On July 18, 84 cyber-police officers, trained by the Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) started work in Ukraine on the grounds of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. The initial 20 special agents and 64 inspectors make up one-third of the personnel of the new Cyber Police Department, which was created within the National Police of Ukraine as part of the wider law enforcement reforms in the country.

Candidates had to pass a difficult competitive selection, and the training was delivered not only by local, but also by international experts.

Jeffrey Erlich, Senior Project Officer at OSCE said: “As Ukraine moves into the new economy, crimes affecting e-governance, e-banking, e-commerce and other highly technological areas are shadowing this progress. This is a threat to people’s human rights, it hurts their economic wellbeing, some perpetrators may even threaten national and international security.”