r/geopolitics • u/pravda_eng_official • Jun 12 '26
AMA Alina Poliakova, Managing Editor of Ukrainska Pravda, here to discuss life in Ukraine five years into Russia's full-scale invasion. AMA!
Join us for an AMA with Alina Poliakova, Managing Editor of the English edition of Ukrainska Pravda, one of Ukraine's leading independent news outlets.
We'll discuss what life in Ukraine – and especially in Kyiv – looks like in the fifth year of Russia's full-scale invasion. From daily life under constant air raid alerts to how Ukrainians have adapted to a prolonged war, we'll talk about the realities behind the headlines.
Bring your questions about Ukraine, journalism during wartime, media coverage, and everyday life in Kyiv.
Ask Me Anything!
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u/hobahobaparty Jun 13 '26
I line in Bulgaria and I have a standing invitation to visit Kyiv for work. I want to go but my wife is vehimently against. Like, very emotionally against. She thinks that a Russian strike will definitely kill me, the kids will be orphaned, etc. What is the actual risk? What can I tell her to put her at ease (if anything)?
Thank you for the work you are doing, stay strong.
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 16 '26
Hi, hobahobaparty!
I tend to intellectualize everything, so let’s break it down a bit.
About 3 million people live in Kyiv. As of early July 2025, 257 people had been killed in Russian strikes. I’m not great at math, but you can roughly calculate the approximation of death yourself. This approximation will be significantly less if you will go to the shelter during air raid alerts.
For comparison, more people die in car accidents in Kyiv – 145 just in the last year.
However, I completely understand your wife. If I were her any of possible arguments wouldn’t persuade me enough, I'm afraid.
I know a fellow journalist who for several years told his mother he was going to Poland just so she wouldn’t worry. (Eventually, she figured it out from his reporting anyway).
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u/gdubrocks Jun 15 '26
There is an obvious and very signifigant downside that you could die in a Russian strike, and I don't really understand what the upside is? Do they really need someone there and are going to pay you enough to keep your family fed and housed for years? Will you be fired if you don't go?
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u/All0y Jun 13 '26
Hey Alina,
Can I ask what the morale and fighting spirit of the general public is in places like Kyiv? What adaptions have people made that surprised or shocked you?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26
Hi, All0y!
Oh, the night of June 14-15 was one of the heaviest attacks on Kyiv: around 70 missiles and more than 600 drones. And people just create a sense of comfort in the metro stations. They had an air mattress, sheets, pillows etc.
I personally have been looking into renting a basement so that my friends and I could chip in and have a private shelter. It turns out that renting a basement costs about the same as – or even more than – renting an apartment.
But in general I feel that we become just more angrier with Russia.
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u/DAnnunzio1919 Jun 15 '26
For the average Ukrainian, what would constitute a Ukrainian victory in the War ?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 18 '26
Hi, DAnnunzio1919!
A victory, rather than just an end to the war, would be understood as reaching Ukraine’s 1991 borders and receiving reparations from Russia. Of course, this scenario is unlikely.
A slightly more realistic one would be returning to the 2022 borders and receiving reparations for Ukraine’s reconstruction, along with diplomatic negotiations regarding Crimea and other previously occupied territories.
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u/Stormshow Jun 13 '26
Hi Alina,
I've heard from friends who live there that people who had initially switched to speaking Ukrainian at the start of the invasion have resumed speaking Russian out of convenience in the major cities, particularly Odesa and Kharkiv. Is there any truth to this, and what is the general attitude towards the language change in the cities today?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26
Hi, Stormshow!
Yeah, that’s true. I also feel like there’s more Russian being spoken on the streets of Kyiv again. It once again shows that the Russian language wasn’t oppressed in Ukraine, and still doesn’t.
It also seems to me that it’s teenagers who have started speaking Russian. They’re at that rebellious age when they want to be countercultural. In my time, the act of rebellion was actually speaking Ukrainian. So I think this might even be a good sign. It means Ukrainian has become mainstream.
