The Russian-Ukrainian war has been waging for over three months, with no clear end in sight. The cost to Ukraine’s people, infrastructure, and economy has been catastrophic. The Russian military’s reliance on heavy firepower has caused massive physical destruction. Russia’s naval blockade has cut off Ukrainian exports, crippling its economy and causing wider repercussions for global food security. In areas under Russian control, evidence has emerged of horrific war crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians.
Having failed to capture Kyiv early in the war, Russia has revised its aims – shifting focus in this second phase of the war to the eastern Donbas region. As this next phase intensifies, Ukraine will be even more dependent on Western military aid. In this special dialogue in partnership with Aspen Kyiv, we will discuss the situation on the ground in Ukraine. We will hear the personal stories from Ukrainian’s currently fighting on the front line and examine key questions on what Ukraine needs for this next phase. Are Ukraine’s allies doing enough? Is it possible to find a peaceful solution?
ON THE PANEL:
Anton Drobovych – Anton іs a public speaker, researcher, and expert in education and culture, and is currently taking part in the battles for Kyiv in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Since 2019, Anton has been the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory. He is a moderator of seminars at the Aspen Institute Kyiv and also the associate Professor of the Department of Cultural Studies and Philosophical Anthropology of the National Pedagogical University, named after M. P. Dragomanov.
Lesya Vasylenko – Lesia is a Ukrainian MP, Co-Chair of Ukrainian British parliamentary friendship group, and member of the Delegations to the PACE, Political Affairs Committee. She studied regulation at University College London, where she procured a LLM. Afterward, she enlisted at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv’s Institute of International Relations for her higher studies in regulation. Lesia’s key objective is to make climate change mitigation, safe environment and environmental rights a priority on the agenda of the Parliament of Ukraine, including promotion of Green Deal policies and practices directed at greening the economy. Lesia also focuses on human rights and international law issues. Her spheres of professional interest include social and gender equality, veteran affairs, defence and security.
Andriy Zagorodnyuk – Andriy served as the Minister of Defence of Ukraine from 2019 to 2020. Prior to his appointment as the Minister of Defence, Andriy served as Head of the Ministry of Defence’s Reforms Project Office from 2015 to 2018. During this time, he was a key player and major architect of military reform in Ukraine. In July 2019, Andriy was appointed Advisor to the President of Ukraine for defence matters, as well as a member of the Supervisory Council of Ukraine’s Ukroboronprom defence company. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of heavy industry and industrial engineering, and from 2005 to 2019 he served as founder and Chairman of the Board for Discovery Drilling Equipment. Andriy holds degrees from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in law and a post-graduate diploma with distinction in the specialty of financial strategy from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.
Dasha Zarivna – Dasha is an advisor on communications of the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and supports communications in wartime. She is also the founder of the Vector business media and content studio and the Charitum social networking platform. She has spent more than 5 years engaged in the development of media in Ukraine. In 2014, as the editor-in-chief, she launched the online version of the L’Officiel magazine, which she headed as the editor for more than 3 years. For two years, she was the writer and radio host of the “White Shirt” broadcast on Radio Aristocrats.