Episode 4 (2015–2026) closes our Modern History of Ukraine series. We follow the “cyborgs” who held Donetsk Airport, the rise of Volodymyr Zelensky, and the toppling of Soviet symbols as Ukraine reshapes its identity. We also look at Crimea’s occupation, the Crimea Platform, the fate of the Crimean Tatars, and the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Italy — where the world plans how Ukraine will rebuild.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s remarks at the UN Security Council meeting on Russian filtration of Ukrainians:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auB1bYECCfA
Sources/Further Reading:
Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025) — Official Site
Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 (Rome)
https://www.urc-international.com/
Office of the President of Ukraine
Address by the President to the Participants of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 (July 10, 2025)
https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-do-uchasnikiv-konferenciyi-z-pitan-vid-98929
Reuters
Conference commits over 10 bln euros to Ukraine rebuilding, Italy says (July 10, 2025)
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/conference-commits-over-10-bln-euros-ukraine-rebuilding-italy-says-2025-07-10/
Office of the President of Ukraine
President Zelenskyy Opens the Inaugural Crimea Platform Summit (Aug. 23, 2021)
https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/prezident-ukrayini-vidkriv-inavguracijnij-samit-krimskoyi-pl-70269
U.S. Department of State
Russia’s Filtration Operations and Forced Relocations (2022)
https://2021-2025.state.gov/russias-filtration-operations-and-forced-relocations/
The New Yorker
Joshua Yaffa, Inside Russia’s “Filtration Camps” in Eastern Ukraine (Oct. 2022)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/10/inside-russias-filtration-camps-in-eastern-ukraine
Reuters
Russian missile strike hits Ukrainian shopping mall in Kremenchuk (June 28, 2022)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/rescuers-dig-survivors-russian-missile-strike-ukrainian-shopping-mall-2022-06-28/
Freedom House (Nations in Transit 2014 — Ukraine PDF)
Nations in Transit 2014: Ukraine
https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/28.%20NIT14_Ukraine_final.pdf