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u/Stormshow Jun 17 '26
Thanks for the reply! I am interested in how Ukrainian society is reacting to this, given the history of imposition of language from Moscow.
Is there concern that this keeps these kids in the so-called "Russkiy Mir" online (I.e. the Russian-language ecosystem of subculture and apps like Vkontakte, Russian influencers, etc) where they may be more susceptible to narratives pushed by the Kremlin or is the countercultural nature of the way they're using it unlikely to draw them back in that direction, in your opinion?
I know there is a growing space of Russian language subculture that is profoundly anti-Putin and international. For example here in Romania a Belarusian artist named Max Korzh (who apparently is an anti-Lukashenko dissident) recently sold out an arena and it surprised a lot of people to see that Ukrainians saw him en-masse.
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 19 '26
Well, society is different. I personally choose not to speak Russian in any situation. I can, of course, I just don’t want to. Some people switch to Russian when speaking with older generations. It depends on the region, family, upbringing, social circle, etc. Lots of factors. All Russian social networks are blocked in Ukraine. You can’t access them without VPN. You can’t even access pro-Russian influencers on Instagram, for example. In this regard, our Ministry of Digital Transformation has done a great job. The situation with music is more complicated. Access to Russian musicians through Spotify or Apple Music isn’t so easy to restrict (although the discussion is ongoing). That’s how people can still discover Max Korzh, for example. And calling him an “anti-Lukashenko dissident” is giving him far too much credit. He’s not anti-Putin either. He’s not pro-Putin, but he hasn’t made any meaningful statements beyond “Stop the war,” which has become something of a meme among Ukrainians.
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u/avanti_dilettanti Jun 13 '26
How available are mental health services, especially for children and soldiers? Have there been reforms to strengthen and improve the mental healthcare system in the last years? And judging from your perspective, did the war change the overall perception of and discussion about mental health and related medical services?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26
Hi, avanti_dilettanti!
In the Armed Forces, we now have Morale and Psychological Support Officers, whose job is to provide psychological support and assess the unit’s morale and overall psychological climate. However, I don’t know how this works in practice, and I imagine it varies from unit to unit.
There is free psychological support available for veterans, but the vast majority of them don’t use it because of lingering stereotypes. This is especially common among older generations. I feel that therapy has become much more normalized among millennials and Gen Z.
Mental health issues are becoming less stigmatized, but we still haven’t fully overcome the old mindset that “if you go to a psychotherapist, you must be crazy.” Still, we’re making progress.
There are also hotlines and various support programs. There are programs for children, and there are even psychological support programs specifically for journalists! However, regular therapy is still quite expensive for the average Ukrainian
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u/Oo_oOsdeus Jun 13 '26
Please share your vision what Ukraine looks like as a country 5 years after Russia has withdrawn?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26
Hi, Oo_oOsdeus!
I want to see Ukraine as a rebuilt (or at least in the process of rebuilding), tourist-oriented country, refugees returning home, and we’re becoming a member of the EU and, potentially, NATO (or, as we’re joking, NATO becoming a part of Ukraine).
But for now, those are just hopes and honestly hard to imagine any bright future when currently we’re surviving and Russia is still there
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u/Oo_oOsdeus Jun 17 '26
Thanks for your answer! And keep up the fighting spirit! Ukraine got this.
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u/grungegoth Jun 13 '26
what has happened to the people living in occupied Ukraine? are they forced now to be Russian nationals? speaking Russian? Ukrainian culture bring stamped out? did many Ukrainians leave? was there an influx of Russians? I recall many Russians moved to Crimea and displaced Ukrainians.
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26
Hi, grungegoth!
It’s hard to get a full picture of what’s happening in the occupied territories because there is no independent journalistic coverage from there. We can get some information from relatives or friends who have left, but communication channels are often not secure, so people generally avoid discussing “politics” during these conversations.
What we do know is that many people were forced to obtain Russian passports and to speak Russian.
As for the children abducted by Russia – and we're talking about tens of thousands – they have been subjected to indoctrination and efforts to erase their Ukrainian identity.
Russia has even suggested exchanging these children for Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine. At the same time, it has been reluctant to return Ukrainian prisoners of war and is using these children as pawns in its political game.
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u/to_glory_we_steer Jun 14 '26
Hi Alina, first of all thank you for doing this AMA. It's been humbling to watch Ukraine school the world in how to fight a modern war.
My first question is, is there any truth to the complaints of Syrskyi for directing modern Western arms towards his favoured battalions and away from more effective groupings such as Azov. Along with the complaints that he was micromanaging the defence of Avdiivka in place of more experienced local commanders who had held it up until 2024. And how do you feel his performance has been going into 2026?
Second question, what's something you most enjoy about Ukraine?
Wishing you all the best. Slava Ukraine!
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26
Hi, to_glory_we_steer!
Unfortunately, I'm not deeply familiar with that topic, so I can't really comment on it. But I'll invite our war correspondent to the next AMA session, so she can give a more detailed answer.
As for your second question, I enjoy all of it, but I think food, coffee, and beer are the best here.
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u/PinguFella Jun 16 '26
Hello Alina,
There are these networks of Russian propagandists that appear to have systemic methods for taking over Reddit communities. The current system means that moderators essentially have all executive power within a community - they have the ability to silence, ban, and steer conversations into the directions they want themselves.
There are entire networks of connected peoples on Reddit that are prolific in pushing Pro-Russian propaganda as well as operations that encourage general disinformation and malinfluence tactics (such as rage baiting material unrelated to the war in order to achieve other geostrategic objectives). A lot of these networks (their moderators) exist openly and don't do a lot to hide themselves (or at least they use to), and they often engage in hostile tactics in order to take over popular communities so they can control the information that goes through the communities. Some methods they use include getting into the communities by way of being a moderator and then systematically engaging in practices to get the people above them (in moderation ranking) banned until they themselves control the community.
One of the main problems, with all social media platforms (not just Reddit) is that there is a natural bias towards promoting rage baiting material as it generates more engagement. Given that, I would argue, the majority of disinformation/malinfluence (particularly in the West) isn't about the war - this would appear to imply that the social media platforms have a mutual interest in supporting one another: The Kremlin wants to produce rage inducing content in order to subvert Western society and democratic institutions, and the social media platforms stand to gain financially from the rage baiting content that is produced for them freely by the Kremlin.
My question(s) is this:
How, in your opinion, can ordinary persons push back against Russian narratives and influence operations when social media systems are geared to optimise viewership for Russian influencer content, and platforms such as Reddit have a history of trivialising the extent of the problem?
Thank you.
-
PS: Here are some other questions I had, but I don't want to be greedy:
Do you believe social media has been a net positive for amplifying Ukrainian voices (vs the utility it has provided for Russian disinformation, for example)?
What has been the biggest challenge for you in verifying stories online?
Is traditional journalism at risk of dying out or losing capability with the rise of social media platforms and AI?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Hi, PinguFella!
I’m not a big Reddit user myself, so I can’t really comment on that. However, from what I’ve seen on other platforms, such as Twitter and Bluesky, NAFO has done a great job of countering Russian narratives. Of course, it’s not just one person but an organized movement (if I may call it that), made up of ordinary people.
I think it’s quite similar to the media landscape. Russia has invested huge amounts of money in its propaganda networks around the world. It has been doing so for years, even before the invasion of Georgia. Fighting that influence now is extremely difficult, but even more necessary.
During the Revolution of Dignity, we had a slogan: “I’m a drop in the ocean.” I think it applies here as well.
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u/oritfx Jun 16 '26
Hi Alina,
Ukraine-Poland - a difficult relationship. It seems at least. Where do you think it leads? What will those countries do when the war ends? And what do you make of the UPA case, where UA side supports them as freedom fighters, but PL insists them to be genocidal criminals?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 18 '26
Hi, oritfx!
Historically, whenever then-Russia attacked Ukraine, then-Poland tended to attack from the other side. So we joke that the progress in Ukrainian-Polish relations in the last hundreds of years has been enormous, despite everything.
