Explaining Ukraine

Since Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency, Russia has drastically escalated its missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. In January 2026, launches exceeded 6,000—a sharp increase from approximately 2,000 in January 2025. The use of guided aerial bombs (KABs) also reached a record high of almost 6,000 per month. With the Trump administration significantly cutting military aid to Kyiv, Ukraine now finds itself in an increasingly vulnerable position.

What are the underlying causes of this policy shift, and what does it reveal about Trump’s vision for global order and human rights?

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet covering Ukraine.

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko—Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Christopher Atwood, an American human rights and communications expert and Head of Ukraїner International—the international branch of the popular Ukrainian media platform, Ukraїner.

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Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

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SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

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CONTENTS:

00:00 Intro

06:00 Why is it important to be in Ukraine?

10:08 Analysis of the US political shift: Biden VS Trump

13:58 Trump and violence

15:00 "Empathy Recession": How cruelty has become a cultural zeitgeist

21:10 The role of the media establishment

27:11 Trump`s perspectives on Ukraine: Is he a mediator or closer to Putin’s vision?

30:43 The threat to Europe

35:27 Trump’s economics

40:01 Public vs. Political support: Why most Americans still favor Ukraine

44:04 Building a coalition of the willing

During this record-breaking cold winter, millions of Ukrainians are regularly left without electricity, water, or heat as temperatures plummet to -20°C and below. Does Russia intend to make life in Ukraine unlivable? Can the country’s civilian infrastructure continue to withstand such a massive, relentless assault? And what are the alternatives for the future?

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media outlet covering Ukraine.

Host: Volodymyr Yermolenko—Ukrainian philosopher, editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, and president of PEN Ukraine.

Guest: Oksana Ishchuk, an analyst specializing in international and energy relations at the Centre for Global Studies "Strategy XXI," a prominent Ukrainian think tank.

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Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

***

SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

CONTENTS:

02:05 — The real goal behind Russian energy strikes on Ukraine

05:10 — Is a "total blackout" in Ukraine possible?

09:00 — A Soviet-built system: pros and cons

12:20 — Why Ukrainian cities go dark all at once

14:40 — Why every citizen must prepare for the next winter now

16:40 — The reason Russia succeeded only this winter

18:30 — Fragmenting the grid: Russia’s new energy tactics

19:55 — Why can’t Ukraine defend every power plant?

22:30 — The terrifying reality of Russia’s "indirect" nuclear terrorism

27:40 — Rebuilding the grid for a long war

32:10 — Why sanctions policy should be improved

34:30 — How Russia bypasses sanctions via the Baltic Sea

36:40 — The kind of Ukraine’s resilience Europe tries to understand

What are the prospects for peace talks — and why are many Ukrainians skeptical about them? Does Ukraine have technological parity with Russia on the battlefield? And how has Ukrainian civil society become one of the country’s greatest assets during the war?

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

Guest: Volodymyr Havrylov, retired major general of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, former deputy defense minister, and former Ukrainian defense attaché to the United States.

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Explaining Ukraine is produced by UkraineWorld and brought to you by Internews Ukraine. This episode is created with support from Politeia, a Ukrainian NGO.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

***

SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 - Intro.

01:26 - On peace negotiations.

08:31 - Who is winning the technological war?

15:30 - Key challenges of Ukrainian military technological progress

18:59 - Why we need integration of European and Ukrainian military production

24:19 - What’s next in war tech?

30:05 - Is Ukraine digitizing its defense?

33:38 - Can reliance on Chinese components become a risk?

38:44 - What to expect from Russia in the coming years?

47:53 - Where should we look for hope?

51:00 - Outro.

51:35 - Support us: patreon.com/ukraineworld

What can the deep past of Ukrainian lands reveal about the global story of humanity? Six thousand years ago, "mega-sites" flourished in what is now central Ukraine—but can these be considered the world’s first cities? How were they organized without central authorities, and how do they challenge everything we thought we knew about early social life?

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This is Thinking in Dark Times, a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language multimedia project about Ukraine.

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

Guest: David Wengrow, a renowned British archaeologist and Professor of Comparative Archaeology at University College London. He is the co-author, alongside David Graeber, of the international bestseller "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity".

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Thinking in Dark Times is produced by UkraineWorld and brought to you by Internews Ukraine. It is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation and Politeia, a Ukrainian NGO.

***

SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 - Intro. What can the deep past of Ukraine reveal about the global story of humanity?

00:14 - Were the world’s first cities actually built in what is now Ukraine?

02:51 - Why does the Ukrainian soil play a key role in rethinking the origins of cities and states?

03:55 - Why are standard narratives of human history fundamentally wrong?

09:15 - What were the Cucuteni-Trypillia megasites?

17:23 - Why does the existence of egalitarian cities overturn political history itself?

20:35 - What does a circular city say about how people imagined the world?

21:27 - How did thousands of people govern themselves without rulers?

26:36 - Did democracy exist thousands of years before ancient Greece?

28:29 - Were Hobbes and Rousseau both wrong about human nature?

42:29 - Is Ukrainian history shaped by a tension between freedom and vulnerability?

47:22 - What do burning rituals reveal about cyclical views of life and nature?

50:51 - Why does Ukraine’s past matter for the future of humanity?

In 2025, Ukraine is facing unprecedented pressure from one of its key partners, the United States. The Trump administration has chosen not to act as Ukraine’s ally, but rather as a mediator between Ukraine and Europe on the one hand, and Russia on the other.

This shift has fundamentally changed the geopolitical framework of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Around the world, the language of victory has largely been replaced by the language of peace. Yet under current conditions, “peace” often implies that Ukraine will not regain its occupied territories—and such a peace may, in fact, amount to Ukraine’s defeat.

In this episode, we explain why this is a dangerous path. We also look back at 2025 and summarize its key developments

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

Guest: Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian journalist and public intellectual, the head of the international department at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre, and author of the podcast “L’Ukraine face a la guerre”, “Ukraine facing the war”, in French.

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media platform about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

***

SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 - Introduction

01:46 - US's shift from ally to mediator in Russia-Ukraine war. The impact of the Trump administration's approach to military aid.

06:13 - Trump and Putin's similar world vision regarding spheres of influence.

07:03 - Key elements of proposed peace plans: territorial concessions, security guarantees, and military withdrawal.

08:38 - Ukraine's public opinion against territorial concessions.

13:55 - The "fog" of peace negotiations occurring amidst ongoing total war and Russia's strategy of buying time.

17:33 - Legal and moral challenges of territorial concessions and skepticism about the legitimacy of peace plan negotiators.

20:48 - The escalation of the war, increased civilian suffering due to infrastructure bombardments, and Ukraine's strategy to target the Russian economy.

25:01 - Ukraine's dilemma in peace talks and Russia's strategy of worsening conditions over time.

29:04 - Donald Trump's political weaknesses and Zelenskyy's strategy

30:57 - The security situation on the front line: the rise of drone warfare, its increasing danger to civilians, and the expanding "kill zone."

39:07 - Ukrainian internal politics: the war against corruption, the role of civil society, and Zelenskyy's responsiveness to public opinion.

46:45 - Concluding remarks and a call for support for UkraineWorld.

Imagine an NGO that has raised over one billion dollars to support the Ukrainian army. Imagine a civil society initiative that purchases armaments and military equipment. Imagine a transparent organisation with an independent board and detailed reporting. This NGO exists — it is called “Povernys Zhyvym”, or “Come Back Alive”. It is one of the largest Ukrainian civil society foundations supporting Ukraine’s defense.

In this episode, we will speak about its work — and about the ways you can help Ukraine.

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media platform about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

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

Guest: Kateryna Leshchyshyn, head of the international partnerships at the Come Back Alive foundation.

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SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

The podcast episode is produced by UkraineWorld with the support of the Askold and Dir Fund as a part of the Strong Civil Society of Ukraine - a Driver towards Reforms and Democracy project, implemented by ISAR Ednannia, funded by Norway and Sweden. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of UkraineWorld and can in no way be taken to reflect the views the Government of Norway, the Government of Sweden and ISAR

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CONTENTS:

00:00 What is Come Back Alive (Povernys Zhyvym)?

02:09 Come Back Alive`s Role: at the crossroads of the military, defence industry, and charity

04:33 Why does Ukraine need charity foundations to win?

07:49 Povernys Zhyvym buys a lot of things: from arms and vehicles to drones and chairs

09:58 Come Back Alive tests and develops new solutions

13:27 Working with foreigners: Challenges and successful stories

16:09 Why foreigners are reluctant to fund military equipment

19:34 Reality of the Ukrainian army: 80-90% of soldiers are former civilians

22:07 Who are the main donors of Come Back Alive?

29:38 Ways to support Ukraine: Spreading information, demonstrations, literature

37:37 Why donors should choose Come Back Alive

Ukraine has its own tradition of geopolitical thinking — a tradition that reaches deep into the past and continues to shape the country’s strategic imagination today. What are its key traits? Why was it developed more by writers than by statesmen? And how does it relate to Ukraine’s current reflection on its identity?

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media platform about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

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

Guest: Danylo Lubkivsky, a Ukrainian diplomat and thinker, deputy foreign minister in 2014, and currently director of the Kyiv Security Forum.

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SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

What makes the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church so unique? Why is it such a remarkable attempt to bridge the divide between Eastern and Western Christianity? How can its history help us better understand the history of Europe and of the Christian religion? How has it shaped Ukrainian national identity? And how did it survive the Soviet era, when the authorities sought to eradicate it?

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media platform about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

***

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

Guest: Natalia Shlikhta, a well-known Ukrainian historian and professor at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and under the framework of the project “HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine”, co-funded by the EU within the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Policy Debate action.

Ukrainian cultural heritage is not something that quietly settles into national archives. In reality, it is the result of a dramatic struggle against destruction and oblivion. This makes this heritage so magnetic—precisely because it is not always visible or accessible, yet can be reconstructed like a lost mosaic.

In this episode, we talk about what the Ukrainian cultural heritage is, and how we can understand it. And also about the role of cultural institutions during Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine.

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Guest: Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, a prominent Ukrainian public intellectual and art manager, director of the Art Arsenal (Mystetskyi Arsenal), one of Ukraine’s major cultural institutions. Olesia regularly appears on lists of the most influential figures in the Ukrainian cultural sphere compiled by various media and rankings.

Host: Tetyana Ogarkova, a Ukrainian literary scholar at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the head of the international department at Ukraine Crisis Media Centre. She also runs the French-language podcast L’Ukraine face à la guerre.

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media platform about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

***

SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and under the framework of the project “HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine”, co-funded by the EU within the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Policy Debate action.

Russian propaganda claims that Ukraine is not a separate nation, but merely a “preliminary form” of Russia. Today’s Kremlin ideology seeks to annex Ukrainian history in order to justify its territorial aggression. But this myth has a birth certificate. It emerged in the 19th century, when the Russian Empire started inventing its “ancient” medieval roots. Before that, Russian travellers in Ukrainian lands showed little interest in such historical questions.

In this episode, we trace the genealogy of the myth that Kyiv is a “Russian city” and that its history somehow belongs to Muscovy.

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Explaining Ukraine is a podcast by UkraineWorld, an English-language media platform about Ukraine, run by Internews Ukraine.

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

Listen on various platforms: https://li.sten.to/explaining-ukraine

UkraineWorld: https://ukraineworld.org/en

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Guest: Kateryna Dysa, a Ukrainian historian and Associate Professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She has been a visiting fellow at Harvard, Stanford, Paris, and Oxford, and a visiting professor at the University of Basel. Currently, she is researching how the image of Kyiv was constructed in travel literature from the late eighteenth to early twentieth centuries.

***

SUPPORT:

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

Your help is crucial, as we rely heavily on crowdfunding.

You can also contribute to our volunteer missions to frontline areas in Ukraine, where we deliver aid to both soldiers and civilians.

Donations are welcome via PayPal at: [email protected].

***

CONTENTS:

00:00 Kateryna Dysa, a Ukrainian historian and associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

00:15 Where and when did the myth of Kyiv belonging to Moscow actually begin?

02:05 How did 18th-century Russian travelers initially view Kyiv, and why was their interest superficial?

04:05 How did the rise of history as a discipline change Russia's perception of Kyiv?

12:17 Why did the French philosopher Madame de Staël describe Kyiv as a "semi-Tatar" or nomadic place?

15:17 What were the two extreme ways Westerners described Kyiv?

21:04 When did the annexation of the past become an "aggressive policy" and a part of Russian imperial ideology?

35:03 Why were Russian travelers unwilling to communicate with locals, stressing that Ukrainians were "the other"?

38:07 Why did Russian travelers consistently feel "not at home" in a place the Empire claimed as its "cradle"?

39:16 What aspects of Kyiv's social and cultural history in the 19th century still remain "understudied"?

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This episode is made in partnership with Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and under the framework of the project “HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine”, co-funded by the EU within the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Policy Debate action.