Ukraine Without Hype

By Ukraine Without HypeNews Politics

Ukraine Without Hype episodes

March 06, 2022 Episode 16: March 5th War Dispatch
The state of the Russo-Ukraine War as it stood on March 5th. Russia is making gains in the South, but stalling out in the North, leading to their increased reliance on indiscriminate bombardments of civilian areas. While the Russian army is suffering from low morale and poor logistics, the Ukrainian people rally to defend their homes. We go into some of the important topics that come up so far, such as the Russian use of saboteurs and the threat posed to critical infrastructure such as the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Apologies for some audio problems, Ukraine Without Hype Studios in Exile has faced some difficulties.

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39 min
February 24, 2022 Episode 15: February 24th War Dispatch
Short emergency episode: the long-feared war has come.
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https://www.patreon.com/UkraineWithoutHype
11 min
February 20, 2022 Episode 14: Artillery Fire from the East
Russia begins a barrage of both artillery fire and misinformation to drum up any excuse to go to war. Their claimed "troop withdrawal" turned out to be just another misdirection. Diplomatic efforts to calm the situation continue to fail.
The Russian legislature asks Putin to recognize the occupation authorities in Donbas as sovereign nations, but is rebuffed for now.

A Russian cyber attack brings down Ukraine's largest banks for a few hours.
Russian "naval exercises" bring most of the Black Sea under their control.
Scandals in both the Eurovision Song Contest and the Winter Olympics.

We close with an analysis of the present situation and what this all means.

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https://twitter.com/HypeUkraine
1 hr 9 min
February 03, 2022 Episode 13: Ukrainian Journalism Style Guide and J'Accuse!
New Patreon page, so please help us spread the news about Ukraine: https://www.patreon.com/UkraineWithoutHype

Ukraine and its allies continue to try to head off the possible Russian offensive, but there is tension between Kyiv and Washington over how severe the threat may be. Then, in local news, a mass shooting by a National Guardsmen of his fellow soldiers and a corruption scandal at the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone regarding nuclear waste.

Next, we list some of the most frequent errors made by foreign journalists and politicians when describing Ukraine and go into some detail on how to correct them.

We end by analyzing the arguments from the different sides of the political spectrum for why they might support Russia, and make a plea to the Left to re-adjust some of their assumptions and have solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

Here are some timestamps to better reach some of our arguments:
Style Guide
27:30 - Kyiv, not Kiev and other naming conventions.
33:00 - It is a Russian invasion, not a Civil War.
29:40 - The Far-Right is not as much of a problem as it is made out to be, do not focus on it to the exclusion of anything else.
45:00 - Ukrainian West vs. Russian East is vastly misunderstood.
49:30 - Do not rely on what you learned in WW2 movies and video games
Russia's Supporters and Fellow Travelers
53:00 - Bipartisan Bad Arguments
49:30 - Why the Right Supports Russia
1:04:30 - Why the Left Supports Russia
1 hr 30 min
January 19, 2022 Episode 12: The Diplomats Arrive, along with Poroshenko
As the Russian military buildup continues on the Ukrainian border, diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, the UK, and the EU meet to avert catastrophe - to little effect thus far.

A likely Russian or Belarusian-based hack of multiple Ukrainian government-connected websites was mostly just an inconvenience. But, it highlights the years-long trends of both cyber warfare and using false flags to try and hurt Ukrainian-Polish relations.

Protests in Kazakhstan are met with lethal force by the government, who called in help from Russia and its other allies in the CSTO.

Former President Petro Poroshenko returns to Kyiv, where a judge was waiting for him to answer treason charges.
1 hr 2 min
December 30, 2021 Episode 11: New Year, Same War
The New Year is right around the corner and our last episode of the year is a big one. Anthony Bartaway talks about what he saw and heard in some of the conflict-affected places in Donbas. Then he and Romeo Kokriatski get into the weeds about the likelihood of a renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine. The episode wraps up with news of former President Petro Poroshenko being accused of treason and how much it can be considered a power grab.

З Новим Pоком!
1 hr 15 min
December 10, 2021 Episode 10: What Did I Miss?
After a far too long August hiatus, Ukraine Without Hype is Back. Anthony Bartaway runs down some of the top news stories that we missed while we were away. These include the current Russian military buildup, Belarus spurring on a migrant crisis, an update on the Nordstream 2 pipeline, the end of the war in Afghanistan and Ukraine's role in evacuating refugees, Zelensky's bizarre presser and how it relates to press freedoms, the Crimea Platform, the Pandora Papers, checking in on the far-right post-Avakov, a covid update, public Hannukah observance as a mark of progress, and the death and rebirth of the Kyiv Post. A lot has happened.
34 min
August 03, 2021 Episode 9: Security Sector Shakeup, Indigenous Ukrainian Law
For the August 3rd edition of Ukraine Without Hype, Romeo Kokriatski and Anthony Bartaway go over the large-scale personnel changes at the top of the Ministries of Defense and Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian military. Most of the attention goes to the newly-minted Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky. Then, on to a recent law that protects the rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine.

We wrap up with some comments on Belarus trying to kidnap one of their own Olympic athletes and the mysterious death of a Belarusian activist in Kyiv.
34 min
July 21, 2021 Episode 8: Avakov Out, Land Markets In
For the July 21st edition of Ukraine Without Hype, Romeo Kokriatski and Anthony Bartaway go over a bombshell story from the week: the irreplaceable Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has finally been replaced. Then, we cover how Ukraine is implementing one of the reforms most demanded from international partners: the opening up of agricultural land for purchase, something that was previously banned. Finally, a small section on the arrest of a left-wing activist on manufactured charges and his possible deportation to Belarus.
38 min
July 05, 2021 Ukraine Without Hype - Episode 7: The Long Road to NATO and Firtash's Foibles
For the July 5th edition of Ukraine Without Hype, Romeo Kokriatski and Anthony Bartaway go over Ukraine's most recent attempts to spur NATO leadership into moving forward with its ascension into the alliance. Then, we cover the next oligarch to have come into the sights of the current, though flawed, push for de-oligarchization: Dmytro Firtash. We close with some brief thoughts on William Shatner's new business relationship with Russia Today, which even he seemed confused about, and the unfolding story of the assault on Tbilisi Pride.
39 min