“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 It's about reclaiming the Ukrainian story, breaking free from outdated Ukrainian stereotypes, and understanding the complex roots of Ukraine's present and future.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.)

GET FEATURED: send us a voicemail 

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.

“What this war taught us as a society, as people, is that yes, it doesn't take you a lot to help somebody, to step in, to extend your hand to people whom you do not know. It made us more open to helping strangers, to helping each other.”

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.

In this Love episode of the new Ukrainian Spaces season, we reconnect with a Ukrainian journalist, media strategist and head of the Ukraїner platform, Julia Tymoshenko. She shares with Val and Maksym why she decided to stay in Ukraine in 2022, choosing journalism as her new career, and how she has taken on even more responsibility in uncertain times.

Julia opens up about the lasting scars of the russian occupation of her home village, and why any future peace in Ukraine and Europe won’t be possible without justice served for stealing, violating and destroying Ukrainian homes. Julia closes the episode with a letter to her 2022 self, written from a place shaped by loss, endurance, and love.

Ukrainian Spaces is more than a podcast; it's a movement. It's about reclaiming the Ukrainian story, breaking free from imperial stereotypes about Ukraine, 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.)

GET FEATURED: send us a voicemail 

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.

“A Ukrainian home is something you rebuild, again and again.”

For our fifth season, Ukrainian Spaces returns to its beginnings, revisiting six Ukrainians from the 2022 inaugural season to see how war, time, and responsibility 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.

In this Resilience episode of the new Ukrainian Spaces season, we speak with Olia Hercules, a Ukrainian-born celebrity chef and writer whose work goes far beyond food. Olia talks about family, memory, and what happens when history is erased and must be carried by people instead — as a form of Ukrainian resilience, tested by centuries of Ukrainian resistance to erasure.

Since her first appearance on the Ukrainian Spaces in 2022, Olia has started educating her large international audience about war crimes in Ukraine and daily terror Ukrainians have been enduring, but also about the richness of the Ukrainian culture and traditions — proving that even public figures outside politics can and should be using their platforms to stand up for their values, human dignity and justice. Departing from her usual bestselling cookbooks, Olia has also published “Strong Roots,” a family memoir shaped by generations of war, deportation, and exile. 

In this episode, Olia helps us understand Ukraine through one family’s experience and shows how survival is not only about enduring but also about continuing to love, remember, and rebuild.

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.)
GET FEATURED: send us a voicemail 

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.

"These films are not about events. They are about structures that allow violence to happen."

For our fifth season, Ukrainian Spaces returns to where it began: revisiting six Ukrainians from the 2022 inaugural season to see how hope, resistance, and resilience have shaped their lives. Across six episodes—fear, belonging, language, love, resistance, and the future—our guests reflect on the past, share intimate stories, and write letters to their former selves. A return and continuation, this season reminds us that Ukraine’s story is best told by Ukrainians themselves.

In this episode of the season, Ukrainian Spaces reconnects with a Ukrainian filmmaker and writer, Oleksiy Radynski. He joins Maksym and Val to reflect on how analytical thinking and creative work became his ways to endure the anxiety and chaos of the full-scale invasion. What started as an effort to stay focused grew into award-winning films and viral texts that document russian war crimes and dismantle russian imperial myths.

Through his wartime films Chornobyl-22, Special Operation, and Where Russia Ends, Radynski examines how empire operates through space, ecology, and silence, moving beyond conventional war storytelling. He also speaks about silent resistance, memory, and why art and storytelling remain one of Ukraine’s most persistent forms of anti-colonial resistance.

The episode closes with a message from Oleksiy to his 2022 self: empires will fall, but none can be trusted to undo another.

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.)

GET FEATURED: send us a voicemail 

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.

”The key to solving the world’s urgent problems may lie within Ukraine — from disinformation to modern warfare. We’ve lived these crises and learned how to resist them.”

For our fifth season, Ukrainian Spaces returns to where it began: revisiting six Ukrainians from the 2022 inaugural season to see how hope, resistance, and resilience have shaped their lives. Across six episodes—fear, belonging, language, love, resistance, and the future—our guests reflect on the past, share intimate stories, and write letters to their former selves. A return and continuation, this season reminds us that Ukraine’s story is best told by Ukrainians themselves.
In the second episode of the season, Ukrainian Spaces returns to a conversation that began in 2022 and follows it to its consequences.

Ukrainian writer and thinker Sasha Dovzhyk joins Maksym and Val to reflect on belonging, return, and what happens when resistance ideas conceived during the darkest hours of the 2022 invasion grew into a trailblazing institution advancing justice in wartime Ukraine. When she first appeared on the podcast during the early months of the full-scale invasion, Sasha was living in London, speaking from within the Ukrainian diaspora. Since then, she has returned to Ukraine and helped turn those ideas into powerful action.

Originally from Zaporizhzhia, Sasha is a Ukrainian writer, curator and the founder of INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange in Lviv. In this episode, she speaks about building knowledge as a form of justice, documenting loss and resistance, and why Ukraine’s experience with anti-imperial resistance matters far beyond its borders. The conversation reflects on imperial cultural erasure, memory, and the responsibility of storytelling in wartime.

Dovzhyk’s letter to her 2022 self,  which anchors her story, reads: “Home will find you.”

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.)
GET FEATURED: send us a voicemail 

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.

”Peace is not achieved unless we undo the displacement. If there's a ceasefire, it doesn't mean much unless there are people who can actually go to their homes”

For our fifth season, Ukrainian Spaces returns to where it began: revisiting six Ukrainians from the 2022 inaugural season to see how hope, resistance, and resilience have shaped their lives. Across six episodes—fear, belonging, language, love, resistance, and the future—our guests reflect on the past, share intimate stories, and write letters to their former selves. A return and continuation, this season reminds us that Ukraine’s story is best told by Ukrainians themselves.A Ukrainian journalist, Olek Shyn, joins Maksym and Val for the first episode of the season to reflect on the early days of the war in Ukraine and how fear has transformed into action, drive, and new purpose. Originally from the Koryo-saram community of Ukrainian Koreans in a small village in southern Ukraine, Olek is now a prominent voice of the Ukrainian community in Taiwan. Today, he is the editor-in-chief of Radio Taiwan International’s Ukrainian Service, the first Ukrainian-language broadcast service in Asia, where he builds bridges of solidarity and deeper understanding between Ukraine and East Asia.

In this episode, Olek explores how his post-invasion fear, since his first appearance on Ukrainian Spaces, has evolved into focus, drive, and clarity, and how living abroad shapes his understanding of Ukraine’s story. He reflects on the awakening of his Ukrainian identity, the way the country is perceived now internationally, and the inner struggles Ukrainians may face even after the war ends. The letter that anchors his story reads: “Fear will sharpen you, but it will not own you.”

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.)

GET FEATURED: send us a voicemail 

WHAT'S NEW: 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.

S4E6

Stas, Marichka, Val, and Maksym come together for the last episode of the season to reflect on three years of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In this episode, we think back on who we were on February 24, 2022, and how profoundly we have changed since then. We discuss meaningful resistance and solidarity, the importance of personal stories, and our determination to support Ukraine for the long haul to victory and freedom.

DISCLAIMER: This is a public release. Our Patreon family gets the newest episodes several weeks ahead of the rest. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up and listen as the season's story unfolds.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ukrainian Spaces is more than a podcast; it's a movement. It's about reclaiming the narrative, breaking free from outdated 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 future. Follow Ukrainian Spaces on social media for updates and exclusive content.

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

GET FEATURED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠send us a voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

GET CONNECTED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ukrainianspaces.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ _ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ _⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠_

S4E5

“Maidan is a place of freedom.”

Val and Marichka met in Kyiv to record a live episode from Maidan Square, where the Revolution of Dignity happened 10 years before. Listen to us walk around familiar streets and remember how it all started and what we were doing and feeling at the time. Through their eyes and memories, we go back to the events that shaped a new generation of Ukrainian freedom fighters.

DISCLAIMER: This is a public release. Our Patreon family gets the newest episodes several weeks ahead of the rest. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up and listen as the season's story unfolds.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ukrainian Spaces is more than a podcast; it's a movement. It's about reclaiming the narrative, breaking free from outdated 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 future. Follow Ukrainian Spaces on social media for updates and exclusive content.

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

GET FEATURED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠send us a voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

GET CONNECTED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ukrainianspaces.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ _ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ _⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠_

S4E4

“There is no free Ukraine without free Qırım.”

When Russia invaded and annexed Crimea (or Qırım, an indigenous name) in 2014, the lives of all Ukrainians changed in irrevocable ways, but none more so than Crimean Tatars. Our season would be incomplete without an episode on Qırım, and the story of Crimea can only be told by those it truly belongs to. That’s why we invited Lina, a Crimean Tatar woman and activist, to talk to her about her home, her identity and have her share her memories with all of us about Qırım.

Lina’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe-bSIZ4IL16k3O1YQPiBjw 

Lina’s Twitter: https://x.com/linafromcrimea_

DISCLAIMER: This is a public release. Our Patreon family gets the newest episodes several weeks ahead of the rest. ⁠⁠⁠Sign up and listen as the season's story unfolds.⁠⁠⁠

Ukrainian Spaces is more than a podcast; it's a movement. It's about reclaiming the narrative, breaking free from outdated 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 future. Follow Ukrainian Spaces on social media for updates and exclusive content.

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

GET FEATURED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠send us a voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

GET CONNECTED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ukrainianspaces.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ _ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ _⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠_

S4E3

Before 2004, Ukraine pulsed with a vibrant cultural awakening. Following decades of Soviet suppression, Ukrainian language, music, art, and identity blossomed in a hard-won space. But this renaissance wasn't without its challenges. In this episode, we explore the diverse memories of Ukrainians navigating this crucial period:

Through their accounts, we witness the complexities of cultural decolonization, the resilience of Ukrainian identity, and the ever-present shadow of Russian interference.

DISCLAIMER: This is a public release. Our Patreon family gets the newest episodes several weeks ahead of the rest. ⁠⁠Sign up and listen as the season's story unfolds.⁠⁠

Ukrainian Spaces is more than a podcast; it's a movement. It's about reclaiming the narrative, breaking free from outdated 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 future. Follow Ukrainian Spaces on social media for updates and exclusive content.

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

GET FEATURED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠send us a voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠

GET CONNECTED: ⁠⁠⁠⁠ukrainianspaces.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ _ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠ _⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠_