Latest news with #Ukrainian-language
News18
3 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Why Ukrainian First Lady's Plane Heading To Japan Landed In Jaipur: Who Is Zelenskyy's Wife Olena?
The refuelling request was pre-approved by the Foreign Ministry, which directed the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on August 1 to accord necessary protocol A plane carrying Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska – the First Lady of Ukraine and wife of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – and Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha to Japan on Sunday made a pitstop at the Jaipur International Airport for refuelling. The refuelling request was pre-approved by the Foreign Ministry, which directed the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on August 1 to accord necessary protocol. The aircraft landed in Jaipur at around 6:30 am, NDTV reported. The 23-member delegation included Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, and Ukraine's Minister for Economic Affairs Oleksii Sobolev, said the report. They were served light refreshments during the stop, where they met officials from the Ukrainian Embassy in Delhi, who were in Jaipur to welcome them, the report said. The delegation was not required to clear immigration and resumed its journey at approximately 8:15 am. Who is Olena Zelenska? As Ukraine's First Lady since May 20, 2019, Olena launched initiatives focused on children's nutrition in schools, gender equality, and domestic violence prevention. She also pushed for accessibility in cultural spaces, promoting Ukrainian-language audio guides in museums worldwide. One of her major initiatives was the Kyiv Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, a forum for international cooperation on humanitarian issues. Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Zelenska became a key figure in Ukraine's wartime humanitarian response. She launched the national mental health campaign 'How Are You?" to train Ukrainians in psychological first aid. She also oversaw efforts to evacuate sick children, deliver medical aid, and assist war-affected civilians. Despite being considered a high-value target, she remained in Ukraine with her children during the crisis. In 2022, she founded the Olena Zelenska Foundation, aimed at rebuilding Ukraine's human capital through healthcare, education, and humanitarian aid. Zelenska has been a strong international voice for Ukraine, addressing forums like the U.S. Congress and World Economic Forum, and advocating for continued global support. She has emphasized mental health and civilian resilience in war. Her work has earned her global recognition, including being named to the BBC 100 Women list (2022), TIME's 100 Most Influential People (2023), and recipient of CEPA's 2024 Humanitarian Impact Award. With Agency Inputs First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
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First Post
28-07-2025
- Business
- First Post
How ex-Google CEO emerged as Ukraine's unlikely friend & helped take down Russian drones
Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and co-founder of Swift Beat, has emerged as an unlikely friend of Ukraine. While tech giants like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Maxar have emerged as unreliable partners, Schmidt's company's interceptor drones have helped the country take down Russian drones. Here's how. read more Eric Schmidt speaks onstage during the 2024 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo:via AFP) Even as Western technology giants like SpaceX and Maxar have emerged as unreliable partners, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has emerged as a key partner of Ukraine in the war with Russia. Earlier this month, Schmidt met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Denmark and signed a deal for the joint production of artificially intelligence (AI)-driven interceptor drones. Schmidt's company Swift Beat has provided three types of interceptor drones to Ukraine that have taken down up to 90 per cent of Russian drones that they have encountered, according to Ukrainian-language outlet Ekonomichna Pravda (EP). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'These drones are highly accurate' A source told EP that Swift Beat's interceptor drones are 'are extremely accurate in identifying Russian drones in the night sky'. In recent months, Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine with near-daily assaults with hundreds of drones and missiles. Officials told the outlet that Swift Beats' three types of interceptor drones have taken down roughly 90 per cent of Russia's Iranian-origin Shahed drones. Swift Beat's drones are said to be equipped with advanced AI targeting technology and a secure communication system that has so far proven resistant to Russian electronic warfare, the report said. The collaboration between Schmidt's Swift Beat and Ukraine has presented a win-win situation where both sides have benefitted — as opposed to the likes of satellite internet-provider SpaceX-owned Starlink and satellite imagery-provider Maxar that led to Ukraine's dependency. Under the arrangement with Swift Beat, while Ukraine has got interceptor drones with high precision, Swift Beat has had an opportunity for the testing and fine-tuning of its products. Contrary to such a mutually-beneficial arrangement, Ukraine's dependence on other Western tech giants meant that when Elon Musk ordered the shutdown of Starlink in Ukraine's Kherson region in 2022, it compromised Ukraine's ongoing counter-offensive. Similarly, earlier this year, after US President Donald Trump suspended military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, Maxar was ordered to stop providing satellite imagery to Ukraine.
