Kharkiv: Soul of Freedom
Today, the Russians bombed a busy park in Kharkiv. We share with you stories of the city's resilience.
Ukrainian Freedom News: THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE DAILY LOOK AT THE REALITY IN UKRAINE.
THE WRAP: This afternoon, Russians pounded Kharkiv city and region once again, among other things hitting a park that was filled with people playing, walking, running, strolling. It’s a park I know well, and there’s a good chance if I were in Kharkiv on beautiful Sunday like today, I’d have been there. Now we have reports that Ukrainian drones have destroyed a Russian minesweeper in the Black Sea.
WITHIN TODAY’S EDITION:
Ukrainian Freedom Voices: Ukrainians are rejoicing in the victory of Cossack Oleksandr Usyk over Tyson Fury. Both men praised Jesus Christ during their fight in Saudia Arabia; Usyk also spoke affectionately about his team and his family, especially his late father. We share some words from someone who knows him.
The biggest sign of hope: An hour or so after the Russians bombed that park in Kharkiv, the park was yet again full of people living, enjoying, exercising, playing.
The biggest concern: The question from yesterday remains: Will the Russians push through into another region, such as Sumy?
The biggest question for Washington: What’s the fear if Ukrainians use American weapons to hit Russian rocket launchers on Russian soil?
Quick daily downloads: podcasts to keep you informed as you go about your day: paused for the weekend
90 SECONDS OR LESS:
Kharkiv: The Soul of Freedom.
Episode 2: Bro Bikes
Sasha and Valeria own a bike repair shop in Kyiv. But once or twice a month they leave the relative safety of the capital and travel to Kharkiv, a city under frequent missile strikes, just a few miles from Russia. hey bring medicine and food to those in need near the front lines, even as the Russians attack. In this chilling story, Sasha describes how a Russian surveillance drone followed them. But they stuck with their mission.
As we spoke in Kharkiv, the power went out, but as you can see, life continues.
intro illustration by @citiesandsketches | cover image by @nevianmade
War Stories: The Foreign Fighters and Sundance Honoree Who Still Stand With Ukraine
“When my best friend was killed, I decided to fight.”
IZIUM—Artem, a Ukrainian film director who once won a Grand Jury prize at @sundancefest , returned to his homeland to become a warrior. He’s now working with some of the foreign fighters who’ve come to defend freedom, including Jean-Baptiste from France and Cognac from Canada.
Here, with Anton Hutyriak and Dmytro Hrynshyn, of our Ukrainian Freedom News team, they talk about why they are fighting, sharing both the challenges and the triumphs.
DAILY WAR JOURNAL ON CHICAGO’S WGN RADIO
WAR DAY 814: Is the US Tying Ukraine's Hands?
🇺🇦 Every Day Until Victory on Chicago’s WGN Radio with Bob Sirott: Joe Lindsley reports every single weekday 10 minutes from Ukraine 🎙️ Friday 17 May 2024
LVIV—Today we listen to the voice of a Ukrainian from Kharkiv who every day drives toward the incoming Russians to evacuate people and puppies, even as Russians shell the evacuation lines.
50 MINUTES - SILICON CURTAIN: Navigating Propaganda
Taras Byk - Is Putin’s Endless Aggression Exhausting Russia’s Military, Social and Economic Reserves
Taras Byk's special mission is the breakup of the Russian Federation, a project that doesn't seem so far-fetched after the Prigozhin mutiny, and Putin’s endless aggression that is exhausting Russia’s military and economic reserves. Taras is a civil society activist and political strategist, who believes that Ukraine's Maidan Revolution, in which he participated, saved not only Ukraine but also Europe. Today we will be discussing the threat from a resurgent Russia, and the history of imperial expansion that sits behind it. Can Ukraine's stand for freedom and struggle against renewed Russification of its peoples hold the line in Europe between freedom and authoritarianism, between the rule of law and unimaginable barbarism. Can Ukraine's experience even help revitalise the idea of democracy and help us to become more resilience in the face of creeping nepotism, corruption, oligarchy, and aggressive autocrats?
