Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World

Ukraine’s economy has been one of the main bright spots after two years of brutal fighting. With decent preparation work undertaken over the past few years, and continued aid from Western partners, there has not been a bank run, there has not been an economic collapse, and Ukraine has been able to continue fighting the Russian invaders. However, as the war drags on and contributions of aid from Western partners come under the spotlight in their home countries, how will this macroeconomic success continue? Will things like frozen Russian assets be utilised by Ukraine to help it continue fighting, and even in the future?  In this final episode of season 2 of Power Lines, we assess this macroeconomic situation, and take a look at the big news from the last couple of weeks, that Ukraine’s Commander in Chief Valeri Zaluszny was dismissed by President Zelensky, in the culmination of a long running feud between the two men at the top of Ukraine’s war effort. To get some insight on all this, we spoke with Timothy Ash. Timothy has been an economist for 30 years, working for some of the most prestigious banking institutions in the world over that time. His focus has been on the economics of emerging Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, particularly Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey. You can find his writing on Chatham House, CEPA and his excellent Substack  @tashecon blog. Check out insights.Kyivindependent.com for more in depth analysis of the War in Ukraine, and follow The Kyiv Independent on Twitter and Facebook, and Instagram to get latest news and to stay up to date with our coverage. You can find Message Heard on our website at messageheard.com, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to never miss a show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The war in Ukraine has evolved a huge amount since it began nearly 2 years ago, not least in terms of the equipment now being used on the front lines. This has been most starkly seen in the use of drones, as these unmanned aerial technologies are now at the forefront of reconnaissance and combat operations for both sides. Ukraine’s drone industry, once chaotic and decentralised, is now one of the most significant in the world. Experts are looking to Ukraine to see how drones are being used in the war, and many see their use as the future of warfare more generally. In this episode, we speak with drone expert Federico Borsari, a Leonardo fellow at the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Centre of European Policy Analysis (CEPA). His work looks at Transatlantic Defense and Security dynamics with a focus on unmanned technologies and their military implications, and he has written a number of fascinating reports on how their use in Ukraine is at the forefront of innovation in the sector. Check out insights.Kyivindependent.com for more in depth analysis of the War in Ukraine, and follow The Kyiv Independent on Twitter and Facebook, and Instagram to get latest news and to stay up to date with our coverage. You can find Message Heard on our website at messageheard.com, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to never miss a show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Zelensky has said he wants to call up 450,000 - 500,000 new troops to the Ukrainian army in 2024. And recently, there have been proposed law changes to bring this through - laws that include more punishment against evasion, lowering the mobilisation age, and even setting a time limit for demobilisation. But this law is pretty controversial, causing debate in Ukrainian society against parts which have been seen as draconian, perhaps even enabling corruption.  So how will Ukraine effectively mobilise the new troops it desperately needs to continue fighting against Russia? Is there a fair way to choose who goes to fight on the front lines? This episode sees us look at the evolving nature of mobilisation in Ukraine, how it has changed over the past two years, and what its impact has been on troops at the front line and those who may now be called up. Joining us this week is Francis Farrell, the Kyiv Independent’s war correspondent. Before joining us, Francis was the managing editor at the online media project Lossi 36, and worked as a freelance journalist and documentary photographer. Over the past two years, he’s been travelling across Ukraine and it’s frontlines meeting all the kinds of people who have been mobilised. You can read his reporting through the Kyiv Independent website here: https://kyivindependent.com/author/francis-farrell/  Check out insights.Kyivindependent.com for more in depth analysis of the War in Ukraine, and follow The Kyiv Independent on Twitter and Facebook, and Instagram to get latest news and to stay up to date with our coverage. You can find Message Heard on our website at messageheard.com, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to never miss a show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As 2024 begins, the outlook for Ukraine is generally pessimistic, with foreign aid dwindling and the counter offensive stalled. But there is cause for optimism: Ukraine’s businesses and the economy remain resilient. Since the beginning of the full scale invasion, the business sector has been one of the flexible, not collapsing in the way many predicted. Ukrainians’ entrepreneurial spirit has maintained, and in fact flourished, with huge numbers of small businesses being founded since 2022. In this episode, we take a look at how this has happened despite the tumult of the past two years. We explore Ukraine’s economic and business outlook up until now, the kind of reconstruction projects currently underway, and what needs to happen in 2024 to ensure Ukraine’s economic, as well as military, success. Joining us this week is the business editor here at the Kyiv Independent, Lili Bivings. Lili is originally from Washington DC and served in the Peace Corps in Ukraine from 2017 to 2020, before joining us at the Kyiv independent. You can find her writing in her weekly business roundup on our website. Check out insights.Kyivindependent.com for more in depth analysis of the War in Ukraine, and follow The Kyiv Independent on Twitter and Facebook, and Instagram to get latest news and to stay up to date with our coverage. You can find Message Heard on our website at messageheard.com, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to never miss a show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2023 was a really difficult year for Ukraine. People expected that after the Kharkiv and Kherson counter offensives to spawn a whole host of military successes, but in reality, things were more difficult. The counteroffensive stalled, and meanwhile, Western support has started to fracture. But internally, the country has also changed: where once we saw an extremely united front, now politics is back in the conversation. But what does the Ukrainian public actually want? Are they ready to stay the course with Zelensky and his team? Or do they want a change in leadership, with new ideas to bring the country closer to victory? To find out more, on this week of Power Lines we spoke with Mykola Davydiuk. Mykola is an author and a popular political scientist in Ukraine. He's advised many major political figures over the past decade and is now a key commentator on the war through his YouTube and TikTok channels. We asked him how he has experienced 2023 politically in Ukraine, and what he thinks are the likely next moves for Zelenskyy, his allies, and his rivals. Check out insights.Kyivindependent.com for more in depth analysis of the War in Ukraine, and follow The Kyiv Independent on Twitter and Facebook, and Instagram to get latest news and to stay up to date with our coverage. You can find Message Heard on our website at messageheard.com, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to never miss a show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices