Reveal

‘To Shoot and Fight for My Home’


Listen Later

The war in Ukraine is not new. Ukrainians have been living through “the long war” of a threatened – and brutally real – Russian invasion for decades. We hear from 60-year-old Irina Dovgan, who refused to leave her home, with its blooming garden and many pets, when separatist fighters took over her region in 2014. She became an international symbol of the invasion after Russian-backed forces arrested, abused and publicly humiliated her. Now, Dovgan is living through a second invasion.  

Reporting from Ukraine, Coda Story’s Glenn Kates explains what it’s been like to live in Kyiv as Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to invade. While many Ukrainians speak Russian and have deep ties to the country, Kates talks to Kyiv residents about how Putin’s threats of invasion and violence have shifted their sense of identity. As the invasion approaches, each person has to weigh the nearly impossible question of what they will do to survive.  

To understand what it’s like to be a journalist in Ukraine and Russia right now, host Ike Sriskandarajah speaks with propaganda expert Peter Pomerantsev. Born in Ukraine and now a fellow at Johns Hopkins University and contributing editor at Coda Story, Pomerantsev describes how challenging Putin’s official version of events can land journalists in prison. Under a new law, even calling the invasion an “invasion” could lead to a 15-year prison sentence. 

Finally, Reveal’s Elizabeth Shogren takes listeners back to a time when Russia was charting a different course. In 1989, Shogren was a Moscow-based reporter covering the Soviet Union’s first freely elected legislature. She talks with Russian reporter Sergey Parkhomenko about how, since Putin’s election in 2000, the Russian president has consolidated power by systematically squashing dissent inside the country. This month, Parkhomenko’s radio show and the whole independent Echo of Moscow network was taken off the air. The Kremlin’s harsh new censorship law, punishable by 15 years in prison, makes it illegal to call the war in Ukraine a “war.” 

  • Support Reveal’s journalism at Revealnews.org/donatenow 

  • Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get the scoop on new episodes at Revealnews.org/newsletter

  • Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

  • Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    RevealBy The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7

    4.7

    7,999 ratings


    More shows like Reveal

    View all
    Living on Earth by World Media Foundation

    Living on Earth

    463 Listeners

    On the Media by WNYC Studios

    On the Media

    9,160 Listeners

    Latino USA by My Cultura, Futuro and iHeartPodcasts

    Latino USA

    3,759 Listeners

    Afropop Worldwide by Afropop Worldwide

    Afropop Worldwide

    308 Listeners

    Radiolab by WNYC Studios

    Radiolab

    43,871 Listeners

    Live Wire with Luke Burbank by PRX

    Live Wire with Luke Burbank

    319 Listeners

    This American Life by This American Life

    This American Life

    90,715 Listeners

    Fresh Air by NPR

    Fresh Air

    37,854 Listeners

    The Moth by The Moth

    The Moth

    27,104 Listeners

    The World by PRX

    The World

    919 Listeners

    Snap Judgment by Snap Judgment and PRX

    Snap Judgment

    11,530 Listeners

    99% Invisible by Roman Mars

    99% Invisible

    26,192 Listeners

    Criminal by Vox Media Podcast Network

    Criminal

    37,409 Listeners

    The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

    The New Yorker Radio Hour

    6,689 Listeners

    Embedded by NPR

    Embedded

    11,912 Listeners

    Code Switch by NPR

    Code Switch

    14,535 Listeners

    1A by NPR

    1A

    4,626 Listeners

    The Daily by The New York Times

    The Daily

    110,635 Listeners

    Ear Hustle by Ear Hustle & Radiotopia

    Ear Hustle

    20,472 Listeners

    Things That Go Boom by PRX

    Things That Go Boom

    320 Listeners

    The Science of Happiness by PRX and Greater Good Science Center

    The Science of Happiness

    1,883 Listeners

    Throughline by NPR

    Throughline

    16,059 Listeners

    Suave by Futuro Media

    Suave

    1,511 Listeners