Brigadier General Dmytro Usov, Secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War under the Cabinet of Ministers, has joined the competition commission of the All-Ukrainian legal competition of student law-making initiatives “New Ukraine through the eyes of young lawyers,” according to the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA).
According to the organizers, this gives contest participants the opportunity to receive feedback from a specialist who is directly involved in implementing the state’s strategic objectives in wartime.
Usov is a personnel officer and brigadier general who, during the full-scale war, is directly responsible for organizing and implementing prisoner exchanges. With his participation, thousands of Ukrainian defenders and civilians have been returned home. Previously, he held the position of deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The competition for student law-making initiatives, “New Ukraine through the Eyes of Young Lawyers,” was established by the Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University with the assistance of the National Bar Association of Ukraine and aims to involve young lawyers in shaping a vision of international legal security guarantees for Ukraine after the end of the war.
As part of the competition, participants prepare legal papers aimed at developing practical law-making initiatives, particularly in the areas of public administration, security, digitalization, human rights protection, and the functioning of the rule of law. The competition involves the preparation of a legal student paper on the creation of a draft international legal agreement on security for Ukraine.
The competition committee is headed by Eva Hofmanska, an international expert on human rights and mechanisms for protecting war victims, founder of initiatives to document war crimes and build mechanisms to help victims. The deputy chair (secretary) is Dmytro Lukyanenko, professor and rector of the Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University (KNEU).
In addition to Usov, the commission also included Lyudmila Kozhura, director of the KNEU Law Institute, and her deputy, Svetlana Zaderayko, head of the secretariat of the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine (NAAA), Ihor Andriyev, chair of the NAAA Youth Committee, Yuriy Radzievsky, chair of the NAAA Information Committee, and Oleksiy Shevchuk, chair of the Center for Legal Information, Professional Development, and Expert Research
of the KNEU Law Institute, NAAU Speaker Oleksiy Shevchuk, People’s Deputy of Ukraine, former Head of the SBU Valentin Nalyvaichenko, Head of the Diplomatic Academy of the MFA Ihor Ostash, Head of the Kyiv Branch of the Notary Chamber of Ukraine (NPU), Chair of the NPU Commission on Informatization, Digital Transformation, and Cybercrime Prevention Natalia Kazayeva.
Silver prices hit historic highs amid growing demand for safe-haven assets and expectations of monetary policy easing in the US. According to Reuters, the spot price of silver rose to a record $86.22 per troy ounce on January 12.
At the same time, silver futures on the US market rose above $89 per ounce during trading on January 13, Investopedia reported. A number of industry publications noted that at certain points during the session, silver rose by about 5%, reflecting the metal’s increased volatility. Analysts surveyed by Reuters do not rule out a further movement of prices towards $90 per ounce if the current combination of factors supporting precious metals remains in place.
Reference: The Experts Club analytical center previously released a video analysis of the twenty largest silver-producing countries and their competition for leadership in 1971-2024 – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HvKK-YET8vs
South Korean prosecutors have sought the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk-yeol on charges of organizing a rebellion in connection with the imposition of martial law in December 2024, according to Western media reports.
According to Reuters, the prosecution believes that Yoon’s actions were unconstitutional and undermined democratic institutions. The former president himself rejects the charges. A court ruling on the case is expected in February. Reuters notes that although South Korean law provides for the death penalty for rebellion, there is a de facto moratorium on executions in the country, and the last execution was carried out in 1997.
Chinese state-owned company Dongfang Wind Power has signed a contract worth 495 million euros within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative to supply 48 wind turbines for a 300 MW wind power project in Serbia, Serbian Economist reports, citing the Chinese industry portal Seetao.
According to the sources, Dongfang has conducted detailed site studies and optimized the turbine design taking into account Serbian standards, climatic conditions and power grid parameters. The investor and contractor of the project is China Power Construction Group (PowerChina).
