What are the parallels between Putinist Russia and Syria of Bashar al-Assad? Why is the cult of violence widespread in both countries? Targeting hospitals, humanitarian corridors, and civilian infrastructure - how have Russian tactics in Syria and Ukraine been similar? What are the parallels between the Arab Spring and Ukrainian Maidans? Why is Ukraine important for the Middle East today? UkraineWorld’s chief editor Volodymyr Yermolenko invites Jean-Pierre Filiu, a professor at Sciences Po (Paris), a specialist in the Middle East, and author of the books Apocalypse in Islam and Arab Revolution: Ten lessons from the Democratic Uprising. We held our conversation in Kyiv, where professor Filiu came to teach at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine’s oldest university. Support us at patreon.com/ukraineworld. Support our humanitarian trips to the frontline areas: Paypal - ukraine.resisting@gmail.com

Explaining Ukraine

Syria, Ukraine, and parallels between autocrats - with Jean-Pierre Filiu - Thinking in Dark Times #8

The Russian and Soviet imperial narratives tried to persuade us that Ukrainian culture is provincial. It is not. It is very global and is enshrined in many interesting topics of the wider world. In this episode, we delve into these trajectories of ideas. 

Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, the president of PEN Ukraine, and Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar, and author of the French-language podcast “L’Ukraine face a la guerre” by the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Both are lecturers at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the oldest Ukrainian university. 

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

We greatly appreciate your support for our work at https://www.patreon.com/ukraineworld. Your contribution is crucial as our media increasingly depends on crowdfunding.

Additionally, you can also support our volunteer trips to the front line areas where we provide aid to both soldiers and civilians. We bring essential supplies such as cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips by donating through PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.


The global dimension of Ukrainian culture

Ivan Mazepa is a renowned Ukrainian leader who made significant contributions to the flourishing of Ukrainian culture and the Cossack state in the late 17th century. Because of his desire for Ukraine's freedom from Muscovy, Mazepa aligned himself with the Swedish king Charles XII in a war against the Russian tsar Peter I, ultimately losing the decisive battle near Poltava in seventeen o nine

However, in the 19th century, Mazepa became a prominent cultural figure. George Gordon Byron, Victor Hugo, Juliusz Słowacki, Franz Liszt, and Eugène Delacroix created poems, musical compositions, and paintings depicting him as a young man, a political and sexual rebel. This portrayal of Mazepa gained popularity globally, reaching as far as South Africa and the United States.

We delved into this story with Tony Voss, a South African university professor, Professor Emeritus and research associate of the University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban, and Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa

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

Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, a multilingual media outlet focused on Ukraine.

UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine's largest media NGOs.

You can support our work at www.patreon.com/ukraineworld. Your support is crucial as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we provide assistance to both soldiers and civilians - mainly by bringing cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

This article was produced in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute, Ukraine's major cultural and public diplomacy institution, and NGO Cultural Diplomacy Foundation.

How Hetman Mazepa Became a Global Cultural Figure

Which 20th-century ideas should we carry with us into the 21st century? And which of them have become obsolete? 

We discuss these topics during a live event with David Rieff, a prominent American writer and journalist. The discussion was held on March 1st at PEN Ukraine space in Kyiv, and was organized by UkraineWorld, PEN Ukraine and Thinking in Dark Times podcast. 

Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, a Ukrainian philosopher and the chief editor of UkraineWorld, the president of PEN Ukraine, and Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar, and author of the French-language podcast L’Ukraine face a la guerre by the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. Both are lecturers at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the oldest Ukrainian university. 

Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, a multilingual media outlet focused on Ukraine.

UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine's largest media NGOs.

You can support our work at www.patreon.com/ukraineworld. Your support is crucial as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we provide assistance to both soldiers and civilians - mainly by bringing cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.


Rethinking the 20th-century intellectual legacy - with David Rieff

You probably all know the Black Square, a famous avant-garde painting that has radically changed the way we think about art.

You’ve probably heard that this painting was created by Kazymyr Malevych, a “Russian painter”. But he was not Russian. He comes from Polish and Ukrainian descent, and the Ukrainian sources of his creativity and thinking are huge.

In this episode, we will try to explain why it is important to look at Malevych as a Ukrainian artist.

Our guest is Tetyana Filevska, a Ukrainian art historian, the creative director of the Ukrainian Institute, the country’s major cultural diplomacy institution.

She is interviewed by Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar and journalist, an expert at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre, and a lecturer at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

"Explaining Ukraine" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, a multilingual media outlet focused on Ukraine.

UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine's largest media NGOs.

You can support our work at patreon.com/ukraineworld. Your support is crucial as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we provide assistance to both soldiers and civilians - mainly by bringing cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

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


Malevych: the Ukrainian avant-garde genius

They have already become our friends: Jaap Scholten and a group of courageous Dutch writers, photographers, artists, and rugby players who come regularly to Ukraine to bring vehicles to the Ukrainian soldiers.

We have already had conversations with some of them: 

https://soundcloud.com/user-579586558/ep-287 

https://soundcloud.com/user-579586558/ep-270

This time, we held a big event at PEN Ukraine and UkraineWorld to talk about inspiration, courage, fatigue, freedom, and the need to act.

Guests:

Tommy Wieringa, an acclaimed Dutch writer and ambassador of ProtectUkraine.nl, joined five of the most recent convoys of Protect Ukraine to Izyum and beyond. 

Maurits Chabot, a writer and historian, co-author of the book for the National Book Week of the Netherlands 2025, joined Protect Ukraine on two convoys. 

Jaap Scholten, an author and anthropologist, founder of ProtectUkraine.nl. 

Eddy van Wessel, a prize-winning and internationally respected photographer, has independently traveled to Ukraine since the 2022 full-scale invasion, documenting the ongoing war.

Moderator: Anastasiia Herasymchuk, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at UkraineWorld.

ProtectUkraine.nl is a Dutch NGO focused on supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the frontlines with defensive materials.

"Explaining Ukraine" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, a multilingual media outlet about Ukraine.

UkraineWorld is brought to you by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine's largest media NGOs.

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

We really need your support now because our media is increasingly relying on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we help both soldiers and civilians, bringing mostly cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips at PayPal: ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

This episode is a recording of an event held by UkraineWorld and PEN Ukraine on January 30th, 2025

"Inspired by Ukrainians": these Dutch writers bring vehicles to the frontline

Ukrainian modernist literature is one of the golden ages of Ukrainian cultural history. In this episode, we’ll explore why that is—and why the questions raised during this period, spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries, remain deeply relevant today.

"Explaining Ukraine" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, a multilingual media outlet focused on Ukraine.

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

Guest: Rostyslav Semkiv, a Ukrainian literary scholar, associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and director of the publishing house Smoloskyp. 

Writers mentioned in this podcast: Modernists - Lesya Ukrainka, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Olha Kobylianska, Vasyl Stefanyk. Others: Ivan Franko, Marko Vovchok, Olena Pchilka, Vasyl Stus, Serhiy Zhadan, Kateryna Kalytko and others. 

UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of Ukraine's largest media NGOs.

You can support our work at https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. Your support is crucial as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we provide assistance to both soldiers and civilians - mainly by bringing cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

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


The Surprising Brilliance of Ukrainian Modernist Literature - with Rostyslav Semkiv

We have a lot to share with each other. We won’t agree on everything. Often, what is “good” for one may be “bad” for the other.

And yet, this conversation is necessary — and it’s interesting. A perspective from Africa on Ukraine can offer a fresh viewpoint. Likewise, a Ukrainian perspective on Africa can do the same. At the very least, let’s try.

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and the chief editor of UkraineWorld.

Our guest today is Simon Allison, co-founder of The Continent (https://www.thecontinent.org/), Africa’s most widely distributed newspaper. 

UkraineWorld is run by Internews Ukraine, one of the country’s largest media NGOs.

You can support our work at https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. Your support is crucial, as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also help fund our volunteer trips to front-line areas, where we assist both soldiers and civilians — mainly by delivering vehicles for soldiers and books for civilians. Donations can be made via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

This episode was produced in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute, Ukraine's major cultural and public diplomacy institution, and NGO Cultural Diplomacy Foundation.

Looking at Ukraine from Africa and back - with Simon Allison

Margaret Atwood is perhaps one of the greatest living writers today. Her novel "The Handmaid’s Tale" and its continuation, "The Testaments," are seen by many as prophetic.

This is a conversation about dangers and hopes, about human nature, the classics, and the challenges of dark times.

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

"Thinking in Dark Times" is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet about Ukraine based in Kyiv.

You can support our work at https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. Our media is increasingly relying on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas of the Russian war against Ukraine via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com. We are trying to help both soldiers and civilians.

Margaret Atwood on tyrannies and the fragility of freedom

Why is Russia using World War II as its major historical anchor? Why is the end of World War II seen in Ukraine as a victory of one evil over another, rather than a victory of good over evil? What was Ukraine’s role in World War II? 

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and writer, the chief editor of UkraineWorld, president of PEN Ukraine.

You can support our work at https://www.patreon.com/c/ukraineworld. 
Your support is crucial as our media increasingly relies on crowdfunding.

You can also support our volunteer trips to the front-line areas, where we provide assistance to both soldiers and civilians - mainly by bringing cars for soldiers and books for civilians. You can support our trips via PayPal at ukraine.resisting@gmail.com.

More information: 

Historian Serhii Plokhii: World War II and the Russian invasion of Ukraine - Vol. 1

https://ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts/ep-223

What Russian Propaganda Says about Ukraine’s History? Analysis and Deconstruction

https://ukraineworld.org/en/articles/books/re-vision-of-history-book


Ukraine, Russia, and World War II

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

Syria, Ukraine, and parallels between autocrats - with Jean-Pierre Filiu - Thinking in Dark Times #8

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