Is democracy in decline today? What is “Post-Wall” Europe, born after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and why is it now gone? How is Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion changing Europe? UkraineWorld invites Timothy Garton Ash, a British historian, Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford, Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford, and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His latest book is "Homelands: A Personal History...

How can history help us understand the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Why can Moscow not even imagine itself without Kyiv? Is Russia an empire in decline? The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites Professor Serhii Plokhii, a prominent Ukrainian historian, director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), and author of numerous books about Ukraine, Russia, and Eastern Europe. His latest book is The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. This conversation was held in Kyiv on May...

Almost 20,000 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s official data. Russia’s figures are much bigger: it says it has relocated more than half a million of Ukrainian children - and is not going to give them back. This is a horrible, systematic policy of depriving the Ukrainian nation of its future. The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites Khrystyna Shkudor, advocacy manager of the campaign “Where Are Our People?”...

Do India and Ukraine share common ground for cooperation? What shared interests might emerge from their unique contexts? And in the face of Russian aggression, how can these nations forge relations that benefit both sides? In this episode, UkraineWorld's Deputy editor-in-chief Anastasiia Hersymchuk spoke withSwasti Rao, Associate Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Center, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and Olha Vorozhbyt, an affiliated expert with the Foreign...

What do citizens of the EU and the United Kingdom think about Ukraine? How substantial is their support? How high the Ukrainian topic is on their agenda? The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites experts from “More in Common” - an international initiative aiming to understand the forces driving people apart, find common ground, and bring people together to tackle shared challenges. Guests: Mathieu Lefèvre, CEO and Co-founder of “More in Common”; Luke Tryl, Director of “More in Common”...

A conversation about Ukraine, the Russian invasion, resistance, ideas, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things, - held during Volodymyr Yermolenko’s visit to Yale University in February 2024. Timothy Snyder is an American historian and Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University. Marci Shore is an American historian and associate professor at Yale University. Volodymyr Yermolenko is a Ukrainian philosopher, chief editor of UkraineWorld and president of PEN...

We tend to look at today’s world as a consequence of World War II. Yet, in the first years after that war, there were several directions which the world could have turned. There was a chance that China would not have become communist. There was also a chance that Europe would have become much more communist. A few years ago, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, the current editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, wrote The China Mission, a book in which he explores the attempt by George Marshall, the architect...

Jen Stout is a Scottish journalist who has spent a significant amount of time in Ukraine during the hottest stages of the full-scale Russian invasion. She has just published a book "Night Train to Odesa: Covering the Human Cost of Russia's War", a very touchingly personal account of the people she has met and experiences she has lived traveling through war-torn Ukrainian cities and villages. The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites Jen Stout to talk about her book and her experience of being...

Ukraine has passed the long-awaited mobilization law. It aims to ensure that Ukraine's army has more people, as it faces hundreds of thousands of newly mobilized soldiers on the Russian side. Ukraine's army, on the contrary, lacks personnel. But will this law solve Ukraine's problems? Particular criticism was voiced at the fact the law doesn't provide conditions for demobilization. This means that soldiers who are on the frontline don't know when they will come back home. This is our weekly...

Do we have the concepts and ideas necessary to think critically about Russian cultural imperialism? Why are the existing concepts not sufficient? Are “Russian studies” still dominating Western academia’s view of Eastern Europe? Why is it time to rethink Russian cultural imperialism and decolonize the “Slavic” or “Eurasian” studies? Our guest on the Explaining Ukraine podcast is Vitaly Chernetsky, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Kansas, and the current...

Germany searches for Patriot air defence systems for Ukraine not only in NATO countries but also throughout the world. Meanwhile, NATO states consider establishing a fund to secure assistance for Kyiv if Trump returns to office. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Anastasiia Herasymchuk, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and Dariia Synhaievska, analyst and journalist at UkraineWorld, to discuss...

Russia returned to its tactics of destroying Ukrainian energy infrastructure, attempting to plunge Ukrainians into darkness. Ukrainians across the country endured a week of unprecedented combined aerial attacks. Meanwhile, as March marked the tenth anniversary of the illegal referendum in occupied Crimea, we reflect on political and ethnic persecution by the occupiers. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of...

