We have released our March 2021 episode of “Explaining Ukraine,” our monthly podcast in which we talk about major events and trends in Ukraine. We focus on the anniversary of the occupation of Crimea, the escalation of the war in the Donbas, the record escalation of the pandemic, the creation of anti-disinformation bodies, protests against Zelensky and law enforcement, and the struggle over cultural institutions. UkraineWorld’s editor in chief Volodymyr Yermolenko talks with UkraineWorld analyst Maksym Panchenko.

What is unique about Ukraine’s democracy? How is it different from that of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe and from the democracies of Western Europe? Can we compare Ukraine’s pluralistic political culture with that of the United States? UkraineWorld’s chief editor Volodymyr Yermolenko talks with Emily Channell-Justice, Director at the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.

In this month’s episode of our Explaining Ukraine podcast, we look at major events in Ukraine in February 2021. We examine why Medvedchuk and his allies were put under sanctions by the government; what the situation is around COVID vaccination; why Ukraine hopes to review its Association Agreement with the EU; why Ukraine failed to get a deal with IMF and how to understand the Sternenko protests. UkraineWorld’s chief editor Volodymyr Yermolenko talks with UkraineWorld journalist and analyst Maksym Panchenko.

UkraineWorld is starting a regular monthly podcast taking snapshots of key developments in the country over the previous month. Here we look at early 2021: January and a bit of February. UkraineWorld chief editor Volodymyr Yermolenko is joined by UW analyst and journalist Maksym Panchenko to talk about how Ukraine is struggling to get access to COVID vaccines, how it is developing relations with the EU and why it sanctioned Kremlin-linked TV channels.

What’s happening in the Eastern Partnership countries - Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus - and with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? What will be the consequences of Maia Sandu’s victory in Moldova’s presidential election over pro-Russian Igor Dodon? UkraineWorld talks with Nicu Popescu, a prominent Moldovan expert, the director of the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in the cabinet of Prime Minister Maia Sandu in 2019.

President Zelensky's party "Servant of the People" failed to curb the power of local mayors in Ukrainian local elections on October 25th. Why did this happen, what is new in Ukrainian politics, and what are the pros and cons of the Ukrainian decentralization process? We focus on these issues in our next UkraineWorld podcast with Maksym Yakovlev, The Chair of International Relations and Director of the School for Policy Analysis at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Following last week's EU-Ukraine summit, UkraineWorld discusses what is happening in Ukraine's EU integration under the presidency of Volodymyr Zelensky. Are reforms going forward or they are being stalled? What is the future of the EU-Ukraine visa-free regime, and are low-cost air travel links here to stay? Listen to the conversation with UkraineWorld analysts Volodymyr Yermolenko and Maksym Panchenko.

A new app using augmented reality technology to tell the stories of Ukrainian prisoners of the Kremlin has been launched by Internews Ukraine, with support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The app will help users become immersed in the experiences of prisoners and their living conditions. Listen to the UkraineWorld podcast with Olexiy Furman, a Ukrainian visual storyteller, to learn how high-tech media are being used for humanitarian purposes in Ukraine. This podcast is produced within a project implemented by Internews-Ukraine with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, in cooperation with the Center for Civil Liberties and other partners. The project is part of the global #PrisonersVoice campaign, which aims to draw global attention to Ukrainian political prisoners who have been or are still in Russian prisons, and to the Russian Federation's violation of international human rights law. The positions of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation may not coincide with the opinions expressed in this podcast.

Anti-Western propaganda is growing in the Ukrainian information space. It is fuelled by pro-Russian politicians and media, some popular bloggers, and oligarchs-aligned politicians. This episode of the UkraineWorld podcast focuses on the information campaign by anti-Western politicians in Ukraine, which present the “West” as Ukraine’s chief enemy. Two analysts at UkraineWorld and Internews Ukraine, Volodymyr Yermolenko and Vitaliy Rybak, talk about the key narratives, players, and distribution channels of this campaign, as well as troll armies in social networks which are supporting it. The podcast is based on the study, “Fake Fans: How Anti-Western Actors in Ukraine are Using Troll Armies to Push Their Agenda,” which you can find here: https://bit.ly/fake-fans

Despite the prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine, at least 100 prisoners are still being held captive in Russia and occupied Crimea, with several hundred also likely held in occupied Donbas. Learn more about their situations in the latest UkraineWorld podcast with Olexandra Matviychuk, a Ukrainian human rights activist and head of the board of the Centre for Civil Liberties. This podcast is produced within a project implemented by Internews-Ukraine with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, in cooperation with the Center for Civil Liberties and other partners. The project is part of the global #PrisonersVoice campaign, which aims to draw global attention to Ukrainian political prisoners who have been or are still in Russian prisons, and to the Russian Federation's violation of international human rights law. The positions of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation may not coincide with the opinions expressed in this podcast.