Explaining Ukraine

In our new episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast, we look at developments in and around Ukraine in November 2021. Last month, Ukraine witnessed an ever-increasing build-up of Russian troops along its border; President Zelensky found himself in the midst of a scandal following an allegedly failed special operation; Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s wealthiest oligarch, has become an enemy of the Presid...

This month’s episode of our Explaining Ukraine podcast focuses on major events and trends in October 2021. Ukraine accelerates vaccination amid stronger corona threats; the EU and Ukraine sign a deal on open skies and update their association agreement, opening up new possibilities for businesses and citizens; Russia weaponizes gas against both the EU and Ukraine, cuts coal supplies to Ukraine and...

In our new episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast, we look at developments in and around Ukraine in September 2021. Last month, the Verkhovna Rada passed an anti-oligarch bill; its chairman Dmytro Razumkov was ostracized by his own party; President Zelensky delivered an impassioned address to the UN; Ukraine was embroiled in a yet another diplomatic row with Hungary over its new gas contract wi...

In our new episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast, we look at developments in and around Ukraine in August 2021. Last month, the country celebrated the 30th anniversary of the restoration of its independence; the launch of the Crimean Platform gathered representatives from 46 countries and institutions for its inaugural summit in Kyiv; President Zelensky traveled to Washington for his long-awai...

Ukraine celebrated the 30th anniversary of the restoration of its independence last week. How is this independence perceived outside of Ukraine and, what is more importantly, inside Ukraine? Our guest on the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast is Peter Pomerantsev, a famous author and expert, as well as the director of the Arena think tank. Mr. Pomerantsev recently directed a research project called “Ukr...

In our new episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast, we look at developments in and around Ukraine in July 2021. Ukraine’s longest-serving Minister of the Interior, Arsen Avakov, resigned from office; Putin published an article about the supposed “historic unity of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples”; the US and Germany struck a deal on Nord Stream-2 as the construction of the pipeline is being fi...

UkraineWorld and the Kyiv Security Forum are holding a joint online event on recent major security and political challenges in Eastern Europe: Ukraine, Belarus, the Caucasus, other Eastern Partnership countries, and the Black Sea region.

In this episode of our “Explaining Ukraine” podcast, host Volodymyr Yermolenko talks with prominent Ukrainian public intellectual Yevhen Hlibovytskyi. We try to reflect on what makes Ukraine interesting to the world, what global processes and trends are being reflected in Ukraine, and how Ukraine's case can be essential to understand some other parts of the world as well. Subscribe to our podcasts...

In our new episode of the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast, we look at developments in and around Ukraine in June 2021. Ukraine has shocked the European football world by reaching the Euro-2020 quarterfinals; Biden meets Putin to decrease US-Russia tensions, including around Ukraine; the NATO summit in Brussels reluctantly confirms Ukraine’s aspirations to join; judiciary reform gets a new boost; and...

Ep. № 48 - Ukrainian journalism: where is it headed? by UkraineWorld

Ep. № 47 - Ukraine in May 2021: Totalitarian Belarus; Medvedchuk; Nord Stream-2; WWII anniversaries by UkraineWorld

Tune in for our conversation with Serhii Plokhy, a famous Ukrainian historian and director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. We talk about Ukraine’s special experience as a culture of both dialogue and conflict between settled cultures and nomadic cultures; between Christianity, Judaism and Islam; between various forms of Christianity; between East and West, North...

In the new episode of our “Explaining Ukraine” podcast looking at developments in and around Ukraine in April 2021: the buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border; the risk of a full-fledged Russian invasion; the illusion of the withdrawal of Russian troops; diplomatic battles in Central and Eastern Europe after proof of Russian state terrorism. We also talk about Ukraine’s domestic agenda, in...

Does Ukraine have soft power? If yes, how strong is it? How can Ukraine increase its attractiveness to the world? UkraineWorld talks to Steven Thomson, Insight Director of Brand Finance, and co-author of the report Global Soft Power Index 2021.

During March and April, Russia accumulated at least 90 thousand troops on Ukraine’s border, masking it as a “military exercise”. Ukraine and its international partners, however, saw it as a threat of full-fledged military aggression. Despite Russia’s announcement that it is ending its “exercises”, the risk of military escalation remains high. - What is happening, and what can we expect? UkraineWor...

We have released our March 2021 episode of “Explaining Ukraine,” our monthly podcast in which we talk about major events and trends in Ukraine. We focus on the anniversary of the occupation of Crimea, the escalation of the war in the Donbas, the record escalation of the pandemic, the creation of anti-disinformation bodies, protests against Zelensky and law enforcement, and the struggle over cultur...

What is unique about Ukraine’s democracy? How is it different from that of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe and from the democracies of Western Europe? Can we compare Ukraine’s pluralistic political culture with that of the United States? UkraineWorld’s chief editor Volodymyr Yermolenko talks with Emily Channell-Justice, Director at the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at the Harv...

In this month’s episode of our Explaining Ukraine podcast, we look at major events in Ukraine in February 2021. We examine why Medvedchuk and his allies were put under sanctions by the government; what the situation is around COVID vaccination; why Ukraine hopes to review its Association Agreement with the EU; why Ukraine failed to get a deal with IMF and how to understand the Sternenko protests....

UkraineWorld is starting a regular monthly podcast taking snapshots of key developments in the country over the previous month. Here we look at early 2021: January and a bit of February. UkraineWorld chief editor Volodymyr Yermolenko is joined by UW analyst and journalist Maksym Panchenko to talk about how Ukraine is struggling to get access to COVID vaccines, how it is developing relations with t...

What’s happening in the Eastern Partnership countries - Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus - and with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? What will be the consequences of Maia Sandu’s victory in Moldova’s presidential election over pro-Russian Igor Dodon? UkraineWorld talks with Nicu Popescu, a prominent Moldovan expert, the director of the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations...

President Zelensky's party "Servant of the People" failed to curb the power of local mayors in Ukrainian local elections on October 25th. Why did this happen, what is new in Ukrainian politics, and what are the pros and cons of the Ukrainian decentralization process? We focus on these issues in our next UkraineWorld podcast with Maksym Yakovlev, The Chair of International Relations and Director of...

Following last week's EU-Ukraine summit, UkraineWorld discusses what is happening in Ukraine's EU integration under the presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky. Are reforms going forward or they are being stalled? What is the future of the EU-Ukraine visa-free regime, and are low-cost air travel links here to stay? Listen to the conversation with UkraineWorld analysts Volodymyr Yermolenko and Maksym Panc...

A new app using augmented reality technology to tell the stories of Ukrainian prisoners of the Kremlin has been launched by Internews Ukraine, with support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The app will help users become immersed in the experiences of prisoners and their living conditions. Listen to the UkraineWorld podcast with Olexiy Furman, a Ukrainian visual storyteller, to learn how high-...

Anti-Western propaganda is growing in the Ukrainian information space. It is fuelled by pro-Russian politicians and media, some popular bloggers, and oligarchs-aligned politicians. This episode of the UkraineWorld podcast focuses on the information campaign by anti-Western politicians in Ukraine, which present the “West” as Ukraine’s chief enemy. Two analysts at UkraineWorld and Internews Ukraine,...

Despite the prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine, at least 100 prisoners are still being held captive in Russia and occupied Crimea, with several hundred also likely held in occupied Donbas. Learn more about their situations in the latest UkraineWorld podcast with Olexandra Matviychuk, a Ukrainian human rights activist and head of the board of the Centre for Civil Liberties. This podcast...