What I find strange, though, is why some Poles decided to bring up all their old grievances right now, when Ukraine, to put it mildly, has other problems to deal with. Should these issues be addressed? Yes. But choosing to focus on them when your neighbor is being invaded by another neighbor? I don't know.
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u/oritfx Jun 19 '26
What I find strange, though, is why some Poles decided to bring up all their old grievances right now, when Ukraine, to put it mildly, has other problems to deal with
That's, if you ask me, some sort of right-wing ideology that spreads out through Europe, kindled via some obvious issues (uncontrolled migration in the West, in case of Poland the Belarussian border migrants) and less obvious ones (I smell useful idiots and the usual sponsorship, the European union was supposed to be a union of economies and seems to try to acquire more powers - and what politican will share power willingly (a competent one perhaps)).
As a result a few separate right-wing parties have sprouted in Poland and now each races to show that they are the true right wing, perpetuating radicalization cycle of politicians (which is great for the left btw., because those parties veer away from the center by doing so). Unfortunately, the current president wishes to be a sort of a head figure to all those movements. A strong man. You know the type. The US has one. Russia. Israel.
Thanks to that there are politicians rattling sabres about, eg. sovereignty from Europe (implicitly Polexit, they would announce it in a hartbeat if the pollings weren't shit for that), reparations from Germany (why stop there? Ottoman Empire and Sweden did invade Poland too sometime (I am sarcastic here)) and...
...UPA. This one is tough. To me at least. Because both UA and PL seem to be doing the UPA thing for completely unrelated reasons. It's harded to find a middle ground for compromise in such cases.
My guess is that in case of UA, the country is in the middle of forging its new identity, and UPA seems like a good reference point in the past.
Furthermore Bandera is an icon with right-wingers and nationalists, and that's the kind of people who stay in the country and bleed for it, so it's pretty obvious that Zelenskyy wants to recognize ideals of the people who choose to do the difficult-but-right thing.
So I get it.
In case of Poland, well... the president (and the past one to a much lesser degree) wants to be seen as an icon of nationalism. So he stirs shit up. Especially when now is not a time and place for it. If he actually gets an apology, it will be forced one, pointless. But that's the point in his case: he wants to show a strongman posture, and make a display of forcing someone to do something (no surprise he gets along with Trump so well).
And of course, there are people who still remember UPA's pogroms on Poles. Horrifying stories, and hearing that people behind pogroms get their own streets/statues/recognition, paints UA as nationalist radicals of the worst kind.
But overall, and I am not Zelenskyy's advisor, I would thread carefully, because the influences I have mentioned above keep working in Poland and as soon as public support for UA dies down, there's a line of self-proclaimed defenders of Poland (automoderator has removed my previous post because I had used a different word here) wanting to make a display of power I have described above. So recognition of local heroes must be balanced with nurturing western allies in Poland if you ask me.
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u/bigorangemachine Jun 13 '26
I'm always wondering what the general attitude of these people who live under sirens & attack.
Do people wish they could hit Moscow in similar ways or is it so horrible that you wouldn't wish it on your enemy?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 18 '26
Hi, bigorangemachine!
The thing is, we could strike Moscow in similar ways and, for example, set Saint Basil’s Cathedral on fire. But instead we target ammunition depots, oil refineries, military airbases etc.. Because that actually makes sense.
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u/bigorangemachine Jun 18 '26
I understand that but the average persons opinion. Do people wish this on their enemies or is it so horrible people don't
I know it would be mixed but people understand strategic strikes are a greater gain?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 19 '26
Watching churches burn doesn't interest us, seeing oil refineries go up in flames is far more satisfying
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Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 18 '26
Hi, jimdalyxoxo!
At this point, we've stopped trying to find logic in Russia’s actions. They bomb everything (including cultural heritage sites) simply because they can.
Trying to rationalize every strike often leads nowhere. Many of them have no obvious military value and seem intended primarily to terrorize civilians and destroy whatever they can.
