Hi everyone,
First, some exciting news: I am in the coming weeks going to expand this newsletter with several new products that, I hope, will provide you with insights on Ukraine you can’t get elsewhere. To support this effort, I’ve enabled Substack’s paid option. The price is as reasonable as possible ($5/month or $50/year) and “The Long War” newsletter will remain free. But, should you choose to pitch in, you’ll also get:
“Ukrainian Pulse”, a look at the topics and people driving the conversation in Ukraine. You’ll get a digest of op-eds and opinions published by popular Ukrainian pundits, experts and activists, with just enough of my own insights to make sense of the debates unfolding in the country, as well as some select translations of particularly interesting takes.
A weekly recap of English-language, Ukraine-related analyses and academic articles.
Special issues taking a deep dive on one specific topic (see the 21st issue of The Long War for an idea of what this will look like)
It’s difficult for me to overstate how important your support is. Writing such a newsletter takes time, and it is work I have so far been doing for free. I’m looking to expand this newsletter and make it a regular publication which, there’s no way around it, requires money. If you’ve found my work valuable in the past, please consider subscribing. If that isn’t possible for you, you can also go for a one-time donation, or just share the newsletter with anyone you think might enjoy it. And of course, thank you for reading!
Something to read (in English)
New Lines Magazine / Americans Pay Large Sums for War Booty Left by Russia, Helping Ukraine in the Process
Science Daily / Alarming antibiotic resistance discovered in war-torn Ukraine
“In addition to all the human suffering caused by the war in Ukraine, another battle is being fought—an invisible war against resistant bacteria. Kristian Riesbeck and his research colleagues analysed patient samples from seriously wounded patients, many of whom had burn injuries, in Ukraine. The patients had acquired infections while in hospital, primarily due to the overwhelmed wards and destroyed infrastructure [...] "We observed that several the Gram-negative bacteria exhibited resistance to broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents, including newly developed enzyme-inhibiting antibiotics that are not yet available in the market. [...] While we have encountered similar cases in India and China before, nothing compares to the extent of resistance observed in this study."”
Something to read (in Ukrainian)
Another fascinating investigation by Lviv-based media NGL after their work on university enrollment in the light of mobilization, which was featured in our 17th issue of The Long War. Discussion about whether to ban the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine is still very much ongoing, as several cities and regions announced they would ban the Church’s activities (a decision almost impossible for them to enforce) and the head of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery was again arrested. NGL went ahead and produced this map of the real estate controlled by the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, thanks to the YouControl registry of Ukrainian companies and properties. That’s 2,878 buildings and 3,798 land plots all over Ukraine—though just 7 in the Lviv region, 14 in the Ivano-Frankivsk region and a few dozen concentrated in the north of the Ternopil region. The media also makes the difference between privately owned land and land leased to regions or the state, with the argument that the latter might be easier to take away from the Church: while 99% of the land owned by the Moscow Patriarchate in the Kyiv region is privately owned, the majority is state-owned in almost all regions.
Zaxid / Regional military administrations will be able to decide on the dismantling of Soviet memorials
Lviv-based outlet Zaxid reports on a message published by the Lviv military administration, reminding that the law allowing them to order the dismantling of Soviet monuments “in case of inactivity from local authorities” will enter into force on July 27. Tearing down of busts, statues and memorials erected by the Soviet regime has been going on since 2014, with thousands of Lenin statues removed in that time period. The Russian invasion triggered a new wave of dismantling—and a shift from desovietization to derussification, with busts of Russian writers like Alexander Pushkin becoming a new target. But the process has, in the past year and a half, often been bottom-up, triggered and enacted by local activists. The law looks like an attempt to get it back to a state-led process.
1800 / ‘Get to work brothers!’ Details on the story of the state traitor arrested in Cherkasy
This story by Cherkasy-based outlet ‘1800’ focuses on one of many cases of Ukrainians accused of spying for Russia. Ukraine’s security service arrested a man native of the Cherkasy region back in January—he was sentenced to 15 years in jail for state treason five months later. According to the court case seen by ‘1800’, Anatoly I., a former physical therapist in a Cherkasy hospital, was recruited by the FSB in November 2022 through Telegram and asked to work “on an ideological basis, that is, without payment.” He was reportedly assigned three main tasks: photograph and map local checkpoints; gather information about the Cherkasy airport; and report on the unfolding mobilization process in the region. The story also includes a few quotes of the correspondence between the defendant and his case officer (“Information accepted! Thank you for helping Russia!” the FSB officer reportedly wrote after he was provided with a detailed description of an area where military equipment was parked).
ICYMI
Recent stories from legacy Western media you may have missed
New York Times / July 17 / Far From the Front, They Stand in Honor of Ukraine
Telegraph / July 17 / Exclusive: Belarus abducts thousands of Ukrainian children
Wired / July 17 / The Remarkable Resilience of Ukraine’s Tech Sector
Associated Press / July 16 / Ukraine bides its time in its counteroffensive, trying to stretch Russian forces before striking
New York Times / July 16 / Small, Hidden and Deadly: Mines Stymie Ukraine’s Counteroffensive
Financial Times / July 16 / Clouds gather over support for Ukraine
New York Times / July 14 / Ruined, Empty, Mined and Overgrown: Ukraine’s Forgotten Villages
Associated Press / July 13 / Thousands of Ukraine civilians are being held in Russian prisons. Russia plans to build many more