Weekly Exclusives
Weekly Exclusives - a newsletter that contains author publications, interviews, exclusive comments, photos and videos.
Photo of the week
A robot dog from the reconnaissance unit of the 13th "Charter" brigade, which recently returned from combat missions in the Kharkiv direction, during the Run4Victory charity run in support of the 13th "Charter" brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, which, together with civilians, was joined by more than 100 of the military, on Trukhanov Island, Kyiv, October 27, 2024.
Interview
Every sapper dreams to blow up the Crimea Bridge, - Artem Yevtushenko: National Guard Support Forces Group Leader
Our guest for this Victory Commanders series interview is Artem Yevtushenko, Group Leader at the National Guard Support Forces 4th Frontier Operational Brigade. Artem has nearly two hundred people under his command. They plant mines and clean up territories, build fortifications and crossings. Artem was talking about sappers’ job amid war, how the Russians set explosive traps in civilian buildings, how long it will take to demine all of Ukrainian territories, and how much TNT is needed to blow up the Crimea Bridge.
John Herbst, director of Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center
The position of the Biden administration's policy towards Ukraine, including inviting the country to join NATO and allowing it to use Western-supplied weapons for deep strikes inside Russia, could change after the U.S. presidential election on November 5. After all, Biden will be in charge of the White House until January 20 of next year, and after the voting, he will not be limited by political safeguards affecting the party's ratings. However, while the probability of such changes does not seem high, the incumbent White House team needs more "wisdom and courage" to make decisions. John Herbst, director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, spoke of this in more detail in an exclusive interview with Ukrinform.
Artur Lorkowski, Secretariat Director of the Energy Community
The situation surrounding Ukrenergo and the company's supervisory board has set off rumors that Ukraine is likely to lose the ability to import electricity from the European Union as early as this winter - at a critical time in view of the expected continuation of attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure by Russia. Although the Secretariat of the Energy Community promptly denied these rumors, the topic still remains highly relevant.
Ukrinform foreign correspondent based in Vienna spoke with the Secretariat Director, Artur Lorkowski about Ukrainian energy sector’s integration into the EU and the implementation of relevant reforms regarding, in particular, the independence of the power transmission system operator Ukrenergo and Ukraine's National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NCREPU). In addition, Mr Lorkowski told about the activities and achievements of the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, managed by the Energy Community Secretariat, and discussed the prospects for renewable energy in Ukraine, the decision by Kyiv to discontinue Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine, as well as the plans regarding the use of Ukraine’s natural gas storage infrastructure.
Publication
Ukraine has enough natural gas in reserve to make it through the heating season
The energy terror by Russia has contributed to the increase of the role of gas in Ukraine’s energy balance. That is why the government has taken measures to make sure there is enough "blue fuel" in storage to stay warm this winter
Ukraine is currently entering the heating season. Public facilities are already being heated, and heat has just begun to be supplied to household consumers. Particularly on October 30, municipal authorities in Kyiv officially announced the start of the heating season for household consumers, meaning an immediate surge in gas consumption. There is an affirmative answer to the question as to whether Ukraine has enough blue fuel in reserve to make it through this cold season, as NAK Naftogaz JSC says it has accumulated the sufficient amount of operating and backup reserves of gas in its underground storage facilities to last this winter.
Fact Checks
Halloween fakes from Russian propaganda: Cover of German magazine Titanic with Zelensky and uniform of military enlistment office employee on OLX
Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels began to share the allegedly new cover of the German political satire magazine "Titanic" for October, depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a caricature style. In the picture, he is holding a pumpkin basket of sweets, "stolen" from children celebrating Halloween. The picture is accompanied by the caption "Ukraine needs more."
This cover is fake as it was not published on the official Titanic website. The real October issue of the magazine was published in late September and looked different.
Snipers, Goncharenko and Azov: how Russian propaganda found 'Ukrainian trace' at protests in Georgia
Russian propagandists falsified documents, manipulated and edited photos to 'confirm' Ukraine's meddling in Georgia elections
Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on October 26. According to the Georgian Central Election Commission, the pro-Russian ruling party "Georgian Dream" won the elections. However, the country's president Salome Zourabichvili and opposition political parties did not recognize these results and declared massive falsifications. Against this background, many Georgian citizens, who do not agree with these results, began to protest.
Russian propaganda immediately "found" a "Ukrainian trace" in these protests to aggravate the situation.
Russian propaganda media began to spread fake materials even before the vote in Georgia. On October 25, the TASS news agency created two related news stories about the alleged training of "extremists" by the Ukrainian special services, supposedly to destabilize the situation in Georgia. Later, they began to be replicated by other Russian media outlets and many Kremlin bots on X. Continue riding…
Video
As part of the Mine Action Coalition, Lithuania handed over the first batch of equipment to Ukraine
Consequences of the enemy air strike on Zaporizhzhia on November 7
News:
War
Enemy now using more decoy drones than Shaheds – expert
Since August 2024, along with Shahed-136 drones, the Russians have started launching the first Herbera and Parody decoy drones and their analogs deep into Ukraine, aiming to distract air defense systems.
Ukrainian Legion to begin training in Poland by end of year
The recruitment center representatives report that the first volunteers will soon sign contracts with the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the center’s headquarters in Lublin. These volunteers will then be deployed to a designated training ground in Poland for further instruction. Contracts can be signed for a specified term (three years) or until the end of the special period.
AFU extends period of basic military training to 45 days from Nov 1 - General Staff
On November 1, training centers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine switched to a 1.5-month basic military training program instead of 30 days as it was before.
Major General Ihor Palahniuk, head of the Main Directorate of Doctrine and Training of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said this in a commentary to Ukrinform.
"This decision was approved by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, taking into account the current results of the work being carried out at four major military training centers. The pilot project, developed by the Main Doctrine and Training Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (J7), involves about 500 recruits," he said.
Politics
Strengthening communication with Moldovan society, EU: next key task for President Sandu – expert
"The second round of the presidential elections in Moldova ended with a confident victory for the incumbent pro-European leader Maia Sandu. However, the upcoming parliamentary elections pose a challenge since Moldova is a parliamentary republic. The President should now focus on preparing for these elections," explained Latvian expert Alex Grigorievs.
According to him, a major issue in Moldova’s post-Soviet political landscape is a lack of engagement with the public, as well as insufficient communication about the roles and efforts of the president and government. He sees this as a gap that requires immediate attention.
Grigorievs also emphasized the importance of Sandu's dialogue with the European Union. "One of the primary messages the Moldovan president should convey is the need for swift action on EU integration and economic improvement measures to influence the outcome of the parliamentary elections," he noted.
Poland to deliver remaining MiG-29 jets to Ukraine on receiving replacements from allies – Polish FM
Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pawel Wroński noted that since the beginning of the full-scale war, Poland has provided Ukraine with armored vehicles, artillery systems, and "the maximum number" of spare parts and components for the MiG-29 jets.
"But Poland also faces certain threats. If something heads toward Poland, there must be means to intercept it. Poland currently has 48 F-16 jets and has ordered an additional 32 F-35 jets. For now, Poland only has F-16s, which is insufficient to ensure complete air control. Therefore, as soon as there is an opportunity to replace these several technically well-equipped MiGs with other aircraft to be transferred to Poland, they can be transferred to Ukraine," the spokesperson stated.
Polish FM hopes NATO to allow interception of Russian missiles over Ukraine
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski hopes that NATO and its member countries, particularly the United States, will change their stance and agree to allow allied air defenses to intercept Russian missiles over the Ukrainian territory.
American people sympathize with Ukraine, AFU – Ukrainian MP
"When people learn that we (observers from Ukraine at the election - ed.) are from Ukraine, we hear warm words of support, we see very touching reactions; they start hugging us, shaking our hands, and saying how brave we are," said Mykyta Poturaiev, a member of parliament and head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy.
Europe expects U.S. to comply with its commitments to Ukraine – ex-Finnish foreign minister
"Everyone is waiting, and of course, in the best-case scenario, the United States will continue to adhere to its commitments to Ukraine and understand how important it is to find a way to a sustainable solution to the conflict -- not only for the United States, but also for of Europe," he said.
According to Haavisto, as a European politician, he expects that "good transatlantic cooperation between the U.S. and the EU will continue, including on the Ukrainian issue, because without the United States it would be very difficult to continue to support Ukraine at the current level."
Economy
Energy Community praises law on coupling of energy markets of Ukraine, EU
The draft bill on the coupling of the energy markets of Ukraine and the European Union, which had been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is a positive development. With its adoption, Ukraine can complete the transposition process related to the electricity integration package.
Combatants, their relatives obtain over UAH 21.7M for business development purposes in Ternopil region
Forty-six combatants and their family members have received more than UAH 21.7 million worth of business development grants in the Ternopil region.
Grain harvesting campaign near completion in Donetsk region
In the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region, farmers are finishing the harvesting of grain crops. A total of 317.4 thousand tonnes of grain has already been gathered from 95.7% of crop fields.
Society
Up to 12,000 anti-corruption officers working in Ukraine - NACP
"An officer is not just a person who checks whether asset declarations have been submitted on time and whether all sections have been filled in. A well-informed officer can identify corruption risks, warn his manager about them, and signal them to the National Agency. That is, on the one hand, he is an analyst who has information, and on the other hand, he must be an adviser," aid Deputy Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) Serhii Hupiak.
Hupiak said that according to a sociological survey, out of all people who turned to NACP with questions, 60% did not know about anti-corruption officers in their bodies or did not contact them beforehand. According to Hupiak, awareness work in this case is an additional burden on the agency. He emphasized that the agency's goal is to "reorient these 60% to the right places" thanks to the high-quality training and development of anti-corruption officers.
Culture
Ukrainian museums to expand exhibitions in response to countering Russian narratives – deputy minister
Many museums in Ukraine are now changing and expanding their exhibitions in response to Russian aggression to counter Russian and Soviet narratives.
Anastasia Bondar, Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, said this in a commentary to an Ukrinform correspondent at a Warsaw conference on decolonizing museum practices and defining the role of museums in the restoration of Ukraine.
“We realize that we are now facing a huge challenge to change the narratives that have been imposed on museums for years over the previous 70 or 100 years,” Bondar emphasized.
According to her, given Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, many Ukrainian museums will now expand their expositions “to correctly interpret everything that is happening in the country.”
See you next Friday!