Ukraine Foundation

Inspiring Change, Driving Impact

Paris: Our International Advisory Board Member, H.E. Ambassador Pierre Andrieu gives major interview to Le Monde: “For China, Russia has become its junior partner or even its vassal”.

Ukraine Foundation highlights the latest analysis by Ambassador Pierre Andrieu, member of our International Advisory Board and one of Europe’s foremost specialists on Eurasian geopolitics. In an interview published by Le Monde, he offers a clear and uncompromising reading of the shifting balance within the Russia–China relationship -an evolution with profound implications for European and global security.

Drawing on decades of diplomatic experience and extensive scholarly work, Ambassador Andrieu explains that although Moscow and Beijing proclaim their ambition to build a new, “extra-Western” world order, their strategic partnership is far from equal. China’s rise as a consolidated economic and technological power, combined with Russia’s growing international isolation and dependence, has created what he calls a decisive asymmetry: for the first time in modern history, Russia has become the junior partner—if not the vassal—of China.

He situates this transformation in its historical context. While the 1950s alliance placed a then-weakened China in ideological and material dependence on the Soviet Union, Beijing never accepted the constraints of that unequal relationship. Today, the dynamic has been reversed. China is projecting long-term strategy and global ambition; Russia, weakened by its war of aggression against Ukraine and cut off from Western markets, is increasingly reliant on Chinese energy purchases, industrial goods, and political cover.

This does not amount to a formal alliance. As Ambassador Andrieu stresses, the Russia–China partnership remains pragmatic, transactional, and marked by lingering distrust. Their visions of world order differ, and divergences persist beneath the narrative of “friendship without limits.” Yet the relationship is sufficiently robust for Beijing to extract structural advantages that will shape Eurasian geopolitics for decades.

For Ukraine and its partners, this analysis is critical. It underscores that Russia’s strategic room for manoeuvre is narrowing, that its dependence on China is deepening, and that Eurasia’s geopolitical future will increasingly be defined by Beijing’s calculations rather than Moscow’s ambitions. Understanding this imbalance is essential for designing long-term strategies that strengthen European security and support Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Ambassador Andrieu’s expertise -developed as Senior Fellow on China–Russia relations at the Asia Society and through his academic work, including Géopolitique des relations russo-chinoises (PUF, 2023)- is an invaluable contribution to the Foundation’s mission. At a moment when global power dynamics are being reshaped, his insights help illuminate the constraints, risks, and opportunities that lie ahead.

For China, Russia has become its junior partner or even its vassal – August 20, 2026

Read Ambassador Pierre Andrieu’s full Le Monde statement

Sofia: Somnia Disaster: Alex Luna’s Haunting Exhibition Arrives in Sofia

Renowned visual artist Alex Luna continues his powerful exploration of the Somnia Disaster with a European tour, shedding light on the haunting legacy of this enigmatic event. Following its impactful debut, the exhibition makes its second stop in Sofia, Bulgaria, where it has already garnered significant media attention. Through a compelling blend of visual storytelling and immersive installations, Luna invites viewers across Europe to confront the surreal and often unsettling dimensions of memory, loss, and collective trauma.

Somnia Disaster Featured in

The accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima are the focus of the documentary exhibition “The Catastrophe of Dreams”, which was opened at the National Assembly. The exhibition includes nearly 40 photographs by Alexander Tishchenko (Alex Luna) and Shigeru Yoshida, which touch on the psychological and aesthetic consequences of two of the largest nuclear accidents in the world. The event was organized on the initiative of MP Lyuben Dilov Jr. and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and the Bulgaria-Ukraine Friendship Group Hristo Gadzhev.

The exhibition is important for all Bulgarians because our country was one of the countries most affected by the Chernobyl accident, said Lyuben Dilov Jr. According to him, this is also the first artistic bridge of its kind connecting Chernobyl and Fukushima. Lyuben Dilov Jr. pointed out that after the horrific incidents, Japan has created another engineering miracle with the construction of a 400-kilometer wall with an average height of 15 meters to protect the coast, and the Ukrainian people have turned Pripyat and the Chernobyl region into one of the most exotic places in Europe. “The catastrophe of dreams” gives birth to new dreams, not despair, he added. Lyuben Dilov Jr. also recalled the words of Shigeru Yoshida, who says that only the one who knows the pain can cure it and protect others from it.

For his part, one of the authors of the documentary photographs, Alexander Tishchenko (Alex Luna), noted that in these days when the world is facing a nuclear war, there is no higher value than human life, because it defeats any catastrophe. The opening of the exhibition was also attended by MPs, public figures, representatives of the diplomatic corps and journalists.

