Kyiv: On October 20, the international competitions Invictus Games 2018 will start in Sydney, in which among the 18 teams the Ukrainian team will take part for the second time, in which among 15 athletes - seven will represent the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
This was announced during today's meeting of Deputy Interior Minister Tetiana Kovalchuk with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Australia to Ukraine Melissa O'Rourke.
As the official portal of the ministry reminds, Prince Charles, who in 2013 visited Warrior Games in the USA and saw what an important and useful role sport can play in the rehabilitation of injured, or sick soldiers and veterans, initiated the international competition under the auspices of the British crown.
Already in 2014, the Prince Harry Foundation was founded. The Invictus Games Foundation held the first event in London.
The second games took place in Florida in May 2016, and the third were held in Toronto. Then, in Canada, Ukraine for the first time received the right to take part in them, as an ally of NATO in peacekeeping operations around the world, as well as because of the ATO in eastern Ukraine. Together with Ukraine, for the first time in the Invictus Games in 2017, the Romanian national team took part.
And this year, at the fourth Invictus Games, which will be held in Australian Sydney from October 20 to 27, the team from Poland will debut.
Under the rules of the competition, wounded soldiers and veterans equated to them will compete in sports such as wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and rowing in the gym.
During the conversation between the Deputy Minister and an Australian diplomat, journalists learned that this year 15 Ukrainian military personnel will take part in these international Paralympic games on the Green Continent, 7 of them are representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system.
Of course, apart from future sporting events in Sydney, Tetiana Kovalchuk and Melissa O'Rourke discussed police cooperation and a wider range of partnerships.
“Australia is a reliable partner of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the development of a safe environment in Ukraine. I would very much like us to strengthen our cooperation in other areas of our law enforcement units,” said Ambassador Tetyana Kovalchuk.
She recalled that Australia is helping in the development of the Pushcha Voditsa Ministry of Internal Affairs medical rehabilitation center, where combatants from internal affairs units are undergoing psychological rehabilitation.
“Cybersecurity and hybrid war, Ukraine has gained quite a lot of experience in these areas. Australian law enforcement officers can be an interesting exchange of experience in this area. We are also interested in exchanging experience in conducting peacekeeping operations, ensuring public security, countering transnational crime,” said the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Honorable of Australia to Ukraine Melissa O'Rourke assured that the Australian side is interested in developing cooperation with Ukraine.
On September 4, during his working visit to Turkey, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov signed with his Turkish team Suleiman Soilu a declaration on the joint fight against terrorism, on September 11, he declared cooperation between Ukraine and Georgia in the fight against organized crime, during his meeting with Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia, finally, yesterday, October 9, the head of the security department wrote in his Twitter message that he had signed a declaration with the US State Department Kurt Volker about the cooperation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard of California.