How can we understand what’s happening inside the Ukrainian army?

How do soldiers feel? What challenges do they face? What parts of military life do they believe aren’t working?

Traditional sociology doesn’t always provide the answers. But another discipline — anthropology, also called ethnography — offers a different approach. This method involves deep immersion into the everyday lives of soldiers. 

A more recent innovation, called mobile ethnography, takes this further — allowing researchers to stay connected with soldiers even when they’re not physically present.

We wanted to learn more about what such a deep dive can reveal about the Ukrainian army.

***
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Oleksiy Moskalenko, an analyst at the Initiatives Centre of Come Back Alive (Povernys zhyvym) — one of Ukraine’s most prominent charitable foundations, supporting the military and veterans since 2014.

***
Come Back Alive foundation: https://savelife.in.ua/en/ 

The Foundation’s Initiatives Centre: https://cbacenter.ngo/en 

From Civilian to Soldier: A Study: https://cbacenter.ngo/en/page/how-civilians-become-soldiers-come-back-alive-initiatives-center-studies-basic-military-training-in-ukraine 

***
Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

***
SUPPORT US: 

You can support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld
Your contributions are essential, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both soldiers and civilians.
Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

***

CONTENTS: 

00:00 - Intro. Support UkraineWorld on patreon.com/ukraineworld 
01:51 - What is "Mobile Ethnography"? How a Civilian Foundation Studies the Ukrainian Army's Reality
15:14 - What Do Soldiers Really Struggle With?
17:55 - Risk Management for Civilians: How Understanding Army Life Can Prepare You?
20:49 - What "Sovietness" Really Means: Deconstructing the Biggest Complaint in the Ukrainian Army
35:12 - Ukraine's Existential Question: Can You Value Life and Still Win a War?
38:04 - From Civilian to Soldier: How Ukraine's Army is Changing from the Inside Out
43:03 - The "After-War" Problem: Why Ukraine Needs Help NOW

What research tells us about the Ukrainian army - with Oleksiy Moskalenko

Russia has committed over 160,000 war crimes in Ukraine, according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office. 

What kinds of crimes are most widespread in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
Why is the Russian approach to war so heavily marked by cruelty?
Why do Russian forces torture Ukrainian civilians and abduct Ukrainian children?

***
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Oleksandra Romantsova, a Ukrainian human rights activist and Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties — a Ukrainian NGO that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 

Centre for Civil Liberties: https://ccl.org.ua/en/

***
Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms (apple, youtube, spotify, soundcloud, amazon etc): https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine  

***
SUPPORT US:

You can support our work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld
Your contributions are essential, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both soldiers and civilians.
Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

***
CONTENTS: 

00:00 — The war that started in 2014: a history of Russian war crimes.
03:00 — First steps of the occupiers: a blueprint for terror.
07:11 — Why Russia fails to understand Ukrainians: a crucial mistake.
11:54 — The myth of “honest” Russian courts and police
14:19 — How Russia kidnaps Ukrainian children
16:07 — How Russia changes Ukrainian demography and militarizes Ukrainian children
19:23 — Preparing teenagers for the Russian army
21:26 — Is there a place for justice in a Russian world?
23:48 — Why returning people and achieving justice is critical
26:06 — A new war crime: kidnapping civilians
28:40 — Why documenting war crimes is crucial 
29:50 — How Russia destroys any law in the occupied territories
31:20 — Using captives as hostages and resources
33:28 — Russian torture chambers exist even in small villages
34:30 — Chaos strategy: Moscow tries to create “grey zones” near NATO borders
36:10 — Why Russia is fighting a war against Ukrainian civilians.
39:23 — Why Putin fears democracy
41:14 — Breaking Ukrainians through religious persecution
42:43 — Three levels of justice: punishment, victims’ rights and historical truth
44:36 — Why crimes must be recorded now
47:02 — Lessons from other countries: never wait until the war ends
49:16 — Solutions: universal jurisdiction and a special tribunal

Russian war crimes explained by Nobel-winning Ukrainian NGO - with Oleksandra Romantsova

Trump is set to meet with Putin in Alaska on August 15. Media reports and leaks ahead of this meeting, along with statements by President Trump and members of his administration, suggest that the two leaders may have discussed a plan in which Ukraine would cede some or all of the occupied territories to Russia in exchange for “peace.”

This brings us back to the basics: the fundamental truth that violating internationally recognized borders through military aggression cannot lead to sustainable peace.

In this episode, we explain why the idea of a territorial swap is dangerous — why it would undermine international law, destabilize the global order, and why neither Ukraine nor most EU member states are likely to accept it.

