Krynytsya (The Well), your wellspring for Ukraine and Ukrainians

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it is estimated that nearly 12.8 million people have been displaced. About 7.7 million people are internally displaced within Ukraine and in need of housing. Slava Balbek, the founder and CEO of the architectural firm Balbek Bureau, and John Shmorhun, the Chairman of the NGO MoveUkraine, discuss their respective plans to provide housing for Ukraine's internally displaced people. https://www.balbek.com/ https://www.moveukraine.org/

Jaroslaw (Slavko) Martyniuk is a retired energy economist and sociologist. He was born in Ukraine at the start of World War II. His family made a narrow escape from Communism and settled in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. Eventually, the family emigrated to Chicago in the U.S. Some members of his extended family who remained in Ukraine ended up in the Gulag in the Soviet Union.

Martyniuk worked for Amoco Oil in Chicago, and in 1979, his oil industry experience led him to a diplomatic post with the International Energy Agency in Paris. In the mid-eighties, in a career switch, he joined the Soviet Area Audience and Opinion Research team coordinating a network of fifty interviewers conducting specialized research with Soviet visitors on behalf of Radio Liberty. In 1991 he relocated to Munich, and in 1995 moved to Washington, where he was responsible for opinion polling in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union until he retired in 2011. He speaks five languages and traveled to fifty countries in Europe and the former Soviet Union. In 2018 Martyniuk published his memoir “Monte Rosa: Memoir of an Accidental Spy.” https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaroslaw-roman-martyniuk-60217846/

Meest-America, the international package and freight delivery service for Eastern Europe, has played a key role in delivering much-needed humanitarian supplies to Ukraine during the war. COO Natalia Brandafi talks about how the company was forced to pivot from its primary mission after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to transport humanitarian supplies to Ukraine. Its work with major Ukrainian-American non-profit and charitable organizations is also highlighted. https://us.meest.com/

On June 23, 2022 the European Union formally approved Ukraine's candidate for membership status. Prof. Alexander Motyl, professor of political science at Rutgers-Newark University in Newark, N.J. and an expert on Ukraine, Russia and the USSR, talks about the significance of EU candidate member status for Ukraine and what the next steps might be to full membership. He also provides a recap of Ukraine-EU relations in the last 30 years.

https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/about-us/have-you-met-rutgers-newark/alexander-motyl

Sergiy Kyslytsya was appointed by President Zelenskyy as the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations in 2019. He is a career diplomat who has served Ukraine in various roles since 1993. In this interview, Ambassador Kyslytsya talks about various aspects of the Russo-Ukraine war and his efforts to gain greater assistance and support for Ukraine from the global community. https://ukraineun.org/en/ukraine-and-unsc/permanent-representative/

Ostap Kryvdyk is a foreign policy and international security expert. His many roles include advisor and consultant to important Ukrainian government and education institutions. Mr. Kryvdyk talks about the Russian occupation of southern Ukraine and the growing resistance to it and partisan activity. His personal profile. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kryvdyk/

Drones are playing a key role in the defense of Ukraine in the war with Russia. Valerii Iakovenko, a cofounder and the CEO of the Ukrainian tech firm DroneUA, points out that his company's primary mission is to provide drones for agriculture. However, it had to pivot to assist Ukraine's military during the Russo-Ukraine war with drones for air reconnaissance, directing weapons fire and conducting search and rescue operations. https://drone.ua/

Roman Popadiuk was the first U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1992 to 1993. The former ambassador talks about the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and its impact on Ukraine's global security. He believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. The Honorable Mr. Popadiuk emphasizes that Ukraine must be strong militarily to ensure its own sovereignty. https://www.thepresidency.org/roman-popadiuk

What do you get when you mix Ukrainian folk music and American bluegrass and Western Swing music? The Lemko Bluegrass Band. Musician Rost Tatomyr founded the group in 2012. They continue to play this exciting blend of traditional music from the Carpathian Mountains and beyond in a variety of venues in Ukraine, Poland and elsewhere. Rost Tatomyr talks about how he formed the group, their approach to its music and plans for the future.

What is the current state of the economy of Ukraine after 54 days of war with Russia? What will it take to rebuild Ukraine when the war ends and who will pay for it? Natalie Jaresko is an international financial executive and the former Minister of Finance of Ukraine from 2014-2016. She discusses these issues and also talks about her personal efforts to support Ukraine during the war. https://www.linkedin.com/in/njaresko/