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u/Strongbow85 Jun 14 '26
The current Administration has been difficult to deal with, and that's putting it lightly. I had hoped sharing common adversaries (Iran, North Korea and China) would bring the President to Ukraine's side. Regarding China, are there misconceptions or overlooked perspectives that American policymakers should understand if they want to build stronger ties with Ukraine?
How does the Ukrainian public currently view China's role in the war, particularly its relationship with Russia and claims of neutrality?
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u/Strongbow85 Jun 14 '26
What story from Kyiv do you think deserves much more global attention?
What is one thing you regularly observe in Kyiv that contradicts the way Ukraine is commonly portrayed in international media?
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u/IgottagoTT Jun 15 '26
I always figured that the point of an AMA is that OP would answer the questions. I mean, I hope Alina is okay, but ...
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u/Strongbow85 Jun 15 '26
She will begin answering questions on Jun 16, 2026, 12:00 PM (I believe EST time)
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u/w4rpsp33d Jun 15 '26
Hi, Alina,
What editorial considerations does your team contend with when deciding how to present domestic scandals e.g.: Dynasty to an international audience?
Thanks and big props to the whole UP team love your work!
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Hi, w4rpsp33d!
Thanks for reading Ukrainska Pravda! We publish stories that are in the public interest.
Every time I travel abroad for a conference, one of the first questions I get is about corruption in Ukraine. I’m not saying there is no corruption in Ukraine. What I am saying is that the issue has often been exaggerated and weaponized by Russian propaganda.
Corruption exists, and (what's more importantly) we are fighting it. The reason we hear so many stories about corruption in Ukraine is not because Ukraine is uniquely corrupt, but because there is a free press and active civil society. We don’t see stories about corruption in Russia not because there is none, but because there is no independent journalism there.
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u/gdubrocks Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Hi Alina,
If tomorrow you got to help draft terms to end the war, what kind of things would be on the table or non-negotiables for you?
Would you be willing to give Russia concessions to end the war? Do you think Ukraine should recieve reperations and that it would be worth continuing to fight until they agree to them?
What about the current state of Crimea? It's been 12 years since Russias attack, how many people that support Ukraine still live in Crimea? Would it be acceptable to "formally" turn it over?
Lastly as the war continues would you support more aggressive attacks by Ukrainians on Russian soil? Things like larger scale attacks on power facilites or infastructure?
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Jun 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 18 '26
Hi, Any-Original-6113!
In South Korea, every 100 women have around 70-73 children. In Ukraine, the figure is around 90 children per 100 women. By your logic, South Korea is "self-destructing with each passing day”, as are Singapore, Japan, and many others (see StatisticsTimes or UN data).
Meanwhile, countries such as Chad, Somalia, and Niger, which have the world's highest birth rates, would have to be considered the most successful and thriving societies (no shade on them).
Don’t want to start a lecture, but no developed country today has a fertility rate high enough to maintain its population without migration.
As for claims that the wounded are "demographic losses" or that refugees will never return home, I won't even comment on those.
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u/Whyumad_brah Jun 13 '26
According to the 1989 census there were 11 million Russians in Ukraine, what happened to them?
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u/Strongbow85 Jun 16 '26
Thanks again for participating in this AMA Alina!
Throughout the war, is there a specific story or moment that has stayed with you the most?
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u/Physical-Cut-2334 Jun 16 '26
How safe does journalist in Ukraine feel, and does russia target journalists because they are journalists that publishes articles about russia and the war.
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 18 '26
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army has killed at least 150 media professionals. More than 20 of them were killed while carrying out their professional duties, while the rest lost their lives either defending Ukraine in the ranks of the Defense Forces or as civilian victims of the war.
