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War destruction offers a chance to rebuild Ukraine in a way that considers its changing identity and with special attention for people with disabilities such as soldiers and amputees, writes Anna Romandash.

Anna Romandash is the Fourth Freedom Forums first Howard S. Brembeck Fellow, an award-winning journalist from Ukraine, and the author ofWomen of Ukraine: Reportages from the War and Beyond.

Russia continues waging its war and missiles keep falling on Ukrainian cities. Destruction and deaths are regular occurrences across the country, which has been dealing with the Russian aggression for nearly ten years.

Yet, Ukraine is rebuilding itself as we speak. Neither the government nor the civil society are waiting for the war to end. Instead, people are already restoring whats been damaged or lost and are trying to put as much normalcy into the war-affected areas as possible, given the situation.

In many cases, destruction offers a chance to rebuild Ukraine in a way that considers its changing identity such as without any of the clichs and influences of the Soviet occupation or colonial past. A lot of reconstruction is also influenced by the ongoing war such as building schools underground for safety reasons and upgrading security requirements for new projects.

Yet, what about inclusive reconstruction? Are the buildings, roads, and other infrastructure barriers free and friendly to those with disabilities? Is the Ukrainian reconstruction project adapted to the need to serve the people who have special needs and whose rights have been deprived for many years, primarily due to the Soviet legacy of keeping people with disabilities inside, invisible to their communities?

In reality, Ukraine can no longer ignore people with disabilities. Before the full-scale invasion, there were nearly three million Ukrainians who had a disability almost 10% of the population. Now, with the continuous aggression, explosions, and attacks, the number of disabled individuals is likely to grow and it is expected to explode when the majority of the soldiers return from the war and go through rehabilitation processes.

The government of Ukraine recognises the need to rebuild the country inclusively and there are platforms and spaces for discussion with relevant civil society organisations and activists working on disability rights. Civil forums and government-community exchanges enable more cooperation on an inclusive strategy for rebuilding Ukraine.

Further, there are pilot projects with civil society consulting the government and local communities to ensure the reconstruction in different localities is disability-friendly.

So the reality is somewhat hopeful because the rights and needs of people with disabilities are at least taken into account now. Before, these groups were mostly invisible and marginalised, so this large percentage of Ukraines population had no say in the vision of their countrys future.

This discussion is at least happening amid the war and chaos, which is already a big step forward. Politicians and policymakers are aware of the need for inclusive reconstruction, and average Ukrainians are increasingly more knowledgeable and receptive toward disability rights.

This is not enough, however. Inclusive reconstruction is not about giving privileges to people with disabilities because equal access and human rights empower society as a whole and not only a selected few.

Throughout the entire Russian aggression in Ukraine, people with disability had to rely on themselves to get to safety as there were no accessible shelters and few options for fleeing from insecure areas on their own.

As Ive been reporting on the Russian war, Ive talked to many people with disabilities who had to evacuate themselves on inaccessible trains, rely on peoples kindness, ask others to tell them what was happening when they could not hear or read the urgent information, and face the terrifying reality of being abandoned.

People were often left to their own devices amid the state of highest panic during the early days of the full-scale invasion. There are lots of closed institutions for people with mental disabilities which were not evacuated on time when Russia occupied Ukrainian territories.

Often, when people with mental disabilities managed to flee the occupation, they did so all alone, without any accompaniment. When they arrived in Ukraine-controlled areas, they struggled to get accessible information or help.

There are many failures when it comes to caring for recently disabled people such as soldiers-amputees returning from the frontlines, or civilians hurt as a result of the invasion. The Ukrainian state cannot serve them all and provide adequate medical and other support and this task is often outsourced to civil society organisations and international partners.

Yet, there are things where civil society cannot replace the state such as an actual infrastructure update and fixing and constructing roads, buildings, and other spaces that are accessible and disability-friendly.

Civil society is also not the one which determines Ukraines education system such as launching inclusive educational programs and making sure that children with disability have access to regular schools and get to socialise with their peers.

These and other fundamental tasks are the states responsibility and it is crucial that the Ukrainian government prioritises inclusiveness and makes it a national policy. This goes beyond ramps on the pedestrian walkways, enabling more access to information for people with special needs, more visibility and representation in policymaking, and a shift in education.

Ukraine is undergoing rapid decolonisation by freeing itself from the remains of the Soviet past. It was a Soviet approach of locking people with disabilities in their homes or closed institutions as second-class citizens.

Now, Ukraine has a unique opportunity not only to rebuild itself but to do it right so Ukraines reconstruction caters to all communities. As Ukraine strives to become an EU member state, it should borrow some of the better practices from its Western neighbours so its reconstruction is disability-friendly and genuinely inclusive.

