Resources for Understanding the War in Ukraine
Below is a list of resources, including articles, books, events, and films to help provide context and background for the war in Ukraine as well as resources on Ukrainian culture and history. The list will be regularly updated.
Last updated on July 17, 2023.
- "Ask the Experts: Russia and Ukraine", Miami University Havighurst Center
- "Clash in the Caucasus: Georgia, Russia, and the Fate of South Ossetia" by Stephen Jones, Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective
- “The Consolidation of Democracy in Ukraine,” Charles Wise and Trevor Brown, 1998, Democratization 5: 116-137
- "The Environmental Threat of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 Pipeline" by Michael Corsi, Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective
- "'Fantasy is not history' Historian Victoria Smolkin assesses Putin’s claim that modern-day Ukraine is a ‘gift’ from the Bolsheviks", Victoria Smolkin, Meduza
- "A historian corrects misunderstandings about Ukrainian and Russian history" by Ronald Suny, The Conversation
- "History, Memory, and the Art of Protest in Belarus" by Stephen M. Norris, Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective
- "Kyiv's Ancient Normality (redux)" by Timothy Snyder (on Substack)
- "Military experts react to Ukraine invasion, assess potential for widespread aggression and risks to US", by Carla Martinez Machain, Liam Collins, and Susan Hannah Allen, The Conversation
- "A New Cold War Emerging as Russia Launches Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine" by Jaro Bilocerkowcyz, The Conversation
- "Putin’s antagonism toward Ukraine was never just about NATO – it’s about creating a new Russian empire" by Emily Channell-Justice and Jacob Lassin
- "Rus no Russia" by Christian Raffensperger, Origins
- "Russia Invades Ukraine -- 5 Essential reads from experts" by Naomi Schalit, The Conversation
- "Seize the Oligarchs’ Wealth: A crackdown on the Russian elite could help the situation in Ukraine and offer solutions to broader social problems" by Faith Hillis, The Atlantic
- "Why Ukrainian Americans are committed to preserving Ukrainian culture – and national sovereignty" by Katja Kolcio, The Conversation
- A Biography of No Place: From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet Heartland (2005), by Kate Brown
- Children of Rus': Right-Bank Ukraine and the Invention of a Russian Nation (2013), by Faith Hillis
- Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of the Post Cold War Order (2015), Rajan Menon and Eugene Rumer
- The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine (2021), by Serhii Plokhii
- The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union (2014), by Serhii Plokhii
- Life Went on Anyway (2019), by Oleg Sentsov
- A Loss: The Story of a Dead Soldier Told by His Sister (2021), by Olesya Khromeychuk
- Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation (2017), by Serhii Plokhii
- Lucky Breaks (2022), by Yevgenia Belorusets
- The Orphanage by Serhiy Zhadan, Reilly Costigan-Humes (Translation), Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler (Translation)
- On Our Way Home from the Revolution: Reflections on Ukraine (2019), by Sonia Bilocerkowyz
- Pride and Panic: Russian Imagination of the West in Post-Soviet Film (2007), by Yana Hashamova
- Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? (2014), by Karen Dawisha
- Rock and Roll in the Rocket City: The West, Identity, and Ideology in Soviet Dniepropetrovsk, 1960-1985 (2010), by Sergei Zhuk
- Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation (2007), by Serhy Yekelchyk
- Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know (2020), by Serhy Yekelchyk
- Ukraine Crisis: What it Means for the West (2014), by Andrew Wilson
- Ukraine in Histories and Stories: Essays by Ukrainian Intellectuals (2020), edited by Volodymyr Yermolenko
- Ukraine and Russia: From Civilized Divorce to Uncivil War (2019), by Paul D’Anieri
- Ukraine's Nuclear Disarmament: A History (2021), by Yuri Kostenko
- Ukraine’s Outpost: Dnipropetrovsk and the Russian-Ukrainian War (2022), by Taras Kuzio, Sergei I. Zhuk, and Paul D’Anieri
- Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia (2021), by Timothy Frye
- Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective - collection of curated articles about Ukrainian culture and history, modern events, and the effect of Russia's 2022 invasion on Ukraine and the global community.
- Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective - collection of essays, podcasts, articles about Ukraine, history, and larger context
- Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective - collection of essays, podcasts, articles about NATO
- Research Guide: Ukraine - resource guide created by Ohio State University Libraries
- Teaching and Studying Ukraine: List of Resources, Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University
- Real ways you can help Ukraine as a foreigner, gathered by GlobalShapers and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
- Resources for BIPOC, LGBTQ+ Ukrainians and Ukrainians with disabilities or chronic illness compiled by Kimberly St. Julian Varnon (contact: @ksvarnon on Twitter)
- Resources for Helping Displaced Scholars from Ukraine created and updated by the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES)
- Donbass by Serhii Loznytsia
- No Obvious Signs by Alina Horlova
- Homeward by Nariman Aliev
- Bad Roads by Nataliia Vorozhbyt
- The Earth is Blue as an Orange by Iryna Tsilyk
- The New Voice of Ukraine (English)
- Svidomi Instagram account
- Twitter feed compiling reporting from 60 journalists in Ukraine
- Twitter feed of Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba (English and Ukrainian)
- President of Ukraine's website (English)
- Ukraine Unlocked (English, on indefinite hiatus as of July 2023)
- Ukrinform (English)
- Voice of America (English)
- The Atlantic Council
- Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Mershon Center for International Security Studies
- Ukrainian Cultural Association of Ohio
- Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University
- War on Ukraine: Informational Resources and Charitable Organizations, Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA) at University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies have shared videos in Ukrainian, English, and Polish for people working with refugees and/or working in Ukrainian disaster response.
- "Crisis in Ukraine", Council on Foreign Relations
- "Hobart and William Smith Experts Discuss Russian Invasion", Hobart and William Smith College
- "International Crisis in Ukraine: How and Why it Matters", Muhlenberg College
- "Invasion of Ukraine: Voices from Kyiv School of Economics", Center for Governance and Markets, University of Pittsburgh (recording on Twitter)
- "Preserving Ukraine's Cultural Heritage and Historical Record", by Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto
- "Russian Invasion of Ukraine", College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University
- "Russia-Ukraine War: A View from the Baltic States", by Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto
- “Ukraine in Crisis Policy Talk” with Dr. Rudy Hightower and Dr. Trevor Brown, 2014, John Glenn College of Public Affairs
- "'Ukraine's guerrilla warfare could topple Putin' - Mark Galeotti on Russia's invasion", The Telegraphy
- "Understanding the War in Ukraine: Insights from the Recent Past, 1991—Present" with Dr. David Hoffmann, Origins and CSEEES, The Ohio State University
- "Военная операция России в Украине", RTVI Новости (in Russian)
- "War in Ukraine: Voices from Kyiv", Center for Governance and Markets, University of Pittsburgh