Report from Kyiv: A Conversation with Journalist Alisa Sopova

Ethics in Action Podcast

We continue our series on the war in Ukraine. In this episode Vlado and I talk to journalist and anthropologist Alisa Sopova about what everyday life feels like in Ukraine as the war passes the 100 day mark. We discuss the regional differences in how the conflict is perceived, we ask whether Ukrainians have different views about Russian politicians and ordinary Russians, and we also talk about how Ukrainians perceive assistance from the west.

Alisa Sopova is an independent journalist from Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. She worked as a journalist and a news editor for the largest local newspaper, Donbass. When the war broke out, she was faced with the challenge of reporting on violence in her own city. With the local journalism collapsing, she began working for international media, including The New York Times and Time magazine where her coverage focused on the war and its humanitarian impact. Alisa is an author and co-founder of a #5Kfromthefrontline project (https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/5kfromthefrontline/) that aims to bring to light everyday experiences of civilian life at the frontlines. Alisa holds a BA in journalism from Moscow State University and an MA in Regional Studies from Harvard University. She is currently working on a doctorate in anthropology at Princeton.

Links to some of Alisa's pieces:

https://americanethnologist.org/features/reflections/be-strong-like-a-kitchen-cabinet https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/authors/alisa-sopova https://time.com/longform/eastern-ukraine-war-civilian-life-frontline/