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 exclusive content. Support our volunteer trips to the frontline areas at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

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 through and despite the current darkness. UkraineWorld 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 frontline areas at paypal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

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, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org UkraineWorld 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 frontline areas at paypal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

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 conversation to the memory of Ihor Kozlovskyi, a prominent Ukrainian intellectual, religious scholar and activist, who passed away on September 6th. 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 through and despite the current darkness. UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of the largest Ukrainian media NGOs. You can support our work at patreon.com/ukraineworld You can support our volunteer trips to the frontline areas at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

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