit beneath it. The museum displays a number of tanks and armoured personnel carriers captured on the frontlines, along with what purports to be evidence that they belong to, or have been loaned from, the Russian Federation. Russias extensive involvement in the War in Donbass is hardly secret, but its startling to see physical proof, even if the technical details require verification.

( placard placed next to the vehicle shown in the header image )

The nationalism and anti-Russian sentiment on display in Kiev is more muted than in Lviv, but its still interesting to note that both are much more strongly pro-Ukrainian than many further East. Contacts note that the situation is much more fluid towards the frontlines, where many are less inclined to take sides or even actively resentful at being forced to choose between Russian and Ukraine. One noted that the separatists may well have won the 2014 Donbass referendums even without the extensive rigging and intimidation of the opposition that took place Eastern Ukraine feels much closer to Russia than Europe, and did not necessarily view the 2013 revolution favourably. Partly for this reason, the War in Donbass seems to have frozen, just as the wars in Transnistra, Abkhazia and others have done before them.

All image credit: Rob Harding

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TRAVEL DIARY: UKRAINE, PART I - Norwich Radical (blog)

May 2, 2017 by Dmytro Gorshkov view of Bilyi Slon, or the White Elephant, the highest inhabited building in Ukraine and an old astronomical observatory on Chornogora mountain, near the village of Vorokhta

Perched spectacularly 2,000 metres up on a snowcapped peak in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains, the Bilyi Slon observatory has stood empty and battered by the elements for some seven decades.

Abandoned only a year after it was built in what was then Poland due to the outbreak of World War II, it became a carcass of thick sandstone walls and missing windows that looked more like a ruined castle than a scientific outpost.

Now, with efforts under way to raise around $1 million (920,000 euros) in funding, scientists aim to restore the wreck and transform it into a learning centre for young researchers studying wildlife, plants and weather patterns.

"There was no roof, all the floors were warped," local mountain rescuer Vasyl Fitsak, part of a small crew stationed there, told AFP as icy winds swirled outside.

"There were piles of bricks, stones and trash that hikers left here for years. Some piles reached two metres (6.6 feet) in height."

Work on rebuilding the observatorynicknamed Bilyi Slon (White Elephant) by locals because of how it looks when covered in snowstarted in 2012.

Scientists hope that significant progress on the restoration will be made by next year, when the observatory marks its 80th anniversary.

So far the copper roof has been restored and debris cleared from much of the building.

But tough conditions mean that progress has been slow and there remains a lot to be done.

Snowstorms and freezing temperatures mean that work can only go ahead six months of the year and no more than 10 construction workers can stay at any one time because of the cramped conditions.

The observatory, which sits on the Pip Ivan peak, the second highest in the Chornogora mountain range, is a six-hour hike from the nearest town. In summer the only road for transporting up building materials becomes an impassable bog.

Epic history

The observatory's location has not only proved inhospitable due to the dreadful weather.

It has also been buffeted by the hurricane of history that has blown through this blood-soaked region in eastern Europe.

Completed in 1938 on what was then the Polish-Czechoslovak border, the five-storey observatory was equipped with a modern telescope and served as a base for Polish military meteorologists.

After just one year, however, the scientists hurriedly packed up their equipment and fled as Soviet troops seized the area under a pact with Nazi Germany to divide Poland.

It then fell under Nazi control after Hitler's invasion of the USSR and was used as a barracks until it was recaptured by Moscow's forces in 1944.

It remains unclear why the Soviet troops did not restore the facility, which ended up serving as a shelter for the few hardy hikers who made it up to the summit.

Stargazing stumped

Given its tumultuous history, the observatory never had the chance to fulfil its initial purpose as an astronomical observatory.

Those behind the projectwhich has received its first tranche of funding from Poland's culture ministryadmit that conditions mean it is unlikely to be used for serious stargazing in the future.

Curator Igor Tsependa said that the spot only enjoys some 60 cloudless days a year, while world-class observatories usually get as many as 330 clear days annually.

Instead Tsependa, a university rector in the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk, hopes it will become a hub for studying local flora and fauna, as well as conducting weather studies.

"From the educational point of view this object is pretty attractive," he says, adding that he expects researchers from both Ukraine and Poland to use it.

While its remote location and harsh climate have put off tourists, Tsependa also says that the restored observatory could help open up the Carpathians to new visitors.

"It's a pity that we don't have many sites on this mountain range," Tsependa said.

"So this observatory could become the first step in the development of modern tourism in Ukraine, just like in other European countries."

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The future of one of the world's largest single-dish radio telescopes is in question after the U.S. National Science Foundation announced Wednesday it was accepting proposals from those interested in assuming operations at ...

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An active Alaska volcano has erupted again, this time sending a cloud of ash and ice 35,000 feet in the air.

