Explaining Ukraine

Russia has carried out a series of heinous and bloody terror attacks on Ukrainian civilians in Kherson, Kharkiv, and Hroza. The aggressor murdered a large part of Hroza's population who gathered to pay tribute to a fallen soldier, their countryman. As Ukraine advances, Russians resort to more brutal tactics on the frontlines. Meanwhile, Ukraine is attempting to gain more international support by acting on a global scale. 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, analyst and journalist at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld We provide exclusive content for our patrons. You can also support our volunteer trips to the frontlines at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

What is happening at the front in the Russo-Ukrainian war? Can Ukraine break Russian defense lines in the South? What are the key frontline spots, and why are they important? How are drones changing the art of war? What arms does Ukraine need, and how could they change the situation on the frontline? The guest on this episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast is Mykola Bielieskov, a Ukrainian military analyst, research fellow at Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies, and chief analyst at Come Back Alive, one of Ukraine’s largest volunteer foundations. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the most reputable Ukrainian media NGOs. Support UkraineWorld at patreon.com/ukraineworld. Patrons get exclusive content. Support our volunteer trips to the frontline areas at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

Ukraine and Poland are now going through one of the worst periods of their recent mutual relations. Historical memory clashes have reared their heads again, and controversy about Ukrainian grain exports to and through Poland shows signs of a serious trade dispute. What happened to the seemingly rock-solid relations from a year ago, when Russia started its cruel invasion against Ukraine, and Poland stepped up as one of the leading countries in helping Ukrainian refugees and supporting Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion? Our guest on this episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast is Wojciech Przybylski, a Polish political analyst and author. Przybylski is Editor-in-Chief of Visegrad Insight and President of the Res Publica Foundation. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the most reputable Ukrainian media NGOs. Support UkraineWorld at patreon.com/ukraineworld. Patrons get exclusiv

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit, along with French and British Ministers of Defense Sébastien Lecornu and Grant Shapps. Meanwhile, Russia continues its terror against Ukrainian cities. However, that’s not all that caught our attention. In Russia, a sham trial against Ukrainian POWs has begun. 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, analyst and journalist at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld We provide exclusive content for our patrons. You can also support our volunteer trips to the frontlines at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

Capitalizing on its previous successes, Ukraine has continued its operations in occupied Crimea, destroying the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. On the international plane, President Zelensky has visited the US to partake in the UN GA, as well as to hold bilateral talks. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiia Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld We provide exclusive content for our patrons. You can also support our volunteer trips to the frontlines at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

How can we think about the future today - and learn from it? How is the war influencing our thinking and action? Why are societies polarized, and can we overcome this polarization? Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, speaks to Otto Scharmer, a German-born American intellectual who introduced influential concepts like Theory U and presencing in an attempt to learn from the emerging future and act in a more creative way. Otto Scharmer is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Founding Chair of the Presencing Institute. Through his bestselling books Theory U and Presence (the latter co-authored with Peter Senge and others), Otto introduced the concept of “presencing” — learning from the emerging future. Thinking in Dark Times is a podcast series by UkraineWorld. This series seeks to make Ukraine and the current war a focal point of our common reflection about the world’s present, past, and future. We try to see the light throug

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have significantly enhanced their operations in the North-Western part of the Black Sea. In the meantime, Ukraine has remained largely absent on the agenda of the recent G20 summit. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiia Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld Support our volunteer trips to the frontlines: PayPal ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

What is currently happening on the frontlines of the Russo-Ukrainian war? Is Ukraine progressing with its counteroffensive, does it have a chance to win this war, and what does it need in order to do so? Are moving closer to better ensuring Ukraine’s security in the world? The guest of this episode of the Explaining Ukraine podcast is Fredrik Wesslau, a Swedish diplomat and analyst, who has been working for many years in Ukraine. Wesslau is now a Senior Advisor at Rasmussen Global, and a Distinguished Policy Fellow at The Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS). He has previously worked for the UN, EU, and OSCE in Kosovo, the South Caucasus, and Sudan/South Sudan, as well as on counter-piracy off the Horn of Africa. Until December 2022, he worked in Kyiv as Deputy Head of the EU Advisory Mission in Ukraine. Fredrik has also served as Director of the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and journalist,

Why is freedom the highest value? Are we really born free? Or is freedom instead a great task and mission for both society and the individual to achieve? Why is the negative idea of freedom (freedom from) not sufficient today, and why should we strive for positive freedom, the freedom to? What can the experiences of Ukraine and Eastern Europe tell us about other parts of the world with regard to this value of freedom? This episode is a recording of Timothy Snyder’s conversation with the Ukrainian cultural and intellectual community, organized by PEN Ukraine and UkraineWorld on September 6th, 2023. The conversation was moderated by Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, president of PEN Ukraine, and the chief editor of UkraineWorld. Timothy Snyder regularly travels to Ukraine. We had this conversation during his visit to Ukraine in early September 2023. He traveled to the southern regions affected by the war, and also stayed in Kyiv to finalize his new book about freedom. We dedicate this conversat

