Society & Culture

The Center for Civil Liberties human rights watchdog, headed by Oleksandra Matviychuk, received the Nobel Peace Prize for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine. Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, dear members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of Ukraine and citizens of the world. This year, the entire Ukrainian nation was waiting for the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. We see this Prize as a recognition of the efforts of the Ukrainian people, who have bravely stood up to the attempts to destroy peaceful development of Europe, as well as a celebration of the work…

President Volodymyr Zelensky has enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on sanctions against a number of representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). The relevant decrees were published on the president’s website, Ukrinform reports. “To put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine as of December 11, 2022 ‘On the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions),” the decree says. The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine was tasked with monitoring the implementation of the NSDC decision.…

The photography exhibition, Stronger Than Steel, which is dedicated to the defenders of Ukraine’s Mariupol, has opened in the city of Lviv. The relevant statement was made by Radio Liberty [Radio Svoboda], an Ukrinform correspondent reports. The exhibition was organized by the relatives of the fallen servicemen. In the premises of Lviv’s Powder Tower, one can see 177 pictures of the members of the Azov Regiment and read a short info about each of them. “Here, we have photographs only of some of the fallen Mariupol defenders. Perhaps, less than half of them. We collected these pictures together with the…

About 300,000 residents of Odesa region still have no electricity after the Russian attack on energy infrastructure on December 10. "Out of 1.5 million residents who didn’t have electricity yesterday, 300,000 clients in the region do not have electricity now. We expect a significant improvement in the situation tomorrow," Maksym Marchenko, Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, posted on Telegram. He added that now the Russians' goals are becoming obvious to everyone. The aggressor wants to exhaust the Ukrainians in the difficult winter period. "This is a difficult trial, but everyone will have to pass it," the administration’s head…

On December 10, almost 36,000 people arrived in Ukraine, of whom 32,000 are Ukrainian citizens. The Western Regional Department of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine – the Western Border said this in a statement, Ukrinform reports. In total, almost 75,000 people and 20,000 vehicles crossed Ukraine's western borders with the European Union and Moldova on December 10. Over the past day, 39,000 people left Ukraine. Of whom, 24,000 crossed the border into Poland, the rest followed to other EU countries and Moldova. At checkpoints, border guards registered 165 trucks with humanitarian aid on December 10. iy

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help with the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and to stop the forced displacement of Ukrainian children to Russia. According to Ukrinform, Kuleba wrote this on Twitter following a meeting with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric in Kyiv. "I met ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric in Kyiv to thank for ICRC's aid and stress the need to free our POWs. I called on ICRC to help us stop one of Russia's most heinous crimes of forceful transfer of Ukrainian children, return them home and…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree to mark Human Rights Day in Ukraine every year on December 10. The decree, No. 854/2022, has been published on the website of the head of state, Ukrinform reports. According to the document, the decision was adopted "with the aim of affirming and ensuring human rights and freedoms, which is the main duty of the state, strengthening the consolidation of Ukrainian society, supporting the decision of the UN General Assembly to celebrate Human Rights Day on December 10 in honor of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Human Rights…

Ukrainian Shchedryk (also known as “Carol of the Bells”) will be performed at Carnegie Hall to mark the 100th anniversary of its first performance in New York. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine released the announcement on Telegram. Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Ukrainian Republic Capella concert conducted by Oleksandr Kohyts in New York. This year, the choirs from Ukraine and North America, including the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka, the Children's Choir Shchedryk, and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, will participate in the Notes from Ukraine concert. Opera singer Janai Brugger and Ukrainian folk singer…

Ambulances purchased with funds raised at a charity event in Great Britain have arrived in Ukraine. "We received such beauty, we are just delighted. We thank the embassies of Estonia and Ukraine in Great Britain for them which organized a charity event and agreed that the raised funds would be used to purchase ambulances. Actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Jude Law urged to support the initiative at the event. We managed to collect GBP 90,000, and as a result, received as many as three such vehicles," the Ministry of Health of Ukraine posted on Facebook. The ambulances are adapted to work…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council "On certain aspects of the activity of religious organizations in Ukraine and the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)." The decree to that effect, dated December 1, 2022, has been published on the website of the head of state, Ukrinform reports. The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council was tasked with monitoring the implementation of the NSDC decision. The decree enters into force from the day of its publication. According to the decision, the NSDC gave the…