The latest media articles
Read the media articles and other products produced and published in cooperation with the Institute for European Security Studies.
Hungarians went to check out Druzhba, Ukraine talks about tourists, Slovaks didn't have time to join
March 12, 2025
Slovak PM Robert Fico said at the end of February that Slovakia and Hungary want to send an "inspection group" to Ukraine to investigate whether the Druzhba oil pipeline is really damaged.
What will Ukraine do if Russia takes over Chisinau again after the elections: "Russia wants to make Moldova a new Belarus"
September 27, 2025
The crucial elections on Sunday in the Republic of Moldova represent a huge stake not only for Romanians across the Prut but also for the European Union, Ukraine and Romania as a state.
Analyst explains why NATO is weak and incompetent. "You can just scrap Article Five," he says
September 15, 2025
In the last week alone, Russian drones have penetrated two NATO countries – Poland and Romania. Ukrainian military and political analyst Olexandr Kovalenko is convinced that this was not a coincidence, but a classic Russian provocation in the spirit of the methods used by the Soviet Union.
How three years of war have affected queer Ukrainians − and what strength love gives them
September 12, 2025
They care for the seriously wounded at the front and celebrate birthdays by candlelight. They survived Russian captivity and feel truly free on their motorcycles.
Russian attack on pensioners: an UAV flew over the area, even shelter didn't help
September 10, 2025
The glide bomb fell on a place where people were waiting for their pension payments from a postal delivery van.
Expert: Drones maneuvered in Polish airspace, which indicates a deliberate Russian airstrike
September 10, 2025
The drones that entered Polish airspace maneuvered and changed course, which proves that it was not the result of the operation of electronic warfare systems (EWS) in Ukraine, but a deliberate Russian airstrike testing NATO, Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military expert from the Information Opposition group, said on Wednesday.
The war machine is destroying the Russian economy. Economists say there is no danger of collapse unless sanctions are tightened
September 3, 2025
Both Ivan Mikloš and Ukrainian economist Volodymyr Landa discuss the deteriorating state of the Russian economy, which is being dragged down by the war machine.
Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief Forbes Ukraine: Russia and Ukraine Do Not Have the Resources to Fight the War Until 2028. Both Are Exhausted
September 3, 2025
The war in Ukraine could end in the coming months or next year because the economies of Russia and Ukraine are "exhausted", and the two countries no longer have the necessary resources.
The Soul Seekers
August 17, 2025
In the combat zones of Donbas, volunteers are recovering fallen soldiers. The body collectors are risking their lives to ensure a dignified burial for both Ukrainian and Russian dead. Only in this way, they say, is peace possible.
Inside ∄, the Kyiv club where raving meets resistance
August 15, 2025
As war rages on in Ukraine, one underground club in the country’s capital has become a powerful hub of activism.
About Us Without Us? IESS Director Fishchenko on the Trump-Putin Summit
August 14, 2025
The victim, i.e. the attacked country, should also be discussed at the same table with the country suffering from Russian aggression. This is what Hlib Fishchenko, the Director of the IESS, thinks. According to him, the question is also whether Putin would consider the Ukrainian president a sufficiently relevant partner. Reporter Marika Dulaiová spoke with him.
Ukrainian political scientist on possible conclusions of the Trump-Putin summit
August 14, 2025
The outcome of the negotiations may be new Russian demands, general declarations or agreements that do not include Ukraine. A Ukrainian political scientist from Kyiv National University estimates the conclusions of the negotiations. He does not rule out that Putin will try to influence Trump with historical facts about the territory of Ukraine.
Donald Trump and EU leaders discuss the future of Ukraine
August 13, 2025
In direct contact with Euronews is Hlib Fishchenko, Director of the IESS.
Hlib Fishchenko: I saw what the Russians did to Ukrainian children
August 4, 2025
Why do you think we live in an information war? What are the reasons behind the success of Russian propaganda in Slovakia? In what stave were the victims of the Russian war, whom he helped? What would a Russian victory mean for Slovakia? How did Ukrainians perceive the meeting between Prime Minister Fico and President Putin? Interview with Hlib Fishchenko, the Director of IESS.
Ukrainian youth in the crosshairs. About the generation that was robbed of the right to an easy youth
July 13, 2025
Approximately 80 percent of young Ukrainians live with chronic fatigue, anxiety, and sleep problems that have become so normalized that they are no longer perceived as a symptom, a Ukrainian analyst, Hlib Fishchenko, writes from Kyiv.
They are knitting camouflage nets for Ukrainian soldiers. "One life can be saved in an hour," says the Evangelical pastor
June 17, 2025
The more drones are used in the war in Ukraine, the more camouflage nets are needed. Five to six football fields. Roughly that area would be covered by those that were made in Slovakia by volunteers in two years and sent to the front line.
Dozens of Ukrainians and Slovaks meet in Košice every weekday. They have gradually been joined by volunteers in Prešov and Poprad.
Fishing nets, patiently woven by hand with pieces of fabric, camouflage trenches, ambulances, aid vehicles, fire engines, military equipment, and even soldiers themselves. Drones see everything; anything that is not camouflaged is immediately targeted.
I would like to wake up one day and realize that Russia no longer exists, says a young Ukrainian woman who studies in Prešov and helps her country with fundraising.
June 16, 2025
Sofia Pančenko is 18 years old, the only one in her family to leave for Slovakia. She comes from Poltava in central Ukraine, which she doesn't like much, calling it a Russified city. When we meet in a café near the University of Prešov, where she studies, she says that she won't speak Russian on principle. It's not even necessary, she already speaks excellent Slovak.
Day 1195 in Ukraine: 13 aircraft destroyed in attack on Russian bases
June 2, 2025
The attack was also officially confirmed by the Ukrainian secret service SBU, which organized the operation. According to it, 41 Russian aircraft, including strategic bombers, were hit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that 34% of Russian strategic bombers were hit by the SBU's strikes at airfields in several Russian regions. He did not give an exact number of planes destroyed.
Zelensky, after the conversation between Trump and Putin: "Russia is trying to buy time to continue the war and occupation."
May 20, 2025
Ukraine is more focused on a marathon than a middle-distance race in its struggle to shake off the Russian yoke . It has no confidence in the short term of a just peace that will bring stability and security to the country and is preparing for a conflict that could last decades.
Ukraine may be decided in Turkey: Putin wants surrender, Trump the Nobel Prize
May 12, 2025
At a press conference called by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the night of Saturday to Sunday, there was a hint of an old, familiar demand: the surrender of Ukraine .
In front of journalists, whom he kept waiting until almost 2 a.m., the Russian president repeated his claim that any negotiations should address the "root causes" of the war, which from the Kremlin's perspective mainly represents the "denazification" of the Ukrainian government - and thus a de facto regime change in Ukraine.
Interviews 24: Ukrainian perspective on May 9th
May 12, 2025
The Great Victory, the victory of the Red Army - this is what Russia emphasizes during its annual celebrations in Moscow. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the victory over Nazism, this has become a major ideological motif. Editor Marika Dulaiová spoke with Akim Galimov, a Ukrainian journalist and founder of the Real Story project, about interesting facts from the history of the Great Victory celebrations.
Interviews 24: Ukrainian perspective on events in Russia
May 10, 2025
The majestic celebrations of the Great Victory in Russia are nothing more than ideological propaganda of the Russian regime. This is what Hlib Fishchenko from the Institute for European Security Studies thinks. Editor Marika Dulaiová spoke to him before Friday's military parade in Moscow.
This is complete treason. Fico will not wash away his shame. Leško, Radičová, Mikloš and others evaluate the trip to Moscow
May 9, 2025
Iveta Radičová, Ivan Mikloš, Marián Leško, Jana Kobzová, Miroslav Wlachovský, Petra Procházková, Grigorij Mesežnikov, Alexander Duleba, Peter Weiss and Hlib Fiščenko evaluate what was the event and surprise of the trip, and choose the most powerful quote.
Robert Fico will participate in the celebrations of the cult of violence in Moscow. It is his moral bankruptcy (opinion of Hlib Fishchenko)
May 8, 2025
Prime Minister Fico's statements and actions are a betrayal of European values and solidarity with the victims of war. He will participate alongside a dictator in an event that tramples on the memory of the real anti-Nazi struggle.
Putin exploits Trump's weakness, Russians set unfulfillable conditions. They are cautiously optimistic about Zelensky anyway
April 30, 2025
Russia proposes a three-day ceasefire to coincide with Moscow's celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism. Ukrainians are asking them why they don't stop fighting immediately.
Interviews 24: Ukraine does not intend to give up territory
April 24, 2025
The proposal by the United States of America to formally make Crimea a territory of Russia was immediately rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Moreover, according to the Financial Times, Russia proposed a cessation of the war along the current front line. Ukraine, which has been resisting Russian aggression for more than three years, does not agree with any of the proposals. Reporter Marika Dulaiová, together with Mirko Tód from Denník N, spoke about this with the spokesman for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tychy. The interview was conducted thanks to the Institute for European Security Studies.
As if Ukraine has already lost the war, but with the US, says expert about mineral deal
April 16, 2025
Ukraine offered the United States a mineral extraction contract to secure the possibility of further military aid from Washington. However, the Trump administration has retroactively labeled the military aid already provided as debt and considers the mining agreement a back payment.
"If any money provided could be retroactively labeled as debt in the future, it would change the entire global financial system. That is unimaginable," says Volodymyr Landa, senior economist at the Ukrainian Center for Economic Strategy.
Despite everything, Landa hopes that there is still room for a mutually beneficial solution between Kiev and Washington.
Ukraine is rich in natural resources, but many mines and opencast mines are outdated. The planned raw materials deal with the USA is fuelling hopes.
March 17-24, 2025
Without a peace agreement with Russia, no mining company will risk exploring and extracting further resources
For over a decade, it has not been the war against the Russian invader, whose frontline rages some 270 kilometres away, but the lack of mining contracts that has forced many residents to leave the town in search of work and a regular salary. Those who remain in the quiet village are waiting for a miracle.
Politics is returning, victory is talked about less. Seven observations from Ukraine after three years of the Great War. The West should help more, or Ukraine will lose.
March 6, 2025
We have seen with our own eyes what the data has long indicated – the majority of Ukrainians want an immediate end to the conflict, although a large part of them still refuses to see Ukraine permanently lose its territory.
As the Ukrainian journalist Yaroslav Trofimov, for example, has pointed out in the past, it is a bit of a paradox. It is as if many Ukrainians, for various reasons – constant fatigue, stress, fear – no longer have the strength to continue the war, but at the same time they do not want to accede to Putin’s demands.
They will feel it on the front lines before the summer. What about the cessation of military aid to Ukraine?
March 4, 2025
Already at that time, the Ukrainians were experiencing a shortage of ammunition and weapons. At the same time, the Russians are able to enter several key areas and are still occupying Ukrainian territories that they did not control before the suspension of American military aid.
They have been living in constant fear for their lives for three years. We visited the children's hospital in Kyiv that was hit by a rocket attack
March 3, 2025
Air raids and a run for shelters. Kyiv residents have been living in daily fear for their lives for three years. The Russian missile attack on a children's hospital has shaken them the most in the past year.
We bring our camera to the largest children's hospital in Ukraine - Okhmadyt. Last summer, its nephrology department was hit by a hypersonic Kinzhal missile.
Rather war than a shameful peace. Ukraine backs Zelenskyy after rift with Trump.
March 1, 2025
Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance, took a swipe at Zelenskyy, saying he was ungrateful. The US president has also pushed for peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Zelenskyy rejects. Trump is therefore threatening to end aid to Ukraine.
Greek Catholic priest survived Russian torture, but did not lose his faith and smile
February 23, 2025
Peter Krenický, a Greek Catholic priest who has served in Ukraine for over 30 years, never takes a smile off his face, claiming that goodness is the best answer to everything. His story, when he was captured and tortured in Melitopol by Russian occupiers in November 2022, must have been read or listened to with astonishment by many, as he has maintained his sense of humor even in difficult times, and today he serves in a small village in Transcarpathia.
Fico should explain why he is forcing Kyiv to transit Russian gas that pays for killing Ukrainians
February 5, 2025
Ondřej Kundra's (Ne)bezpečí #47 with analyst Hlib Fiščenko on the dispute between the Ukrainian president and the Slovak prime minister over natural gas supplies from Russia.
Trump's move is controversial. NGOs can handle the problem, and Ukraine also sees hope
February 4, 2025
Some associations or organizations operate only on US-funded projects. Independent and anti-corruption media also have grants. For example, the film industry also receives grants, e.g. a documentary on the genocide of the Crimean Tatars received a grant
The fight for democracy in Georgia
"This is the last chance"
January 30, 2025
Protesters in Georgia are fighting for democracy, rapprochement with the EU and their personal future. Since the parliamentary elections in October 2024, which were overshadowed by allegations of manipulation, thousands of people have regularly taken to the streets, especially in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. In some cases, there has been massive police violence against demonstrators and journalists. A new level of escalation, while the pro-European movement has been facing repression for a long time. Who are the protesters and what helps them not to give up?
Press announcement of the conference: "Slovakia for Ukraine"
January 13, 2025
On January 14, 2025, Kyiv will host an important conference, "Peace for Ukraine: A Slovak Perspective," which will bring together public figures, journalists, and activists from Ukraine and Slovakia. This event is a symbolic and effective response to the diplomatic initiatives of Slovak government officials aimed at rapprochement with Russia and demonstrates that Slovak civil society stands firmly with Ukraine.
Ukraine is not interested in continuing gas transit to Slovakia
January 7, 2025
"Ukraine is not interested in continuing gas transit because this helps to finance a war against itself. That would be a suicidal step" said Vsevolod Vereshchahin, Head of Board of the IESS. "I don't think that the gas flow could be resumed, as Ukraine has repeatedly and well in advance warned that it will not happen", he added.
Russia is a complex organism—evolving and degrading simultaneously
January 3, 2025
It is known that the Kremlin is spending huge sums of money to increase Russia's destructive influence in Europe, what the Russian special services call 'information and education activities'. This beautiful name, which is supposed to promote the 'Russian world', the 'Russian soul' or 'Russian hospitality', is in fact nothing more than propaganda, which contains all the elements of information and psychological operations (IPSO).
Slovakia under pressure: Who will get control of energy?
December 30, 2024
"This is just the kind of populist talk that the Prime Minister is doing, but I don't know why he is doing it. If we are confident in Gazprom ceasing to be a tool for financing the war new contracts could be signed, now it doesn't look like it," reports Hlib Fishchenko, Director of the Institute for European Security Studies.
The war propaganda started to build the image that Russia is willing to negotiate
December 27, 2024
Fico’s visit to Kremlin is an attempt to legitimize Putin in Europe. "Russian media and Telegram channels have started to spread the information that Fico has broken down the wall between the West and Russia"
Ukrainian analysts on Fico's visit to Putin: It was about Russian gas
December 23, 2024
The Head of the Ukrainian Institute for European Security Studies, Hlib Fishchenko, pointed out that after Fico's meeting with Putin, "narratives spread among Ukrainians by common observers, for example, on social network X and influential users of other social networks, including Telegram, who do not understand Slovak political realities. They write that Fico is a 'dovbojov', a vulgar word Zelenskyy used to describe Putin.