Weekly newsletter
This is a newsletter of exclusive materials of Ukrinform for a week
Photo of the week:
The exhibit of artist Anatoliy Kryvolap, titled “Archetypes,” is currently on display at the M17 Contemporary Art Center in Kyiv.
Мaterials and Interviews:
World
Marko Shevchenko, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Moldova
The term in office of Ukraine’s Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, Marko Shevchenko, is coming to an end as President Volodymyr Zelensky recently announced the diplomat would be replaced by former Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov.
Ukrinform took the opportunity to speak with the head of the Embassy in Moldova during the International Mayors Summit in Chisinau on April 11. The Ambassador touched on the topics of the perception of Russia's war against Ukraine in Moldovan society, assistance to Ukrainian refugees, the Transnistrian settlement and consular services to Ukrainian citizens living in the Transnistrian region of Moldova, as well as European integration, bilateral infrastructure projects, and prospects for the development of European markets.
Weapons
Yuriy Dzhygyr, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine
The team of the Ministry of Defense led by Rustem Umerov conducted an audit of the defense department and declared the implementation of financial control reform. Ukrinform asked Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Yuriy Dzhygyr about the results of the audit, what the reform is about, and how the joint audit of weapons provided to Ukraine is carried out with international partners.
Politics
Iran's Attack on Israel: Four Important Lessons for Ukraine and World
Can the world prevent a global war, and can Ukraine effectively "close" its skies?
Of course, the consequences of Iran's attack are not as significant as they could have been. Virtually no damage was done to either Israel's military or civilian infrastructure. An almost absolute result: 99% of air targets (over 300 missiles and drones) were destroyed, and not even over Israel. We know what the secret is: Israel's three-tiered air defense system, as well as assistance from its allies-the United States, Britain, France, and Jordan-whose aircraft and permits helped repel the attack.
In any case, this could be considered an official declaration of war. But the leaders of the United States and Europe (as well as the countries of the region) are actively trying to dissuade Israel from retaliating against Iran. How convincing their arguments will be, and whether Tel Aviv will listen to them, remains to be seen. However, the first lessons of what happened are already clearly visible.
In the Line of Fire
Stories of Odesa firefighters injured in rocket attack
On the morning of March 15, Russian troops insidiously attacked the recreational area of Odesa with Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Ten rescuers from Odesa Detachment No. 6 responded to the call. When the rescuers were fighting the fire and helping the victims, the Russians struck the location for the second time. Rescuers Denys Kolesnikov and Vitaliy Alymov were killed, eight of their colleagues were wounded, four of them are still being treated. On that day, 21 people were killed and 73 wounded in Odesa as a result of Russian strikes. When asked whether it is advisable for rescuers to respond to calls during air alerts, they answer: "We can't do otherwise. We are talking about people's lives." Ukrinform correspondents talked to Odesa firefighters.
Fact check
Russian propaganda spreading fakes about Ukraine's plans to blow up occupied ZNPP
Russian propaganda in pro-Kremlin and foreign-language media outlets, YouTube, Telegram channels and the X social media platform launched a propaganda information campaign related to the fake narrative that Ukraine allegedly wants to blow up the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe.
This is happening against the background of a Russian provocation on April 4, when the ZNPP was left reliant on a single power line after Russian artillery shelling.
Fake
Fire at pharmaceutical warehouse in Poland: Russian propaganda spreads fake about Ukrainians' involvement
Recently, Russian Telegram channels, media outlets, and public pages on the Vkontakte social network have begun circulating a video of the fire that broke out at the Farmacol pharmaceutical warehouse in the Polish city of Katowice. Below the video, the authors of the propaganda resources synchronously wrote that a group of Ukrainian refugees, dissatisfied with the Polish authorities' policy of supplying Ukrainian goods and weak military assistance, organized an act of retaliation and set fire to the warehouse. Later, pro-Russian English-language resources, including the Pravda network, which is engaged in propaganda for European countries, began to spread this information.
Top Videos:
Terrorist attack
The place where three rockets were hit in Chernihiv on April 17
One of the rockets hit an eight-story building. About twenty houses were damaged.
"Invisible stories"
Exhibition, dedicated to Ukrainians who went through the horrors of the Russian occupation, survived violence and torture, has opened in Brussels
The purpose of the exhibition is to draw the attention of society and the international community to the fate of these people, to promote the creation of public and state initiatives to provide them with material and psychological assistance to overcome the terrible trauma they experienced.
The Brussels presentation of this exposition took place with the assistance of the Delegation of Ukraine to the EU and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with the participation of the regional director of this institution for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Florence Bauer, the representative of UNFPA in Ukraine Massimo Diana and the Representative of Ukraine to the EU Ambassador Vsevolod Chentsov.
Justice for Ukraine
In Brussels, demands were made to transfer frozen assets of the Russian Federation to Ukraine
In Brussels, with the support of the civil organization "Promote Ukraine," a demonstration of the Ukrainian community took place, demanding that EU financial institutions transfer to Ukraine the proceeds from the frozen assets of the aggressor country, as well as the sovereign assets of Russia itself, which were blocked after the start of full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The board of the financial institution Euroclear, which holds 192 billion euros of Russian finances on its balance sheet, is to consider the legal mechanisms for further handling of these blocked resources, as well as the accrued interest on them, the volume of which has already reached 5 billion euros.
News that may affect events in the country:
Wolrd
At PACE, Rada Speaker discusses capabilities toward victory, assets toward recovery
The Council of Europe and the PACE are leaders in supporting Ukraine and make important decisions helping the nation so lawmakers should discuss the issue of recovery and the compensation facility, which should work and ensure justice for Ukrainians, as a matter of priority.
War
About 3,500 residents leave border areas in Chernihiv region due to shelling - governor
"We do not carry out forced evacuations, but today we do everything together with local government bodies so that people can leave. First of all, we have about 12,500 places for the temporary stay of persons who are resettled from the border areas. They are throughout the region. By the way, many of such places are located in the communities where people already live, but further south, away from the border. Because people don't want to move far away. If we talk about numbers, then today 3,500 residents have left the border areas that are constantly under fire. These are both children and adults," said Viacheslav Chaus, head of the region's military administration.
Roadmap to Reintegration
Vereshchuk outlines details of strategy for reintegrating de-occupied territories
A recently presented draft Strategy for restoring state power and reintegrating the de-occupied territories has been sent to the central government for official approval, which will serve as the basis for adopting relevant laws and regulations on the activities of state bodies in the de-occupied territory.
Energy
State Agency for Restoration: We protect 22 Ukrenergo substations
The Ukrainian State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure ensures the construction of protective structures for certain substations of Ukrenergo National Power Company.
Environment
Minister Strilets: Ukraine’s war-related environmental damage already exceeds UAH 2.4T
“Today, the war-related environmental damage has already exceeded UAH 2.4 trillion. We already understand that the damage to the environment has even exceeded the damage from the destroyed infrastructure objects,” told Ukrainian Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets.
See you next Friday!