Ihor Poshyvailo is the director of the National Museum of Revolution of Dignity (Maidan Museum) and curator of the “Destroyed Temples of Ukraine” exhibit. CIUS: You are the director of the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, or Maidan Museum, which has done groundbreaking work on contemporary history and new commemorative practices in Ukraine. How do you see the Maidan Museum’s role in the present war?
Rajan Menon is the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Chair in Political Science Emeritus at the City College of New York. Rajan Menon: I’ve long believed that the U.S. has been unwilling to allow any external power to establish itself in our hemisphere—the Western Hemisphere—since almost the founding of the country.
CIUS: How much has the field of journalism changed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine? What observations can you share as a scholar, professor, practitioner, and war correspondent? Yevhenia Podobna: I will start by saying that there have been many changes.
CIUS: After Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in 2014 you made The Earth Is Blue as an Orange, a documentary film about the life of a family in Donetsk oblast—and also your husband served in Ukraine’s army. How did these experiences affect or help you once the full-scale invasion happened? Iryna Tsilyk: My husband served in the army for the first time in 2015–16, and then he rejoined the army again when Russia’s escalated invasion began.
CIUS: In one of your Facebook posts you mention the emergence of a new “territorial patriotism” and “heterarchic” structures in Ukraine. Wynnyckyj: Observing contemporary Ukrainian society is absolutely fascinating. Having spoken to some of my western colleagues, it seems “chains of command” are ubiquitous in all governments.