2.5 years as a POW under Russian captivity. Daily beatings and humiliation. A bombing of his barracks by Russians while in captivity. And even met Steven Seagal, who challenged a Ukrainian POW to a fight...only to then back down...

And now that Gennady has been released, you'll be amazed to hear what he's going to do next. 

Gennady Kharchenko, Soldier of Azov Battalion. Born in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, Gennady joined the military as a volunteer in 2014 to stop Russia's initial invasion of this current war. Gennady fought in the Azovstal complex and was then taken into Russian captivity in mid-2022 and spent 2.5 years as a POW until his recent release in October 2024.

Gennady's optimism and resilience after everything is truly remarkable. 

Listen in to hear all of this and more!

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What is the corruption situation like in Ukraine and what does the future look like? Will Ukraine be successful in reducing corruption in the coming years and become more like a Western nation?

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Oleksandra Keudel, who is a renowned expert in politics and governance, about the corruption environment in Ukraine historically and where things stand today. Ukraine of course has a major problem with corruption, but is in fact one of the more transparent countries in the world. 

The ongoing fight with corruption has seen clear improvements, but there is alot to be done. What does the future look like for Ukraine?

Dr. Oleksandra Keudel, Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Governance, Kyiv School of Economics & Research Fellow at the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University

Dr. Oleksandra Keudel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy and Governance at Kyiv School of Economics. She studies democratic transformation and societal resilience in hybrid regimes with specialization in Ukraine’s sub-national politics. Keudel obtained her Ph.D. (2021, magna cum laude) in Political Science from Freie Universität Berlin (Germany), MSc (2016) in International Administration and Global Governance from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, with distinction for the thesis and MA (2009) in International Information, with distinction, from the Kyiv Institute for International Relations. She completed post-doctoral research at Freie Universität Berlin and was a visiting researcher at the George Washington University, NYU and Södertörn University in 2022-2023. She authored How Patronal Networks Shape Opportunities for Local Citizen Participation in a Hybrid Regime: A Comparative Analysis of Five Cities in Ukraine, published with ibidem/Columbia University Press (2022). 

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The psychological damage to children has been one of the most underreported stories of this horrific war here in Ukraine. How are children coping, especially those who have lost parents and other family members?

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Oksana Lebedeva, the founder of the NGO Gen.Ukrainian, which is devoted to the mental rehabilitation of children and adolescents who have experienced psychological trauma as a result of war, such as loss of parents, captivity, or forced displacement. Oksana spoke about the children her organization works with, the trauma they have faced, and how they help them recover. We also touched on larger issues, such as the future of Ukrainian children after the war and the impact on the economy.

Gen.Ukrainian organizes psychological intensives, develops innovative rehabilitation programs, and conducts active scientific work which can be used globally.

Oksana Lebedeva, CEO Gen.Ukrainian, Oksana founded Gen.Ukrainian in 2022 as the answer to the unprecedented challenge of mental rehabilitation and preservation of the entire generation of young Ukrainians from the devastating impact of the Russian war against Ukraine. Oksana’s mission is to protect the innocence of childhood and ensure that the war does not hinder the future of Ukrainian children. Gen.Ukrainian is an NGO that specializes in issues of childhood during the war and mental rehabilitation of children and adolescents who have experienced psychological trauma as a result of war, such as loss of parents, captivity, or forced displacement. Gen.Ukrainian organizes psychological intensives, develops innovative rehabilitation programs, and conducts active scientific work.

Please find more information at https://genukrainian.com.ua/; and hear the stories from the children themselves here https://www.youtube.com/@gen.ukrainian

Please have a look at a short documentary just published of Gen.Ukrainian's work with children returned from occupation/forced deportation:  https://youtu.be/beP9X2a3dak

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Did you know Russia starved to death at least 4 million Ukrainians in a single year?

The Ukrainian man-made famine of 1932-33, known as the Holodomor in Ukrainian, is recognized by most Western nations as an act of genocide conducted by Moscow on the Ukrainian people. 

