‘Thank those who are in the Defense Forces’, – president Zelensky
Source: president Volodymyr Zelensky on Facebook
On December 25, in an evening video address, president Volodymyr Zelensky once again wished everyone a Merry Christmas. He stressed that on this Christmas Eve, it is important to say about those who are ‘at any time of the day, night, holidays, are on duty, at combat posts, in battle, in defense of Ukraine’.
Zelensky reminded that on the Christmas Eve, Ukrainian air defense shot down almost 30 attack drones, several missiles, and two Russian combat jets.
‘Thank you! Every Russian pilot must make a clear choice for himself whether to participate further in this war. Our air defense will only become stronger. Especially when we get the additional systems already agreed upon and the F-16,’ the president said.
The head of state expressed his gratitude to each employee of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. He especially noted the rescuers from Kherson, Donetsk, and Kharkiv regions.
He also thanked the energy engineers who, despite constant Russian strikes, provided Ukraine with a bright Christmas.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.