The past week was marked by the EU Council's decision to initiate accession negotiations with Ukraine, coinciding with Russia's buildup of forces near Mariinka and its ongoing terror against civilians. The US and Ukraine are fathoming a new strategy for future operations against Russia, slated for implementation in early 2024. The previous week saw Ukraine's persistent efforts to repatriate Ukrainian children abducted by Russian occupiers. Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language website about Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Anastasia Herasymchuk and Daria Synhaievska, journalists and analysts at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events in and around Ukraine for the last week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support our work at patreon.com/ukraineworld. We provide exclusive content for our patrons. Support our volunteer trips to the frontlines at PayPal: [email protected].