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.

How can the recent focus on the Middle East affect coverage of the war in Ukraine? Can it impact the EU’s support to Ukraine against Russian aggression? You can read below how this question is tackled by the Spanish media. But coverage of Ukraine stays strong and noticeable this week, with an extensive investigation about Ukrainian children deported to Russia broadcasted by Italian Rai TV, and numerous prizes awarded to reports about Ukraine at the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Festival in France last week. This is a glimpse of what you will find in this newsletter, which also includes compelling news from Bulgaria, Hungary and Germany. 

If you’re a professional who believes war in Ukraine needs to be accurately reported by journalists, and remain a vivid topic in the world's attention, maybe you’ll be interested to apply for our next fellowship program by the Europe-Ukraine Desk. Call for applications started last week, so now is the time to consider applying to join us in our next study trip to Kyiv, from 10 to 18 February 2024! The deadline is 27 October.

Have a good read

Sarah-Lou Lepers
Editor of this week's edition

Spain

Housing spike: Russians and Ukrainians rush to buy homes

Russian citizens have increased their home purchases in Spain by 50%, and Ukrainians by 42%, according to data shared this week by the Statistical Institute of Notaries. The Russian citizens are not escaping from their country, says an expert interviewed by El País: “They are wealthy families who already had a residence in another European country” (El País). This echoes criticism towards Spain for giving citizenship to large investors in the last decade, especially Russians, through 'Golden Visas'. (Público)

While the recent use of U.S. ATACMS secretly delivered to Kyiv to destroy Russian helicopters in the Berdyansk airfield may reignite news interest in Ukraine (The Wall Street Journal), last week’s attention in Spain shifted to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The main fear is the risk of "mental fatigue" and indifference to the Russian invasion. (El Español)

Why were Israeli flags in the capital of Ukraine this week? Will the mayor of Kyiv be Zelensky's rival in a future election? What will happen to Ukraine’s energy system this winter? National newspaper El Mundo went to Kyiv and interviewed Vitali Klitschko, mayor of the city. Klitschko said that what happened in Israel “reminded [us] of what the Russians did in Ukraine. It was very similar to Russian aggression and their terrorist tactics." (El Mundo)

Italy

On the trail of the Ukrainian children deported to Russia 

Italian public broadcaster Rai aired an investigation on the trail of Ukrainian children deported to Russia, in Presa Diretta. The long-form report Child Thieves (Ladri di bambini) shows the stories of families from the Ukrainian side who are still looking for their children, and the children who managed to return home. (Child Thieves by Presa Diretta)

Rai unveils how Putin’s propaganda recounts the war in Russia. The journalists spoke to Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, who has a pending arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (Soviet Education by Presa Diretta). The third part of the investigation, Russian Fortress (Fortezza russa), points out how the Russian propaganda machine is starting to falter. (Russian Fortress by Presa Diretta)

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, EU countries had to face an oil price increase and inflation, which in Italy this year amounted to 6.1%. A piece in Il Manifesto explains the further risks for Italy and the EU due to a broader war in the Middle East. According to the author, after one-and-a-half years of war in Ukraine, EU countries were not able to reform the speculative logic of the energy markets: in Italy this has led to a crisis in industrial production, a fall in the purchasing power of workers, and public healthcare has ended up without resources, while there was a large increase in the military budget. (il manifesto)

All the countries must go through a green transition, including Ukraine in the middle of a war, a piece by Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso underlines. Since February 2022 the demand for solar panels has increased in Ukraine, as many communities aim to ensure energy security, and the country has installed more onshore wind power than England. But the war makes it difficult to plan for the future. (Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso)

Germany 

Most Germans are against Taurus delivery to Ukraine

A majority of Germans support Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision to refrain from supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine according to a recent YouGov poll (with 55% in support, and 26% not supporting the decision). The decision to withhold this cruise missile delivery was made early October, based on concerns about Germany becoming directly involved in the war.  (Zeit Online)

Will the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka become another Bakhmut? This question is being asked by German media (Frankfurter Rundschau), after British defence intelligence reported an increase in the offensive activity of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. The motive behind the capture of Avdiivka by Russian soldiers could be a chance for Putin to demonstrate strength, explores another article. (Tagesspiegel)

Sebastian Ehm, a correspondent for German ZDR covering Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, analysed polls published by the pro-Kremlin WZIOM foundation that show interest in the war is decreasing. Three days after the full-scale invasion, 77% of Russians considered the war the most significant event of the last week; by mid-October 2023, this dropped to 27%. The public release of these figures may suggest that Putin does not mind waning global and domestic interest in the war. "Too little has happened for months, and the successes are too few," Ehm points out. (ZDF)

