Donald Trump should be pleased. Not only is he on his way back to the White House, but he could return as one of the most powerful U.S. presidents in decades: The Supreme Court aligns with his vision, the Republican Party has been reshaped around loyalty, and both the Senate and (probably) the House are red. He even won the once-elusive popular vote. Moreover, since he’s constitutionally barred from running again, there’s little stopping Trump from implementing his wildest visions. There is val

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Plans for ending the war, rumors of a new “Minsk 3.0” contact group, preparations for elections in Ukraine… The casual observer might be excused for thinking peace in Ukraine is just around the corner. This is fueled by a lot of wishful thinking both in Ukraine and abroad, but the reality is far less rosy. Ever since the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland – which showcased Ukraine’s ability to gather large crowds of diplomats and state leaders, but arguably did little to move talks forward – t

Ukraine’s oligarchs, once the nation’s power brokers, have seen their influence wane dramatically over the past decade. Amid the ongoing war and internal reforms, the oligarchs who once shaped Ukraine’s post-Soviet trajectory face a new reality. The structural factors that created these powerful figures have largely dissipated, leaving a political landscape that is markedly different from the one they once dominated. But what has happened to Ukraine’s oligarchs, and what does this mean for the

Volodymyr Zelensky’s five-year term as Ukraine’s president expired on May 20. For most Ukrainian citizens, including the country’s constitutionalists, the path forward is clear: Zelensky should continue as president until martial law in Ukraine ends and new elections can take place. But critics argue that Zelensky and his decisions from May 20 onward will essentially be illegitimate. This has raised concerns about potential protests in Ukraine against Zelensky’s tenure, including offbeat Russia

Radosław Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, wants to make it clear he stands for Ukraine's place in the European Union. "It was during the Polish presidency of the EU – with these hands, I pushed and succeeded in closing the text of Ukraine's Association Agreement with the European Union," he emphasized during an interview with the Kyiv Independent. "This is why Ukraine now enjoys this deep relationship with the EU," he added. But that relationship, now at its most painful and longest stage

What is it like to live through the psychological pain of war? How can you heal the trauma of genocide? How do you rebuild a country when a generation has been lost to war? Rebuilding Ukraine will not solely be about creating new cities and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure; there will need to be a new sense of a nation, one not cowed by Russia’s aggression, but stronger and more unified because of it. In the final episode of the series, we speak to historian and political scientist Eugene Fi

We reached out to our listeners on Twitter to see what they wanted to be answered on rebuilding, both now and after the war. We received a lot of questions, but most can be boiled down to "how on earth are we going to pay for this?" In this bonus episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, co-hosts Jakub and Nastya discuss the possibility of Russian reparations, foreign investment, and post-war tourism. Subscribe and listen on your preferred

The aftermath of war leaves physical scars in its wake. The abject destruction of landscapes and cities like Kherson, Kharkiv, and Mariupol will take tens of years and maybe even a trillion dollars to rebuild, while systemic infrastructure like healthcare and energy plants have been equally affected. So where do you begin when you have to rebuild a country destroyed by war? Who pays for it? And what should be the priorities: people’s homes, or hospitals, schools, and roads? In this episode of o

In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, co-hosts Jakub and Nastya are speaking to Anna Myroniuk, the head of investigations at the Kyiv Independent. They discuss the complexities of reporting on Ukraine’s corruption in the current climate, offering a unique insight into the duty of the media during war. Since its founding, the Kyiv Independent has always been at the forefront of reporting on corruption within Ukraine’s government

The humanitarian response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been immense — an outpouring of good will from people across Europe and, indeed, the world. But when it comes to the large aid organizations facilitating it, the story becomes more blurred. From Amnesty International to the Red Cross, there have been major blind spots, including reports situating the Ukrainian army as aggressors, to aid projects supporting the Russian military. So how did some of these organizations get it

In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, co-hosts Jakub Parusinski and Anastasiia Lapatina are doing a special Q&A on the Russian Intelligence Services. We reached out to our listeners on Twitter to discuss the things you really wanted answered on the FSB, the GRU, and the history of these most secretive organizations. Expect answers to questions like: What is the history of tension between the Russian military and the FSB? Are the

For years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has used his intelligence, including the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU), to try and understand Europe — what they are thinking, how they would react to a crisis of war. The failure of Russia’s intelligence to predict Ukraine’s commitment to defending itself and Europe’s response of solidarity shows their failures. But what role do the Russian intelligence services play in

In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, we again take a look into cyber warfare, this time from a more policy-focused perspective, as Jakub speaks with Lauren Zabariek, the executive director of Harvard’s Belfer Center.  Lauren tells us about the various ways in which hackers across the globe are seeking to attack foreign targets, how this has affected the war in Ukraine, and the ways in which countries like the U.S. are making pol

The war in Ukraine is being fought by land, sea, air… and online. Russia has long been infamous for its hacking and aggressive cyber warfare capabilities, having previously been responsible for devastating attacks in Ukraine and across the world. But how effective have they really been during the war? And what about the fightback? In this episode of our podcast "Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World," co-produced with Message Heard, we speak to Andy Greenberg, the journalist and author of Sand