DW
22-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
Usage data 2025: DW reaches 337 million weekly users
DW has gained 17 million new users compared to the previous year, driven largely by audience-targeted content and a strategic expansion on digital platforms. DW continues to follow a focused digital strategy to keep pace with shifting media consumption habits in its target regions. The success of this approach is clear: online usage has grown steadily since 2021. In 2025, TikTok stands out as DW's second-strongest digital platform after YouTube. Video remains the primary format for accessing DW content, accounting for 80 percent of total usage with 276 weekly users. Regional TV partners that broadcast DW content continue to play a central role in audience reach, supported by digital platforms and DW's TV channels. Most usage is generated via the following platforms: TV distribution partners: 110 million YouTube: 35 million DW's TV channels: 34 million TikTok: 33 million Facebook: 27 million Instagram: 25 million Josh: 4 million Weekly audio content remains steady at 51 million users, while text content reaches 10 million users. Peter Limbourg, DW Director General: 'In times of global conflict and targeted disinformation campaigns, reliable journalism is more important than ever. The growing use of our offerings confirms DW's direction: with our digital strategy and focus on relevant content and platforms, we are building trust around the world. We stand for independent reporting and press freedom – especially where they are under threat.' Reach by target region One in three DW users is based in sub-Saharan Africa, where the broadcaster reaches around 100 million people each week. Targeted video formats – especially on TikTok through DW Kiswahili and DW Hausa – continue to drive audience growth. Asia remains DW's second-largest region, with 58 million weekly users. In 2025, DW saw moderate growth with video content across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. In Latin America, DW maintains a steady weekly reach of 56 million users, with rising TikTok engagement compensating for a drop in TV viewership caused by the channel's ban in Venezuela. Despite ongoing political instability in the region, DW saw its first audience growth in the Middle East and North Africa since 2021 – gaining two million additional users, thanks in large part to the strong performance of DW Arabic and JaafarTalk on social media. The Eastern part of Central Europe recorded DW's strongest regional growth in 2025, reaching 47 million weekly users – 15 million more than the previous year. Growth was driven by video content, with strong support from TV partnerships in Poland and high engagement on TikTok and Instagram. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, DW continues to reach 11 million weekly users. Despite censorship and restricted access in Belarus and Russia since the war in Ukraine began, video remains the dominant format – especially via Ukrainian-language TV offerings, YouTube, and TikTok. About the data DW's usage data is collected annually by its Market and Audience Insights (MAI) department. This work is coordinated through CIBAR (Conference of International Broadcasters' Audience Research Services) – a network of international public media including the BBC, France Médias Monde, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, ABC Australia and NHK World Japan. Together, they set the standard for media research worldwide.
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-07-2025
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Library with Ukrainian-Language Books for Evacuees Established by Ukrainian Woman
A private library in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, started by a Ukrainian woman and featuring Ukrainian-language books, has become a place of respite for Ukrainians who have fled the war and are now taking shelter in Japan. The books have been collected through various channels. The library was established by Dariia Murakami, 41, of Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture. In 2014, she fled the military conflict occurring in her home country of Ukraine and moved to Japan. Murakami hopes that Ukrainian evacuees in Japan will feel a sense of belonging to their homeland by reading books in their native language, even while living abroad. The library is located in a room of an office building that is about a 10-minute walk from Shibuya Station. It has about 600 books in various genres, including fiction, history, manga and picture books, all written in Ukrainian, which are lined up in the small space and can be borrowed free of charge. One evening in mid-May, Daniel Zahorodnii, a 17-year-old high school student who evacuated from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to Ibaraki Prefecture, was reading a book at a desk in the library. Zahorodnii, a frequent visitor to the library, said: 'I like paper books. It is an important place for me as I can read books written in my native language.' Murakami is from Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine. In the spring of 2014, pro-Russian armed forces occupied the city. She moved to Japan that summer at the suggestion of a friend from Donetsk who was already living in Japan. At first, Murakami did not understand Japanese, so she had a hard time with everyday life, such as finding a job and shopping. She gathered necessary information from communities of foreigners on social media and other sources to organize her life, and eventually found a job as a restaurant cook. In Japan, she gave birth to her daughter, Eva, who is now 7. She currently works as a kindergarten teacher. When Russia began its aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Murakami started helping evacuees from Ukraine, such as by distributing daily necessities. 