Ukrainian Diaries

People say money doesn’t fall from the sky.  In Ukraine, it does. Lessons that no MBA or leadership programme can prepare you for. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here . Image from exhibition Still Joy @ Pinchuck art centre, Kyiv 2026

Notes from an expat gathering in Kyiv, and the kinds of people and businesses that chose to stay. Highlights are: Best food in the worst conditions and "Pottery in the Dark". Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here . Image: at the rooftop of InterContinental Kyiv, view of  St. Andrew’s Church , 26 June 2026

On growing up near a place the world calls heritage and a night of strikes in Kyiv. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here . Domes of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in winter 2021, photo by Ganna Aibetova on Unsplash

What foreign companies get wrong about trust, presence, and the Ukrainian market. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection ⁠⁠ here ⁠⁠. You can support my work ⁠⁠ here ⁠⁠ . Photo from my personal archive: I’m somewhere on a rooftop in Kyiv, Ukraine

Risk tolerance, threat normalization, and the logic of personal safety decisions. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection ⁠⁠ here ⁠⁠. You can support my work ⁠⁠ here ⁠⁠ . Image: A screenshot from a video of the underground parking in the residential complex TrIIInity, May 2026

How small daily changes unlock performance gains in business and life. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection ⁠ here ⁠. You can support my work ⁠ here ⁠ . Photo by Piotr Pękala on Unsplash

How curfews, ride-hailing and technology reshape life in Kyiv after dark. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here . You can support my work here . Photo by  Alin Gavriliuc  on  Unsplash

Ukrainian real estate market: not an investment pitch but a window into how a country at war adapts. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here . You can support my work ⁠ here ⁠ . Image: bunker project on stroimdom.com.ua

Ukrainians spend 84% of their monthly budgets on essentials. In Germany and the Netherlands, that number is 56-59%. Only 1% goes to leisure in Ukraine, while in France it’s 19%. One important caveat — this data has its limits. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here .

Kyiv has a kind of small business you won’t find in most cities. But rising energy costs and inflation are not helping those who miscalculated. This week’s episode is about MAFs. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here . Image: MAF by skymax

I am, fortunately, a pleasant enough person that people keep inviting me to their weddings. I have been to enough weddings, in places like Paris, Istanbul, Slovakia, across Ukraine, and in other cultures, to have opinions. Last weekend, I was at one again. We celebrated love, as one does. Enjoy the episode or read a 2-minute reflection  here . Image:  Return from the Wedding , Ivan Ayvazovskyy, 18...

Ukrainian stand-up didn’t start in a club with a brick wall and a microphone. It began in the post-Soviet 90s, shared on audiocassettes. At the center of it all was someone most people know from Eurovision: Verka Serduchka. She took second place at Eurovision 2007, with her sequins, silver star, and the song that got  Europeans dancing in their chairs . Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflect...

While the world watches gas prices, I stand on the black prize. All eyes are on the Middle East and the surging price of oil, the “black gold.” We know its price will eventually dictate the cost of your commute and heating. But there is another black gold that doesn’t burn but feeds. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on April 10, 2026. Ph...

Talking from exoerience living in multiple countries, Ukrainian service culture has a special quality that you might not notice until you leave.  It’s not just about being available, though that stands out. It’s the attitude — the feeling that you are truly welcome, not just tolerated. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on April 3, 2026. P...

Everyone in their place. Not everywhere at once. Not helping with everything because the guilt of not doing enough feels louder than the question of where you actually belong. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on March 27, 2026. Photo by  LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR  on  Unsplash

When the whole world was searching “World War Three,” Ukraine’s top search was “When is Easter in 2026.” I noticed that and laughed. Then I thought about it for a while. That is not indifference. Dark humor from inside a war zone is not the same thing as dark humor from outside it. Psychologists call it a coping mechanism. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was or...

A foreigner who shows up, who understands, who acts, who holds the same values, feels closer than a relative who hedges despite having a Ukrainian passport. That line used to be invisible. Four years of war drew it in permanent marker. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on March 13, 2026. Image: Motherland in Kyiv, 102 m (335 ft), 2022. Ph...

I haven’t heard a certain sound in a while that wakes me up at night. The one between a broken lawnmower and an old car that refuses to start. A Shahed — an Iranian drone Russia buys to hit Ukrainian cities. An Iranian drone that costs $30,000 and announces itself like a bad joke before it kills someone. Now I’m reading that the Pentagon and Gulf states want to buy Ukrainian interceptors to shoot...

Spring in Kyiv doesn’t start with blooming trees. It starts with the asphalt “blooming” into craters. This week navigating my usual route felt like a high-stakes game of Tetris. I watched drivers performing a synchronized ballet of desperate swerves. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on February 27, 2026. Photo by  Marc-Olivier Jodoin  on...

When I was fourteen, we had a school poetry evening. We dressed up, rehearsed for weeks and tried to sound much older than we actually were. Growing up in Ukraine, we were exposed to the literary density early. Long-form novels and poems (e.g. Master and Margarita, Iliad), metaphysics and symbolism before we had the life experience to metabolize them. At the time, it felt abstract. Enjoy the episo...

Today is the first Friday the 13th of 2026. This year decided not to hold back, giving us a triple dose in February, March, and November. The superstition reaches all the way back to the Last Supper. In Ukraine, this ancient anxiety finds its own rhythm. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on February 13, 2026. Image: Le Chat Noir (The Blac...

Slavs are often perceived as reserved or even cold. There is that famous “Slavic stare” — a steady, unreadable gaze between a poker face and a quiet observation plus intimidation, a bit of a killer look. People online try to imitate it but it only works if you grew up inside the code. We don’t easily say “I’m worried about you, I miss you.” We don’t dramatize affection. Instead, we ask:  “Sho ty t...

Time in Ukraine has stopped behaving. A single day here feels longer than a week used to but not because we have more hours. It is because we pack too much life into every sixty minutes. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on January 30, 2026. Image: The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dalí, 1931

At some point, you stop measuring days by plans. You start measuring them by electricity. The building chat becomes the most reliable source of truth. — Does the elevator work? — No, the elevator doesn’t work. I’m inside. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  here . This episode was originally published on January 24, 2026. Photo by  Vladyslav Tobolenko  on  Unsplash

Kyiv is currently a giant icebox where the temperature has hit –17°C (1.4°F) and  16-hour daily blackouts  have become the new, brutal standard. While Russian strikes attempt to freeze our endurance, they’ve triggered a masterclass in accidental philosophy and extreme adaptation. These true stories reveal a massive shift in behaviour and habits. Enjoy the episode or read a 1-minute reflection  her...