Weekly Exclusives
Weekly Exclusives - a newsletter that contains author publications, interviews, exclusive comments, photos and videos.
Photos of the week
Ukraine continues to resist a full-scale Russian invasion. Ukrinform photojournalists capture life during the war. Participant of the Kharkiv Region Swimming Championship among war veterans, Kharkiv, May 3, 2025.
Interview
Kaja Kallas, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
The European Union hopes that the United States will once again join the Core Group for the establishment of a special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine. This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by the EU High Representative Kaja Kallas.
“The U.S. worked with us in this coalition for two years. The Americans have done a lot, and we hope they will rejoin later, because now all the technical details have been resolved,” she said. Kallas noted that other countries can also join the Core Group, which currently includes about 40 states.
The EU High Representative emphasized that this special tribunal is intended to hold the Russian leadership accountable for the crime of aggression, “because it is the leaders who decide to attack another country.”
Eric Ciaramella, expert at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
China is currently not interested in using real economic levers to influence Russia, but it is also not ready to openly side with the Russian Federation in the manner of North Korea.
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Eric Ciaramella, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“China has become a major beneficiary of this war. Because it has increased Russia’s dependence on China, while at the same time tying the hands of the West and providing China with valuable information about the effectiveness of Western weapons,” the expert stated.
Sooner or later, Putin will inevitably be punished
The legal nature of the special tribunal on Russia’s aggression allows for holding specific individuals criminally accountable. Sooner or later, someone from the “trio” of Russia’s top leadership — currently protected by special status — will lose that immunity and will inevitably be convicted and punished.
This was stated by Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Borys Tarasyuk, in an interview with Ukrinform’s own correspondent in Strasbourg.
“The Russians may not recognize the tribunal for now, but the issue lies in the legal nature of its decisions. And the legal experts have structured the tribunal in such a way that it allows for criminal prosecution of specific individuals. The only problem concerns the trio, who, under international law, are currently immune from prosecution,” said Tarasyuk.
Combat medic Maryna “Modzhakhed” Ryazantseva — guest of the program "Commanders of Our Victory"
Russian forces launch dozens of reconnaissance and strike drones every day — this is the new reality in which Ukrainian military medics must operate. In such conditions, every rescue becomes a miracle, and every evacuation is a race against time.
According to the military medic, the drone war has drastically changed the rules of combat, so medics today need protection just as much as assault groups.
“As my colleagues say, it has now become a war of drones against people. Their number has increased many times over. If earlier we recorded one, two, maybe three per day — now there are dozens. Without electronic warfare equipment, it is extremely difficult to operate,” she explained.
Today in Ukraine, about 60% of the weapons and military equipment used on the battlefield is produced by private businesses.
This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by Ihor Fedirko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Association of Arms Manufacturers.
In particular, almost the entire range of existing UAVs is produced by private manufacturers. Business also leads in the production of electronic warfare systems, electronic intelligence equipment, optics, thermal imaging devices, ground-based robotic systems, and more. READ MORE
News:
Politics
Chubarov expects "major changes" in 2025 toward ending war
EU views positively Türkiye’s potential role as mediator between Ukraine and Russia
Expert: Putin unlikely to attend talks in Istanbul
Ukraine’s MFA expects U.S. to remain active participant in peace process
Law enforcement investigating executions of 268 Ukrainian POWs – Prosecutor General’s Office
Tarasyuk: Putin will inevitably be punished sooner or later
No second Nuremberg, yet justice for Russia may still prevail – German historian
Next phase of joint search and exhumation efforts to take place in Poland – Ambassador Bodnar
Ambassador of Ukraine comments on prospects for new consulates in Poland
Border guards dismiss rumors of Hungarian armored vehicles near Ukraine
Society
Russian propaganda in Vienna: St. George ribbons in the center of Europe
“Terrorists”: Russian ambassador in Poland laid a wreath at the monument to Soviet soldiers.
The special project by Ukrinform was implemented with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications and in cooperation with the Recovery Support Office.
See you next Friday!