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Tag: Ukraine

Life on the front: living and surviving in Russia’s war in eastern Ukraine

Scenes of conflict from Ukraine continue to dominate reports concerning the ongoing Russian invasion. Despite this, the war moves at a rather slow pace at the front. This reflects the local population’s adaptation to the conflict, with people stealing small moments of normalcy throughout their day-to-day lives.

On a cool, bluish-green river just minutes from the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, Ukrainian soldiers from a mortar brigade seek to relax. The dark green military 4x4 that brought them from the front now sits idle as they cast fishing lines into the water. The fishing is poor, yielding little more than ripples, but the catch does not matter. For these soldiers, the chance to grill meat, share drinks, and laugh in the open air is worth more than any fish they might pull out. Here, far from the war, time slows, and the simple act of being together in nature becomes a fleeting treasure.

November 21, 2024 - Joshua Kroeker

Gender stereotypes break down as Ukrainian women step up

With one million Ukrainians in the military, including hundreds of thousands on the frontlines, nine million displaced and thousands of men who once eagerly enlisted now hiding from military recruiters, the war shrunk and reshaped Ukraine's labour force. Indeed, it is likely to continue transforming society and women’s place in it for decades to come.

After years as a quality control engineer with big supermarkets and housing construction sites, Natalia Myronenko had yearned for change. Passionate about fashion, beauty, makeup and harmony, she saw her maternity leave after the birth of her second child as the perfect time to pivot. But the war intervened, thrusting her into a field she had never imagined entering: humanitarian demining. When she got the job as a quality control manager, she envisioned mostly office supervisory work. “Then I realized that war is my job, and I was shocked,” says the 40-year-old. Like in her old job, she has to check other people’s work. Only now, human lives are on the line. At stake is making the land safe again for farmers and people to live on, to survey each patch of farmland that had witnessed combat, carefully searching for and removing unexploded mines, missiles, artillery shells, bombs and other types of ordnance – all with the utmost caution. “It’s all about safety,” she says.

November 21, 2024 - Isabelle de Pommereau

The lasting effects of Russia’s occupation of Chernobyl

From February 24th to March 31st 2022, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the entire exclusion zone were under occupation by Russian troops. Although the area was cleared up fairly quickly after the withdrawal of the aggressor's troops, the effects of the occupation are still being felt.

November 19, 2024 - Karolina Zub-Lewińska Tomasz Róg

Ukraine’s victory plan: what is the Ukrainian vision of the end of the war

President Zelenskyy of Ukraine recently announced a “Victory Plan” concerning the country’s ongoing war with Russia. Stressing the need for allies to provide Kyiv with all the necessary tools, the plan outlines ambitions to end the conflict on favourable terms as early as next year.

November 18, 2024 - Anton Naychuk

It may become a lonely fight for Ukraine

Interview with Tamar Jacoby, American reporter and the Kyiv-based director of the Progressive Policy Institute’s New Ukraine Project. Interviewer: Iwona Reichardt.

November 12, 2024 - Iwona Reichardt Tamar Jacoby

Russia must be held accountable for its war

An interview with Bartosz Cichocki, former Polish ambassador to Ukraine. Interviewers: Andrii Kutsyk and Kateryna Kyrychenko.

October 28, 2024 - Andrii Kutsyk Bartosz Cichocki Kateryna Kyrychenko

Hostile skies: the Russian army deliberately targets civilian targets with FPV drones

The use of drones has become a widely recognized part of the war in Ukraine. This is especially true regarding those with first-person view (FPV), which have been responsible for numerous Russian attacks across the front line in recent weeks.

October 23, 2024 - Kateryna Pryshchepa

Andrey Kurkov: navigating war, fiction and Ukrainian identity

The full-scale war in Ukraine has left local writers in a difficult position. While many have traditionally focused on writing fiction, the demands of the conflict have seen their work delve more into the pressing needs of the country. On a personal level, however, fiction often remains a refuge in an uncertain world.

October 16, 2024 - Joshua Kroeker

New ways to adapt. The economies of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in the second quarter

Data from the first half of 2024 shows that all three countries affected by the war continue to show GDP growth and relative internal stability. However, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine continue to seek new ways to strengthen their economic positions.

October 8, 2024 - Kacper Wańczyk

The impact of western sanctions on Belarus

The targeted sanctions imposed on Belarus in 2022 did not take long to deliver a powerful blow to the nation's economy. The immediate aftermath was characterized by a sharp contraction, marking the onset of what economists have termed a “transformational recession”. Yet, the Lukashenka regime, bolstered by its close ties with Russia and its tight grip on domestic power structures, has so far weathered the storm.

September 20, 2024 - Hanna Vasilevich

A major turn in Russia’s war against Ukraine?

The deep Ukrainian offensive into Russia's Kursk Oblast is becoming a watershed and opening a new page in Europe's largest military conflict since 1945.

September 17, 2024 - Andreas Umland

How Viktor Orbán is going global

Within hours of assuming the presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán paid a visit to Ukraine, Russia, China and the United States. In Orbán’s own words these meetings were a part of a “peace mission” that he had initiated to bring peace back to Europe and the world as soon as possible.

The phrase “Make Hungary Great Again,” or in Hungarian “ismét naggyá teszi Magyarországot,” from a passage in the Preamble (National Avowal of Faith) of the Hungarian Constitution, enacted in April 2011, has become the motto of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union. From July 1st 2024 until the end of this year, “Make Europe Great Again” is the official slogan of the council’s rotating presidency.

September 17, 2024 - Dominik Héjj

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