Explaining Ukraine

Why is Ukraine constantly asking for weapons? Can it defend itself with the weapons it already has? Can it mount a counter-offensive against the Russians army with the weapons available to it now? How have the armaments supplied by Ukraine’s international partners made a difference on the frontline? – Listen to our conversation with Alina Frolova, Ukraine’s former deputy defense minister and current deputy head of board of the Centre for Defense Strategies. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Russians continue their missile strikes against civilians in Ukrainian cities. Horrible attack on Vinnytsia (at least 24 people dead, many wounded and missing); attacks on Chasiv Yar, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv. Russian “operational pause” in the Eastern Ukraine. Prominent human rights activist Maksym Butkevych is in Russian captivity. We focus on these key developments in this week’s episode of the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

One of Ukraine’s finest reporters, Nataliya Gumenyuk has traveled across many Ukrainian regions to understand the Russian invasion, Ukrainian resistance, and grassroots Ukrainian democracy. In this episode of the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast, she shares her reflections on what she has seen. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

The explanation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not only geopolitical, but also psychological. It is rooted in Russia’s culture of violence and political sado-masochism. We discuss this with Peter Pomerantsev, senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University and author of the best-selling books, This is Not Propaganda and Nothing is True and Everything is Possible. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Ukrainians are using Western-supplied high-tech weapons to destroy Russian ammunition stocks, thus undermining Russia’s whole artillery-dependent warfighting strategy. We focus on this key development in this week’s episode of the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Chernihiv, a medieval city in Northern Ukraine, suffered heavily from Russian shelling and airstrikes in February and March. The city was without electricity and water for one month, and over 140 multi-storey buildings and over 2,000 private houses were damaged or destroyed. The number of dead could reach 1,000 people. If Chernihiv had fallen, the Russians were in position to take Kyiv next. We traveled to Chiernihiv, filmed the destruction, and talked to the local authorities and volunteers. – Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Russia made a missile strike on a trade mall in Kremenchuk, killing over 20 people; 36 went missing. This and others are cases of Russia’s increasing missile terrorism hitting civilian targets in Ukraine, which Kremlin propaganda tries in vain to deny. Unable to withstand Ukrainian strikes, Russia retreats from the Zmiinyi island in the Black Sea, but Russians continue their offensive in the whole Luhansk oblast in the East. The situation on the front is difficult as weapon disparity between Russia and Ukraine is still considerable. NATO summit in Madrid calls Russia “the most significant and direct threat” to Allies. – This and more in a new weekly digest of our “Explaining Ukraine” podcast. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

What are the key elements of contemporary Ukraine? How can we understand its past 30 years? We discuss decentralization, generational changes, people vs power, the fluidity of the language situation, and other topics. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

The team at the Explaining Ukraine podcast is traveling through the villages in towns around Kyiv which heavily suffered from the battles in March. We describe our impressions and share the stories told to us by people who lived through the war. Here is the story of Borodyanka, a town near Kyiv. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld Video version: https://youtu.be/lurmbOJYOb4

In this episode of the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast, we ask whether Russian actions in Ukraine amount to genocide. Our guest is Christopher Atwood, a researcher at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University, and a contributor and advisor to a report on Russia's breaches of the genocide convention in Ukraine, recenently published by the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld Link to the report: https://newlinesinstitute.org/an-independent-legal-analysis-of-the-russian-federations-breaches-of-the-genocide-convention-in-ukraine-and-the-duty-to-prevent/

In our new weekly digest we look back into the key lessons from the 4 months of Russia’s full-scale invasion. We analyze why Ukraine’s EU membership candidacy is important for Ukraine and the whole region. We also draw attention to Russia’s intensified missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach of Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Is Russian propaganda responsible for the current Russian atrocities against Ukraine? How has it tried to dehumanize its enemies, and has it succeeded? Chief editor of UkraineWorld.org Volodymyr Yermolenko talks to Vitalii Rybak, UkraineWorld’s chief analyst. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld Our live coverage of Russian propaganda / disinformation narratives: https://ukraineworld.org/articles/infowatch/disinformation-warfare Watch our video explainers at youtube.com/c/UkraineWorld

In this episode we are asking what one can learn by looking at Ukraine from America. Our guest for this episode is Marci Shore, American historian and scholar, associate professor at Yale University where she teaches modern European intellectual history. She has written, among other works, The Taste of Ashes: The Afterlife of Totalitarianism in Eastern Europe, and The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Dana Pavlychko, chief editor of the Osnovy Publishing, and founder of the podcast Osnovy Show, talks to Volodymyr Yermolenko, host of the Explaining Ukraine podcast. They discuss the wicked, negative, lose-lose, imperialist, and expansionist logic of the Russian Federation in a new episode of The War Special by Osnovy Show.

With this episode, we’re starting a series of weekly podcasts, in which we’re making an overview of key events in or around Ukraine during the past week. This episode is focused on 13-19 June, 2022. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach of Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

In this episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast, we will talk about Germany and its indecisive stance with regard to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Why is Germany reluctant to engage more with Ukraine, to supply arms Ukrainians are asking for, and to acknowledge that its traditional policy of seeking compromise with Russia has failed? Our guests are the famous German politicians Marieluise Beck and Ralf Fücks, co-founders of the Center for Liberal Modernity in Berlin. We are holding this conversation in Kyiv, during their second visit to the Ukrainian capital since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and as they are on their way to Kharkiv, a city 40 km from the Russian border and 30 km from the frontline. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Our episode about Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, located 40 km from the Russian border. Kharkiv has severely suffered from the Russian shelling, and is still bombed almost every day. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld Video version on youtube, with videos from the city: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sIj58qSG1I

What should we know about Russian imperialism? How is it connected to Russian nationalism? What does it have in common with other imperialisms in recent history, and how is it different? Volodymyr Yermolenko, host of the “Explaining Ukraine” podcast and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, welcomes Vera Tolz, professor of Russian studies at the University of Manchester, and the author of numerous works on Russia, Russian history, and Russian media discourse. – UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the oldest and biggest Ukrainian media NGO. You can support UkraineWorld on patreon.com/ukraineworld.

400 million people around the world depend on food which comes from Ukraine. Russia has not only attacked Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of civilians, but has also blocked Ukrainian sea ports, through which the country exports 90 million tons of food annually. How is this Russian blockade threatening a global food crisis, and what should be done about it? We discuss these topics in our new episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Kostiantyn Romashko, head of the analytics department of Internews Ukraine. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld

100 days of the full-scale war, 8 years since Russia’s first invasion in 2014: the war does not seem to end soon. We draw some conclusions from the 100 days and analyse how it can proceed in the future. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor at UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. UkraineWorld.org is brought to you by Internews Ukraine. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld