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.

Discover the life and tragic death of Ukrainian artist Alla Horska in an article we have translated from Ukrainian into English this week. Horska created monumental mosaics in the 1960s, some of which have been destroyed in eastern and southern Ukraine by recent Russian shelling. She was mysteriously killed at the age of 40, and is seen as a symbol of the Russian persecution of Ukrainian dissidents during the Soviet era. An exhibition of her work is opening in Kyiv this month.

Also in this edition, Bulgaria is selling nuclear power reactors to Ukraine, but is raising the price for Kyiv. Spain has finally shared a list of the equipment it has sent to Ukraine to counter the Russian full-scale invasion, and France is looking for a way to fund its promised three billion euros in aid to Ukraine. 

The German press imagines the scenario of a frozen conflict in Ukraine and a split territorial division of the country, similar to East and West Germany between 1945 and 1989. Italy’s school curriculum has apparently spread Vladimir Putin’s vision of the history of Ukraine to Italian pupils, and Ukraine refugees in Békés county in eastern Hungary have difficulties finding a job because they don’t speak Hungarian.

Have a good read.

Sarah-Lou Lepers
Editor of this week's edition

Famous for her monumental mosaics which decorated Ukraine’s public spaces, such as schools and restaurants, the 1960s Ukrainian artist Alla Horska is also known for her activism. Alongside many Ukrainian artists, writers and intellectuals in the 1960s, she fought to uncover the truth about crimes committed by the Soviet secret services against Ukrainians back in the 1930s. 

Horska was murdered by an unknown assailant in 1970, at the age of 40, and her death was never fully investigated. Her funeral may have been used by the KGB as a way to identify other activists, as the secret services later persecuted her friends and colleagues.

The story of Alla Horska is regaining attention in Ukraine, with a large exhibition opening in Kyiv this March dedicated to this artist and leader of Ukrainian resistance movement. Since 2022, many of her works, located in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine, have been heavily damaged by the Russian army. Two mosaics from the late 1960s, Tree of Life and Boryviter, in Mariupol, were destroyed during shelling of the city in 2022.

In the piece, translated by n-ost this week, journalist Rostyslav Kamerystyi-Breitenbücher tells a story of Horska’s enigmatic murder. In the article he quotes Oleksiy Zaretskyi, culturologist and Alla Horska's son, who was 16 when his mother was killed. Zaretsky claims:

"At least two institutions were involved in ordering the murder — the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR."

The piece was originally published by NV, an independent Ukrainian online and print media, which covers Ukraine’s and international affairs, and tackles important historical topics.

Translated by Olesia Storozhuk.

Bulgaria

Sofia aims to raise price for out-of-use reactors for Ukraine

Kyiv hopes to purchase two nuclear reactors from Bulgaria by June 2024, according to Petro Kotin, director of the Ukrainian public company Energatom. The two reactors, previously ordered by Sofia from Russia for its Belene power plant project, which was then abandoned, should be installed in the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant, equidistant between Lviv and Kyiv. With the purchase of the Bulgarian reactors, Ukraine aims to make up for the power lost since Russia occupied its Zaporizhzhya power plant, the largest in Europe. For the two reactors, Bulgaria initially asked for 600 million dollars, but now seems intent on raising the price. (Dnevnik)

The maritime corridor between the ports of Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria is quickly becoming a central tool for Kyiv's agricultural exports. According to the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk: "We can already talk about the creation of this corridor, which is turning into one of the main global nodes for grain trade," thus helping Kyiv circumvent the blockade imposed by the Russian navy in the Black Sea. According to Stefanchuk, Ukraine intends to strengthen commercial transport along the Danube, to more effectively reach the countries bordering the river and central Europe. (BNR)

Unverified news frequently appears on Bulgarian social media relating to the war in Ukraine. In mid-March, a video showing the transport of tanks to central Bulgaria raised concerns about the possibility of Sofia sending them to Ukraine. However, the fact-checking team of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) denied the news in an in-depth analysis: the military vehicles in question are in fact supplied to various NATO forces from the likes of the USA and Italy, who are engaged in exercises on Bulgarian territory. (BNR)

