Greetings!
Welcome to our July newsletter, where we highlight the latest achievements of the ICUV team. Thank you for joining us on this journey towards Ukrainian Victory.

MAIN ADVOCACY PRIORITIES

Confiscation of Russian Frozen State Assets: 50 bln loan for Ukraine
The G7 agreed to provide $50 billion in loans to Ukraine, to be covered by the proceeds of the $300 billion in frozen assets held by the Russian Central Bank. They agreed that the loans would be structured differently, based on the partners’ internal procedures, and that each would bear the risk of the loans if the frozen assets yielded less than expected.  

This money will help us withstand Russia and contribute to our victory. However, this will not bring the goal of restoring and bringing Russia to justice for violating international law any closer. Therefore, this is an important, but interim step, and the full confiscation of $300 billion in assets of the Central Bank is and should remain the key goal in this regard. 

We thank our partners, friends, think tanks, communities, and activists for supporting our #MakeRussiaPay campaign. And congratulations on this success! To read more about ICUV’s role in this campaign and some of its highlights here. 
Closing the Ukrainian sky to protect critical energy infrastructure

Since the start of the war, Russia has focused on attacking critical infrastructure to make Ukraine uninhabitable, aiming to depopulate the country and destroy its economy and supply chains.

Before the invasion, Ukraine’s electricity capacity was 36GW. In June 2024, due to missile attacks and the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the country operates on only 9GW. By spring 2023, relentless missile assaults on energy infrastructure and the occupation of the ZNPP had slashed this capacity by 18.1 GW. In spring 2024, further drone and precision-guided missile attacks resulted in the loss of an additional 8GW.

As of today, it is expected that during the winter of 2024-25, the electricity generating capacities shortage will be at 5-6GW. Since 2022, about 80 percent of Ukraine’s manuevering generating capacity has been severely damaged or destroyed.

It is more cost-effective for Europe to allocate sufficient air defense to Ukraine now than to accommodate at least 5 million new refugees this winter.

ADVOCACY VISITS HIGHLIGHTS 

Lennart Meri Conference 2024 

ICUV co-founder Olena Halushka and programme director Iryna Krasnoshtan attended the 17th Lennart Meri Conference 2024, which took part in Tallinn from 16 to 18 May 

ICUV team advocated for the confiscation of the Russian frozen assets, in particular at the closed-door discussion “Holding Russia Accountable — From Freezing to Seizing Russian Assets”, as well as for the urgent defence assistance for Ukraine.

Taiwan

Hanna Hopko held an advocacy visit to Taiwan. Hanna attended the inauguration of Taiwan’s newly elected president Lai Ching Te. She also had an audience with Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao, spoke at the Global Leaders Forum, and held meetings with local politicians, think tanks and civil society organisations. 

Republic of Korea

Daria Kaleniuk, Victoria Voytsitska, and ICUV volunteer Andrii Ordynovych were on an advocacy visit In Seoul. The delegation advocated for energy and nuclear security, preparation for the next winter, recovery and reconstruction, sanctions and confiscation of Russian assets and increasing defence assistance to Ukraine. The delegation had meetings with several high-level officials, including Rev. SeJin Koh from the Seoul Union Church, a political-military officer from the US Embassy in Korea, Thomas Billingsley and members of the Institute of National Security Strategy.

Advocacy visit to Japan 

Hanna Hopko, Olena Halushka and ICUV volunteer Andrii Ordynovych were on an advocacy visit to Japan. The delegation had meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance; with influential and active parliamentarians; governmental agencies focusing on international trade and international development: with the vice president of JETRO and the regional management of JICA; with civil society.

Brazil

ICUV Program Director Iryna Krasnoshtan visited Brazil Capital Brasília. She spoke at the Ukraine-Latin America expert round table. The experts’ delegation also held meetings with Brazilian civil society organisations and officials from the Presidential Office and the Parliament to discuss how to improve the mutual relations between the countries, in particular in light of the G20 presidency which Brazil holds. The visit was led by the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”.

Helsinki, Finland

Olena Halushka, Victoria Voytsitska and Vlada Dumenko attended the Nordic Advocacy Summit, where they co-signed a joint declaration committing collective efforts and intensifying international cooperation towards Ukrainian victory. Then ICUV team held a series of important advocacy meetings with key figures at the President’s Cabinet Advisor in Defence, the Ministry of Defence, the think tank CREA, the NATO Hybrid Center of Excellence, the National Defence University, members of the Finnish Parliament and the Security Committee and the Secretary-General of the Parliament. These discussions focused on strengthening defence cooperation, strategic communications, reinforcing international security efforts, and exchanging experience in the energy security area.



RESEARCHES & POLICY PAPERS 

PUBLICATIONS

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