Explaining Ukraine

Targets in Russian-occupied Crimea are regularly under attack now, which shows Russian weakness to defend the Ukrainian peninsula it occupied back in 2014. The war is severely damaging the Ukrainian economy and energy sector, with many regions risking to stay without electricity and heating during the upcoming winter. Ukrainian volunteers buy a space satellite for the Ukrainian army on money raised by the citizens. -- This is the 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

Russia has taken Europe’s biggest nuclear plant as a hostage and threatens to provoke a major nuclear disaster in Ukraine. At the same time, Russians are showing weakness with apparent incapacity to defend targets in the occupied Crimea. -- This is the 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

Imagine a village near a European capital . Within several weeks, this village is totally destroyed by Russian troops. In its outskirts, you can barely find a house, out of hundreds, which is not either totally destroyed or severely damaged. The village is called Moshchun, near Kyiv. We have visited it, talked to its inhabitants, and are here to tell its stories. 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

We are analyzing the key features of the Ukrainian civic and political identity: a long history of fighting against tyranny, a culture of self-organization, dynamism of social change, and a bottom-up understanding of politics. This episode is made in partnership with VoiCEE, a podcast from Central and Eastern Europe, launched by Notes from Poland together with several independent media outlets in this region. 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

Amnesty International published a report in which it blamed Ukraine for “violating international humanitarian law” by “establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas”. The report faced harsh criticism in Ukraine, both from the government, human rights defenders and journalists. – Russians are sending more troops to the South in an attempt to counteract a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive. Heavy Russian shelling in Mykolaiv and in Donetsk oblast brings more death and destruction. – The first vessels with Ukrainian grain traveled from the Ukrainian ports. – This is the 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

Over 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion in Olenivka, a town on the Russian-occupied territory in Eastern Ukraine. Earlier, a video circulated in Russian social networks showing a Russian soldier castrating and then killing a Ukrainian prisoner of war. We analyze these crimes, as well as the trends on the frontline and in the newly occupied territories, in our weekly digest 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

Olha Sukhenko, the village head of Motyzhyn, near Kyiv, was tortured and killed by Russian soldiers, together with her husband and her son. We went to Motyzhyn and talked to a local woman who closely knew her. Regardless the exact causes of the murder, it is clear that Olga Sukhenko has always showed a remarkable solidarity with her people. – We also went to Makariv and talked to a woman who left Volnovakha, Eastern Ukraine, now under the Russian occupation. In Makariv she met hospitality and solidarity. 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

Andriy Andrushkiv, a Ukrainian activist who runs an NGO reforming Ukraine’s institutions, became a volunteer soldier after February 24th. Andriy is also a theologian, and regularly publishes commentary on the Bible, trying to present the Gospels’ stories as if they were happening with us, now. We sent Andriy our questions through a messenger, and he replied to them using a smartphone dictaphone from the frontline. Listen to our conversation. Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org. Support us on patreon.com/ukraineworld

Agreements aimed to unblock Ukrainian grain exports were signed this week in Istanbul. The very next day, Russia attacked Ukraine's most critical port in Odesa. The three port complexes of Odesa are key to export Ukrainian food worldwide. – This is the 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

Makariv, a town near Kyiv, suffered from heavy fighting in February and March 2022. We visited Makariv and talked to its residents. Listen to our stories – about a director of a culture centre who evacuated town residents under the shelling, about a woman who lived for almost a month under occupation, about another woman who was raped by a Russian soldier and whose husband was killed when he tried to defend her. 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