Ukraine Lab

Ukraine has often been called a laboratory for global challenges in the spheres of environment, information, and security. The site of the worst nuclear catastrophe in history, the primary target of the Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns as well as the country to spark the collapse of the Soviet Union and to stand up to its neo-imperialist successor: Ukraine has been the first to face and, at times, to set in motion processes with worldwide consequences. After Russia’s full-scale invasion compromised the global system of security, the value of Ukrainian knowledge and experience can no longer be dismissed. The urgency to learn with and from Ukraine is now existential for the rest of the world.

This unique collection presents essays, in English and Ukrainian translations, by emerging authors from Ukraine and the UK who employ cross-cultural dialog and the art of storytelling to open up Ukrainian perspectives on the challenges facing humanity worldwide. The volume’s contributors are Olesya Khromeychuk, Sofia Cheliak, Kateryna Iakovlenko, Olena Kozar, Kris Michalowicz, Phoebe Page, Jonathon Turnbull, and Mstyslav Chernov.

“If you want to understand the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine from the inside, read this vivid, moving, urgent collection of essays.”

—Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian

“Moving, heartfelt and often deeply personal, these essays off er a compelling portrait of life in Ukraine under the shadow of war. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the reality of Russia's invasion and its terrible human consequences.”

—Luke Harding, The Guardian

The editor:

Sasha Dovzhyk completed her PhD in Comparative Literature at Birkbeck, University of London. In 2022–2023, she was Associate Lecturer in Ukrainian Literature at the School of Slavonic and East-European Studies, UCL. Since 2021, she is Special Projects Curator at the Ukrainian Institute in London. Her previous books include Decadent Writings of Aubrey Beardsley (ed. with Simon Wilson, MHRA 2022) and Ukrainian Cassandra: New Translations of Works by Lesia Ukrainka (Live Canon 2023). Her articles have been published in, among other outlets, Modernist Cultures, British Art Studies, the Oxford Handbook of Decadence, CNN, The Guardian, New Lines Mag, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Ecologist.

The foreword author:

Dr Rory Finnin is Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge.