‘Belarus takes the lead in shooting down Russian drones’ – Zelensky
In his speech at Yalta European Strategy Forum on Friday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky vented his frustration over the Western allies’ delaying the decision to allow Ukraine hit deeper into Russia’s territory with long range missiles. He bitterly joked that at this point “Belarus is taking the lead in shooting down Russian drones’.
“It’s humiliating for the powerful democratic world that no decision has been made yet to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine. The fact that only Belarus has managed to do so? I didn’t expect this. It’s honestly quite embarrassing,” added Zelensky bitterly.
“If our allies can unite to take down rockets and drones over the Middle East, then why is there still no similar action to shoot down Russian missiles and ‘Shaheds’ over Ukraine?” he questioned, driving home the point. “And it’s not just over Ukraine – these missiles and drones are flying toward neighboring countries too.”
Zelensky’s words echoed the growing bitterness in Kyiv – Ukrainian officials have been banging the drum for months, urging partners not to sidestep the issue. “When we raise this [issue] with our partners, everyone just tries to talk their way around it. They’re even afraid to say, ‘We’re working on it.’ Afraid of those very words,” Zelensky said, his disappointment evident.
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.