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.

Russian strikes on Kyiv on 8 July, among which was a devastating hit on Ukraine's largest children's hospital, have claimed more than 30 lives, marking one of the worst days of violence against civilians in months. One of our Ukrainian fellows, Kristina Berdynskykh, reported on the dramatic consequences of this attack for the Italian newspaper Il Foglio.

Another Ukrainian point of view to read in this edition is the article we translated to English, that focuses on tourists and resorts that offer seaside holidays in the small town of Zatoka, 50 km away from Odesa, which remains exposed to security threats from the air and sea.

Also in this edition, some news on the much criticised move of Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, who initiated his own "peace talks" between Ukraine and Russia, with suprise trips to Kyiv and Moscow. Bulgaria’s president Rumen Radev has disapproved of his country’s donation of 80 million euros to Kyiv, which shows again how divisive the topic of supporting Ukraine is in the country. At the same time, a new law in Italy might make the decision to support Kyiv with military shipment less transparent. Also Spain has announced the imminent delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, through Poland.

A suspected trio of Russian agents were arrested in Germany while allegedly planning to kidnap or kill a Ukrainian man. Also, the French far-right party was embarrassed to receive official support from the Russian minister of foreign affairs, four days before the legislative election on 7 July, which saw them land in third place.

Have a good read!

Sarah-Lou Lepers
Editor of this week's edition

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the small town of Zatoka, located just 50 km from Odesa, was one of the most popular holiday destinations among Ukrainians. With a population of only 2,000, it offered dozens of resort complexes by the beach. Many locals also hosted tourists privately in the spare rooms of their houses. People were attracted by the calm sea, local seafood and music festivals. In the first years after the annexation of Crimea, the Jazz Koktebel festival was relocated from the Crimean town of Koktebel to Zatoka.

Since 2022, Ukrainian Black Sea resorts are not considered as safe by Kyiv. Shellings from the territory of the Crimean peninsula, mines in the sea, and a risk of Russian troops landing on the beach make it impossible for visitors to relax in peace. But this summer things have started to change. Threats are still present, but local businesses are inviting guests, and some tourists are willing to accept the offers, despite the risks.

In a piece translated by n-ost this week, a journalist Mariana Pietsukh goes to Zatoka to see how guesthouses and cafes prepare to welcome tourists and asks why Ukrainians would choose to holiday in a potentially dangerous resort. The motivations from the guests and the hosts are not complex. Business owners of holiday accommodation need to pay their debts, while vacationers are not willing to postpone their holidays until "after the war". 

One of the resort owners explains to Pietsukh: 

"Swimming will not be completely safe even after the end of the war — WWII sea mines are still being found [in the Black Sea]. Under these conditions, for how many more years will we not be able to swim, then?"

This piece was originally published by hromadske, a Ukrainian independent online-media focused on field reporting and investigations.

Translated by Olesia Storozhuk and Natalia Volynets.

Hungary

"Purpose unclear" on Orbán's visit to Putin, post-Zelensky 

Three days after the Hungarian prime minister visited Volodimir Zelensky in Kyiv, Viktor Orbán held talks with Vladimir Putin, which drew much criticism. According to Balázs Jarábik, visiting scholar at the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna, the former political director of the EU security mission in Kyiv, Orbán doesn’t seem to have a specific peace plan. "He is probably trying to prove that the EU could have the diplomatic means to make peace, if it wanted to," he said. Nevertheless, Jarábik considers the risk to be high: if Orbán fails, Hungary could become even more isolated. (HVG)

Thirteen meetings in 14 years - this is the balance of the relationship between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán, since the Hungarian prime minister has been in government. Earlier, Orbán was famous for his anti-communist rhetoric, and even in 2008, during the five-day war in Georgia, he criticised Russia harshly. The turning point was a meeting in St Petersburg in 2009: the then opposition leader Orbán met Putin for the first time, the news portal Index recalls: "What was said between the two remains a mystery. But it is a fact that from that moment on, the anti-Russianism disappeared." (Index)

