In a historic move, Ukraine has legalized medical cannabis as a result of a parliamentary vote, with 248 MPs in favor. The legislation, set to take effect in the second half of 2024, strictly regulates the use of cannabis for medical, industrial, and scientific purposes.
4,300 tonnes of fuel oil and possibly other oil products are now being spilled into the waters of the Kerch Strait (connecting the Black Sea and Azov Sea) due to 2 fuel tankers hit by the storm. Both Russian tankers were on the way to deliver fuel for the Russian navy with the Marine Traffic location system being switched off for 12 days – Greenpeace Ukraine.
In the latest update on the Ukraine counteroffensive as of December 5 (Europe Edition), Major General Vladimir Zavadsky of Russia’s Northern Fleet’s 14th Army Corps is confirmed dead, possibly by his own land mines. Ukrainian forces strike Russian oil depots and ammo.
Russian kamikaze drones have reportedly entered Ukrainian airspace, according to Ukraine’s Air Force. Multiple groups of attack UAVs have been observed over various Ukrainian oblasts, posing a threat to regions such as Poltava, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv.
Today marks the solemn 90th anniversary of the Holodomor-Genocide of 1932–1933, a harrowing chapter in Ukrainian history orchestrated by Stalin’s totalitarian regime. Renowned Polish lawyer Rafał Lemkin, a pioneer in genocide recognition, delivered a poignant speech in 1953.
Ukraine has repatriated 1002 children from the temporarily occupied territories and Russia, largely thanks to international assistance. Attempts to locate approximately 19,000 forcibly relocated children continue, according to Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets.
During the 8th Ukrainian Women’s Congress in Kyiv, the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska noted that 59% of businesses founded in Ukraine in 2024 were started by women. The participants discussed how women’s potential helps to overcome war-related challenges and how it essential this will be in Ukraine’s future reconstruction and modernization.
A further 160,000 people are to be drafted into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which will raise the manning of units to 85%, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko said during a session of the Ukrainian parliament. According to Lytvynenko, 1,000,050 citizens have been drafted into the military so far since the beginning of martial law.
Ukraine’s population has declined by 10 million, or around a quarter, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion as a result of refugees leaving the country along with collapsing fertility and war deaths. This was confirmed by Florence Bauer, the Eastern Europe head at the UN Population Fund, who said at a Geneva news conference that the invasion had caused an already difficult demographic situation into something more severe.
English 
Ukrainian 
French 
German 
Spanish 
Chinese