UAH 37 billion war-caused agricultural losses in Kharkiv region, – government
Source: Ukraine’s economy ministry
In Kharkiv region, agricultural losses due to the soil damage as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion amount to almost 37 billion hryvnias.
Researchers have developed and tested a comprehensive damage assessment methodology in Kharkiv region, 61% of which territory was affected by the hostilities.
The study consisted of three stages: geospatial analysis of high-precision satellite images to determine arable land and the degree of damage by ammunition and military equipment, electronic maps of soil types, and the level of their erosion.
The strikes directly damaged 4.2 thousand hectares of arable land and 28.2 thousand hectares could be potentially contaminated with explosives. Another 3.4 thousand hectares of soil were damaged due to the movement of heavy military equipment.
The local authorities believe that the results of the research and detailed maps for each community will help in demining the territories and will make it possible to prove that the products grown in a certain area are not contaminated and dangerous.
In my previous column, I wrote about social innovations in Ukraine. Those innovations are part of civic resilience and the democratization of security, which Europe is paying close attention to right now. The EU is trying to work out how to spread responsibility for its own security across society as a whole, rather than leaving it to institutions alone. It is looking for concrete ways to bring ordinary people into the work of defense and resistance.
Petro Poroshenko’s lawyers have appealed to the High Anti-Corruption Court demanding that NABU be obligated to register proceedings regarding the fact of exerting influence on the court and to recognize Petro Poroshenko as a victim in the case of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Mudra, due to her pressure on Supreme Court judges who were considering a lawsuit to overturn sanctions.
Internationally recognized brands and financial institutions should direct capital to Ukraine now, not waiting for the hostilities to end. This was emphasized by Rinat Akhmetov, president of FC Shakhtar, during a working visit to UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where he met with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
In recent days, Moscow’s official rhetoric has been dominated by hysteria over the decision of…
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.