***
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian journalist and public intellectual, the head of the international department at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre, and author of the podcast “L’Ukraine face a la guerre: (Ukraine facing the war), in French. 

***
Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms (apple, youtube, spotify, soundcloud, amazon etc): https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine
  
***
SUPPORT US:

You can support our work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld
Your contributions are essential, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both soldiers and civilians.
Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com


Why Trump’s Ukraine plan won’t work - with Tetyana Ogarkova

Kherson may be the most dangerous regional center in Ukraine. Occupied by Russian forces in 2022, its residents were subjected to torture and intimidation.

The city was liberated by Ukrainian forces in November 2022 — but almost immediately came under daily bombardment and shelling from Russian troops stationed just across the Dnipro River.

In June 2023, Kherson was hit by a catastrophic flood caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant — an explosion orchestrated by the Russian military.
Today, the city’s residents are hunted by Russian drones, as if caught in some macabre human safari.

“Kherson: Human Safari” is the title of a documentary film by Zarina Zabrisky, an American filmmaker who has spent significant time in Kherson, reporting from this brave and embattled city.
Link to the film: https://khersonhumansafari.com/

***
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Zarina Zabrisky, an American filmmaker and writer, author of the film “Kherson: Human Safari”.

Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

***
LISTEN on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

***
SUPPORT US:
You can support our work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld
Your contributions are essential, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both soldiers and civilians.
Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

***
CONTENTS: 

00:00 – Zarina Zabrisky, a U.S. journalist in Ukraine
02:30 – Why is Kherson so important in the war?
04:56 – Life in Kherson: What does it look like now?
13:50 – Why does a central store in Kherson look better than posh stores in the U.S.?
15:01 – In memory: Victoria Amelina in Kherson
16:12 – Kherson: Human Safari — the story of Kherson from the start of the full-scale invasion to date
19:40 – How did Zarina Zabrisky document the newest war crime against humanity?
24:02 – Do Russians conduct the “human safari” in Kherson for fun, or is it a strategy?
26:04 – A terror campaign: How does Russia attempt to erase Kherson?
29:20 – What exactly do Russians want to achieve with their cruelty toward Ukrainians in frontline territories?
36:00 – How Russia influences the ecosystem
41:12 – Destruction of the Kakhovka Dam: Survival and resistance stories from locals
43:30 – The rescue of Ukrainian children from Russian captivity
48:10 – Deportation of Ukrainian children as a form of genocide
50:00 - Support us: https://www.patreon.com/ukraineworld

How Russians hunt civilians in Kherson - with Zarina Zabrisky

Why is technology playing such a decisive role in this war? Who is ahead in technological innovation—Ukraine or Russia? How are drones reshaping the battlefield, and how might they also transform technologies of peace? And why must Europe step up its technological cooperation with Ukraine?

***
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.
Guest: Glib Voloskyi, analyst at the Initiatives Centre of Come Back Alive (Povernys zhyvym) — one of Ukraine’s most prominent charitable foundations, supporting the military and veterans since 2014.

***
Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.
Listen on various platforms (apple, youtube, spotify, soundcloud, amazon etc): https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine  
This episode is also made in partnership with Politeia, a Ukrainian NGO focusing on preparing a new generation of change-makers in Ukraine.

***
SUPPORT US:
You can support our work on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld
Your contributions are essential, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.
You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we support both soldiers and civilians.
Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

***
CONTENTS:
00:00 —  The role of technology in war: who's winning the tech race?
01:34 — Russia’s real strategy: what are the goals? 
02:12 — How Russia miscalculated: failed plans, logistics collapse and retreats
05:52 — The evolving Russian strategy: attrition and imperial ambitions
08:41 — Is this really a “Ukrainian conflict” or is it actually a Russian imperial war?
10:10 — Ukraine’s defence: from resilience to drone innovation
11:32 — The fierce race in drone technology
13:41 — What’s next? Land robots, unmanned vehicles and battlefield robotics
15:07 — Artificial intelligence at war: from target recognition to social media scans
16:40 — Dependency on Chinese tech: risk or overstated concern?
17:54 — Europe’s wake-up call: how possible it is to lose the technological race 
20:33 — Tanks, drones and the future of warfare: what lessons are really learned?
25:24 — NATO partners and military conservatism: who adapts, who resists?
26:19 — Ukraine’s defence industry revival: grassroots innovation vs. scaling up
29:56 — Naval drones, land drones and robotics: Ukraine’s asymmetric advantage
31:37 — The myth of a "wonder weapon" 
37:32 — Human body vs. artificial bodies: why soldiers can’t be replaced
39:01 — Why Russia destroys cities instead of capturing them
40:26 — The hidden battlefield: information wars and internal destabilisation
42:12 — The greatest danger ahead: forced concessions 


Ukraine vs Russia: who leads the tech battle? - with Glib Voloskyi

If Ukraine does not receive real security guarantees, the war will continue—and is likely to spill over into the rest of Europe. But what kind of guarantees are truly needed, and which of them are realistic?

***

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Our guest today is Hanna Shelest, one of Ukraine’s leading experts on international security and foreign policy. She is Director of the Security Studies Program at the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism,” and Editor-in-Chief of the journal UA: Ukraine Analytica.

Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

***

You can support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld

Your contributions are vital—we rely heavily on crowdfunding. You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas of Ukraine, where we support both civilians and soldiers. Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 Hanna Shelest, director of the Security Studies Programme at the Foreign Policy Council 'Ukrainian Prism'
02:04 A Century of Broken Promises: What History Teaches Us About Security Agreements
04:24 The NATO Paradox: Is Article 5 a Paper Tiger or a Real Deterrent?
16:20 The Baltic States on the Brink: How Real is the Threat of a Russian Blitzkrieg?
22:55 Non-Mutual Animosity: When a 'Gentleman's Agreement' Meets a Rapist
26:40 Has the US Abandoned Its Role as Ally to Become a Mediator?
30:32 Why Can't Europe Play This Role in the Conflict?
32:39 Alaska Fallout: Was the Meeting a Strategic Victory or a Destructive Blunder?
41:42 Sanctions in the Gray Zone: Why Do Loopholes Still Undermine Global Efforts?
47:35 The 'Orange' Fallacy: Why Ceding Territory is an Act of Awarding Aggression?
49:34 The Deeper Cost of War: Why Are We Talking About Land, Not People?
 

Can Security Guarantees Stop Russia’s War? — with Hanna Shelest

Yaroslav Hrytsak is one of Ukraine’s leading historians and public intellectuals. His recent book in Ukrainian, "Overcoming the Past: A Global History of Ukraine", became a bestseller. His English-language book, "Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation", is now a key reference work on Ukrainian history.

We met in Lviv to discuss the global dimension of Ukrainian history, and the features of Ukraine’s political culture that explain why the country has so often fought against tyranny.

***

Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the project Heritage Ukraine, supported by the European Union’s Erasmus programme.

***

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

You can support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld

Your contributions are vital—we rely heavily on crowdfunding. 

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to frontline areas of Ukraine, where we support both civilians and soldiers. Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

***

CONTENTS: 

00:00 — The untold global story of Ukraine
01:33 — Why the world can’t ignore Ukrainian history
03:06 — Why world wars revolved around Ukraine
06:02 — Russia’s dangerous dream of the 21st century
09:28 — Good empires vs. bad empires
14:13 — The empire paradox
17:27 — Russia’s secret weapon: violence 
20:59 — Why Ukrainian nobles felt “freer” than Russians
30:31 — Ukraine’s miracle: democracy against all odds
33:35 — Breaking the myth of Moscow’s “Third Rome”
37:06 — Khmelnytsky’s gamble: alliances that changed history
41:28 — Ukraine’s naive hope: negotiating within the empire
44:13 — The only way to stop Russia’s imperial comeback
48:53 — Why history still matters


Why Ukrainian History Matters Globally — with Yaroslav Hrytsak

Let’s take a deeper look into drone warfare and the long-term changes it is bringing to the battlefield. How is Ukraine countering Russian drone attacks? How is it developing systems of drone interceptors? Are we moving toward a future where drones will fight other drones? And what skills must our societies cultivate to prepare for this new reality?

***

The “Explaining Ukraine” podcast is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

Support: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld 

***

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Taras Tymochko, a consultant at Come Back Alive (Povernys zhyvym), one of Ukraine’s most prominent charitable foundations supporting the military and veterans since 2014. Taras coordinates the foundation’s project “Dronopad”—“the fall of drones”—which aims to develop a system of interceptor drones for the Ukrainian army to take down as many Russian drones as possible.

***

SUPPORT:

You can support our work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. 
We rely on your contributions to keep UkraineWorld going.

You can also help finance our volunteer trips to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we assist both civilians and soldiers. Donations are welcome via PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 Taras Tymochko, "Come Back Alive" Foundation Consultant, "Dronefall" Project Lead.
02:15 How did drones eliminate the traditional front line?
03:10 “Kill zone”: a wide space between the two armies in which soldiers on both sides are extremely vulnerable because of the drones.
04:35 Comparing Russian and Ukrainian drone capabilities
06:03 Dronefall Project: producing interceptor drones
12:47 Why do cheap interceptors defeat expensive missiles?
18:02 AI on Battlefield: How close are we to autonomous interceptor drones?
21:21 How new interceptor divisions are created in Ukraine's forces
26:49 How Ukraine counters fiber optic drones
29:39 The future war: the role of drones vs. infantry
33:13 Starlink: advantages, vulnerabilities, and alternatives in communication
37:54 Why is "battlefield experience" so important?
42:57 What "battlefield-tested" quality means


How Ukraine fights Russian drones - with Taras Tymochko

What do we know about theatre — the most ephemeral of the arts — in Ukraine? What role did Ukrainian theatre play in Soviet times? How is the heritage of the Executed Renaissance generation still alive today? And why are women in theatre so important — and yet so often ignored?

***
The Explaining Ukraine podcast is produced by UkraineWorld, an English-language media project about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine.

Host: Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar at Kyiv Mohyla Academy and journalist at Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. She also runs a French-language podcast, “L’Ukraine face à la guerre”.

Guest: Mayhill C. Fowler, historian and associate professor in the Department of History at Stetson University. Her first book, “Beau Monde on Empire’s Edge: State and Stage in Soviet Ukraine” (Toronto, 2017), tells the story of how theatre in Soviet Ukraine was formed, through a collective biography of young artists and officials in the 1920s and 1930s.

***
This episode is produced in partnership with the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the project Heritage Ukraine, supported by the European Union’s Erasmus programme.
Special thanks to the Ukrainian History Global Initiative for helping organize this conversation.

***
SUPPORT:

UkraineWorld is an English-language media about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine
You can support UkraineWorld on https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld
We rely on crowdfunding to continue our work. 

You can also support our regular trips to the frontlines, where we provide support to both soldiers (cars) and civilians (books): PayPal, ukraine.resisting@gmail.com 


A Brief History (and Present) of Ukrainian Theatre — with Mayhill Fowler

In September 2025, in Kyiv, a prominent American historian Timothy Snyder received the Vasyl Stus Prize — a Ukrainian award honoring the name of Vasyl Stus, one of Ukraine’s greatest poets and dissidents of the 20th century, killed by the Soviet regime in 1985. Founded in 1989 by Yevhen Sverstiuk, another prominent Ukrainian dissident, the prize is now awarded by PEN Ukraine, the publishing house Dukh i Litera, and the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School.
Before the award ceremony, we held a public conversation with Snyder on the good and bad ways of thinking about history. Since interpretations of history often lie at the heart of both the good and the evil that people do, this question remains vitally important.

***
Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.
Thinking in Dark Times seeks to find the light through — and despite — today’s darkness. 

***
UkraineWorld is an English-language media about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine
Listen to our podcasts:
Explaining Ukraine: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine
Thinking in Dark Times: https://li.sten.to/thinkinggg

***
Special thanks to the Ukrainian History Global Initiative, PEN Ukraine, and the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School for helping organize this event.
This episode was made possible with the support of Politeia, a Ukrainian NGO dedicated to preparing a new generation of change-makers in Ukraine.

***
You can also listen to several other conversations with Timothy Snyder from previous years:

On freedom: Timothy Snyder in Kyiv
https://ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts//ep-344

Timothy Snyder in Kharkiv: A conversation about freedom
https://ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts//ep-340

Freedom as a value and a task
https://ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts//ep-258

Ukraine, the war, and the plurality of values
https://ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts//ep-144 

***
SUPPORT: 
You can support UkraineWorld on https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld
We rely on crowdfunding to continue our work. 
You can also support our regular trips to the frontlines, where we provide support to both soldiers (cars) and civilians (books): PayPal, ukraine.resisting@gmail.com 

***
CONTENTS:

00:00:00 Timothy Snyder, world-known historian
00:03:04 What are the good and bad ways to use history to understand who we are?
00:08:53 How does a 'single line' view of the past, like Putin's or Trump's, take away our freedom?
00:25:18 Why recognizing the 'difference' of people in the past is a liberating act for us in the present?
00:49:55 Is the world truly living in a 'post-history' era where conflict and tragedy are safely in the past?
00:56:22 Does seeing a pattern in history mean the war is repeating, or is it a moment of new responsibility?
01:03:35 Was the US response in March 2022 a failure because American leaders were stuck in 'memory' instead of 'history'?
01:13:52 How does the power of data-driven tools force us to be careful about the human questions we ask?
01:24:21 Was the printing press as disruptive to society as social media is today?


Timothy Snyder on why history matters — and how we get it wrong

A podcast by UkraineWorld.org, a multimedia project about Ukraine run by Internews Ukraine. Explaining Ukraine, its politics, society and its culture. Support us: patreon.com/ukraineworld

New tracks tagged #Explaining Ukraine