'No one helped me [when arriving in Japan], so I wanted to help people from my country who were facing difficulties,' she said. Upon hearing that many evacuees wanted to read books in Ukrainian, Murakami asked for advice from Mariko Ukiyo, who heads the Japanese Organization of Mental Health and Educational Agencies, based in Shibuya Ward. The organization established a mental care and exchange center for Ukrainian evacuees in May 2022. The center is called 'Himawari.' Since then, the center has organized exchange events for evacuees, given counseling and provided mental health care. Murakami met Ukiyo at an event supporting Ukrainian evacuees. Thinking that reading books helps calm people's mind, Ukiyo decided to cooperate in Murakami's library project, allowing her to use a room in the organization's office. The library opened in the autumn of that year. Murakami asked a friend who works at a bookstore in Ukraine to put a donation box in the store for people to donate money for book purchases. To increase the number of books, she has also called for book donations on social media and purchased books at her own expense. The library has gradually become known among evacuees. Now, even people living outside Tokyo contact the library to borrow books. The library also hosts book clubs as well as events featuring Ukrainian writers that it invites. Three years have passed since Russia's aggression against Ukraine started. U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped in to mediate. Regarding the situation, Murakami said she wants victory and children must never be killed or kidnapped again. Murakami also maintains that Ukrainian literature should not be overshadowed by Russian literature. 'I'll make efforts to make it better known by Japanese people through events and other measures,' she said. The library is located on the seventh floor of the Sanwa Aoyama Building at 2-9-9, Shibuya, Shibuya Ward. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For inquiries, call Himawari at (050) 3612-7559.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kyivstar and Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine sign Cooperation Memorandum to Launch National Large Language Model for Ukraine
Ukrainian LLM signing ceremony Dubai and Kyiv, June 17, 2025: VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator, announces today that Kyivstar, VEON's digital operator in Ukraine, has joined forces with Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation to develop Ukraine's first national large language model ('LLM') trained on Ukrainian-language data. The cooperation memorandum builds on VEON's and Kyivstar's pledge to invest USD 1 billion to rebuild Ukraine's digital infrastructure over 2023-2027. The parties plan to develop Ukrainian LLM using open-source architectures and trained exclusively on Ukrainian data sources. In addition to capturing the full range of Ukrainian dialects, terminology, history, and cultural context, the project is designed to ensure that sensitive national data is securely stored and processed within Ukraine, a critical requirement for sectors such as government, defense, healthcare, and financial services. The LLM will also serve as the foundation for AI-powered products and services, including legal and regulatory analysis tools, as well as specialized AI applications across both public and private sectors including in fields like education, finance, and health. Trained on Ukrainian data, the model is expected to deliver more accurate, relevant, and actionable insights for Ukrainian users than general-purpose global models. Kyivstar will develop the LLM in collaboration with Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation and the WINWIN AI Centre of Excellence. The first version of the Ukrainian LLM is scheduled for release by December 2025. 'Today's agreement is major milestone in building a sovereign, secure and culturally relevant AI ecosystem to drive economic growth, while empowering Ukrainians with tools that enhance their lives,' said Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of VEON Group. 'Ukrainian LLM will empower users to access augmented intelligence tools with the full cultural context and depth of their native language and national resources. We consider it a privilege to be supporting Ukraine's digital transformation powered by AI. This initiative demonstrates the true meaning of our commitment to building Ukraine's digital future with our investments.' Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of Kyivstar, added, 'Leading the development of Ukraine's national LLM is aligned with our vision as VEON's digital operator in Ukraine. With Kyivstar's deep technological expertise, AI capabilities, and commitment to national development, we are proud to contribute to Ukraine's digital sovereignty while delivering locally relevant innovation that serves businesses, institutions, and citizens alike.' The development of Ukraine's first national LLM marks the latest expansion of VEON's Group-wide initiatives to close the AI language gap for underrepresented languages across its markets, empowering solutions that augment capabilities for consumers and enterprises. The pioneering KazLLM, launched in Kazakhstan in December 2024 as a partnership of VEON's QazCode, Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence at Nazarbayev University (ISSAI NU) and Astana Hub, today powers the 'AI Tutor' on Janymda super-app. In Pakistan, VEON's digital operator Jazz is collaborating with the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and the National Information Technology Board (NITB) to develop a local LLM in Urdu language. About VEONVEON is a Nasdaq-listed digital operator that provides converged connectivity and digital services to nearly 160 million customers. Operating across six countries that are home to more than 7% of the world's population, VEON is transforming lives through technology-driven services that empower individuals and drive economic growth. For more information visit: About KyivstarKyivstar is Ukraine's largest digital operator, serving over 24 million mobile subscribers and 1.3 million fixed-line users. As VEON's digital operator in Ukraine, Kyivstar offers a comprehensive portfolio of digital services to individuals and businesses, with a strong focus on AI-powered innovation and national digital development. DisclaimerThis release contains 'forward-looking statements', as the phrase is defined in Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and include statements relating to, among other things, VEON's strategic priorities, operating model and development plans as well as VEON's ability to achieve anticipated results and business objectives. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which VEON cannot predict with accuracy and some of which VEON might not even anticipate. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak only as of the date of this release. VEON does not undertake to publicly update, except as required by U.S. federal securities laws, any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after such dates or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Contact Information VEON Hande AsikGroup Director of Communications pr@ Investor Relationsir@ ward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after such dates or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Contact Information VEON Hande AsikGroup Director of Communications pr@ Investor Relationsir@ Ukrainian LLM signing ceremonySign in to access your portfolio
