Author: Mike Buryk

Meest-America, the international package and freight delivery service for Eastern Europe, has played a key role in delivering much-needed humanitarian supplies to Ukraine during the war. COO Natalia Brandafi talks about how the company was forced to pivot from its primary mission after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to transport humanitarian supplies to Ukraine. Its work with major Ukrainian-American non-profit and charitable organizations is also highlighted. us.meest.com

On June 23, 2022 the European Union formally approved Ukraine’s candidate for membership status. Prof. Alexander Motyl, professor of political science at Rutgers-Newark University in Newark, N.J. and an expert on Ukraine, Russia and the USSR, talks about the significance of EU candidate member status for Ukraine and what the next steps might be to full membership. He also provides a recap of Ukraine-EU relations in the last 30 years. www.newark.rutgers.edu/about-us/have…exander-motyl

Sergiy Kyslytsya was appointed by President Zelenskyy as the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations in 2019. He is a career diplomat who has served Ukraine in various roles since 1993. In this interview, Ambassador Kyslytsya talks about various aspects of the Russo-Ukraine war and his efforts to gain greater assistance and support for Ukraine from the global community. ukraineun.org/en/ukraine-and-uns…nt-representative

Ostap Kryvdyk is a foreign policy and international security expert. His many roles include advisor and consultant to important Ukrainian government and education institutions. Mr. Kryvdyk talks about the Russian occupation of southern Ukraine and the growing resistance to it and partisan activity. His personal profile. www.linkedin.com/in/kryvdyk/

Drones are playing a key role in the defense of Ukraine in the war with Russia. Valerii Iakovenko, a cofounder and the CEO of the Ukrainian tech firm DroneUA, points out that his company’s primary mission is to provide drones for agriculture. However, it had to pivot to assist Ukraine’s military during the Russo-Ukraine war with drones for air reconnaissance, directing weapons fire and conducting search and rescue operations. drone.ua

Roman Popadiuk was the first U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1992 to 1993. The former ambassador talks about the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and its impact on Ukraine’s global security. He believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. The Honorable Mr. Popadiuk emphasizes that Ukraine must be strong militarily to ensure its own sovereignty. www.thepresidency.org/roman-popadiuk

What do you get when you mix Ukrainian folk music and American bluegrass and Western Swing music? The Lemko Bluegrass Band. Musician Rost Tatomyr founded the group in 2012. They continue to play this exciting blend of traditional music from the Carpathian Mountains and beyond in a variety of venues in Ukraine, Poland and elsewhere. Rost Tatomyr talks about how he formed the group, their approach to its music and plans for the future.

NORTH CALDWELL, N.J. – The former minister of finance of Ukraine, Natalie Jaresko, said she believes the cost to rebuild Ukraine after the war ends “could be up to $1 trillion,” adding that “this is going to be probably the largest single rebuilding plan in history.” In an exclusive interview conducted for The Ukrainian Weekly’s...

What is the current state of the economy in Ukraine after some two months of war with Russia? What will it take to rebuild Ukraine when the war ends and who will pay for it? Natalie Jaresko, an international financial executive and former minister of finance of Ukraine from 2014-2016, discusses these issues and talks about her personal efforts to support Ukraine during the war. www.linkedin.com/in/njaresko

Andrew Mac is a partner in the international law firm Asters and is based in Washington, D.C. He is a non-staff, non-paid adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In this podcast interview, he discusses how Mr. Zelenskyy has been able to effectively engage Western countries to actively support Ukraine in defending itself against Russia’s unprovoked, unjust and premeditated war against his country. www.asterslaw.com/our_team/mac/

Dora Chomiak is the president of Razom, an international grass-roots organization established during Ukraine’s Euro-Maidan revolution in 2014. Razom now has 100,000 active volunteers and donors, and, since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine on February 24, the organization has raised more than $12 million for the purchase and delivery of humanitarian and other relief aid to Ukraine. Ms. Chomiak discusses this effort and gives her perspective on what has made the organization so successful. razomforukraine.org

Oleksandr Kosovan is the CEO of MacPaw and cofounder of the SMRK venture capital fund and a well respected technology sector business leader in Ukraine. He offers his perspective on what it is happening in the IT industry and tech startups in Ukraine during the Russia-Ukraine war. macpaw.com humanitarian-aid.macpaw.com