Poroshenko discusses aid for Ukraine with Polish presidential candidate
Source: European Solidarity
On his visit to Poland, Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko met with Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski to discuss Poland’s support for Ukraine. The two politicians focused on key security issues, including air defense modeled after Israel’s system, energy security during the upcoming winter season, and humanitarian aid.
According to “European Solidarity,” Poroshenko thanked the mayor for granting shelterover 100,000 Ukrainians in Warsaw. The meeting also adressed the issues of “decentralization, maintaining free media during wartime, and addressing the cultural and linguistic needs of Ukrainian children in Poland”.
“I provided him with a detailed update on Ukraine’s overall security situation, the frontline status, the motivation of Ukrainian soldiers, and our urgent needs to repel the Russian invasion. Now is the time for a joint response with our allies, following the ‘Israeli model,’ to counter the brazen attacks on Ukrainian territory and violations of allied airspace,” Poroshenko wrote on social media.
Tipped as a possible presidential candidate in Poland’s 2025 presidential elections, Rafał Trzaskowski has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine.
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.