This Black Sea region – related TTX was aimed at furthering the capabilities of Ukrainian national and local authorities in crisis response and enhancing resilience in light of hybrid risks to critical infrastructure and energy systems through effective inter-agency coordination, civil-military coordination, planning, preparedness and public-private cooperation.
CORE20 TTX was executed in 13-17 September 2021 in Odesa, Ukraine.
On 17 September 2021, in the Port of Odesa, high-level officials from Ukraine and NATO concluded the NATO-Ukraine Table Top Exercise Coherent Resilience 2020. The Exercise was part of the Black Sea security package adopted by NATO Foreign Ministers in 2019.
In her speech, Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna underlined: “this Table Top Exercise is yet another clear demonstration of NATO’s continuous political and practical support to Ukraine”..
In his closing remarks of the event, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges David van Weel concluded: “This exercise will help Ukraine to be better prepared and more resilient to hybrid attacks against its critical infrastructure. It will make Ukraine safer and it will make NATO safer, since Ukraine’s security directly affects Allied security.”
Representatives from 15 NATO and partner countries participated in the exercise. Training audience consisted of around 100 experts from Ukrainian state, regional and local bodies. They discussed hybrid threat scenarios and potential inter-institutional responses with regard to critical infrastructure protection, cyber security, maritime security, strategic communications and international law. The discussions were facilitated by experts from five Centres of Excellence (NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence, NATO Maritime Security Centre of Excellence, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence). Ukraine became a member of the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence this year.
The five-day event became a platform to share thoughts, enhance inter-institutional links, build a network, and develop deeper practical cooperation in the area of a Black Sea security, aimed to strengthen overall Euro-Atlantic security in light of evolving hybrid threats.
Ukraine welcomes and appreciates comprehensive and practical engagement of NATO and partner countries, to efficiently respond to the challenges that might arise in this strategically important region.