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

Dr. Luke Cooper is the deputy director of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep) at the London School of Economics (LSE). He also heads the Ukraine program at PeaceRep. PeaceRep is a consortium of research institutions, non-governmental organizations, and local research teams led by the University of Edinburgh Law School focused on understanding peace and transition process dilemmas in countries and regions across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Its Ukraine program's research seeks to deepen the understanding of the Russian invasion against Ukraine and support ongoing responses to the conflict and is a collaboration with the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) located in Kyiv, Ukraine. Dr. Cooper discusses PeaceRep and its Ukraine program and talks about its research and key findings. https://peacerep.org/about/countries/ukraine/

David Kirichenko, a Ukrainian American frontline war journalist and expert in autonomous systems and cyber warfare, discusses his transition from cybersecurity to journalism during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He highlights Ukraine's strategic use of drones and asymmetric warfare, noting that Ukraine built millions of drones to counter Russia's superior manpower and armor. Kirichenko emphasizes the role of grassroots innovation and the challenges posed by Russia's allies, including China and Iran, in drone technology. He also mentions Ukraine's global impact, including operations in Mali, Sudan, and Syria, and the potential for future drone attacks on Russian strategic targets. https://henryjacksonsociety.org/staff/david-kirichenko/ https://vilni-media.com/en/category/authors/david-kirichenko/

Kurt Volker was the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine negotiations from 2017 to 2019 with the first Trump Administration and U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 2008-2009. He continues to be an insightful foreign affairs analyst and advisor. In this interview, Mr. Volker assesses Ukraine's current situation in the Russian invasion. He states that Ukraine is stronger militarily than it was when the invasion began in February 2022 and has many more allies in the EU and elsewhere. And he points out that even though relations with the U.S. are more complicated now, the EU fully supports Ukraine and can provide the much-needed military assistance for the country to defend itself against Russian aggression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Volker https://bgrdc.com/team/ambassador-kurt-volker/

Dina Smeltz is vice president and senior fellow public opinion with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The Council was established in 1922, as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization for the purpose of increasing knowledge and engagement in global affairs. Its mission is to promote general public interest in the foreign policy of the United States. To this end, the organization conducts online events with expert speakers who lecture on world events. It also regularly conducts polls to gauge public opinion on foreign policy topics. Since February 2022 when the Russian invasion against Ukraine began, the Council has polled Americans about their views on Ukraine and the war. You can find results from their latest Ukraine public opinion poll here: https://globalaffairs.org/research/public-opinion-survey/slim-majorities-americans-still-support-aiding-ukraine . In this interview, Ms. Smeltz reviews the history of the Council and talks about why the Ukraine poll is so important for their public engagement work. https://globalaffairs.org/

Orest Deychakiwsky is a well known activist in the Ukrainian American community. He worked at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission), an independent US government agency, from November 1981 to May 2017.  While at the Commission, Orest served as a member of official US delegations to numerous conferences and meetings of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its predecessor, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).  Currently, he is a Senior Advisor at the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, Co-chairman of the Transatlantic Task Force on Ukraine, and Board Member of The Washington Group and the Shevchenko Scientific Society, USA (NTShA). In this interview Mr. Deychakiwsky reviews the relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine during the Russian invasion against Ukraine and considers whether a cease-fire and long-term peace is possible. For a complete bio go here.

https://harriman.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Orest-Deychakiwsky.pdf Some of his recent articles appear here. https://vilni-media.com/en/category/authors/orest-deychakiwsky/

Natalia Bariatska is a doctor of geology in Ukraine and the founder and CEO of the Ukrainian company Softmine LLC. In this interview, she talks about the significance of Ukraine's key critical minerals for the global economy and the United States in particular. Ms. Bariatska also reviews the potential for their development for intenational trade. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliia-bariatska-78b2011a3/ https://softmine.com.ua/

Stefan Korshak is the senior defense correspondent for the Kyiv Post English-language newspaper. He offers his insights into how the Ukrainian army has been able to effectively counter the attacks of the Russian army with its substantially larger manpower and more military equipment. He says the current ceasefire proposed by the United States is untenable. Mr. Korshak also comments on the morale of the Ukrainian army and whether China has entered the war on Russia's side. https://www.kyivpost.com/authors/11 https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-korshak-54821661/

There are about 250,000 Ukrainian parolees who have entered the United States as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the context of U.S. immigration law, an immigration parolee is an individual granted temporary permission to enter or remain in the United States but without establishing a path to permanent residency. Iryna Mazur, a U.S. immigration attorney and Honorary Consul of Ukraine to Philadelphia, discusses their current status under the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) federal programs. On January 27, 2025, the Trump administration placed all parole programs on hold, and also, Ukraine was never redesignated for another TPS period. It is expected that the Administration will make a final decision with regards to the future of the U4U program and relevant re-parole authorizations by the end of April 2025.

https://fimlaw.com/meet-our-lawyers/ https://www.consularcorpsofphiladelphia.org/ukraine/

Bohdan Nahaylo is the Chief Editor at the Kyiv Post in Kyiv, Ukraine. He is a British-Ukrainian journalist and well-known writer whose career as a Ukraine-watcher spans more than four decades. Reflecting on the mood in Kyiv, Mr. Nahaylo does not believe Ukraine is ready for elections. He is extremely critical of the proposed U.S.-Ukraine rare earth minerals deal proposed by the Trump administration. He does not think Russian President Vladimir will accept the proposed 30-day ceasefire in the war. In this interview, Mr. Nahaylo also reviews his three years as Chief Editor at the Kyiv Post and the major challenges.https://www.kyivpost.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bohdan-nahaylo-716a935b/?originalSubdomain=ua

Alexander Vindman, a Ukrainian American who was born in Kyiv, is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and former director for European affairs with the U.S. National Security Council (NSC). As a foreign area officer specializing in Eurasia, he served in the U.S. embassies in Kyiv and Moscow. Mr. Vindman received a Master of Arts degree in Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian studies from Harvard University. He also has a doctoral degree in international affairs from Johns Hopkins University. In this interview, Mr. Vindman discusses why the Trump Administration is putting pressure on President Zelenskyy to accept its framework for an initial 30-day ceasefire and an eventual peace agreement with Russia. He also reviews overall relations between the U.S. and Ukraine. He is the author of a new book "The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine”.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vindman