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.

Amid fundraising campaigns, patriotic messages and tributes to the fallen, Ukrainian social networks are increasingly filled with stories of civilians stepping up to enlist in the army or volunteer battalions. More and more of them are women, from all walks of life. In this week’s translated article, we share the story of Kateryna Zarembo - a social sciences scholar, Emma Goldman Snowball Award winner, translator, and mother of four children - who has taken the bold step to join emergency missions with the Hospitallers Medical Battalion.

Meanwhile, Italy is grappling with the lack of political consensus over whether Ukraine should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons against Russian targets. Tensions simmer between Sofia and Kyiv over egg exports, but the two nations are strengthening ties in the energy sector. In Germany, concerns about Ukraine’s future are growing, particularly in light of its demographic collapse.

In Spain, stories of soldiers dominate the news this week. Some Spaniards who fought together against ISIS in Kurdistan have ended up on different sides of the Ukrainian frontline. Others are Ukrainians based in Spain who have returned home to defend their nation.

Have a good read!

Fermín Torrano
Editor of this week's edition

Scrolling a Facebook feed in Ukraine during wartime, it is easy to bump into someone announcing they have joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Often those decisions are made by women. This September, Rita Burkovska, a Ukrainian actress, who starred in the movie ‘Butterfly Vision’, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2022, posted a comment on her enlistment.

A few weeks earlier, Kateryna Zarembo, an associate analyst of the New Europe Centre, who received the Emma Goldman Snowball Award, a translator and a mother of four kids, announced she had joined the Hospitallers Medical Battalion, a volunteer unit. She combines her old and new roles, and every time she goes on a mission, it lasts around three weeks.

In a piece, translated by n-ost this week, Zarembo tells about one of her rotations spent in an emergency bus called ‘Austriyka’. With the eye of a researcher, she accurately describes what she witnesses and records details: over 17 days, the team transported and helped stabilise 379 wounded military personnel. From 4 February 2023 until mid-September 2024, the Austriyka saved 6,400 Ukrainian defenders. Zarembo writes about how to communicate with the injured: 

"What are the right words of comfort we can use for them? Sometimes, the wounded we transport do not need such assurance: they are exhausted and are just sleeping, especially if pain does not bother them. However, sometimes, they ask us what will happen next, whether the doctors at the hospital assigned to them are good, or whether their limb can be saved. Here, we have to be careful with every word we use: it is important not to give them false hope, but still support them."

This piece was originally published by The Ukrainians, a Ukrainian online-media focused on interviews with opinion leaders and columns.

Translated by Natalia Volynets. 

Italy

After two years, children are starting to return to Ukraine 

Eleven Ukrainian minors, aged seven to nine, who had been hosted for over two years in a small city in Lombardy, Pontida, returned to Ukraine on 19 September. They were part of a larger group, evacuated in 2022 from an orphanage in Berdyansk. In summer 2023 Ukraine requested the return of the entire group, but some children remained in Italy due to ongoing international protection requests. However these eleven minors, who are involved in adoption processes within Ukraine, were repatriated and placed in an orphanage near the Romanian border, since the children wanted to return. (Il Post)

Italian parties are divided over a European Parliament resolution urging member states to lift restrictions on the use of western weapons provided to Ukraine against legitimate military targets in Russia. According to the resolution, restrictions hinder Ukraine’s right to self-defence. The non-binding document was approved on 19 September with a large majority in the EU, although most Italian parties voted differently on specific points, such as point 8 on the use of weapons in Russia. An article in Pagella Politica pieces together Italian EU MPs preferences: Fratelli d’Italia (Meloni’s party), her ally Forza Italia and the opposition Democratic party voted in favour, even if some of their members voted against point 8. (Pagella Politica)

Italian foreign affairs minister Antonio Tajani, in a radio interview, explains his party's position over the EU resolution on the use of weapons on Russian territory. "All Italian parties, except Lega and Five Star Movement, approved the resolution to support Ukraine," he says, explaining they only opposed their use in Russia. "We have to be careful," states Tajani, "if we want to work for peace. Where will the weapons strike in Russia?". According to Tajani, "Italy is not at war with Russia", and the EU has to help Ukraine but has to avoid an escalation. (Radio Anch’io)

Spain

Once comrades against the Islamic State, now enemies in Ukraine 

Spaniards and soldiers once united against the Islamic State as military volunteers have now found themselves on opposite sides of the Russian-Ukrainian frontline. Unlike in Kurdistan, where they fought against a common enemy, these men are now divided by ideology and allegiance. Several have already died in the Donbas, and both Ukrainian and Spanish authorities launched intelligence investigations into some of them, as they kept in contact with each other through messaging apps, despite being on opposite sides of the battlefield. (El Español)

El País shows the reverse journey, highlighting the story of two Ukrainians who left their lives in Spain to return to Ukraine and defend their homeland. Nicknamed ‘the Spaniards’ and now part of the 65th Brigade, both men had prior combat experience and felt they couldn't stand idly by as their country was invaded. Despite their military background and willingness to continue fighting, they voice concerns about Ukraine's aging army and its reliance on seasoned soldiers like themselves to sustain the front. (El País)

The arms route Spanish politicians revealed during an argument over a ship docking in Spain, has now been confirmed by a Reuters investigation. In May, controversy erupted when a ship suspected of carrying weapons to Israel was blocked from docking in a southern port, following pressure from the left-wing Podemos party. The Spanish government denied the allegations, claiming the 80,000 120mm and 50,000 125mm shells were destined for the Czech Republic, not Israel. Leaked documents suggested the ammunition was headed for Ukraine, and routed through other countries to avoid damaging relations between India and Moscow. This covert operation has been confirmed. (El Confidencial)

Bulgaria

Sofia calls for halt to Ukrainian eggs as local producers struggle to compete

Bulgaria wants to halt the import of eggs from Ukraine until the produce is regulated at a European Union level. The massive import of eggs from Ukraine, facilitated by the EU suspension of customs duties on numerous Ukrainian products in 2023, is causing problems for local producers, who struggle to compete on price. The request came from Sofia's Agriculture Minister, Georgi Tahov, during the last agricultural council in Brussels. In the first half of 2024, Ukrainian eggs imports into Bulgaria increased five times compared to 2023, driving numerous Bulgarian companies into bankruptcy. (Club ‘Z’)

"Bulgaria remains fully committed to supporting Ukraine in the energy sector," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov said at the G-7+ meeting in New York, on 23 September, which focused on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Kondov recalled that in 2023, Ukraine and Bulgaria signed a Memorandum of Understanding for in-depth cooperation in this area. They also established two joint working groups on natural gas and nuclear energy. Sofia and Kyiv are currently engaged in negotiations for the sale of two Russian-technology reactors, unused by Bulgaria, which Ukraine wants to purchase to expand its Khmelnytskyi power plant. (BTA)

A university in the Bulgarian port city of Burgan on the Black Sea provides numerous educational opportunities to Ukrainian students and teachers. "We accept Ukrainian students even without state support, and we train Ukrainian teachers in Bulgarian language, who could teach our students next year," said Hristo Bozov, rector of the ‘Asen Zlatarov’ University, during a meeting with Ukrainian ambassador to Sofia, Olesya Ilashchuk. They two discussed possible new forms of cooperation, such as within the international program "Erasmus +", and the possibility for Ukrainian students to continue their education in Ukrainian and Bulgarian universities. (Vestnik Utro)

Germany 

Ukraine on the brink of demographic catastrophe

A mood of fatigue is present in Ukraine as Russians intensify efforts to capture new territories, and some villages have "hardly any men left", photographer Johanna Maria Fritz, a World Press Photo Award winner, tells war correspondent Paul Ronzheimer in his Ronzheimer podcast. Addressing the possible accusations of not being critical enough of Ukraine, she states: "It’s simply an invasion. You can see that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, that’s just a fact." Johanna argues that further territorial losses for Ukraine will have consequences for everyone: "We all will feel it." (Ronzheimer)

In the Donetsk region, the 100th Brigade of the Ukrainian army, which fires shells on Russian positions near the embattled city of Toretsk, is visited by SZ correspondent Florian Hassel. The brigade is defending the region with outdated Soviet-era equipment, like a T-80 tank and a captured Msta-B howitzer. One soldier nicknamed Worsel comments: "The Russians have much higher losses, but they also have more soldiers and ammunition." As the artillerymen struggle to hold back the advancing Russian troops, the military medics at field hospitals treat a constant stream of wounded soldiers, with some days seeing over 70 casualties. (Sueddeutsche Zeitung)

"The long-term weakening of the Ukrainian state by causing a demographic catastrophe has already been achieved by Putin, regardless of the outcome of the war," argues Alexander Eydlin, newsdesk editor for Zeit, after WSJ published an article titled ‘One Million Are Now Dead or Injured in the Russia-Ukraine War’. Even if Russia may suffer higher losses, the situation is more unfavorable for Ukraine. Not only is there a shortage of soldiers, but the demographic impact is also evident among civilians due to the occupation and the outflow of refugees. Some US sources report that Ukraine has the highest mortality rate and the lowest birth rate globally, with only one birth for every three deaths. (Zeit)

Hungary

Putin’s Russia says Hungary shares its values

Hungary and Slovakia are the only EU member states excluded from Russia’s recent list of "countries with destructive policies", presented by Russian prime minister Mikhail Mizustin. The 47 countries on the list are claimed to "implement policies that impose destructive neoliberal ideological attitudes that contradict traditional Russian spiritual and moral values". The Kremlin also has a separate list of "unfriendly countries", which includes Hungary, because Viktor Orbán repeatedly votes for the EU-sanctions against Moscow. (444.hu)

Among the EU member states, only Hungary and Slovakia remain heavily reliant on Russian imports for both oil and gas. Válaszonline analyses how this dependance developed: "In many ways, the dependence of central European countries without maritime connection is understandable, however, the governments and energy companies have done as little as possible to change this situation." The article argues that these countries have been playing  the wait-and-see game for years: after 2014 and also after 2022 they still hoped to return to the "business as usual" between Russia and the EU. But, according to the analysis, the process of breaking this dependency must begin. It will not be cheap or easy, but many European countries have shown that the problem can be solved. (Válaszonline)

Newly appointed Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sibiha is expected to visit Hungary next week to meet with Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó. While attending the UN general assembly in New York, Szijjártó did not meet his Ukrainian counterpart, but held talks with the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers instead. He said to the news portal Index that he did not meet the Ukrainian foreign minister as Sibiha will arrive in Budapest next week. (Index)

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, Oksana Mamchenkova, Francesco Martino, Antonina Rybka and Fermin Torrano.
Michael Bird was our proofreader. 

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