Welcome to this edition of What about Ukraine?, a newsletter that helps you keep updated about what has been said recently about Ukraine in Ukraine, and in the international media.

On the fourth Saturday of November, Ukraine commemorates the Holodomor, the famine caused by Stalin’s Soviet Union in 1932-33. The country had to struggle for decades afterwards, not only with the consequences of the famine, which killed up to five million people, but also for justice. This week's Ukrainian article, translated by n-ost, recognises the researchers who have contributed to uncovering the Holodomor. Their investigations met with resistance from the authorities even after Ukraine had become independent. The world could have known the truth much earlier. Foreign witnesses were on the ground. Canadian journalist Rhea Clyman saw the Holodomor with her own eyes and filed reports on the mass-killings - but her work took time to gain the recognition it deserved.

Many journalists are undertaking the same mission in Ukraine today. Like the reporter of El País, who travelled to cities occupied by Russia and tried to show the propaganda-free reality. A Hungarian writer says "shocking experiences" on his solidarity visit to Kyiv have made him more committed to Ukraine’s defence, and Historian Karl Schlögel in Spiegel describes the destruction of Ukrainian cities as "unbearable", and argues for assistance to Ukraine.

Yet the past week in the European press has been more about political reflection: after US president Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with long-range US missiles, Russia threatened a nuclear strike. European political actors have reacted differently - in some cases these reactions are not without controversy, and  are not unrelated to each country’s domestic political context. 

Have a good read!

Kornélia Kiss
Editor of this week's edition

On the fourth Saturday of November Ukrainians commemorate the victims of Holodomor - a man-made famine which was organised by the Soviet authorities in 1932-1933 and killed up to five million people in the grain-rich lands of the USSR, including a huge part of Ukraine. As of now, the EU and more than three dozen countries around the world have recognised Holodomor as a genocide. But over decades information about the tragedy was carefully hidden and any attempts to report on the subject in the USSR were suppressed by the authorities.

In an article translated by n-ost this week, journalist Anzhela Anisimova tells stories of some key Ukrainian and foreign journalists and volunteer researchers who were determined to document the evidence of the famine and to spread information about it to wider audiences. One of them was Alexander Wienerberger, an Austrian chemical engineer who lived in the Soviet Union for 19 years. He managed to take around 100 photos in Kharkiv, where he lived in 1932-33. In 1939 he published pictures and memories from that time in a book 'Hard Times. 15 Years of an Engineer in Soviet Russia. A True Story'. He wrote:

"The suffering land looked even scarier during the day than at night. At each station, there were countless carriages packed with peasants and their families. They were guarded by sentries to be carried far northwards to their white death. The fields were uncultivated, the unharvested grain was rotting under the autumn rains. […] I didn’t see any cattle or even geese. Only unkempt chickens huddled together near abandoned huts. Involuntarily, I remembered how I, a prisoner of war 17 years ago, travelled through the same country, passing wheat fields, seeing a lot of cattle and mountains of food offered at each station. Even in 1926, after the world and civil wars, these lands prospered like before. How inhuman such a force should be to turn a prosperous food-rich country into ruin."

This piece was originally published by Ukraїner, an online-platform focused on documenting life in all regions of Ukraine and the way it changes during the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Translated by Natalia Volynets.

Italy

Olena Zelenska visits the Vatican amid 1,000 days of invasion

Pope Francis read a letter he received from a Ukrainian student, describing pain as a "teacher of love", to Olena Zelenska, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife on her visit at the Vatican. Francis marked 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion as a "shameful tragedy for humanity" and expressed concern about Moscow's nuclear 'threat'. During his audience in Saint Peter’s square he urged solidarity with Ukraine and efforts for peace through dialogue. Zelenska visited a pediatric hospital caring for Ukrainian children, and attended a mass in a basilica in Rome, where she thanked those supporting Ukraine against an assault on its statehood and on European values. (La Stampa)

