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Twentieth-century author Mikhail Bulgakov is seen in 1928.
Culture

What English translations miss about Bulgakov — and why it matters in Ukraine

by Kate Tsurkan

Twentieth-century author Mikhail Bulgakov is celebrated worldwide for his satirical genius and his defiance of Soviet power, most famously through works like "The Master and Margarita" and "White Guard." In Ukraine, his legacy is far more complicated. Rather than being remembered solely as a critic of totalitarianism, Bulgakov is seen by many as a symbol of Russian imperial culture for his hostility toward Ukrainian cultural identity. Born in Kyiv in 1891, Bulgakov grew up speaking Russian an

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Meet Olha Kobylianska, the Ukrainian author who redefined women’s freedom

In Olha Kobylianska’s 1891 novella “A Human Being,” the heroine Olena commits an unforgivable transgression. Not adultery, not theft, not the abandonment of her family — her "crime" is intellectual freedom. She is a woman who thinks for herself and, far worse in the eyes of society, speaks her thoughts aloud. "Heaven knows from where she ferreted out those crazed notions and dragged them into the light of day — and then swallowed them whole, in the fullest sense of the word! And how she knew ho

Olha Kobylianska, a Ukrainian modernist writer and feminist.

About Culture

Our reporting on literature, films, art, and traditions from Ukraine and the latest news on culture in Eastern Europe.

Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian culture has survived centuries of Russian attempts to appropriate Ukrainian art, silence Ukrainian artists, and erase the Ukrainian language. Modern Ukrainian writers, filmmakers, and musicians — some of whom are serving on the front lines — continue to develop Ukrainian culture and fight for Ukraine’s future.

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Ukraine war latest: SBU releases greatest hits video of 2025 drone strikes on Russian aircraft

Ukraine war latest: SBU releases greatest hits video of 2025 drone strikes on Russian aircraft

This is Chris York reporting from Kyiv on day 1,435 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today's top story: Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) on Jan. 28 released a video compilation of what it claimed was the destruction of more than $1 billion worth of Russian military aircraft in long-range drone strikes conducted by its "A" Special Operations Center, also known as "Alpha." "The enemy is used to feeling safe in the deep rear. But for the special forces of 'Alpha,' distance has long ce

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