During March and April, Russia accumulated at least 90 thousand troops on Ukraine’s border, masking it as a “military exercise”. Ukraine and its international partners, however, saw it as a threat of full-fledged military aggression. Despite Russia’s announcement that it is ending its “exercises”, the risk of military escalation remains high. - What is happening, and what can we expect? UkraineWorld speaks toto Maria Zolkina, a Senior Fellow at the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation...
Apr 23, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Mar 30, 2021•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Mar 09, 2021•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Maks...
Mar 03, 2021•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Feb 09, 2021•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Nov 20, 2020•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Oct 29, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Oct 16, 2020•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 pr...
Oct 06, 2020•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ch...
Sep 29, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Cult...
Sep 17, 2020•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Aug 11, 2020•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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...
Jul 13, 2020•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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
Jul 03, 2020•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Jun 22, 2020•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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)
Jun 15, 2020•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Jun 05, 2020•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
May 29, 2020•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes two experts of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future: Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019, and Andreas Umland, General Editor of the book series "Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society" at ibidem Press in Stuttgart. They discuss the pandemic's far-reaching repercussions for the international system and Ukraine’s place in it.
May 22, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this podcast, host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes Yulia Fediv, the executive director of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The conversation is focused on recent trends in the Ukrainian culture, Ukrainian creative class, current cultural renaissance, and the new ecosystem of Ukrainian cultural institutions.
May 15, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes Ukrainian philosopher Vakhtang Kebuladze to talk about the current Ukrainian approach to World War II memory. They discuss the differences between Ukrainian and Russian commemoration approaches, as well as dilemmas of Ukrainian de-communization.
May 07, 2020•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes Kostiantyn Kvurt, a well-known Ukrainian media expert and the head of board of Internews Ukraine, one of the leading Ukrainian media NGOs. They discuss whether Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is a part of Kremlin’s broader strategy in the post-Soviet space, and what are the key elements of Russian tactics in information warfare.
Apr 30, 2020•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes Ukrainian foreign policy expert Hanna Shelest in an online podcast. They discuss the first year of President Zelensky’s foreign policy: Kyiv's relations with the US, Russia, and the EU, as well as the attempts to find a solution to the war in eastern Ukraine.
Apr 23, 2020•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko welcomes well-known Ukrainian financial expert Serhiy Fursa (columnist at nv.ua). They discuss the threat posed by oligarch Kolomoyskyi for Ukraine's cooperation with the IMF, and about 16,000 (!) amendments introduced by Kolomoyskyi’s people in Parliament to the banking law, as well as Ukraine's resilience in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Apr 16, 2020•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (Ukraine World, Internews Ukraine) welcomes to the studio Volodymyr Sheiko, the Ukrainian Institute's Director-General. They discuss the recent renaissance of the Ukrainian culture, the Ukrainian movie industry, visual arts, and music.
Mar 17, 2020•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (Ukraine World, Internews Ukraine) welcomes to the studio Nataliya Gumenyuk, Ukrainian journalist specialized in international security and conflict reporting who has been regularly visiting occupied Crimea since the annexation. They discuss Gumenyuk’s book “The Lost Island” covering the situation in the occupied Crimea and life of the people on the annexed peninsula. Why do Crimean Tatars stay in Crimea notwithstanding the persecution? What is the life of people who su...
Feb 26, 2020•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (Ukraine World, Internews Ukraine) welcomes to the studio Christopher Miller, correspondent covering Eastern Europe for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, BuzzFeed News, etc. They discuss the outcomes of the Normandy Summit, as well as compromises and discrepancies between Russia and Ukraine.
Dec 10, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (Ukraine World, Internews Ukraine) welcomes to the studio Robert van der Noordaa, leading Dutch investigative journalist working on the MH17 case. They discuss among other issues the recent developments and prospects for the investigation, Russia’s role in the downing and conspiracy theories around it.
Nov 28, 2019•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (Ukraine World, Internews Ukraine) welcomes to the studio Dmitri Teperik, chief executive of International Center for Defense and Security in Tallinn and program director of Resilient Ukraine. They discuss why information and communication spheres are essential parts of national security and what the similarities and differences between Estonia and Ukraine concerning Russia’s information influences are. Dmytro Teperik explains what the ways to make Ukraine more resilien...
Sep 10, 2019•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Host Volodymyr Yermolenko (Ukraine World, Internews Ukraine) welcomes to the studio Jakub Kalenský, the senior fellow of the Atlantic Council. They discuss what the main targets and tools of the Russian disinformation are and share some ideas on how it employs democratic values. This podcast was created with financial support from the International Renaissance Foundation.
Aug 12, 2019•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
