Explaining Ukraine

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.

Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (chief editor at UkraineWorld.org) welcomes Hennadiy Druzenko, a well-known Ukrainian intellectual and volunteer, and the co-founder of a volunteer mobile hospital helping soldiers on the frontline and people who suffered from COVID-19 pandemics. They talk about Zelensky's presidency and how it compares to Poroshenko's; about the Ukrainian volunteer movement and its future; about the veteran community, and about why Ukraine still lacks a visionary leader.

Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes Olga Tokariuk, a Ukrainian independent journalist and documentary filmmaker, formerly of Hromadske.ua. She is now finalizing a documentary film “The Wrong Place” with her Italian colleagues. The film is about Vitaliy Markiv, a Ukrainian soldier with Italian citizenship who was sentenced to 24 years of prison by an Italian court for the alleged murder of Italian photojournalist Andrea Rochelli in May 2014, amid the most violent stage of the Donbas War. The story, however, is far more complicated than it seems.

Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes experts Orysia Lutsevych and Mathieu Boulègue from Chatham House, to discuss their report, “Resilient Ukraine: Safeguarding Society from Russian Aggression.” https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/resilient-ukraine-boulegue-lutsevych

Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (chief editor of UkraineWorld.org) welcomes Dana Pavlychko, director of Osnovy Publishing, to talk about Osnovy’s famous book series “Awesome Ukraine.” They also talk about the things that are "awesome," "weird," "odd," and "horrible" in Ukraine today; how the country can be interesting for foreigners; what its attitude is towards its Soviet past; and what’s happening in the Ukrainian book industry, culture, and society.

Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes Duncan Allan, Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House in London to talk about the prospects of the Minsk agreements aiming to end the war in Eastern Ukraine. The conversation focuses on Chatham House’s research paper, “The Minsk Conundrum: Western Policy and Russia’s War in Eastern Ukraine” (https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/minsk-conundrum-allan)

Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, welcomes famous Ukrainian author and journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk to talk about Ukraine's experience of the coronavirus pandemic and what it tells us about Ukrainian society and media.

Volodymyr Yermolenko, the chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, welcomes Christopher Miller, the reporter at BuzzFeed and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, to talk about Biden-Poroshenko tapes and their impact on American and Ukrainian politics.