“Street of Ukraine’s History” — USCC expert Alina Ponypaliak becomes co-host of The Village Ukraine podcast

The goal of the project is to show how Ukraine’s history and identity were shaped over the centuries, dismantling Russian propaganda myths about Ukraine’s historic cities.

From October 22–27, within the framework of the The Village Ukraine project “Street of Ukraine’s History,” a tour of frontline cities of Ukraine took place with the participation of USCC expert Alina Ponypaliak and blogger “Pan Roman” (Roman Chykharivskyi). The city visits will later become podcast episodes of “Street of Ukraine’s History.” The first podcast episode was released on October 25.

Over six days, the hosts visited five cities, where during public events they discussed the true history of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Odesa together with guests. The central theme of the discussions was debunking Russian myths surrounding Ukrainian cities.

Podcast hosts “Street of Ukraine’s History”: USCC expert Alina Ponypaliak and blogger “Pan Roman” (Roman Chykharivskyi) at a meeting in Mykolaiv. Photo: NikVesti.

Alina Ponypaliak is an expert at the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center and a PhD candidate in history.

“The destruction of culture and identity is the main tool of Russia’s hybrid war, which it uses during occupation and the conquest of new territories. For centuries, the USSR and later Russia artificially created myths around Ukrainian cities, distorted facts, and tried in every possible way to rewrite history to suit itself.”

After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and later the beginning of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, the task of eradicating Russian propaganda confronted Ukraine with renewed urgency. Through the tools of hybrid warfare and cultural assimilation, Russia had been preparing the ground for open war for years.

“Today, historical memory has become one of the methods of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine. The mission of this project was to draw attention to local history: each city, town, and settlement paints a holistic picture of local influences that help restore the true history of Ukraine,” comments USCC expert Alina Ponypaliak.

While some Ukrainians in temporarily occupied territories are forced to study their own country’s history through Russian textbooks, our task is to spread the truth—cleansed of Russian lies.

USCC experts continue to engage in socially important projects, reviving our history and dismantling Russian influence on Ukrainian statehood and society.

You can listen to the “Street of Ukraine’s History” podcast featuring USCC expert Alina Ponypaliak on a convenient online platform: