Talking Ukraine In English

John Shmorhun is a Ukrainian-American with over 30 years experience working in Ukraine. Shortly after Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, he and his wife, Patricia, founded "Move Ukraine", an organization dedicated to supporting internally displaced Ukrainians within Ukraine by providing both housing and rehabilitation services. Join us for in depth conversation on this initiative and John's reflections on the cu...

Stefan Korshak is the Kyiv Post Senior Defense Correspondent. He is from Houston, Texas and is a Yalie. He has worked in journalism in the former Soviet space for more than twenty years and currently lives in Kyiv. HIs comprehensive military blogs offer unique and detailed analyses of the movements on the front lines of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We discuss his take on the current state of affairs, both on the front lines and on...

SIMON OSTROVSKY is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and PBS NewsHour Special Correspondent. Simon was senior correspondent and a founding member of the original VICE News team, winning a Dupont for his documentary "Selfie Soldiers" and two 2016 Emmy nominations for "Russian Roulette", his series on the war in Ukraine. In this episode we discuss his new documentary about Russian occupation and oppression of Christian Evan...

Robert Van Voren is Chief Executive of the international foundation ‘Human Rights in Mental Health-FGIP’, an international foundation for mental health reform. He is also Executive Director of the Andrei Sakharov Research Center for Democratic Development and Professor at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. Since 2000 he lives in Lithuania, and shuttles regularly to Ukraine, his main country of operation. Since the ful...

Maksym Eristavi is a Ukrainian journalist, writer, and author of the award-winning book “Russian Colonialism 101,” an illustrated guide to Russian colonial crimes. He was also a co-founder of Hromadske International, an independent news start-up based in Kyiv Ukraine. His current mission is to create global awareness about the Russian colonial legacy.  We discuss the west's journalistic coverage of Ukraine over the years, Maksym's ...

Paul Hennemeyer is an American energy executive based in Europe with over 30 years experience in the energy industry. He and his partner Ralph Meima created “Re-energize Ukraine”, a volunteer initiative to help supply spare and retired electricity equipment to Ukraine. We discuss Paul’s work and recent trip to Ukraine, the closing of the last gas pipeline in Ukraine that transports Russian gas to Europe, Germany’s long term relianc...

Dr. Taras Kuzio is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Forum for Foreign Relations and has worked with various think tanks. Taras has written over 24 books, most recently,  “Fascism and Genocide, Russia’s War Against Ukrainians.”

In Part 1 we talk about the global dynamics surrounding the fall of Assad’s regime, the reluctance of...

In Episode #7 it is our pleasure to speak with one of the original American Expat pioneers in newly independent Ukraine, Jed Sunden. Jed started the Kyiv Post in 1995, the first English language newspaper in Ukraine, which continues on today. In early 2024, Jed founded the American Ukraine PAC to lobby for political support for Ukraine to the US Congress. We discuss his experiences maintaining an independent journalistic enterprise...

Hailing from Canada, Dr. Lada Roslycky is a Ukraine expert with esteemed academic credentials who has been living in Kyiv, Ukraine for over a decade. This gives her unique insight and perspective into analyzing Ukrainian society and the events surrounding Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In Part 1 we discuss her  her work as a Black Sea security expert, Russia's genocide, objectives and information warfare, Russian corruption as state...

Petro Rondiak is a Ukrainian-American who has lived in Kyiv with his family since the 1990s. Petro has been one of the key people managing Winner Group, one of the biggest car importers in Ukraine, and continues leading Winner Group Ukraine through wartime.

We discuss building an American corporate culture automotive business in the corrupt climate of Ukraine in the 1990s, how Ukraine changed during the years of the Orange Revoluti...

Chris Hennemeyer has spent his decades long career working in warzones all over Africa. Just after he retired, the Russians invaded Ukraine, and Chris couldn't help get himself back there on the ground in order to try to find ways to be helpful. We discuss his experiences and reflections from his time in and around Odessa, Ukraine, as well as the work of his non-profit "In the Trenches" which buys supplies for Ukrainian soldiers.