Ukraine to continue Antarctic research
Source: Ukraine’s ministry of education and science
The Government of Ukraine adopted a resolution extending the term of the State targeted scientific and technical research program in the Antarctic until 2025.
This decision will make it possible to conduct and finance Ukrainian Antarctic expeditions over the next two years.
Ukraine will continue to conduct research in the Antarctic, ensuring the uninterrupted operation of the Vernadsky Research Base and the ‘Noosphere’ icebreaker.
‘Even during the full-scale war, we have no right to stop our Antarctic program. First, this will erase all the investments that Ukraine has already made in the Antarctic research for 28 years, and then we will need many times more funds for recovery. Second, the presence in the Antarctic is our opportunity to join global research projects,’ said Yevhen Dykyi, the director of the National Antarctic Research Center.
He also noted that Ukraine has been conducting its own research in the Antarctic since February 1996, when Great Britain transferred to Ukraine the Faraday station, which is now called Vernadsky Base.
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.
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