Mikhail Zygar, an exiled Russian journalist now residing in Berlin, explores Russia's historical relationship with Ukraine in his latest book War and Atonement: Ukraine's Long Struggle Against Russian Oppression (Aufbau Verlag, Berlin 2023). In an interview with TAZ, Zygar shared his views on Russia‘s imperialism and explained how it is mirrored in the works of famous Russian writers. He starts the book claiming his personal responsibility for the war: “I plead guilty to not having recognised the signs earlier. Because I, too, share responsibility for Russia's war against Ukraine, as do my contemporaries and our ancestors.” (TAZ)

Bulgaria

Bulgaria surpasses the USA in relative help to Ukraine

Bulgaria has surpassed the United States, relative to its GDP, in supporting Ukraine since Russia's full invasion. The portal of the bTV television channel reports on the recent data by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. From January 2022 to July 2023 Bulgaria provided aid equal to 0.34% of its GDP to Kyiv, thus exceeding the United States (0.33%). Bulgarian aid is both humanitarian and military, and includes ambulances, electric generators and tents. (bTV)

A railway connection from the ports of northern Greece to Ukraine through Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova was under discussion on 9 October in Varna, Bulgaria, during a three-way meeting between the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. The initiative, launched by the Greek Transport Minister Christos Staikouras, aims to strengthen the transport infrastructure capable of reaching Ukraine, creating alternative routes for moving people and goods. (24 Chasa)

On 11 October, the Bulgarian government announced its intention to provide 10 million euros for the "EU for Ukraine" fund of the European Investment Bank. The fund aims to support reconstruction in Ukraine, with particular attention to municipal infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals and the road network, but also to entrepreneurship. For the Sofia government, participation in the fund "confirms Bulgaria's strong commitment to supporting reconstruction and economic development" in Ukraine. (Dnevnik)

France

Council of Europe confirms Holodomor was "genocide"

The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, recognised last week that the 1930’s Famine in Ukraine was a “genocide”, following the European Parliament’s example in December 2022 (BFMTV). In an interview, historian Vincent Duclerc tackles that topic, analysing the use of this word for what is happening now in Nagorno-Karabakh, Palestine and Ukraine. (Le Point)

The war in Ukraine has highlighted Europe’s dependence on Russia’s nuclear power, which France has not yet been able to change. Only one installation in Seversk, Siberia, Russia, is able to recycle uranium from French nuclear centres. France’s dependence had been underlined already last year (Le Monde), and last week’s edition of the investigative show Complement d’enquête showed that France still receives recycled uranium from Russia. (France 2)

Combining parts of her war journal, the award-winning author Sofia Andrukhovych is publishing her latest book in France called Tout ce qui est humain (Everything that is human). She gave an interview to French news website Mediapart, where she shared her fear of the impact of Russian war against Ukraine on Ukrainian society: “The danger for Ukrainians is that they will be sucked into the logic of war and mutual repulsion,” she said. “Indeed, the level of hatred on both sides is rising, as the loss of life of combatants on both sides increases.” (Mediapart)

The Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award is one of the most prestigious international prizes for war reporting. This year’s edition awarded numerous prizes to reporters for their coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Among them are: Maurine Mercier (RTS-France Info), Francis Farrel (The Kyiv Independent), Edward Kaprov, Daniel Fainberg and Eugene Titov (Magneto Presse and Polka, for Arte Reportage), Paula Bronstein (Getty Images), Quentin Sommerville and Darren Conway (BBC News). (Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award)

Hungary

Hungary PM plays nice with Putin 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing last Tuesday. Unlike many EU leaders, Orbán has not visited Ukrainian President Zelensky in Kyiv, but he became the second EU leader to meet Vladimir Putin after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. (Népszava)

As the Hungarian media critical of the government have pointed out, at the meeting with the Russian president Viktor Orbán called the war against Ukraine a “military operation”, and said that "Hungary has never wanted to be hostile to Russia" and is "trying to save all the common achievements." (444.hu)

While the government argues it is in Hungary’s interest to have good relations with the East,  the Hungarian Prime Minister attended the "One Belt, One Road" summit in Beijing. Foreign policy expert Botond Feledy told RTL News that this could distance Viktor Orbán's government from its western allies (RTL). Pro-government media, however disagreed with this assessment, and said the “One Belt, One Road” is an economic project: “This [critical] attitude can only lead to a relationship of mutual distrust,” declared a comment piece. (Magyar Nemzet)

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

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