It is not only artillery or drones that constitute major weaponry items for Ukraine, but the ability to build and proliferate convincing narratives.

This message was emphasized by Dmytro Zolotukhin, Advisor to the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, at the 17th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

In his opinion, today Ukraine is waging an ontological war - the war for the very right to exist as an independent nation. As for Russia, any existence of Ukraine in whatever format - independent, European or democratic - is unacceptable.

“Either Russia remains an empire, or there is an independent Ukraine. The coexistence of both is impossible,” he is convinced.

According to Dmytro Zolotukhin, the war is waged not only on the battlefield, but in mindsets of people - and the ability of Ukrainians to reflect this war in the unbiased was through personal stories, cultural codes, and identity is the very source of resilience and national unity.

The Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation, is the main platform in this country to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.