From November 5 to 9, Brigadier Walter Feichtinger (IFK) and Colonel Thomas Rapatz (National Defense Academy) spent an impressive and informative week in Ukraine.
The visit program had been perfectly prepared by the Austrian military attaché, Colonel Erich Simbürger. The Austrian ambassador, Hermine Poppeller, did not miss the opportunity to accompany the officers from Austria to a command post of the Ukrainian army in sub-zero temperatures, including a briefing by the commander of the Joint Forces Operation (Lieutenant General Sergi Najew).
The picture at Border Entry Point Majorsk, one of the five crossings between Ukraine and the separatist-controlled area in Donbass, was sobering. Every day, thousands of people wait in sweltering heat or bitter cold to pass through a checkpoint. Briefings by the OSCE, UN and other organizations as well as top representatives of the National Defence University rounded off the picture.
