Donald Trump should be pleased. Not only is he on his way back to the White House, but he could return as one of the most powerful U.S. presidents in decades: The Supreme Court aligns with his vision, the Republican Party has been reshaped around loyalty, and both the
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Plans for ending the war, rumors of a new “Minsk 3.0” contact group, preparations for elections in Ukraine… The casual observer might be excused for thinking peace in Ukraine is just around the corner. This is fueled by a lot of wishful thinking both in Ukraine and abroad, but
Ukraine’s oligarchs, once the nation’s power brokers, have seen their influence wane dramatically over the past decade. Amid the ongoing war and internal reforms, the oligarchs who once shaped Ukraine’s post-Soviet trajectory face a new reality. The structural factors that created these powerful figures have largely dissipated,
Volodymyr Zelensky’s five-year term as Ukraine’s president expired on May 20. For most Ukrainian citizens, including the country’s constitutionalists, the path forward is clear: Zelensky should continue as president until martial law in Ukraine ends and new elections can take place. But critics argue that Zelensky and
Radosław Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, wants to make it clear he stands for Ukraine's place in the European Union. "It was during the Polish presidency of the EU – with these hands, I pushed and succeeded in closing the text of Ukraine's Association Agreement with the European Union," he emphasized during
What is it like to live through the psychological pain of war? How can you heal the trauma of genocide? How do you rebuild a country when a generation has been lost to war? Rebuilding Ukraine will not solely be about creating new cities and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure; there will
We reached out to our listeners on Twitter to see what they wanted to be answered on rebuilding, both now and after the war. We received a lot of questions, but most can be boiled down to "how on earth are we going to pay for this?" In this bonus
The aftermath of war leaves physical scars in its wake. The abject destruction of landscapes and cities like Kherson, Kharkiv, and Mariupol will take tens of years and maybe even a trillion dollars to rebuild, while systemic infrastructure like healthcare and energy plants have been equally affected. So where do
In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, co-hosts Jakub and Nastya are speaking to Anna Myroniuk, the head of investigations at the Kyiv Independent. They discuss the complexities of reporting on Ukraine’s corruption in the current climate, offering a
The humanitarian response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been immense — an outpouring of good will from people across Europe and, indeed, the world. But when it comes to the large aid organizations facilitating it, the story becomes more blurred. From Amnesty International to the Red Cross, there have
In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, co-hosts Jakub Parusinski and Anastasiia Lapatina are doing a special Q&A on the Russian Intelligence Services. We reached out to our listeners on Twitter to discuss the things you really wanted answered
For years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has used his intelligence, including the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU), to try and understand Europe — what they are thinking, how they would react to a crisis of war. The failure
In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, we again take a look into cyber warfare, this time from a more policy-focused perspective, as Jakub speaks with Lauren Zabariek, the executive director of Harvard’s Belfer Center. Lauren tells us about
The war in Ukraine is being fought by land, sea, air… and online. Russia has long been infamous for its hacking and aggressive cyber warfare capabilities, having previously been responsible for devastating attacks in Ukraine and across the world. But how effective have they really been during the war? And
For many Ukrainians, holiday celebrations will look different this year. Some are in foreign countries, separated from friends and family. Some will have an empty seat at the dinner table. Christmas lights will be a little dimmer. In this special festive bonus episode, we’re catching up with various Ukrainian
The 20th century saw the development of an international rule-based order dictated by the United States, with countries tacitly abiding by certain rules in order to trade and prosper with guaranteed security. But now that Russia has removed itself from this system through horrific actions that many deem to be
For this week’s bonus episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," we’re speaking more about Roman Ratushnyi, the Ukrainian activist who fought to preserve Kyiv’s green spaces, and was tragically killed by Russian soldiers earlier this year after joining the Armed Forces of
The demise of the Soviet Union in the 1990s saw the state's vast wealth up for grabs by enterprising citizens; in making the public into the private, a new class of both Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs was born. For decades they played a pivotal role in both local – and often
This week’s bonus episode is an extended interview with Bektour Iskender, a journalist and co-founder of Kloop, an NGO and leading news publication in Kyrgyzstan. Through his work with Kloop, Bektour trains young journalists to cover politics and investigate corruption, while also reporting on the most significant stories happening
The countries surrounding Russia have long been on the front line of the country’s aggressively expansionist policies. From Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia to Georgia in the Caucasus – these countries form a Eurasian region that is simultaneously at odds with Russia, but beholden to the Kremlin’s every move. But
With its glut of resources and natural gas, cheap Russian energy has long been a lifeline for nations across the globe looking to give their citizens access to affordable fuel. But with the war in Ukraine breaking down relationships between Russia and the West, what will happen when the taps
Ukraine is the most significant part of Europe’s eastern borderland: all black earth and agriculture, the last bastion before the steppe and the vastness of Russia. The country’s geography has defined its significance as a strategic center as it becomes more entwined with the liberal values of the
Ukrainian history is defined by struggles for power. It has been the battleground of empires, defined by foreign domination, especially in the 20th century, when Nazi and Stalinist forces sought to dominate and strangle the country for its resources. The parallels with today are stark. In episode 2 of our
What does it mean to be a citizen of a country whose enemies claim has no right to exist? How does it feel to live in a battleground, where fighting for your country is part of the national psyche? What does it mean to be Ukrainian in 2022? In the
