“Acceptance is learning how to live, even when grief never leaves.”

For our fifth season, ⁠Ukrainian Spaces⁠ returns to its beginnings, revisiting six Ukrainians from the 2022 inaugural season to see how war, time, and resistance have reshaped their lives. Across six episodes—fear, belonging, creation, resilience, love, and acceptance—our guests reflect on the past and write letters to their former selves. This season affirms that Ukraine’s story is best told by Ukrainians themselves.

For our season five finale, the Acceptance episode, Val and Maksym reunite with Marichka Buchelnikova, a Ukrainian producer, journalist, civil society advocate, and co-founder of Ukraine Explainers. We reflect on extreme resistance burnout many Ukrainians face, accepting our human limits in the face of existential threat, and the quiet work of learning how to live alongside genocide without normalising it.

Since her first appearance on Ukrainian Spaces in 2022, Marichka has had to make a series of difficult life choices and completely rethink her relationships with work, activism, and self-preservation. She speaks candidly about exhaustion, about saying less with more impact, and about accepting that some changes brought by war are irreversible.

In this episode, Marichka helps us understand acceptance not as resignation, but as a form of resistance: the ability to grieve, to care, to love, and to keep choosing life in a violent reality that cannot be undone. 

We hope that with this season five finale, we can inspire more people beyond Ukraine to learn from Ukrainians and step into, unfortunately, a more turbulent future without being paralysed by fear and anxiety. 

Ukrainian Spaces is more than a podcast; it's a movement. It's about reclaiming the Ukrainian story, breaking free from outdated Ukrainian stereotypes, and understanding the complex roots of Ukraine's present and future. Together, we can unravel the threads of Ukrainian history and witness the unwavering spirit of a nation fighting for its right to exist.

SUPPORT: Ukrainian Spaces is a 100% independent, volunteer, and listener-supported initiative. Please ensure we can amplify more Ukrainian voices and decolonise more Ukraine conversations - become our Patreon sponsor or bring a friend if you already are (a free trial is available.)

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This season, Ukrainian Spaces returns in partnership with Ukrainska Pravda – one of Ukraine’s most trusted voices for truth and freedom. Stand with independent Ukrainian journalism. You can also make a donation through their website or join their Patreon community. Every contribution keeps the story alive.