Russia continues to bomb Ukrainian ports, hitting Romanian territory in the process. In the meantime, Erdogan ends up unable to convince Putin to revive the Grain Deal. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiia Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support our work at patreon.com/ukraineworld. Patrons get exclusive content. Support our volunteer trips to the frontlines at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue their gradual movement towards Tokmak in the country’s south. In the meantime, Ukraine expands the range of domestically produced weapons, both by own efforts and together with foreign defense companies who open factories in Ukraine. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiia Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have reportedly broken through the first line of Russia’s defense in the south. Meanwhile, Ukraine further strengthened the F-16 coalition and organized the third Crimean platform summit to discuss the peninsula’s reintegration. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiia Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld

Ukraine’s armed forces continue its counteroffensive, advancing deeper into enemy lines in the south. In the meantime, Denmark and the Netherlands committed to delivering 61 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiia Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. ` UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld

Russia continues targeting Ukraine’s peaceful cities as well as industrial and military infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s counteroffensive is ongoing, with Kyiv attempting to conceptualize its partners’ support into bilateral security agreements. This is our weekly roundup of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, is joined by Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiia Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld, to discuss key events and trends in and around Ukraine over the past week. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld

How can we think about imperialism and colonialism today? What can Ukrainians and Indians tell each other in this respect? How can we try to look for horizontal connections between formerly colonized nations? In this episode, Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, and chief editor of UkraineWorld, speaks to Aman Sethi, an Indian journalist and writer, former editor-in-chief of HuffPost India. Aman Sethi is also the author of A Free Man. A True Story of Life and Death in Delhi. Thinking in Dark Times is a podcast series by UkraineWorld. This series seeks to make Ukraine and the current Russian war against Ukraine a focal point of our joint reflection on the world’s present, past, and future. We try to see the light through and despite the current darkness. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld

David Rieff is a famous intellectual and war correspondent. He is the author of many books, including Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West; A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis; At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention; The Reproach of Hunger: Food, Justice, and Money in the Twenty-First Century; In Praise of Forgetting: The Ironies of Historical Memory, and numerous others. He is also the editor of the journals and notebooks of his mother, Susan Sontag, published after her death. He is currently living between New York and Argentina, but regularly visits Ukraine. Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld, speaks to David Rieff about the role played by Ukraine and the Ukrainian struggle in the world today. Thinking in Dark Times is a podcast series by UkraineWorld. This series seeks to make Ukraine and the current Russian war against Ukraine a focal point of our joint reflection on the world’s present, past, and future. We t

Yaryna Chornohuz is a Ukrainian poet who became a soldier to defend her homeland. She is a paramedic and a reconnaissance scout who went to the frontline before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Before her military experience, she was an activist organizing protests in support of the Ukrainian language and culture, and against capitulation to Russia. While on the frontline, she wrote two books of poetry, which had substantial resonance in Ukraine. Her profound poetry touches upon the topics of life and death, connection with those who are no longer alive, connection to the land, and Ukraine’s war experience today. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. Thinking in Dark Times is a podcast series by UkraineWorld. This series seeks to make Ukraine and the current Russian war against Ukraine a focal point of our joint reflection on the world’s present, past, and future. We try to see the light through and despite the current darkness. UkraineWor

What does it mean to live in Ukraine for over a decade, report on Ukraine’s revolution, the annexation of Crimea, and both episodes of Russia’s war against Ukraine? What does it mean to be a foreign reporter in Ukraine, and yet have a deep personal connection with the country? This episode is a conversation with Christopher Miller, the lead correspondent in Ukraine for the Financial Times. Miller was previously a world and national security reporter for POLITICO and the Ukraine correspondent for BuzzFeed News. Before that, he spent five years as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Kyiv. He has lived and worked in Ukraine for many years, and just published the book "The War Came to Us. Life and Death in Ukraine" with Bloomsbury Publishing. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, and chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. Thinking in Dark Times is a podcast series by UkraineWorld. This series seeks to make Ukraine and the current Russian war against Ukraine a foca

Ukraine’s counteroffensive remains underway, with Ukraine’s armed forces liberating several villages in the East and in the South. Ukraine is also blowing up more arms depots located in Crimea and in the Russian rear. Meanwhile, Russia has continued bombing peaceful Ukrainian cities, with a particular emphasis on Odesa this week. Among other things, Russia hit the UNESCO-protected parts of the city. This is our weekly overview of key events and trends in and around Ukraine. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and chief editor of UkraineWorld; Maksym Panchenko and Anastasiya Herasymchuk, analysts and journalists at UkraineWorld. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld

What role can science play in Ukraine’s victory and recovery?What problems has Ukrainian science faced over the past decades, and how can they be overcome? What are the central science and technology needs on the frontline? Could these needs serve as a boost to Ukraine’s future technological development? Guest: Yury Gogotsi, a Ukrainian scientist in the field of material chemistry and professor at Drexel University, Philadelphia. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. UkraineWorld (ukraineworld.org) is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld