Weekly Exclusives
Weekly Exclusives - a newsletter that contains author publications, interviews, exclusive comments, photos and videos.
Photos of the week
Leg prostheses of the veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, public figure, host of the show 'Limb Loss or ALL Inclusive,' and writer Oleksandr Teren during the panel discussion 'Strategic Approach to Demining: Achievements and Challenges' within the framework of the Demine Ukraine 2.0 forum, Kyiv, December 2, 2024.
Interview
Volodymyr Kulyk, PhD in Political Science
Why is Russia so ridiculously stubborn raising the language issue again and again, putting the official status for the Russian language at the top of the agenda for future peace talks?
Ukrinform talk to Mr. Volodymyr Kulyk, PhD in Political Science, a researcher specializing in media discourse, ethnopolitics, identity, nationalism, and in general in issues related to politics, war, and why Europeans or some of Ukrainians still can’t see the roots of the current language situation in Ukraine, can’t see the need to safeguard Ukrainian and “deplete” Russian (read about the term in Ukrinform’s story here) in our territory.
Publication
AFU Turns 33: A Path Form a Million-Strong Army Back to a Million-Strong Army
The recent history of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) is the record of an amazing path through transformations to victories. Currently 91.5% of the Ukrainians have trust in their army!
On December 6, Ukraine marks its national Day of the Armed Forces, celebrating its army’s dedication, strength and bravery. Over the past 33 years of its recent history, the Ukrainian army has passed the way from severe deterioration to rapid revival amid war. This article is about the transformations the AFU has undergone over the time from independence to this day.
US President-elect Donald Trump: “Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness.” President Zelensky: fatalities among Ukrainian soldiers since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 have reached 43,000.
Ukraine Latest: Weekly Digest For December 2-8, 2024
Fact Checks
Russian propaganda falsely claims Zelensky bought French hotel, Kuleba's son acquired 'Iron Throne'
Russian propaganda continues to fabricate stories targeting Western audiences, alleging illicit enrichment of senior Ukrainian officials and their families. This time, Russian media, pro-war Telegram channels, and bots on social media platforms like X and TikTok spread a video supposedly created by "French journalists." The video falsely claims that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, through a company called Film Heritage Inc., purchased the five-star Palace des Neiges hotel in the exclusive Courchevel ski resort in France for EUR 88 million.
This video is entirely fake. It was created by a group of "journalists" from a non-existent media outlet. In the upper right corner of the video, a logo with two white Latin letters "EF" on a red background is visible. However, no legitimate news organization uses this logo.
Zelensky's visit to Paris: Russian propaganda invents TV show and fakes Charlie Hebdo cover
Russian and Hungarian media outlets, along with pro-war Telegram channels and bots on the social media platform X, have been circulating a video purportedly showing a meeting between President Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron during the reopening of the reconstructed Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
In the video, during what appears to be NBC's live broadcast of the ceremony, an advertisement for a fictional television show titled "Great Thieves of the 21st Century" allegedly aired as the two leaders greeted each other. Propagandists claim this was a deliberate insinuation by U.S. journalists about the French and Ukrainian leaders.
This claim is entirely false. There was no such advertisement during NBC's live broadcast, as can be confirmed by viewing the footage on the official YouTube channel of the American broadcaster.
The purported ad, supposedly scheduled to air on NBC at 20:00 the same day, further exposes the hoax. The meeting in Paris occurred on December 7, and according to NBC's guide, no such show was listed on that date. In fact, "Great Thieves of the 21st Century" does not exist on NBC's lineup, nor is it mentioned on the channel's official website or social media platforms.
Video
Defenders are literally put back on their feet. How the "Indestructible" Rehabilitation Center Works
During the year and a half of the “Nezlamnyi” center’s work, almost three thousand patients underwent rehabilitation there. Marine Dmytro Osypenko is one of them. He received a severe spinal injury – he could not walk and did not feel 70% of his body. After daily classes, Dmytro can already stand and even drives a car.
Another patient of the center is stormtrooper Volodymyr Kotsiuba with the call sign “Kosmos”, who lost his leg during the counterattack on Robotino. “Kosmos” is preparing to receive its first prosthesis and plans to open a psychological rehabilitation center in the Carpathians “Veteran’s House”. More details about the stories of the defenders and rehabilitation at the “Nezlamnyi” center are in the Ukrinform story.
News:
War
Ukrainian POWs in colonies were forced to memorize names of children killed by Russia in Donbas
Prison guards in colonies forced captured Ukrainian defenders to memorize a list of 160 names of Ukrainian children from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions who were killed by the Russian army.
Volodymyr Ivanov, a marine and defender of Mariupol, who was freed from Russian captivity clarified that this was a list of 160 children from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions who, as claimed by the Russian Federation, died allegedly because of the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but who were actually killed by Russia itself.
According to Ivanov, Russian prison guards organized an “exam” to test their knowledge of this list and beat them with stun guns or otherwise abused them for making mistakes.
Enemy reduces drone usage on southern front due to bad weather – Ukrainian military
"The number of attacks from artillery systems and multiple rocket launchers (MLRS) has remained consistent or may have slightly increased. For example, in the past day, there were almost 250 kamikaze drone strikes, compared to the usual 350 or more. Artillery and MLRS attacks, however, remain at 250-300 daily, as weather conditions do not impact their operation," said Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces.
He added that in the Vremivka sector, the enemy has maintained high levels of assault activity, with 27 operations recorded in the last day alone, resulting in up to 200 Russian casualties daily. Russian forces have also become more active in the Kherson sector, where seven combat clashes occurred.
Politics
German expert: It will be challenging for Merz to oppose Scholz's stance on Ukraine
Andreas Umland, an analyst at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs noted that even if Ukraine is not at the center of the election campaign, it will be very important alongside domestic issues, as the situation is “very shameful” for Germany.
Umland identifies the following key issues that will require attention: the level of German assistance to Ukraine, the financial investment to be made, the readiness to provide assistance, especially Taurus missiles, the nature of international collaboration to support Ukraine, and the approach to NATO expansion.
Ukrainian envoy: Developments on diamond market go against Russia’s interests
Opening a diamond certification center in cooperation with the Group of Seven (G7) by Botswana in 2025 and the general developments on the diamond market do not serve the interests of Russia.
As noted by Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of South Africa and Mozambique, Member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Kimberley Process Liubov Abravitova, at the G7 summit two years ago, participating countries discussed how they could ensure transparency in the diamond trade and agreed that the certification scheme needed to be improved. The point is that any consignment of rough diamonds, in accordance with the Kimberley Process rules, must be accompanied on the market by a special document, i.e. a Kimberley Process certificate. This document indicates the countries of origin of the diamonds, their weight and value. But, in mixed consignments, which are formed from rough diamonds from different countries, the countries of origin are not indicated.
World has chance to expand definition of ‘blood diamond’ due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine – ambassador
The diplomat noted that Ukraine is a full member of the Kimberley Process (a collegial intergovernmental body that operates in accordance with UN resolutions aimed at preventing the trade in so-called “conflict” or “blood” diamonds, uniting 85 countries - ed.). According to the government's decision, Ukraine is represented in this organization by the Ukrainian State Gemological Center at the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Former Ukrainian FM praises creation of European contact group to end war
A contact group consisting of France, Britain, Germany, Poland and Denmark to develop a common European position on ending the war against Ukraine could prepare common ideas before US President-elect Donald Trump officially takes office, as he has not yet announced his stance.
Ukraine should agree on new consulate general with Poznan authorities - Polish MFA
Kyiv must resolve the issue of the possible functioning of the Consulate General of Ukraine in Poznan with the city authorities. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly encourages the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish this consular office
This was stated by Polish MFA spokesperson Paweł Wroński.
“The MFA has no objections to the establishment of a new consulate general (of Ukraine – ed.) in Poznań. After all, the minister (Radosław Sikorski - ed.) spoke about it himself. This is a matter of coordination between the Poznan authorities, who own this property, and the Ukrainian authorities,” Wroński said.
He added that the Polish MFA strongly encourages Ukraine to establish a consular office in this city, as many Ukrainians live in Poznan.
Economy
Ukraine needs to open agro-processing facilities - agrarian policy minister
“I would like to urge all those involved in the cultivation of crops and trading to consider transitioning to a value-added economy model. Given that the average price of agricultural exports last year was USD 309 per tonne, and comparing this figure with those of Poland (USD 1,560) and Italy (USD 2,670), it is evident that for Ukraine, this means that we have a model of a poor raw material economy. It is essential that we process raw materials domestically in order to make our products have added value. Therefore, I urge everyone, including traders, to look for opportunities to establish processing facilities in Ukraine,” emphasized Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Vitalii Koval.
Corporate lending in Ukraine grows 22% over past year – NBU
According to Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Nikolaychuk, three key factors contributed to this increase in lending: the recovery of economic activity in the country, the gradual easing of monetary policy and the implementation of the Lending Development Strategy.
Decarbonization Fund expects to generate about UAH 1.75B in 2025
“This year it was supposed to be UAH 700 million, but we have received around UAH 1.4 billion in revenues from the carbon tax. A total of UAH 1.75 billion has already been provided in the state budget for the next year,” explained Ukrainian State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving First Deputy Head Mariia Malaia.
In her words, the Decarbonization Fund has stable funding that does not depend on the state budget reallocations.
Decarbonization Fund provides support for over 30 projects – State Agency on Energy Efficiency
Mariia Malaia said that the Decarbonization Fund began to provide support for energy efficiency measures in October 2024.
According to Malaia, most projects that had received funding were those submitted by local self-government authorities. In particular, they included thermal modernization efforts in an Odesa-based kindergarten network, as well as increasing the energy efficiency of street lighting, water services companies, and hospitals.
Ukrainian economy demonstrating remarkable resilience - Austrian expert
"Ukraine surprises us time and again with how resilient it is. For example, the export figures of auto component manufacturers in Western Ukraine are simply incredible," said Gabriel Felbermayr, director at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO).
He also pointed to Ukraine's substantial grain exports via the Black Sea, which persist despite Russian attempts to impose a blockade.
"Ukraine certainly demonstrates very high resilience, despite everything that is happening in the country," Felbermayr said.
However, he stressed that the macro-financial situation in Ukraine does not look promising, and the key issue is continued economic assistance from Ukraine's partners.
"Everything depends on how the war evolves. And here a lot depends on what happens in the United States," Felbermayr said.
Society
Veteran Policy Strategy is “living” document and will be adapted to new challenges - MoVA
“The strategy has been approved until 2030, but the action plan has been developed until 2027, and will be updated thereafter. Changes in the external situation and the needs of veterans require constant monitoring and adjustment of the Strategy,” said Minister of Veterans Affairs Nataliia Kalmykova.
She emphasized that this document is “living” and will be adapted to new challenges.
In addition, according to her, the strategy approved by the Cabinet of Ministers is a revolutionary step in shaping further actions to support Ukrainian veterans.
See you next Friday!