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New lease of life for Ukraine's war-torn mountain observatory - Phys.Org

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMMs operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained restricted following_the fatal incident of 23 April near Pryshyb; these restrictions continued to limit the Missions observations, including of ceasefire violations. The Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24-hour period. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* Small-arms fire occurred close to the SMM inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons. The SMM monitored two border areas currently not under government control. In Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odessa, the Mission monitored gatherings marking 1 May._

In Donetsk region the SMM recorded moreceasefire violations, [1]including about 220 explosions compared withthe previous 24-hourperiod (100 explosions).

On the evening of 30 April, while in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard about ten explosions assessed as impacts of mortar (120mm) rounds and over 80 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 3-5km south-east. On 1 May, at the same location, the SMM heard 123 explosions, of which 85 were assessed as impacts of mortar (120mm) and artillery (122mm) rounds and 38 outgoing recoilless gun (SPG-9, 73mm) rounds, and about 140 bursts and shots of infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-2) cannon (30mm) and small-arms fire, all 2.5-4km south-east and east.

On the night of 30 April-1 May the SMM camera at the DPR-controlled Oktiabr mine (9km north-west of Donetsk city centre) recorded, in sequence, two undetermined explosions, 17 tracer rounds in flight from north to south, three projectiles in flight from south-west to north-east and one illumination flare in vertical flight. Approximately four hours later, the camera recorded 92 projectiles in flight from west to east, one east to west, followed by aggregated totals of 63 projectiles in flight from north to south, 14 south to north, three west to east, all 8-10km north-east.

On the evening and night of 30 April-1 May the SMM camera in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk) recorded one projectile from south to north, one undetermined explosion and one projectile in flight from north to south, followed by aggregated totals of three undetermined explosions and 20 projectiles in flight (15 north to south, three south to north and two west to east), all 3-5km east-south-east. The following day, positioned in Avdiivka for about five hours, the SMM heard 36 explosions (24 assessed as outgoing rounds and the remainder undetermined) and about ten bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 2-4km south-east. Later the same day, the camera recorded 23 explosions assessed as impacts and three projectiles in flight from north-east to south-west, all 3-5km east-south-east.

On the evening and night of 30 April-1 May, the SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded an explosion assessed as an outgoing round and a rocket-assisted projectile in flight from west to east, at unknown distances north, followed by a total of: seven undetermined explosions, 60 tracer rounds in flight (51 from east to west and nine from west to east), two rocket-assisted projectiles in flight (one east to west and one west to east) and one illumination flare in vertical flight, all at undetermined distances north.

In Luhansk region the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including, however, fewer explosions (about 65), compared withthe previous 24-hour period(75 explosions).

On 1 May, positioned in LPR-controlled Sentianivka (formerly Frunze, 44km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard over 50 undetermined explosions 5-7km east-north-east. On the same day, positioned in government-controlled Prychepylivka (50km north-west of Luhansk), the SMM heard five undetermined explosions and about ten bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 5-8km south-east.

The SMM continued tomonitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areas of Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), Zolote (60km west of Luhansk) and Petrivske (41km south of Donetsk), as foreseen in theFramework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardwareof 21 September 2016. The SMMs access remained restricted but the Mission was able to partially monitor them.*

On 1 May, positioned about 140m south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, the SMM heard three shots of small-arms fire 0.5-0.7km north-east and what were assessed as the consequent impacts 60-70m east of its position. Both the outgoing shots and the impacts were assessed as inside the disengagement area. The SMM left the area immediately. The SMM informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) about the incident and requested that it follow up.

On 1 May, positioned north of LPR-controlled Pervomaisk (58km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard five explosions at least 2km west, assessed as outgoing rounds of multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) (BM-21_Grad_, 122mm). Positioned north-west of the disengagement area near Zolote (60km north-west of Luhansk), the SMM heard three undetermined explosion 8-10km west-south-west. All the ceasefire violations were assessed as outside the disengagement area.

The SMM continued to monitor thewithdrawal of weapons, in implementation of the Memorandum, the Package of Measures and its Addendum.

In violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas, the SMM again observed, on 1 May, seven MLRS (BM-21), seven self-propelled howitzers (2S1Gvozdika, 122mm), ten towed howitzers (five D-30Lyagushka, 122mm; and five 2A65Msta-B, 152mm), and seven tanks (T-72) at an aerodrome in the south-eastern outskirts of Luhansk city; and one tank (T-64) near Nikishyne (60km north-east of Donetsk).

The SMM observed weapons that could not be verified as withdrawn, as their storage does not comply with the criteria set in the 16 October 2015 notification. On 1 May, in government-controlled areas, the SMM observed that eight holding areas continued to be abandoned with the following weapons missing: 51 towed howitzers (33 2A65 and 18 2A36Giatsint-B, 152mm) and 30 tanks (T-64).