Battleground Ukraine Podcast: Analysis by British military historians
UKRAINIAN FREEDOM VOICES
Usyk, the gentleman:
by Ruslan Kukharchyk / Руслан Кухарчук
We respected Alexander before it was not mainstream.
And he is us.
2018 is the year He and I are recording a video invitation to the festival "all together - for the family".
Today he is Absolute. The level of Lewis and Holyfield. Or maybe a taller one. A legend already. And the main thing: maximum rooted faith in his identity - Christian and Ukrainian.
Worthy!
Trending
705 views | +15K from yesterday
I was reciting Rudyard Kipling’s “If” with friends on a supply delivery trip to Donbas.
And during that road trip I realized this: In the ancient and still flourishing Ukrainian language, the word for “if” literally means “how-what”: a workman like idea of how to achieve the impossible. Because Ukraine never colonized other countries, the Ukrainian language is an easy window into how early Indo-European humans forumated language based on necessity and possibility. —Joe Lindsley
Quick Hits
I want Americans to understand Ukraine: the freedom in the face of hellfire. And so every single weekday, with no excuses or breaks, I make a 10-minute live report on Chicago’s WGN Radio with legendary broadcaster Bob Sirott. Daily for more than two years, WGN, one of America’s oldest radio stations, has given me this opportunity to speak to the USA’s third largest city, as people eat breakfast or commute to work or go for a run along the lake in Chicago.
The audience is loyal: they donate money for Ukrainian defenders and some of them even come to Ukraine to help.
You can follow this daily war journal online — here or on other social media. UkrainianFreedomNews.com
Wimbledon, Wine, and War
From American journalist Joe Lindsley: “Sergiy Stakhovsky is a renaissance man but also simply a decent and honorable person: In 2013, he defeated Roger Federer at Wimbledon, when Federer was reigning champ. Meanwhile, back in his homeland of Ukraine, he began to produce excellent and unique wine — @stakhovsky.wines — in the sunny Zakarpattia region, reviving traditions destroyed during the Soviet times. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Sergiy first protected his family and then in a Mini-Cooper he drove amid military vehicles to the war, where he continues to volunteer as a soldier.”
Here’s an excerpt of Sergiy Stakhovsky’s interview with Joe Lindsley, American reporting in Ukraine every weekday, with no days off, on Chicago’s WGN Radio. You can see video version of these reports via the link in @jplindsley ‘s bio.
Recorded at the studios of Ukrainska Pravda in Kyiv as part of the Land of the Free podcast.
Ukrainian Freedom Supply: Tools for victory
Thanks to our WGN Radio audience in the USA for continued support of our war reporting and of the civilians-turned-soldiers who stand at the front. Here’s a greeting from a Ukrainian Border Guard—incredibly crucial as Russian desperately tries to break into Kharkiv region—saying just how great it is that we got them some walkie-talkies. These little things make a positive difference. We welcome support here.
UKRAINIAN FREEDOM NEWS: Please consider sustaining us at $10/month.
Regular Resources:
Air-Raid Alert Map
State of the War Map: shows Russian positions and what Ukrainians have taken back; updated daily
Mriya Report: a 24/7 Twitter audio channel featuring the best Ukrainian volunteers and representatives
ABOUT US: Reporting Every Single Weekday Since Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion
"Joseph Lindsley's reports are enlightening, frightening, heart-wrenchingly and poetically descriptive." —a regular listener to the daily report from Ukraine on Chicago's WGN Radio with Bob Sirott
Follow us across various social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or via UkrainianFreedomNews.com.
UKRAINIAN FREEDOM NEWS & IF Studios
Truth to the World | Supplies to Ukraine
Joe Lindsley, Editor-in-chief
Beata Szrom, Operations Director
James Gamache, Collaborations Director
Andrii Koval, Video Director
Mykhailo Skop, Creative Director
Andrii Lashkov, Video Editor
Anton Hutyriak, Field Reporter
Larysa Salatiuk, Social Media Editor
Max Burtsev, Kharkiv Editor & Supply Coordinator
DeepInspire Foundation, Sourcing and Supply