On February 6, ICUV gathered journalists in the Ukrainian capital and reported on the Center’s nearly year-long activity. The co-founders shared the knowledge gained during almost a year of the Center’s activity abroad with the media.

One of the Center’s priorities is advocacy for tightening sanctions and recognition of russia as a terrorist state. This status will allow us to start seizing russian assets and use these funds for the benefit of Ukraine,

Olena Halushka, head of the ICUV board

Olena Halushka pointed out that the United States has now begun to seize individual assets of oligarchs, but it is only a few million. We are interested in the $350 billion of the russian Central Bank, which Western countries cannot yet seize due to the so-called rights of sovereign immunity. In addition, Olena Halushka stressed the importance of imposing a sanction against ROSATOM as an instrument of Russian nuclear terrorism.

Ukraine must win in 2023! One of our main advocacy goals is to convince the collective West that victory cannot be postponed until 2024

Hanna Hopko, co-founder of ICUV

One of the reasons why Ukraine’s victory is so important to the world as soon as possible is because of the 2023 sowing season in Ukraine. Already, Ukrainian farmers are expecting 40% less sowing, which means millions of hungry people in the countries of the global South. To solve this problem, Ukraine needs F16 fighters and long-range missiles, and with such weapons, we are able to win already this year. Hanna Hopko also expressed concern about the intentions of some representatives of the West to put Ukraine at the negotiating table, saying that the West has no strategy for russia, which has lost.

Sanctions against ROSATOM may contribute to russia’s withdrawal from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Viktoria Voytsytska, advocacy director in energy sector

The world community believes that the matter of Zaporizhzhia NPP is under IAEA supervision and therefore there is no need to worry. This is surprising because a few supervisors cannot ensure the nuclear safety of such a giant as the ZNPP NPP. For example, the construction of a strange structure by the Russians over a spent fuel storage facility of unknown function raises questions. We must also be aware that nuclear fuel from our American partner Westinghouse is stored in one of the nuclear reactors, but it seems that the Russians want to dispose of these fuel assemblies in order to gain access to these technologies, which is totally unacceptable. Therefore, Ukraine needs F16s to close the sky at least over Zaporizhzhia NPP and prevent a nuclear disaster.

During the briefing, Daria Kaleniuk stressed the need to obtain modern NATO weapons, especially F16 aircraft for victory. However, for this, Ukraine needs to take a number of steps and reforms and transform into a NATO army: Ukraine needs to create a digital logistics system in the armed forces. This will not only bring the country closer to the standards of NATO, but also help it obtain Western weapons, which are increasingly used in Ukraine.

I observe a certain resistance of the current Minister of Defense to the implementation of such total reforms in the field of digital transformation of the Armed Forces, I see the openness and readiness of the Armed Forces for such transformation. And in my opinion, we are obliged to simply become an army with NATO standards, even without being NATO. And we have very little time for transformation

Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder of ICUV

Olha Aivazovska emphasizes the need to involve countries that have also suffered from aggression on their territory in the creation of a special tribunal. For example, one country that can support Ukraine is Syria.

Any Syrian in Europe who learns that you are Ukrainian will be more empathetic toward you than any Slav. You should understand why. Because the generals who destroyed Syrian cities have the same last names as the generals who destroyed Mariupol. Syrians can unite in public, among experts, and in the media and become a voice of support for Ukraine.

Olha Aivazovska, co-founder of ICUV

These are just some of the excerpts of our speakers from the press briefing. We plan to continue holding such events in the future. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on our upcoming events.