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У Болгарії відкрилася фотовиставка «Somnia Disaster»

У Народних Зборах Республіки Болгарія 18 червня відбулася церемонія відкриття фотовиставки «Somnia disaster» – спільного артпроєкту українських та японських митців, присвяченого ядерним трагедіям у Чорнобилі, Фукусімі, а також Хіросімі та Нагасакі.

Як передає Укрінформ, про це у Фейсбуці повідомило посольство України в Болгарії.

Експозиція унікальним чином об’єднала творчу команду під керівництвом Олександра Тищенка (Alex Luna) та японського фотографа Шіґеру Йошіди. Їхні роботи покликані привернути увагу міжнародної спільноти до проблеми протидії ядерним загрозам та спонукати до посилення міжнародної підтримки України.

Виставку вдалося реалізувати за підтримки голови Групи дружби “Болгарія – Україна” болгарського парламенту Христо Гаджева та депутата Любена Ділова.

Читайте також: Болгарія продовжила до березня програму підтримки українських біженців

Під час церемонії відкриття болгарські депутати та гості заходу хвилиною мовчання вшанували пам’ять жертв російського ракетного обстрілу України, що стався 17 червня. Внаслідок цього терористичного акту загинуло 28 людей, а понад 130 отримали поранення.

Нагадаємо, 12 червня на площі перед Народним театром ім. Івана Вазова у Софії відкрилася цифрова фотовиставка «Україна: любов + війна» – арт-документальний проєкт, який уперше представлено у Болгарії.

Kyiv & Sofia: Alex Luna Taking Somnia Disaster -A Chernobyl-Fukushima Cultural Bridge- Across European Parliaments

Somnia Disaster Featured In ICTV News

Somnia Disaster Making the News in Korotko Pro

“Somnia Disaster”: Alex

Luna exhibition opened in the Verkhovna Rada

YEVHEN GORIN

April 29, 2025, Kyiv – On the days of the next anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, a unique art and documentary exhibition “Somnia Disaster” was solemnly opened in the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, under a glass dome. It became one of the central events of this year’s commemorative events and a symbolic reminder of the value of human errors and the responsibility for the future.

The exhibition takes place during the regular session of the parliament.

The Somnia Disaster project combines art, photography, film materials and modern audio installations in Ukrainian and German. Only the photographic part of the project, created by a prominent Ukrainian photo artist, a representative of the Kharkiv School of Photography, Vladyslav Krasnoshchek, is presented in the parliament building.

The photos are not only the iconic locations of the Exclusion Zone, but also the same age as the tragedy: the author of the project, opera singer Alex Luna, and Ukrainian supermodel Snizhana Onopko.

Today, the exhibition “Somnia Disaster” is shown in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Its ideologist Alex Luna, having implemented the project in 2021, sought to emphasize the fragility of life and the importance of remembering it. Probably, he had a “artist’s premonition,” says Tetiana Tsyba, MP and head of the subcommitteee on the protection of the rights of children who suffered as a result of military aggression. After all, today the relevance of this topic has not decreased, but on the contrary, it has acquired a new sound.

The exhibition “Somnia Disaster” will be available for viewing in the Verkhovna Rada during the week. From June 18, the exhibition will be hosted by the Parliament of the Republic of Bulgaria.

At a time when the world stands precariously close to the threat of nuclear catastrophe, Somnia Disaster emerges as a powerful cultural project that unites two of the most devastating nuclear tragedies in human history: Chernobyl and Fukushima. This exhibition serves not only as a bridge between cultures, but also as a stark reminder of our shared responsibility to prevent such disasters in the future.

Somnia Disaster is being presented in a highly symbolic setting — the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian Parliament) — from April 28 to May 2, during an active parliamentary session. Following this, the exhibition will move to the Parliament of Bulgaria from May 14 to May 21, where a major opening ceremony will be held. The event will bring together the Bulgarian Minister of Energy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, members of parliament from Bulgaria and Ukraine, as well as the Ambassadors of Japan and Ukraine, underlining the urgent international relevance of the project.

In an era when nuclear threats loom larger than ever, Somnia Disaster reminds us that memory, dialogue, and cross-cultural cooperation are vital for a safer future.

Learn more

Listen to the Somnia Disaster podcast on Spotify

We are currently experiencing the greatest nuclear threat, which threatens not only Ukraine, but the entire world. What does it really look like in Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant? What is the probability of a Chernobyl 2.0? This is what liquidators, military and scientists discuss in this podcast.