At the G20 summit in Brazil, while Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov expressed satisfaction for the compromise reached in the Leader’s Declaration based on the priorities of the Brazil presidency of the group, Ukrainian diplomacy showed frustration over last-minute changes and a lack of "strong strategies". Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reiterated there must be no wavering in support for Ukraine and defined the US decision to allow the use of long-range missiles on Russian territory as "understandable", regarding "such aggression" from Moscow. Rome’s support will continue with anti-aircraft defence systems, and Italy will not change its approach of supplying defensive rather than offensive weaponry to Kyiv. (Agi)

Ukrainian refugees in Italy have founded several associations to support refugees and preserve Ukrainian culture. On 16 and 17 November, 44 organisations met in Salerno, Campania, for the first National Congress of Ukrainian Associations in Italy to unify efforts to aid Ukrainians, foster cultural integration and prepare for Ukraine's post-war recovery. Ukrainians residing in Italy number 383,511, ten percent of Italy’s foreign residents, a report on Ukrainian communities in 2023 highlights. More than half of them arrived after the Russian full-scale invasion, and over 65 percent are women. (Linkiesta)

Germany

Ukraine negotiations "must not result in a dictated peace" 

East European historian Karl Schlögel warns that "war and peace" will dominate Germany's Bundestag election campaign. He criticises the perception that "Ukraine should keep quiet, leave us alone, and make peace," calling this a dangerous abandonment of Ukraine, which is defending more than itself. Schlögel stresses the urgent need for weapons targeting Russia’s aggression, and describes the destruction of Ukrainian cities as "unbearable." While he acknowledges that negotiations will eventually come, he insists they must ensure Ukraine’s survival and security, and not result in a "dictated peace." (Spiegel)

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has nominated Olaf Scholz as their candidate for chancellor in the upcoming elections in February. A Zeit article highlights how Scholz is "once again relying on perseverance" in campaigning times, taking the same political positions as before, despite his low popularity and the party polling at just 15 percent for the upcoming Bundestag elections. Scholz contrasts his "prudence" in Ukraine policy with his opponents, emphasising that he "did everything to prevent this war from escalating into a war between Russia and NATO." While promising financial and military support for Ukraine, Scholz firmly opposes delivering Germany’s Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv, or allowing German weapons to target Russian soil. (Zeit)

Chancellor Scholz will not follow Joe Biden's lead in sending Ukraine long-range missiles, stating he "cannot take responsibility" for an escalation. The author of a Tagesspiegel article highlights Scholz's concern about provoking Russia by crossing a "red line," but argues this fear is not justified. However, Scholz is unlikely to change his stance since the campaigning for the upcoming election has started, and "support for Ukraine is not popular with all potential voters", the article argues. (Tagesspiegel)

Hungary

Hungarian government stresses the risk of escalation

Air defence at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border is to be strengthened, Hungary's defence minister Kristóf Szalay-Boborovniczky has announced. The minister ordered the deployment of airspace surveillance and airspace protection equipment to the northeast part of the country. Like Viktor Orbán, he assessed that the threat of the war escalating is "greater than ever" (24.hu). Former defence minister, Ferenc Juhász, however, criticised the decision as a "propaganda move": "We didn't do this when a missile flew over Hungary, or when the Uzhhorod and Mukachevo areas were already under attack. We are doing it now, when the Ukrainians have been given a chance to defend themselves more effectively," he said. (Klub Rádió)

Although the Hungarian government and the governing Fidesz party argue that Hungary is addressing the crisis in Ukraine, Hungary is only 34th in the ranking of countries providing financial aid to Ukraine, according to Ukraine Aid Tracker. "State aid is being hampered, and almost from the start the Hungarian authorities discriminated against some of the people coming from Ukraine, especially the Roma… By this summer, newly arrived refugees are no longer receiving housing assistance from the Hungarian state," the weekly Hvg summarizes. (Hvg)