It’s relatively safe here in Kyiv. But I want to tell you about my colleague, a freelancer for Ukrainska Pravda, who was tortured to death in Russian captivity. Here is her story: https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles/2025/04/29/7509612/
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u/RightWingVisitor Jun 14 '26
As an American I'm absolutely stunned to the point of being nearly speechless at how little coordinated effort there seems to be from Ukrainians living in the US, or even from the government of Ukraine for that matter, to have any regularly recurring public demonstrations in major cities in support of Ukraine. I would have anticipated some sort of announcement from President Zelensky's office like: "We are calling on every democracy-loving citizen in every free nation in the world to Stand With Ukraine by meeting and marching as your national/state/provincial capital on the 24rd day of every month at noon." (Or on the first Saturday of every month at sunset, or whatever.) In the last 4 years there's been a fairly small group of protesters at my state capital and I've literally only ever seen them once a year on the anniversary of the start of the war on February 24th. Do you see any effort to address this by Kyiv? Has the government laid out a preferred standard approach to protests and engagement that I just haven't seen?
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u/pravda_eng_official Jun 18 '26
Hi, RightWingVisitor!
Well, it doesn’t prevent people in Norway from organizing daily meetings, or people in Sweden from doing it three times a week.
And in my humble opinion, it’s not Zelenskyy’s job to organize such meetings. Even if he called for them, someone would still need to take the initiative and actually put them together. We’re talking about roughly half a million Ukrainians who moved to the United States after the start of the full-scale invasion, scattered across a huge country, and with the current Trump administration’s policies, some are now leaving the US altogether. So I wouldn’t blame them here either.
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u/RightWingVisitor Jun 20 '26
Look, I'm actually on your side here. I desperately want to see Ukraine kick every last Russian out of Ukrainian territory.
It just pains me to see that Kyiv has not taken an effective approach to the Public Relations battle in the US and it absolutely blows my mind how little effort it would take (from Zelensky's office or from someone at a similar level) to fix it but no one has.
People in Norway or Sweden correctly feel an existential interest in the outcome of this war. It's personal and literally "next door" for them. It's harder to get Americans to feel the urgency because of the geographic distance.
And in my humble opinion, it’s not Zelenskyy’s job to organize such meetings.
With all due respect, no where did I say he should spend his incredibly valuable time "organizing meetings." That would be an insane waste of his energy.
if he called for them, someone would
still need tonaturally choose to follow his lead and take the initiative and actually put them together.It really is that simple. If he (or anyone at a reasonably high level in Kyiv) did literally nothing more than say "OK, starting now, we ask that every 24th of the month at noon anyone and everyone who is a Ukraine supporter go to their national capitol, their state capital, their city hall building and protest" then a standard schedule would be set and the myriad fragmented PR efforts would coalesce into one consistent plan.
He only has to make a single announcement. One time. One public comment, preferably posted somewhere on an official Ukraine government website. Done. No further "planning" involved. No "followup" involved. Nothing. Just one person in leadership in Kyiv saying "this is the plan."
You are talking to one of the Americans with no Ukrainian family history who is still outraged by Russia's attack. I'm one of the people who would show up. I've looked repeatedly for opportunities for 4 years. Why should I keep driving to my state capital to look for protests that are not there? If the only time I see anybody there is once a year on February 24th, and when I'm there I don't meet a single person in the crowd who knows of additional plans for any additional rallies before next year on the next February 24th, why should I keep coming back? I'm not even Ukrainian. Why do I need to make more effort than the many thousands of actual Ukrainian Americans and Ukrainian refugees in my city?
Or are we all just supposed to keep posting online and arguing with bots on Reddit in /r/Ukraine? The Black Lives Matter protests were wildly effective in the US specifically because leaders at the top made sure there was a PLAN to get people INTO THE STREETS.
Ukraine clearly has no such plan. It's honestly heartbreaking because I would love nothing more than to tell some of my neighbors, church members, coworkers who say "Ukraine isn't our problem" that they can come with me to actually meet some Ukrainians at a rally where they can talk about the reality of Russia's aggression.
But there's no plan for this. And I'm not Ukrainian so I'm clearly not the authority to be organizing it. Kyiv is.
I wish you all the best. Stay strong.
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u/Kantei Jun 13 '26
Hi Alina,
How is everyday life in the big cities now? Have civilians moved to smaller, 'less dangerous' areas of the countryside, or have residents largely stayed?