Forty-two percent of Ukrainian internally displaced persons living in Transcarpathia suffer from depression, compared to eight percent of those who found refuge in Hungary, shows a survey by the Hungarian MedSpot Foundation. According to Telex, the issue is particularly relevant now that the Hungarian government has amended its legislation about refugees from Ukraine. Under the new rules, only people from certain regions of Ukraine will be able to receive state aid in Hungary (Telex). Zsolt Szekeres, chief legal officer of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, said that the new regulation is against the Fundamental Law and the EU law, "which does not allow differentiating based on the former place of residence." (Telex)

Bulgaria

Divisions over economic aid to Ukraine

On the eve of the 9-11 July NATO summit in Washington, Bulgarian politics was once again divided over the prospects of economic support for Ukraine. After caretaker prime minister Dimitar Glavchev mentioned the possibility of donating 80 million euros to Kyiv, president Rumen Radev - often accused of being pro-Russian by his opponents - said he was against "Bulgaria transforming into a non-repayable donor to Ukraine". The Ukrainian embassy in Sofia also intervened in the controversy, by issuing a note which asked Bulgarian politicians not to use the issue for their own purposes. (BNR)

Research carried out by the European Council on Foreign Relations in 15 EU countries highlighted the strong scepticism of Bulgarians towards the possibility that Ukraine can militarily win the war against Russian aggression. According to the study, 46 percent of Bulgarian respondents believe that the war will end with a mediated agreement. As many as 61 percent believe it is right to push Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow, which is the highest percentage among the countries analysed. Bulgarians are also the most sceptical of further military supplies to Ukraine and the possibility of sending troops there. At the same time, Bulgarians are among the citizens of Europe who are most convinced (35 percent) that Ukraine is culturally part of Europe. (Club Z)

The Bulgarian gas distributor Bulgargaz has requested compensation of 400 million euros from the Russian energy giant Gazprom for the stoppage of gas supplies imposed in 2022 in a case brought to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Gazprom asked its customers to pay for supplies in rubles, and not in the currencies originally mentioned in the contract. The refusal of the Bulgarian company to use this currency was followed by Gazprom’s unilateral stop to the supply of gas in April 2022. Since then, Sofia has developed various strategies to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow. (Svobodna Evropa)

Italy

Transparency risk in arms export decision

Can Italy send weapons to countries at war? An article in Domani explains how Italian law controls the export of military supplies. Law 185/90 restricts arms exports to conflict zones, but exceptions have been made for Ukraine. Italy has supported Kyiv since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, but the content of military packages has been classified, though reports suggest equipment and defence systems were included. Although the law establishes few limits, Domani writes that the government of Giorgia Meloni wants to change it and make it an even more political decision, reducing transparency and the role of the parliament. (Domani)

Pietro Fiocchi, whose family business sells ammunition, was re-elected to the European Parliament with Fratelli d’Italia, the party of PM Giorgia Meloni. While Meloni’s government has always supported Ukraine, an investigation in L’Espresso reveals that ammunition branded in his business, Fiocchi Munizioni, was imported by Russia between March and September 2022, as per the Russian customs documents held by journalists. Another Italian company, Camozzi Automation, an industrial components leader, continued significant exports to Russia - worth five million euros in 2023 - despite EU restrictions. (L’Espresso)

The 30 most famous women conductors in the world include the Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv, the current musical director of Bologna's Municipal Theatre. After the invasion her father, a musician, formed a choir that sings patriotic songs about Ukraine. "I do not believe that musicians should be political, nor do I think it is correct that artists should be excluded from performances just because they are Russian," says Lyniv in an interview with Il Foglio. But music is a very powerful weapon and Lyniv declined to conduct a peace concert with the Greek-Russian conductor and musician Teodor Currentzis, considering his unclear position on the invasion. (Il Foglio)

Spain

Leopards heading to Ukraine 

Ten of the 19 Leopard 2A4 tanks promised by Spain have completed their refurbishment phase and will arrive in Poland in the coming days, according to the Spanish minister of defence. The rest should be ready in the next two to three months (Libertad Digital). The announcement was made following the deadly Russian missile attack on a Kyiv children’s hospital, an event that put pressure on Spain to send one of its Patriot batteries to Ukraine. Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada, made a public demand to Madrid on 9 July. (X)