The SMM observed anarmoured combat vehicle[2]and new trenches in the security zone. In government-controlled areas the SMM saw again on 1 May an armoured personnel carrier (BTR-4) near Makarove (19km north-east of Luhansk).

In non-government-controlled areas, 1km south-west of Sentianivka, the SMM observed newly dug trenches of at least 10m in length located 5m from the road. The SMM had not seen the trenches during its last patrol in the area on 26 April.

The SMM continued to monitor thesituation of civilians living near the contact line. Ten residents in LPR-controlled areas north and north-west of Luhansk city, including Kruta Hora, Raivka, Vesela Hora and Zhovte (17 and 18km north-west of Luhansk, respectively) and Obozne (19km north of Luhansk) separately told the SMM that water was being regularly supplied. (SeeSMM Daily Report 14 April 2017).

The SMM monitored twoborder areas currently not under government control. On 1 May, at a border crossing point in Dovzhanskyi (84km south-east of Luhansk), in about one hour, the SMM saw 20 civilian cars (eleven with Ukrainian licence plates, eight with Russian Federation licence plates and one with DPR plates), one covered truck with Ukrainian licence plates, one bus (marked Krasnyi Luch-Rostov, carrying about 50 people) and 13 pedestrians exit Ukraine. It also observed 19 civilian cars (ten with Russian Federation, eight with Ukrainian and one with Georgian licence plates), two covered trucks (one with Ukrainian and one with Belarusian licence plates) and 16 pedestrians enter Ukraine.

At the border crossing point in Izvaryne (52km south-east of Luhansk), in about one hour, the SMM saw 19 civilian cars (ten with Ukrainian licence plates, seven with Russian Federation licence plates, two with DPR plates), five covered trucks (three with Russian Federation, one with Ukrainian and one with Belarusian licence plates), one bus with Ukrainian licence plates (with a sign Pervomaisk-Moscow, carrying about 50 people) and twelve pedestrians in a queue to exit Ukraine.

The SMM monitoredgatherings and events on the occasion of 1 May in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odessa. In Kyiv, the SMM observed two separate gatherings marking 1 May: one with about 1,000 people, including families with children, around the Independence Square, while about 2,500 people (mostly women 50-70 years old) gathered around Parliament and Mariinskyi Park. During the Missions presence, no incidents were observed.

The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi.

*Restrictions of SMMs freedom of movement or other impediments to fulfilment of its mandate

The SMMs monitoring and freedom of movement are restricted by security hazards and threats, including risks posed by mines,unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other impediments which vary from day to day. The SMMs mandate provides for safe and secure access throughout Ukraine. All signatories of the Package of Measures have agreed on the need for this safe and secure access, that restriction of the SMMs freedom of movement constitutes a violation, and on the need for rapid response to these violations. They have also agreed that the JCCC should contribute to such response and co-ordinate mine clearance.

Denial of access:

Delay:

[1]Please seethe annexed tableforcomplete breakdown of the ceasefire violations as well as map of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions marked with locations featured in this report.

[2]This hardware is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.

Contacts

Alexandra Taylor

Head of Press and Public Information Unit

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

26 Turhenievska Street

01054 Kyiv

Ukraine

Mobile: +380 67 650 31 57

alexandra.taylor@osce.org

smm-media@osce.org

Mariia Aleksevych

Senior Press Assistant

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

26 Turhenievska Street

01054 Kyiv

Ukraine

Office: +380 44 392 0832

Mobile: +380 50 381 5192

Mobile: +380 93 691 6790

mariia.aleksevych@osce.org

smm-media@osce.org

Originally posted here:
Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 1 May ... - Reliefweb

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin (R) and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, attend a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Feb. 10, 2017.(photo byREUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Author:Metin Gurcan Posted May 1, 2017

It looks likeUkraine is becomingTurkey's new go-to defense technology partner.Strategic ties between Turkey and Ukraine in the fields of defense and military cooperation are flourishing. The latest development was the April 19-22visit to Turkey of the commander of the Ukrainian navy, Vice Adm. Ihor Voronchenko, and his delegation.

TranslatorTimur Gksel

Voronchenko visited Golcuk shipyards, where Turkey built theAda-class SW corvettes TCG(Turkiye Cumhuriyeti Gemisi,or "Ship of the Turkish Republic")Heybeliada,Buyukada and Burgazada and delivered them to the Turkish navy in 2011 and 2013; the TCG Kinaliada is under construction there. Turkish and Ukrainian navy personnel participated in the Eurasia Partnership Maritime Interdiction Operations held April 3-7 in Ukraines port ofOdessa.The Turkish navy visited Batum,Georgia;Novorossiysk,Russia;Constanta,Romania; andVarna,Bulgaria, and heldjoint air defense exercises with the Ukrainian navy at Odessa.