The project, which has been linked in publications to the Vetrozelena wind power plant in the Pancevo region (Vojvodina), involves the installation of turbines with a unit capacity of about 6.25 MW. The expected generation is estimated at about 750-774 million kWh per year.
Vetrozelena is the largest wind power plant under construction in Serbia, with Čibuk 1 with a capacity of 158 MW being the largest operating wind power facility in the country.
https://t.me/relocationrs/2099
The Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and with financial support from the Norwegian government, is launching a programme to support rural communities in frontline regions with a total budget of $4 million.
According to a publication on the ministry’s website, the project will cover more than 6,000 rural households in the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions.
The project is scheduled to start in the spring of 2026. Registration of participants will be carried out by local communities.
“The implementation of this programme will make it possible to combine operational support for affected communities with the restoration of the production potential of the agricultural sector in frontline regions. It is important that the participant selection mechanism involves local communities, which will ensure the targeted and transparent provision of assistance,” said Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Denys Bashlyk in the statement.
As noted by the Ministry of Economy, priority support will be provided to the most vulnerable families and farmers, in particular internally displaced persons and people who have returned home. The assistance is aimed at ensuring food production and creating conditions for farmers to resume profitable activities related to growing crops and raising livestock. In the Mykolaiv region, assistance will also be provided to restore access to agricultural land contaminated with explosive objects.
The programme plans to provide vegetable seeds and potatoes to more than 4,000 rural households. Another 1,900 livestock farms will receive sets of day-old poultry, as well as cash assistance for feed and veterinary services. Individual support for small farmers registered in the State Agrarian Register (DAR) is also planned in the form of greenhouses, irrigation systems, water storage facilities, vouchers and technical assistance.
The head of the FAO office in Ukraine, Shakhnoza Muminova, noted that combining agricultural support with restoring access to land makes it possible to remove key constraints to farmers’ return to full-fledged activity.
According to Norwegian Minister of International Development Asmund Aukrust, the war continues to undermine agricultural production, posing risks to food security, which is why his country supports the UN’s efforts to help Ukrainian farmers.
In total, since the start of the full-scale aggression, Norway has provided approximately $14.8 million through the FAO to support the restoration of agriculture and land demining in Ukraine.
The International Air Transport Association has changed the rules for transporting power banks and devices with lithium batteries on board aeroplanes, effective from 1 January 2026.
The updates have been made to the rules for transporting dangerous goods, which the association classifies as rechargeable batteries and portable chargers.
“Lithium-ion batteries, which are used in most modern electronic devices, including smartphones, laptops and other gadgets, can cause explosions or fires, especially if handled incorrectly. Although such incidents are rare, the number of lithium-ion batteries transported by air has increased by 25% over the past year,” the association explained.
The main rule for transporting such devices prohibits them from being carried in baggage that flies separately from the passenger.
‘This is because a fire in the cargo compartment can go unnoticed for a long time and spread to other passengers’ baggage,’ the association notes.
In addition, according to the new rules, power banks cannot be charged from power sources located in seats or anywhere in the aircraft cabin during the entire flight. They also cannot be used to charge other devices during taxiing, take-off and landing. Another rule prohibits the carriage of chargers in hand luggage on the overhead compartments: they can be stored under the owner’s seat or in the pocket of the seat in front.
Many airlines around the world, including Russian ones, have already banned the carriage of chargers in checked baggage. The maximum power of chargers that can be carried on planes is 160 Wh.
Meanwhile, last week, a passenger’s power bank caught fire on an Asiana Airlines flight from Seoul to Hong Kong. The portable device caught fire in the cabin two hours after take-off. The crew used a fire extinguisher and managed to put out the fire in a few minutes. The owner of the power bank suffered burns to his hands, but no other passengers were injured. The airline later stated that the situation did not require an emergency landing and the aircraft continued its flight as normal.
According to IATA research, 83% of air passengers take mobile phones with them, 60% take laptops, and 44% take power banks. At the same time, about 50% of passengers are unaware of the ban on carrying power banks in checked baggage.