In the week marking the first anniversary of the writer Victoria Amelina's death in a Russian bombing at the RIA restaurant in Kramatorsk, El País interviews Catalina Gomez Angel, a Colombian correspondent for Spanish and Latin American media. Gomez Angel was sitting with the poet in the pizzeria that day. The interview serves as an opportunity to discuss the event itself, the full-scale invasion, and Russian influence in Latin America. Notably, this attack, which Gomez Angel captured on video the moment it occurred, led to the only condemnation of Russia from the president of Colombia. (El País)

Putin has unwittingly created a "lake" surrounded by enemies in the Baltic Sea which might accidentally drown him, writes the analyst Perez Triana for El Confidential. The full-scale invasion accelerated Moscow's neighbours' rapprochement with NATO and turned the Baltic into a region where all countries, except Russia, are allies. This geographical area generates great interest in Spain due to the recent deployment of troops in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on NATO missions. (El Confidencial)

Germany 

Pharma giant boosts investment for Ukraine reconstruction

Pharma and biotech giant Bayer, which has been operating in Ukraine for years, recently invested 60 million euros to expand its seed plant in Pochuiky village, southwest of Kyiv, writes taz. Dmytro Sherepitko, the plant's manager, said Bayer's operations "contribute significantly" to local employment and infrastructure. Development minister Svenja Schulze emphasises that small and medium enterprises "contribute two-thirds of the added value in Ukraine and create more than 80 percent of the jobs there." Oliver Gierlichs, head of Bayer Ukraine, supports foreign investments, as it "strengthens the economy, which in turn generates more tax revenue for the state" while also signalling "that there is a future in Ukraine." (taz)

A suspected trio of Russian agents were arrested in Frankfurt while allegedly planning to kidnap or kill a Ukrainian man, who served in his country's army and had been living in Germany since, reports Süddeutsche Zeitung. One of the alleged spies contacted the Ukrainian, asking to join an operation to spy on Russians in Germany for the Ukrainian secret service. Believing it was a trap, he reported this to the Hessian police. Investigators suspect the arrest "prevented a kidnapping or even an assassination attempt on Moscow's behalf." The Ukrainian, on Russia’s "death list," is now under police protection. (Süddeutsche Zeitung) 

Kateryna Penkova's play Donetsk.UA premiered in Berlin on 4 July, reflecting her connection to Donetsk, ravaged by war since 2014. Directed by Andreas Merz, the play uses interviews with current and former residents of the region from a former street theatre project to create a "documentary theatre text." In an interview with Berliner Zeitung, Penkova criticises the "provincial" perception of Ukrainian theatre in Germany and rejects its status as a subject of pity: "People shouldn't expect me to tell a story about crying, suffering Ukrainian women dressed in traditional linen shirts," she adds. Addressing war fatigue, she says: "The only way to end the war is to win it." (Berliner Zeitung)

France

Far-right party officially supported by the Russian government 

The far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) won almost a third of the French national assembly in the second round of legislative elections on 7 July, which was not enough for a majority, but a first in France’s history. Mediapart reports that four days before, the far-right party received support from the Russian foreign ministry, with the publication of a photo of Marine Le Pen and a comment on the desire of the "French people" for a "break with the diktat of Washington and Brussels" (Mediapart). Jordan Bardella, RN leader for these elections, showed embarrassment for this support and claimed it was an attempt by Russia to help Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party, Ensemble, by harming the reputation of its adversary. (Le Monde)

The first F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine from western countries are expected to arrive this month, but the intense shelling by Russia of Ukrainian military air bases is putting pressure on this delivery, explains Le Monde. According to the article, the transfer of the F-16s remains dependent on the creation of air defence "bubbles" to protect airfields and hangars from Russian bombing. According to analysts, Ukraine is sorely lacking in these systems, which consist of radars and missile launchers capable of destroying in-flight missiles or aircraft targeting its territory. (Le Monde)

Ukrainian farmers in the Kharkiv region talk about their everyday life in mined fields near frontlines, in a report by Le Figaro Ukraine correspondent Clara Marchaud. "The Ukrainian fields are suffering the most," says Ivan, a farmer based 50 km from the Donbas frontline. Civil infrastructure, roads and residential areas are cleared of mines as a priority, only to be followed by the fields. Although some farmers clear mined fields themselves or sow them, nearly 7.5 percent of farmland is no longer in use, according to NASA images, quotes the article. (Le Figaro)

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

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