Meanwhile, high-level defense industry visits between Turkey and Ukraine have become frequent. The volume of trade between the countries, which was $3.7 billionin 2016, is expected to reach $20 billion in five years now that they have signed afree-trade accord. Their mutual defense industry projects involve satellite technology, warships and navigation systems, radars, engine technology, phased space rockets and ballistic missilesystems, solid fuel rocket engines, long-range ballistic missiles and even cruise missiles.

Recently, when Austria restrictedtechnological support for the engine of the Altay mainbattle tank Turkey designed and is producing using mainly local technologies, Ankara turned to Ukraine.Ukrainian Prime Minister Vladimir Groysmanvisited Turkey on March 14, and the two countries signed a preliminary memorandumof understanding in whichUkraine is proposing its 6TD-3 enginefor the Turkish tank.

What encouraged this rapidly developing defense industry and military technology cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine?

The first reasonis geographical: Unlike other NATO and European countries, Turkey is a neighborof both Russia and Ukraine and is therefore always careful to balance its relations with both.

The other reason is Black Sea geopolitics. According to Devrim Yaylali, an expert on the naval defense industry who spoke with Al-Monitor, although the Black Sea appears to be an inland sea, it still has vibrant, heavy traffic coming from the rivers of Europe and Russia and also from Turkeys straits. Russia's invasions ofGeorgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014 have added to the complexity of security politics of the Black Sea.Ukraine has a long Black Sea coast, andthe country's contribution to Black Sea security is important for Turkey.

For Ukraine, Turkeys role in restraining Russia in the Black Sea and supporting Ukraines membership in NATO are important assets.

Yaylali added: Turkey doesnt want any other navies in the Black Seaother than those of [coastal]countries. That is why it is crucial for Turkey to maintain good relations particularly with naval and coast guard forces of all [coastal]states. This was demonstrated by the Turkish navys visit to all the Black Sea countries" during the 2017 Sea Star exercises.

Another motive for Turkey and Ukraine to cooperate: Both countries want to share military technology to expandand strengthen theirnational defense industries.Neither has a self-sufficient defense industry.

Yaylali says Ukraine's navy is weak. He explained: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has not added any new vessels to its navy. After Russias occupation of Crimea in 2014 and its seizure of some of the Ukrainian navy vessels, Ukraine doesnt have a navy to speak of. Before 2014, Ukrainian warships had gone to the Mediterranean and twice to the Gulf of Aden to support NATO operations. But today, for Ukrainian ships to move out of the Black Sea is only a dream.

To defend its naval interests, Ukraine will haveto make a major investment. Itcould buysecondhand military vessels from NATO countriesor build them in Ukraine. This explains Ukraines interest in the experience Turkey has gained in constructing warships locally. Turkey can provide Ukraine with technical support to design and produce a warship in its own shipyards. Turkey can also provide standard NATO weapons systems, sensors and radars for vessels Ukraine can build.

Turkeys interest in the Ukrainian defense industry is basically in satellite technologies, diesel engines, ballistic missile solid fuel engines and cruisemissiles. It is interesting to learn, based on their joint projects,that Turkey is particularly interested in cruise missiles.

According to defense industry expert Arda Mevlutoglu, Ukraine has advanced capabilityin electronic warfare, radar technology and engines. Mevlutoglu said Turkeys most urgentneeds from Ukraine are diesel engines.

When Turkeys sale of self-propelled howitzers to Azerbaijan didnt materialize after Germany, for political reasons, blocked sales of engines for the howitzers Turkey began looking to Ukraine as the alternative source of engines, Mevlutoglu added.

Ukraine also hassignificant knowledge and experience in basic sciences such as mathematics, physics andchemistry, and their applications. Turkey seriously lags in these fields. The two countries last year launched projects to develop joint sonar systems. They also havestudent exchange programs, especially in the engineering fields needed in the defense industry.

Of course, not to be ignored is Ukraine's geopolitical importance;most of the natural gas Ankara buys from Russia reaches Turkey via pipelines passing through Ukraine.

What is becoming apparent is that Ukraine is the nearest and most willing potential partner to help Turkey overcome the interruptions in military technology transferfrom the United States and Europebecause offrequent political disagreements. However,Ukraine suffered tremendous economic and human resources losses with ongoing clashes since 2014 and Russias annexation of Crimea,"Mevlutoglu said."Much of its defense industry was either looted by Russian intelligence services or simply fell into Russian hands because they were in Crimea. That is why we have to wonder if Ukraine can deliver its promises of strategic cooperation. That is why it would be wiser if Ankara focuses on what Ukraine can do instead of what it promises.

Read More: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/05/turkey-ukraine-cooperation-defense-booming.html

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Turkey-Ukraine defense industry ties are booming - Al-Monitor - Al-Monitor