A NOTE: Our Russia-Ukraine Resources are updated weekly - if you're accessing the page a week or more past the below date, pieces mentioned in this post may have been removed to make room for up-to-date resources.
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Updated Resources - October 25, 2023
During a working trip to the de-occupied Kherson, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the ceremony of hoisting the State Flag on the central square of the city. November 14, 2022. ("Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in hoisting the State Flag of Ukraine in liberated Kherson." by President of Ukraine is in the Public Domain, CC0)
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Kyiv Independent: Newsfeed
Novaya Gazeta Europe: Newsfeed
The Insider: Newsfeed
President Biden delivered a speech to refugees of Ukraine in Warsaw. Accompanying Twitter/X caption read: Time and again, history shows that it is from our darkest moments that the greatest progress follows. This is our moment — and defending democracy is the task of our time. (Office of the President of the United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
WHAT'S ON OUR MIND
Today we remind ourselves that the struggle of war is not borne out on paper and screens, but in the very real and harrowing experiences of every day Ukrainians. Our collection highlights impactful and imperative narratives and understandings that underscore the reality of wartime Ukraine for both the individual and the greater society.
Novaya Gazeta Europe opens with stories of daily survival as told by locals from both Russian-occupied and liberated areas of Ukraine’s Kherson region. A piece from Responsible Statecraft memorializes Sergei Sivokho, the Ukrainian peace activist who sought to reconcile his fellow countrymen - nationalists and Russophones alike. The Kyiv Independent covers the Wall Evidence Project, an open-source digital archive of graffiti, drawings, diary entries, notes, and more left by Russian forces in previously occupied territories; Ukrainian participants hope it will serve as evidence of war crimes committed.
Our attention turns to war’s societal impact in a different piece from The Kyiv Independent, exploring how the invasion pushed Ukraine’s growing threat of a demographic crisis to the brink. The Kyiv Post’s editor-in-chief reflects on the challenges faced by Ukrainian journalists. The Conversation reveals the remarkable role of crowd-sourcing in the Ukrainian war effort, unique in both its scope and success.
We venture beyond Ukraine’s borders to gain an understanding of the refugee plight as well as the more general topic of support for Ukraine. The Guardian reports on warnings from the UK’s National Audit Office that more than 130,000 Ukrainian refugees are at risk of losing their homes when 'Homes for Ukraine' funding and sponsorships expire in March, an unwelcome circumstance born of the war's length. Our collection continues exploration of Western support with two pieces from Responsible Statecraft and one from Politico which examine the domestic tensions within the debate over US aid for Ukraine and a possible push for a diplomatic solution.
One Wilson Center piece pushes back against the narrative of exceptional Ukrainian corruption, while another rebuts ten oft-cited reasons for opposing Ukrainian aid. Countering that discussion, Kyiv Post reports that one third of humanitarian aid ‘did not reach’ military units in the first nine months of 2023. Finally, in The Hill, Wilson Center president and former congressman and Ambassador Mark Green makes the case for the Millenium Challenge Corporation to lead the US’s role in Ukrainian reconstruction.
In videos, a firsthand account of a Ukrainian girl who fled war only to face it once more in Israel. In the arts, Ukrainian alternative rock band The Hardkiss’ tribute to the wartime bravery of Ukrainian energy workers, a podcast discusses the invasion’s influence on Russia’s contemporary music scene, and a distinctly Odesan tradition of comedy brings levity to dark times.
Visit our resource page for these stories and more.
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