People with disabilities shared different experiences during the Russian war. Many became volunteers rescuing others from the most dangerous areas. Some were forced to flee the country. There are also people with disabilities serving in Ukraines Armed Forces. Regardless of each experience, people with disabilities are no longer invisible in Ukrainian society and they need to have the equal rights and accessibility they deserve.

Link:
Inclusive reconstruction of Ukraine: What's at stake? - EURACTIV

[1/4]Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Swiss President Alain Berset, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte attend an international summit on food security 'Grain from Ukraine', amid Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine November 25,... Acquire Licensing Rights Read more

KYIV, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Ukraine needs more air defences to protect its grain export routes as well as regions bordering Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday, as he addressed an international summit on food security in Kyiv.

"There is a deficit of air defence - that is no secret," Zelenskiy told the Grain from Ukraine summit, which was attended by senior officials from European countries, including Swiss President Alain Berset and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

Zelenskiy was speaking after Russia attacked Ukraine with 75 drones overnight, the biggest drone assault of the war. The joint press conference of the three leaders was cut short by another air raid siren.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine would be supplied by its foreign partners with vessels to accompany convoys of cargo ships from Ukraine's ports to guarantee their security.

"I have agreements with several countries about powerful accompaniment of convoys by Ukrainians, but using (foreign) equipment," he said.

Separately, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged support in a letter to Zelenskiy that she shared on social media platform X, saying the Commission would make available 50 million euros for "quick repairs and upgrades of infrastructure in Ukraine's ports."

The Ukrainian president said Kyiv hoped to solve its air defence shortage through new supplies from partners and increasing its own production capacity, something on which he said there had been progress.

"As of today, I can't say details what we are making and where, but there is progress," he said.

Ukraine, a major exporter of grain, has been exporting grain via unilateral corridors through the Black sea, after Russia withdrew in July from a UN-brokered deal to allow grain ships through its blockade.

Ukraine's current Black sea grain export corridors all start from ports in Ukraine's southern region of Odesa.

"There are certain air defence systems... we are asking for them," Zelenskiy said. "We've already got an answer when those systems will start to guard that region. Because there, both the corridor and the people are important."

Asked about the protests by Polish and Slovak truckers which have blocked much of Ukraine's road-based cargo supply in recent days, Zelenskiy blamed the problem on the internal politics of those countries.

"I believe that there are difficulties on the border first and foremost because of certain political steps by our neighbours," he told a press conference after the summit.

Zelenskiy said he was confident the issue would be solved if Ukraine's neighbours were given "a bit of time" to deal with the dispute.

Reporting by Max Hunder; additional reporting by Elaine Monaghan in Washington; Editing by Hugh Lawson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Ukraine needs more air defences to protect grain exports, Zelenskiy says - Reuters

Russia said Sunday it had downed Ukrainian drones over five regions, including Moscow, as well as two Ukrainian missiles over the Azov Sea, a day after a large-scale Russian drone attack on Kyiv.

Russia and Ukraine have hit each with drones for months, as Moscow's offensive drags on for a 22nd month, with little significant movement on the front, despite fierce fighting.

Russia said the drones hit the Moscow region, other regions near the capital as well as regions bordering Ukraine.

"Air defense destroyed nine drones over the territory of the Moscow, Tula, Kaluga and Bryansk regions," Russia's defense ministry said early on Sunday.

It later said that another four Ukrainian drones were downed over the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, as well as the southwestern Smolensk region and the Tula region, which lies north of Moscow.

The attacks came a day after Ukraine said Russia had launched 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones, mostly aimed at Kyiv, in what it said was a "record" since Moscow's offensive last year.

Ukraine has upped attacks on Russia since launching its counter-offensive this summer, and has hit regions close to fighting zones as well as further inland into Russia, including Moscow itself.

The Russian army also said Sunday it had downed two Ukrainian missiles over the Azov Sea that it said were headed for Russia.

Russia controls the Ukrainian Azov Sea coast, which fell to Moscow early in its offensive last year.

Local authorities in the affected regions did not report casualties.

"I call on refraining to share photographs or videos of the drones on social media," the Smolensk governor Vasily Anokhin wrote on Telegram, adding that emergency services were working in areas that were hit.

Smolensk region, which borders Belarus, has been mostly spared from drone attacks.

On the battlefield, fighting has now focused around the industrial hub of Avdiivka, which appears almost encircled by Russian forces.

The fall of Avdiivka a symbol of Ukrainian resistance since 2014 would be a significant loss for Kyiv.

Ukraine, meanwhile, reported Russian attacks in the south and east of the country.

The head of the southern city of Kherson, Roman Mrochko, said two urban districts were shelled and that information of possible victims was being clarified.

Regional authorities in the Kherson region said around a dozen villages were left without electricity due to bad weather and Russian attacks.

Kyiv has been preparing for weeks for a feared renewal of Moscow's campaign to hit its energy grid in a possible repeat of last year, when thousands were left without power in freezing temperatures.

"Due to bad weather and Russian shelling, a number of settlements in our region were left without electricity," the head of the Kherson region Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.

"Power supply teams are already working to eliminate the malfunctions," he added.

Nearly 400 localities are without electricity in Ukraine due to "extremely difficult" weather conditions, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.

This comes at a time when "a large part of our country is experiencing extremely difficult weather conditions," he added.

Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Oleksiy Kuleba warned that the weather was worsening with heavy snowfalls expected in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy and Odesa regions.

Fearing that global attention has shifted to the Israel-Hamas conflict, Ukraine has called on the West to supply more weapons to counter Moscow's forces as the winter settles in.

Saturday's large-scale attack on Ukraine, which affected central Kyiv areas, came the day Ukraine marked Holodomor the starvation of millions in Ukraine during the Stalin era.

It also came as Ukraine is marking 10 years since its pro-EU Maidan revolution.

Shortly after Ukrainians overthrew a Moscow-backed regime in 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula and backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Russia continues to see the Maidan revolution as illegitimate and when it launched its full-scale offensive in February last year, it aimed to install a different government in Ukraine.

"In Kyiv 10 years ago there was a coup with the use of force, the legitimate authorities were overthrown," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

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Russia Says Downed Ukrainian Drones Over 5 Regions - The Moscow Times

Ukraine attacked Russian military targets with about 35 drones overnight on Nov. 26 in response to Russia's mass Shahed attack against Ukraine a day earlier, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing a military intelligence source.

Ukraine's drones were aimed at targets in Moscow and its region, as well as in Tula and Smolensk. Russia claimed that it had shot down 24 Ukrainian drones.

According to Ukrainska Pravda's source, the attack is a signal to Russia that its strikes against civilians in Ukraine will be met with consequences.

"The war must be fought with the military in the war zones. Strikes on civilians and outside the war zone will not go unanswered," source said as cited by the media.

On the morning of Nov. 25, Russia struck Ukraine with 75 Shahed kamikaze drones, mainly targeting Kyiv. Ukrainian air defense reported bringing down 74 of them.

As a result of the six-hour attack, at least two people were injured and several residential and non-residential buildings were damaged across the capital.

Shaheds are an Iranian design cheap, simple, long-range kamikaze drones, which have steadily replaced missiles in Russia's mass strikes, especially after thousands of advanced missiles had been fired.

Both Russia and Ukraine produce and field their own takes on the design.

Russia launches record number of drones against Ukraine on Holodomor Memorial Day

Russia launched a record number of drones into Ukraine over the course of six hours on Holodomor Memorial Day on Nov. 25. According to the Kyiv City Military Administration, this was the largest drone attack since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

The rest is here:
Media: Ukraine retaliated against Russia's mass attack with 35-drone-strike - Kyiv Independent

[1/2]Ukrainian servicemen move past a burning car hit by a kamikaze drone outside the front line town of Avdiivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine November 8, 2023. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

KYIV, Nov 26 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday thanked Ukraine's military for fighting Russian attacks and its rescue services for tackling the consequences of extreme winter weather that he said had deprived about 400 settlements in 10 regions of power.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said relentless, intense battles were ongoing in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv, while "extremely challenging weather" was affecting areas from Kyiv region in the north to Odesa in the south.

In Russian-controlled territory, Oleg Kryuchkov, a senior Moscow-installed official, said nearly half a million people were without power in Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed in 2014.

The Russian-installed heads of Crimea, of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, and of the part of Kherson region under Moscow's control, declared days off for Monday amid reports of high winds, flooded homes and snowbound roads, and damaged buildings.

Ukraine's border service said Moldova had temporarily suspended vehicle access to its territory from two crossing points in Odesa region. Moldovan authorities also asked local schools to consider closing due to snowfall and high winds.

Odesa Mayor Henadii Trukhanov urged residents of his Black Sea port to stay at home. Local authorities warned that water supplies were being interrupted by power cuts that stopped pumps from working and urged people to preserve supplies.

Power grid operator Ukrenergo shared a photograph of a transmission tower in Odesa region whose leg had snapped in two due to high winds, adding, "We are doing everything possible to overcome the consequences of the bad weather as soon as possible and restore light to every home."

Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar in Kyiv, Alexander Tanas in Chisinau and Elaine Monaghan in Washington; Editing by Alexander Smith and David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Zelenskiy praises Ukrainians for battles with Russia and the weather - Reuters