Italy

Bots boost Ukraine blame game for Moscow terror attacks

Italian users on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) have been subject to a disinformation boost regarding Ukraine’s involvement in the recent terror attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, which left over one hundred dead. La Repubblica reports on an article published a few hours after the attack by the fake Italian newspaper Il Corrispondente, and shared by hundreds of bots on X. The website, created by a 23 year-old from Turin, blamed the assault on Ukraine, which backed a theory spread by Russian propaganda, that defines Ukraine as the "global centre for the recruitment and training of terrorist cells by the US and UK" (La Repubblica). Analyst Matteo Pugliese explains that it is an example of ‘Coordinated Inauthentic Behaviour’, a strategy of manipulating flows on social networks to generate high traffic and make fake content trend. (Linkiesta)

An article in L’Espresso shows how several Italian books for middle school in history and geography are told from the Russian president Vladimir Putin's imperialist perspective. The annexation of Crimea in 2014 is described as "a democratic process", a map from 2018 states Ukraine and the Baltics are part of the ‘Russian region’, and says that communist regimes "ensured peaceful co-existence between ethnic groups". An expert calls these "influencing actions", a tool employed by the KGB in the Soviet times. The alarm, which concerns 13 books, came from a group of Ukrainian activists. (L’Espresso)

The destruction and looting of Ukrainian cultural heritage by Russia follows a systemic strategy, unveils IrpiMedia. The invasion did not start in 2022, the author highlights, but in 2014, with the war in Donbas and Crimea’s annexation, followed by Russia’s authorisation of illegal archaeological excavation, and the transfer of Ukrainian artefacts to museums in Russia. According to UNESCO, since 24 February 2022, 345 historical monuments have been destroyed or damaged and thousands of artworks have been stolen from occupied Ukraine. Experts are documenting these felonies, which appear to be war crimes. (IrpiMedia)

France

France considers turning into a war economy 

How will Emmanuel Macron’s government fund its earmarked three billion euros in aid to Ukraine? This question is growing louder as the Government has announced a ten billion euros cut in the national budget. Options could include a rise in the military budget and sales of French-made Caesar howitzers, but it hasn’t happened yet, and has become another topic for the opposition to point at government announcements they consider unrealistic (Le Monde). Sébastien Lecornu, the French minister for the armed forces, announced on Tuesday that he "would not rule out" requisitioning "personnel, stocks or production tools", or even "forcing manufacturers to give priority to military requirements". This is another intended threat to Russia, analyses AFP and Le Figaro, after President Macron publicly considered sending troops to Ukraine. (Le Figaro)

Last week’s terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow, claimed by Daesh/ISIS, was an opportunity for some on the French right and far right politicians to make "Islamic totalitarianism" seem to be the main threat. "Solidarity with the victims of the Moscow attack clearly shows that Russia, which has fought Daesh/ISIS in Syria, is not the main enemy," wrote Thierry Mariani, a member of the Rassemblement National (RN) on social network X. "The only essential enemy is Islamist terrorism, which wants to destroy our Christian Western civilization." (Mediapart)

"Why does Ukraine target Russia’s energy infrastructure?" answers an investigation by France 24 team ‘The Observers’. Since the beginning of January, at least eight Russian energy infrastructures - refineries, terminals or oil and gas depots - have partially caught fire as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks, according to the research. "This could be a way for Kyiv to demonstrate its military power and try to weaken the Russian economy," analyses energy expert Benjamin Schmitt. (France 24)

Germany 

Berlin-Kyiv rivalry for defence systems 

"Who currently needs the defence systems more urgently - Ukraine or the [German] Bundeswehr?" asked FDP defence politician Marcus Faber. Both politicians and military experts agree on the urgent need for more supplies in Ukraine. Nevertheless, a report in Süddeutsche states the "resupply of Patriot missiles as well as for the Iris-T-SLM air defence system is progressing too slow" even though "intercepting rockets becomes increasingly difficult due to ammunition shortages and inadequate defence systems" and Russia simultaneously "intensifies the frequency of its attacks". (Süddeutsche)

In the case of a complete defeat of Ukraine in the war against Russia, "we will experience the world’s largest refugee movement since the 1940s," reports Welt, from a talk with migration researcher Gerald Knaus. "Those in Europe who hesitate to support Ukraine more strongly still haven't really grasped what is at stake," he told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Until recently, "out of the 4.2 million Ukrainian refugees in the EU, 1.2 million have fled to Germany", adds Welt, implying possible challenges from immigration for the country in case of Ukraine’s defeat. (Welt)  

The scenario of a frozen conflict in Ukraine is explored by Berliner Zeitung, which draws parallels to the division of Germany during the Cold War. The article recalls how the post-WWII approach to dividing Germany "until the Russian problem is resolved" turned out to be the right tactic to eventually reunify and reintegrate Germany into the Western world. Given that "for months, the fronts have been frozen - with slight territorial gains for the Russian side", this could be "a viable option" to secure Ukraine's sovereignty, suggests the author. Yet, the piece concludes that ultimately it "is for the Ukrainians to decide" if that is an option. (Berliner Zeitung)

Hungary

Arms shortage near Kupiansk "severe"

Almost a year after his trip to Bakhmut, reporter Szabolcs Vörös returned to the eastern Ukraine front. Two mechanised brigades took him to Kupyansk in Kharkiv Oblast and then to Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut. He witnessed the severity of the ammunition shortage and the devastation caused by Russian glider bombs. (Válaszonline) Before that, the author spent five days in Kharkiv. He wrote about how people of "the heroic city" live their daily life.  He visited the Kharkiv school in the underground train stations. Five stations of the metro network now host 2,100 children, who study there three days a week, from primary to senior secondary school. (Válaszonline) 

A special exhibition featuring Ukrainian photographer Marta Sirko's work on Ukrainian soldiers wounded in fighting the Russian army will open at the Three Weeks Gallery in Budapest on 26 March. The exhibition is part of the official programme of the Budapest Photo Festival 2024. "Through her sensitive depiction of the frailty of wounded bodies, Marta encourages us to see beauty and wonder, not imperfection," Hvg weekly says about the exhibition. (Hvg)

Ukrainian refugees living in Békés County in eastern Hungary are diligently learning Hungarian, with the help of the Hungarian Red Cross. In the experience of the charity’s staff, the biggest problem for Ukrainians living in Békés is not lack of education, but lack of language skills, according to a report in Magyar Narancs. Few Ukrainians have applied for asylum in Hungary compared to other countries in the region, and most of those who have arrived here have travelled on to other European countries. (Magyar Narancs)

Spain

Tanks, patrol boats, missiles: secret of deliveries revealed 

Madrid has revealed one of its best-kept secrets for the last two years: the sum of material sent to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion. From March 2022, the Spanish Ministry of Defence has made 61 exports, including ten Leopard tanks, eight patrol boats, Harpoon, Mistral and Hawk missiles, armoured vehicles and ammunition of different calibres. The material donated exceeds 190 million euros in value (La Ser). This week, Madrid also confirmed the dispatch of 19 more tanks from a military base to a workshop, before being sent to Ukraine. (Heraldo de Aragón)

Russia has lost more men in Ukraine than the combined casualties from the USSR and Russia in all their wars since 1945, demonstrates an article by El Confidencial. The "rate of human losses is rivalled only by that of Russian military equipment" explains the article with visualisations of the estimated death toll, and comparisons with Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam, and also the total amount of Russian equipment destroyed in Ukraine. While Zelensky has acknowledged 31,000 casualties among Ukrainian soldiers, a number considered low by commentators, the Kremlin's latest report acknowledges only 6,000 losses among its own forces. European countries estimate losses for Russian troops to be 10 to 15 times higher than this figure. (El Confidencial)

Russia has managed to "manipulate Spain's support for Ukraine" by spreading anti-NATO narratives in the Spanish media, warns a Spanish intelligence report. This interference has been carried out through agents on the ground, disinformation and cyber-attacks. The same dossier warns that Russian spies intend to approach Spanish diplomats to "gather information about the war in Ukraine". (El Español)

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. 

If you like this content, please spread the word about it so that anyone interested in Ukraine can benefit from this weekly curation.

Have you spotted an interesting piece of journalism you think should be mentioned in What about Ukraine? Please let us know at about.ua@n-ost.org ! Same if you have an idea how to improve this newsletter. 

See you next week!