In light of the annual commemoration of the Holodomor on November 23, 2024 (always the 4th Saturday of November), I spoke w Tetiana Soproniuk, a PhD candidate at the Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University in Ukraine. Her research is focused on the public sentiments of the Ukrainian population of the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet propaganda, and the 1932-33 famine. In 2018-2021, she worked at the Holodomor Museum in Kyiv. Along with giving tours for visitors, she was recording the memories of the 1932-1933 famine survivors, marking the mass graves and collecting the names of the Holodomor victims.

I find it ironic in the US we have Thanksgiving in the same week, on the 4th Thursday of November, though in the US case marking a holiday of abundance and freedom. In Ukraine’s case, they commemorate the millions of victims of starvation and repression at the hands of Russia, in hopes of finally gaining their freedom.

Please listen to this podcast to remember that this current genocidal war is not the first time Russia has conducted a genocidal campaign against Ukraine. And Ukrainians know it won’t be the last unless the West wakes up and stops Moscow.

It’s a tragedy itself that this tragedy is not well-known in the Western world.

Please reshare to keep up awareness of this tragedy and the suffering and strength of the Ukrainian people amid this ongoing war.

Tetiana Soproniuk is a PhD candidate at the Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University (Ukraine). Her research is focused on the public sentiments of the Ukrainian SSR population of the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet propaganda, and the famine of 1932-33 . In 2018-2021, she worked at the Holodomor Museum in Kyiv. Along with giving tours for visitors, she was recording the memories of the 1932-1933 famine survivors, marking the mass graves and collecting the names of the Holodomor victims. In 2022-2023, Tetiana was a visiting postgraduate student at Cambridge University. She is an alumnus of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. 

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Who's going to win the US elections, and what will the impact be on Ukraine? Could we be moving towards peace in 2025? And ultimately why do we in the West need to even care about supporting Ukraine?

To answer these questions, I did something a little bit different in this episode and had my old co-worker and friend Martin Belchev, Practice Leader at FrontierView, interview me on the the outlook for the US elections, what the policy towards Ukraine would be from either a Harris or Trump presidency, and why the West needs to wake up to understand the threat to the Western world and our way of life by Putin's war in Ukraine.

Martin is a seasoned analyst with more than a decade of professional and academic expertise in macroeconomic, political, industry, and policy research focused on European nations. He has extensive experience in dissecting industry trends, macroeconomic indicators, currency movements, and associated risks and communicating this analysis to C-suite executives at top Western corporations. Martin is originally from Bulgaria and now resides in London.

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For those of you who support Ukraine on social media – and LinkedIn specifically – many of you may have wondered: Who is Marijn Markus?
 
Marijn is one of the most consistent and outspoken supporters of Ukraine for years now – but he’s not Ukrainian, isn’t from the military, doesn’t work directly for a government, and has no formal academic background in Eastern Europe or international relations…

So how has he become one of the most ardent and listened to voices about the war on social media?

Listen in to find out!

And hear more about Marijn’s devotion to fighting Kremlin disinformation, where he thinks the war is going, and what has to happen for Ukraine to win this war.

I also want to personally thank Marijn for his tireless work in supporting Ukraine and helping keep up awareness in the Western world. That’s the goal of my podcast and I’m grateful for Marijn’s work towards this mission as well.

Follow Marijn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marijnmarkus/! He does multiple posts on a daily basis filled with timely info, insightful analysis, a historical understanding of the conflict, and cool graphics!

Marijn combines technical expertise with a delivery of analysis, visuals and coaching, thanks to his experience and background in social science. As open source and sensor enthusiast, Marijn leverages his affection for open data and internet culture to deliver unique insights and solutions. 

At Capgemini NL, Marijn has been leading the AI efforts for over 7 years. Additionally, Marijn is a frequent speaker at events on AI and data science. Most of all, Marijn seeks to improve people's lives using data.

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How and when will the war in Ukraine end? Can history teach us any lessons where this war is going? 

This is Part 2 of my interview with Professor Harper is an expert on US Foreign Policy and the Cold War, having written 4 books related to the Cold War and teaches a course at SAIS titled American Foreign Policy Since World War II. Originally from the US, he lives and teaches in Bologna, Italy.

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How and when will the war in Ukraine end? Can history teach us any lessons where this war is going? 

The clear answer to all of this is that we indeed can find useful analogies in the Cold War to understand where this current war is going and predict its future. US foreign policy towards Moscow during the Cold War proves to be highly instructive to understand how current US foreign policy will develop.

To dive into this and understand the future of this war by looking at the past, I had the pleasure of speaking with my former professor from Johns Hopkins SAIS, John Harper, an expert on US Foreign Policy and the Cold War. We discuss the development of the US policy of containment of Soviet Union after World War II, comparing that political era to today, and finally predicting where US policy is going in the future. Professor Harper gives his thoughts of what US policy would look like under Trump or under Harris and what it will mean for support for Ukraine, Ukraine in NATO, and how the war ends. 

Professor Harper is an expert on US Foreign Policy and the Cold War, having written 4 books related to the Cold War and teaches a course at SAIS titled American Foreign Policy Since World War II. Originally from the US, he lives and teaches in Bologna, Italy.

To learn more, visit:

https://ubn.network/

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https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/

In this episode, I had the pleasure to speak with Jane Alieva, arguably one of the busiest women in Ukraine who has devoted her life to helping the tens of thousands of children traumatized by Russia. Jane runs and/or is a part of 3 different charity groups currently, all committed to helping kidnapped children and other victims of Russia's war.

Listen in to hear what is unfortunately a highly underreported story regarding the untold tens of thousands of children Russia has kidnapped and who remain apart from their families. And hear the inspiring work Jane and her organizations are doing to help these kids and fight back against Russia in the courts.

As mentioned in the podcast, please check out the website of the Mama Jane Charity Foundation here - https://mamajane.com.ua/

And read Jane's article on the kidnappings here - https://mamajane.com.ua/blog/kidnapping-not-deportation

And you can help the children directly by going here - https://mamajane.com.ua/blog/100-words-of-support

#100wordsofsupport #comebackhome

Jane Alieva, Founder and CEO of the Mama Jane Charity Foundation, which is engaged in psychological rehabilitation for Ukrainian children traumatized by the war and humanitarian aid. Jane is also CEO and head of events at Mama Matrix Group, which offers strategic communications, media and event management, consultancy services, and legal support to its members. She also is a Director at Payback4Ukraine, which is an international legal network, which has launched a case against the Wagner Group in UK and child abduction cases in European civil courts seeking reparations for Ukrainian victims of war. 

To learn more, visit:

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Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:

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Today I spoke with Roman Sulzhyk, a real Ukrainian patriot who has embraced his life's mission and decided to come back home to Ukraine to help rebuild his country. Roman has been a part of Ukraine's independence movement from the first Orange Revolution in 2004, to the Maidan in 2014, to the war today. He has a fascinating perspective, having seen this whole independence drive of the past 20 years.

Roman worked hard and was able to get out of Ukraine in the 1990s and create a successful career abroad. After years of working in finance the US and UK, Roman lived in Moscow until the Maidan in 2014 and then had to abruptly leave under difficult circumstances, to say the least. Among numerous other interesting stories - including being labeled an "enemy of the state" by Putin and meeting John McCain on the Maidan - Roman has devoted his efforts to helping the Ukrainian war effort by funding various groups from evacuation buses to the manufacture of drones and electronic warfare systems.

Roman Sulzhyk, a former JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank executive, and also a former member of PrivatBank’s Independent Supervisory Board. Sulzhyk is currently a partner at the Ukraine Breakthrough Fund, and invested in ResistUA and other military technology ventures in Ukraine.

To learn more, visit:

https://ubn.network/

Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters:

https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/