In Ukraine, many more people have been reading books since the outbreak of the war, libraries are thriving and the book trade is booming. This was a main experience of the Hungarian writer Viktor Horváth, who travelled on a solidarity visit to Ukraine organised by the Ukrainian PEN Club in November. His attitude, he says, has not changed much: "Ukraine has declared that it wants to belong to Europe. We must respect the great sacrifices they are making and help them." However, he said "shocking experiences and personal connections" of the visit have made him more committed. (Szabad Európa)

Spain

Search goes on for assassins of Russian defector shot dead in Spain

A journalistic investigation suggests new suspects in the murder of a Russian pilot who defected to Kyiv, but was later killed in Spain. At first, the Spanish police attributed the murder of Maxim Kuzminov with six bullets to a group of Chechens. Citing sources from the same Spanish force, CBS now identified a former KGB agent and a lieutenant colonel of the Russian Interior Ministry police as suspects. Spanish officials remain in no doubt that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), was behind the assassination. (El Español)

Spain delivered 600 million euros of the one billion pledged aid to Kyiv by July, under the latest bilateral agreement signed in late May. Efforts are now underway to complete the aid package this November, including equipment already en route to Ukraine. This includes a new Hawk anti-aircraft battery and nine Leopard 2A4 tanks. In terms of Leopards, Spain has sent ten already this year, bringing the total to 29 since the start of the Russian invasion. (Infodefensa)

"I hate this world. I want to go back to my Mariupol," a woman confides anonymously to El País. The newspaper's correspondent in Moscow visited the occupied territories of Donetsk, Mariupol and Horlivka, and exposed a stark contrast between positive Russian propaganda and the reality, which includes restrictions on freedom and a lack of civic reconstruction after bombardment. In Mariupol, civilians receive just 70 euros per square meter in compensation for damaged property, while Donetsk’s capital grapples with severe deindustrialisation and average monthly wages of 270 euros. Despite these hardships, pro-Russian sentiment persists among some locals, who claim Russia invaded Ukraine to "denazify" the country. (El País)

Bulgaria

Ukrainian award for a controversial politician causes stir 

The awarding of a medal for special services to the Ukrainian people by the speaker of the Kyiv parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk to politician Delyan Peevski has caused a stir in Bulgaria. Peevski, a media mogul and leader of the 'DPS - New Beginning' party, is arguably the most controversial political figure in Bulgaria. In 2021, Washington sanctioned him under the Magnitsky Act, accusing him of corruption and "using influence peddling and bribes to protect himself from public scrutiny". Since the sanctions came into force, Peevski has taken an explicitly favourable position on Bulgaria's military support of Ukraine. (Sega)

Bulgaria remains vulnerable to the Kremlin's ambitions, not so much militarily, but with respect to attempts to influence the political life of the country, military expert and former Bulgarian defence minister Todor Tagarev explains. In an interview with DW Bulgaria, Tagarev takes stock of the political and military situation of the Russian aggression against Ukraine after Donald Trump's victory and Bulgaria's position in the new international context. According to Tagarev, despite the isolationist positions expressed during the election campaign, incoming president Donald Trump will carefully consider his moves before reducing support for Kyiv. (DW Bulgaria)

The Bulgarian government has decided to sign an updated version of the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Security between Bulgaria and Ukraine, the draft of which was approved last October. The decision reaffirms Sofia’s support for Kyiv, and will lead to a series of specific bilateral agreements, both in the short and long term, to implement common security policies. Bulgaria has also confirmed its intention to participate in the 'Ukraine compact', a document signed last July during the NATO summit in Washington, in which the signatories committed to "support Ukraine until it prevails against Russia’s aggression". (bTV)

The Europe-Ukraine Desk curated this newsletter. This week's edition has been composed by our team from all over Europe: Marika Ikonomu, Kornelia Kiss, Katarina Kukla, Oksana Mamchenkova, Francesco Martino, Antonina Rybka and Fermin Torrano.
Michael Bird was our proofreader. 

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