Zelenskyy Approved a New Counterterrorism Strategy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has enacted the National Security and Defense Council’s resolution on the Concept for Combating Terrorism in Ukraine. The document was approved at an NSDC meeting on April 6, 2026.
At the same time, the previous document, approved in March 2019, was deemed obsolete because it did not reflect the current scale of Russian threats.
The approved Concept states that Russia is the key source of the external terrorist threat. The document elevates countering Russian crimes to the level of national security standards.
“The terrorist threat to Ukraine’s national interests manifests itself in various forms, but the greatest threat is posed by the terrorist activities of the armed formations of the Russian Federation. Along with the use of military force, terrorist acts are committed, directed, in particular, against the civilian population, critical infrastructure and supply chains, the forces and resources of the security and defense sector, the law enforcement system, and their personnel,” the document states.
In addition, the updated strategy takes into account current global trends and threats from international terrorist networks.
The following emerging challenges are highlighted separately:
- Cyberterrorism: Targeted hacker attacks on government registries and digital management systems.
- Technological threats: The aggressor’s use of cutting-edge developments in the aviation industry to carry out terrorist attacks.
- Recruitment of minors into terrorist and subversive activities via the internet.
Among internal threats, the following are highlighted: the presence of a large number of critical infrastructure facilities in the country; the location of critical infrastructure facilities and supply chains in territories where hostilities are taking place and in territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation; the spread of disinformation and destructive propaganda, and the rise in crime related to the illicit trafficking of firearms, ammunition, explosives, and toxic substances.
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