I thank Kenny Gibson for bringing this debate to the chamber, four years on from the start of the conflict. It is perhaps a sign that four years have passed with no resolution that we now have to search down the social media news columns to find stories about the Ukraine war.

When we do so, however, we will find a current analysis of the situation by that fantastic journalist Jeremy Bowen. In an article, Mr Bowen starts off in Donetsk, on a cold night. He writes:

“Dystopian military vehicles straight out of Mad Max rumble past, encased in their own cages of steel and netting.”

He notes that the roads are covered overhead with fishing nets that

“go on for miles, suspended from wooden poles”,

and that the nets snag the propellers of the Russian drones and protect people from direct blasts that will kill them and destroy any vehicles—often civilian vehicles—that are targeted. He tells us that

“Much of the netting has been donated by European fishermen.”

Indeed, the Scottish Government has sent about

“280 tonnes of salmon nets that were about to be recycled.”

It is a small contribution from Scotland, but one that makes a huge difference.

Drones seem to be one of the key weapons being deployed by both sides. They have transformed the war from the failed gung-ho attack that was launched in the early days by Putin to this war of attrition that involves inching forward day by day, with drone technology delivering most of the damage.

Recently, our friend Elon Musk has effectively switched off Russian access, via third parties, to his Starlink satellite system, which was helping the Russians locate and accurately acquire targets on the ground. That is an advantage for Ukraine at the moment, but it is expected that Russian technology experts will soon find a workaround.

Various different figures have been shared by members today. Estimates of losses on both sides are unreliable, but it is thought that more than 1 million Russians could have been killed or wounded, and that 500,000 Ukrainians have been killed or wounded or are missing. Those are incredible numbers—they are tragic losses that should never have occurred. The likelihood, however, is that Putin will keep on sacrificing his young men, no matter the cost in Russian lives, to achieve his goal of subjugating the nation of Ukraine.

It is also well known that Putin is recruiting and bringing in North Koreans, Cubans and Kenyans, as well as soldiers from Egypt and even India, many of whom have been hoodwinked and drafted in by Putin to the front. It is probably a sign of desperation, and some Governments are demanding that Putin stops recruiting their citizens with false promises of jobs and prosperity for their families.

How will this awful conflict end? It appears to me from the most recent published negotiations that Ukraine is being asked to give up everything and Russia nothing. President Zelenskyy has said no to giving up Ukrainian soil to the Russians to get peace. As one father in Mr Bowen’s article put it,

“If a maniac comes to your home and says, ‘Give me your daughter and I won’t come back,’ do you really think that a man like this—who rapes and pillages—is simply going to stop?”

I sincerely hope that Europe continues to back Ukraine to the hilt—it must. The Russians are gambling that we will not and that their war of attrition succeeds. At the end of the day, this is a war that Russia can never win, like so many of its past conflicts. There can surely only be a few Russians, from the top down, who actively want to capture Ukraine, but there are 80 million Ukrainians from the bottom up who will fight to prevent that from happening.

The power of the people is always greater than the people in power, and Scotland supports you. Myr ta svobodu Ukraini. Peace and freedom to Ukraine.

13:25

This SNP Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to a warm, affordable home. Can the cabinet secretary explain how the 2026-27 Scottish budget invests significantly in homelessness prevention and measures to help people to remain in their homes? Will she join me in calling on colleagues across the chamber to vote for those measures in the budget process that will follow in the coming weeks?

This SNP Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to a warm, affordable home. Can the cabinet secretary explain how the 2026-27 Scottish budget invests significantly in homelessness prevention and measures to help people to remain in their homes? Will she join me in calling on colleagues across the chamber to vote for those measures in the budget process that will follow in the coming weeks?

This SNP Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Scotland has access to a warm, affordable home. Can the cabinet secretary explain how the 2026-27 Scottish budget invests significantly in homelessness prevention and measures to help people to remain in their homes? Will she join me in calling on colleagues across the chamber to vote for those measures in the budget process that will follow in the coming weeks?

My constituents, Charlie and Caroline McKerrow, who are in the public gallery, have been fighting for years for justice for their daughter Claire and many others who have been harmed by sodium valproate, a drug that is given to pregnant women who are at risk of epilepsy.

The UK Government has had the Cumberlege report for six years and it has now had the Hughes report for two years. The Hughes report recommends that a redress scheme be introduced, but that has still not been agreed, leaving victims waiting and wondering whether they will ever get any justice from the Government for the harm that was done to their children.

Can the minister assure us, families such as the McKerrows and potentially thousands of other families that the Scottish Government will continue to press the UK Government on the matter? If the UK Government continues to let the families down, what action can we take in Scotland to help right that terrible wrong?

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the redress scheme, as recommended in the 2024 Hughes report, to compensate people in Scotland who were harmed by sodium valproate.  (S6O-05496)Sodium Valproate Redress Scheme

My constituents, Charlie and Caroline McKerrow, who are in the public gallery, have been fighting for years for justice for their daughter Claire and many others who have been harmed by sodium valproate, a drug that is given to pregnant women who are at risk of epilepsy.

The UK Government has had the Cumberlege report for six years and it has now had the Hughes report for two years. The Hughes report recommends that a redress scheme be introduced, but that has still not been agreed, leaving victims waiting and wondering whether they will ever get any justice from the Government for the harm that was done to their children.

Can the minister assure us, families such as the McKerrows and potentially thousands of other families that the Scottish Government will continue to press the UK Government on the matter? If the UK Government continues to let the families down, what action can we take in Scotland to help right that terrible wrong?

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on the redress scheme, as recommended in the 2024 Hughes report, to compensate people in Scotland who were harmed by sodium valproate.  (S6O-05496)Sodium Valproate Redress Scheme

::At a time when the cost of living is spiralling under the Labour Party, it is great to hear that the Scottish National Party Government is taking the action that is needed to deliver warm, affordable housing for families right across Scotland. Will the First Minister tell us a little bit more about how the new agency will support first-time buyers?

::To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government’s new national housing agency will support its work to deliver more affordable homes. (S6F-04631)