Why are identity and political values, rather than geopolitics, the genuine causes of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? How can we locate the Russian invasion in the wider context of Ukrainian-Russian relations? How can we describe the divergent paths that Ukraine and Russia took after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and how do these divergent paths explain the current war? The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites Maria Popova and Oxana Shevel, authors of the book "Russia and Ukraine:...

In violation of international law, Russia held sham presidential elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine. But this was far from the only violation. The terrorist attacks against Ukrainian cities continue. Meanwhile, several European intelligence services warn about the possibility of Russian aggression against the West. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Anastasiia...

The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s former foreign minister, to talk about Ukraine in the world today, Ukraine’s endeavor to join the Western world, and the urgent need to stop Russia. Pavlo Klimkin was Ukraine’s foreign minister for 5 years (2014-2019), including during the first five years of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now he is an independent intellectual, serving as a board member of the International Renaissance Foundation and of the Come Back Alive...

While the Russians have resorted to the scorched earth strategy on the frontlines, the Czech Republic brings the much needed ammunition closer to Ukraine. Moreover, Ukraine holds the upper hand in the Black Sea after destroying the corvette Sergei Kotov. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Anastasiia Herasymchuk, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and Dariia Synhaievska, analyst and journalist...

There is an increased level of debate regarding the threat Russia poses to Europe. Emmanuel Macron’s statement that sending troops to Ukraine is not excluded stirred up the infospace, causing an ambiguous reaction from NATO allies. The message, however, reached the Russian leadership bringing with it yet another warning of “tragic consequences”. But what do the statements of European leaders mean? This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr...

Ukraine commemorated the end of the second year since the commencement of Russia's full-scale war, a testament to its century-long struggle against Russian imperialism. This war proves that those seeking peace must be prepared to fight against dictatorships' expansionist views in the coming future. Ukraine has consolidated partners, but the war proves more is needed. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of...

On the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and on the 10th anniversary of the Russian invasion in total, UkraineWorld's chief editor, Volodymyr Yermolenko, reflects upon the major causes of this war. These are the issues relating to identity, political values, and ethics. More - in our "Explaining Ukraine" podcast. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. SUPPORT us at...

The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites prominent American historian Larry Wolff to talk about history, imagination, and politics around Eastern Europe, in particular Ukraine. Larry Wolff is a professor of history at New York University. He is the author of numerous books about Eastern Europe, in particular Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment (1994), The Enlightenment and the Orthodox World: Western Perspectives on the Orthodox Church in Eastern...

Russia has intensified its military operations on the battlefield, as a result of which, after months-long campaign to take Avdiivka, it fell. Amid these developments, the call to introduce more technological solutions grows louder. Ukraine has increased military production but still seeks more international support. President Zelenskyy secured new important agreements in his latest visit to Europe. And Ukraine’s partners in Ramstein are looking for more effective tools to counter Russia....

2024 could become a year of consolidation of authoritarian regimes. Liberal democracies are weak and often do not fully understand approaching threats. Can we still win the war against Russia in these circumstances? A new coalition of freedom-loving societies needs to assert itself, and the response to Russian aggression must be far more decisive. The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites Peter Pomerantsev, the renowned British-American author, intellectual, senior fellow at Johns Hopkins...

President Zelenskyy appoints Colonel General Syrsky to lead the Armed Forces in an attempt to reset the system, establishing an all-new management team for the defence forces. This episode focuses on the reasons for and impacts of this decision. Meanwhile, human rights researchers presented Russia's crimes in occupied Mariupol, occupiers continued to shell Ukrainian territory, killing citizens of Kyiv and Kharkiv and causing infrastructure damage in Mykolaiv, Lviv, and other cities. This is...

He is one of Ukraine’s top constitutional lawyers and experts in EU law. But he is also the founder of a mobile medical hospital which has saved hundreds of thousands of lives on the frontline since 2014. Today’s Ukraine is a country where these social roles are often combined. The Explaining Ukraine podcast invites Gennadiy Druzenko, a Ukrainian lawyer and founder of the Mykola Pyrohov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital (PDMSh), which works every day to aid , evacuate, and stabilize wounded...

A new method of war based on technology, a new training philosophy, and new combat capabilities - that’s what Ukraine needs to create a more favourable advantage on the battlefield, according to Valeriy Zalyzhnyy in his last article for CNN, which was published amid ongoing rumours about his possible dismissal. Meanwhile, EU leaders agreed on €50 billion of support for Ukraine - a vital aid package. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr...