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Johnny O'Reilly

Kyiv
As seen in: The New York Times, MarketWatch, Rolling Stone, The Times, Radio Free Europe, Morningstar, The i Paper, 411 Mania, The Currency
Writer and filmmaker based in Kyiv. Director of @MoscowNSleeps, @WeatherStationF
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How Stalingrad provided the inspiration for Russia's new war rhetoric and its battlefield tactics...

How Stalingrad provided the inspiration for Russia's new war rhetoric and its battlefield tactics...

The Currency — With one week left before the mud season starts, the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine sees Russia's much-vaunted new offensive spluttering in the soon-to-be-melting snow. After a year of escalating warfare, Russia has little to show from its war other than a doubling of its troops in Ukraine and a doubling down on...
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In Ukraine's Second City, A Bombed-Out Market Slowly Comes Back To Life

In Ukraine's Second City, A Bombed-Out Market Slowly Comes Back To Life

Radio Free Europe — Forty kilometers from the Russian border, traders are slowly setting up shop again at a sprawling, rubble-strewn market that was a hive of activity before the invasion. "I'm not going to let that moron in the Kremlin bring me to my knees," said one of them, menswear retailer Oleksiy Chelyshev.
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The grotesque normality of war has become the soundtrack of life in Kharkiv - The Currency

The grotesque normality of war has become the soundtrack of life in Kharkiv - The Currency

The Currency — It's midnight on Thursday, June 9 in downtown Kharkiv, two hours into the nightly curfew. The city of 1.5 million is in pitch darkness, the majority of its residents in bed. Bereft of humans, a shroud of deathly silence has fallen over the streets. In the absence of streetlights, stars glimmer across the sky -...
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McSavage brings smiles to war zone with comedy tour

McSavage brings smiles to war zone with comedy tour

The Times — An Irish comedian is planning a tour of stand-up clubs around Ukraine this week.
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A Ukrainian family's desperate journey from Russian-occupied Kherson to safety in Poland: 'We cou...

A Ukrainian family's desperate journey from Russian-occupied Kherson to safety in Poland: 'We cou...

MarketWatch — Kyiv, UKRAINE - Artillery shells exploded around 56-year-old Orthodox priest Father Mykola Dovgan as he pushed his son, Sergey, in a wheelchair along the empty country road in southern Ukraine. Gaunt with slicked-back hair and a gray goatee, Mykola had maintained his priestly demeanor when he fled his home in fear of his life.
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Before The Russian Retreat, A Rescue Mission And A Reunion In Ukraine

Before The Russian Retreat, A Rescue Mission And A Reunion In Ukraine

Radio Free Europe — As Russian forces neared their town outside Ukraine's capital, the mayor and his family decided to separate, his wife and children taking refuge in a quiet hamlet a few kilometers away. Days later, it was time for a rethink - and a desperate rescue effort.
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On March 2nd, Russia bombed residential apartments in one Ukrainian town. 45 days later, nobody k...

On March 2nd, Russia bombed residential apartments in one Ukrainian town. 45 days later, nobody k...

The Currency — "I watched the jets fly twenty metres above me," local parish priest Father Dmytry recalls the moment Russian bombers attacked a row of three high-rise residential apartment blocks just a few hundred metres from his church in Borodyanka town. "They deposited the first bombs, then circled back and five minutes later, they hit again."
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In the satellite towns outside Kyiv, they remember what happened when Putin's army came and they ...

In the satellite towns outside Kyiv, they remember what happened when Putin's army came and they ...

The Currency — As she leads us down an unpaved lane between rows of rickety village homes near Ozera village, 60-year-old grandmother Liubov describes horrific scenes that took place here only a week before. She stops in front of a home concealed by forest canopy and overgrown thickets. The only inhabitants visible around are suspicious cats.
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Inspired by either hope or denial, a normality returns to Kyiv, while in Irpin the horrors are to...

Inspired by either hope or denial, a normality returns to Kyiv, while in Irpin the horrors are to...

The Currency — Scenes of death and destruction haunt the bucolic town of Irpin following the retreat of Russian forces who occupied it from March 14th. Nestled along the meandering Irpin river near Ukraine's capital, the enclave was known for its leafy avenues and verdant parks - a choice destination for middle-class families and professionals willing to commute...
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Kyiv's Nightlife Took Off During the Pandemic. Now, the Scene Is Feeding the Resistance

Kyiv's Nightlife Took Off During the Pandemic. Now, the Scene Is Feeding the Resistance

Rolling Stone — " Ukraine is a frontier society and I have a frontier mentality. I thrive in this kind of chaos." Max Leonov, 45, knocks back a double espresso at the bar of Buenavista, his Cuban restaurant and venue in downtown Kyiv.
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The propaganda war marches in time with the real war as the new symbols of fascism appear - The C...

The propaganda war marches in time with the real war as the new symbols of fascism appear - The C...

The Currency — A renowned orator once said that "propaganda should be popular and should accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach". While Vladimir Putin may not have the intellect or the charisma of his fellow dictator, he has shown a canny ability to adapt Adolph Hitler's fascist doctrine...
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'Even though I'm a priest, I have the full moral right to take up arms': Ukrainian cleric tells M...

'Even though I'm a priest, I have the full moral right to take up arms': Ukrainian cleric tells M...

MarketWatch — ODESSA, Ukraine - When the first bombs landed on Ukraine's southern port city of Kherson in the early morning of Thursday, Feb. 24, Father Maxim Kapelan knew exactly what to do.
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"Before they started killing children, many of us were half-Russian, half Ukrainian, but now I'm ...

"Before they started killing children, many of us were half-Russian, half Ukrainian, but now I'm ...

The Currency — "I never thought I'd be capable of so much hate. It frightens me," said 19-year-old art student, Irina, as she gathered with friends outside a shop in central Odessa on Friday. "I make art. I work in abstract ideas. Now all I can think of are my friends and family hidden in a dark basement...
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"I have an ageing mother, a lovely wife, and a daughter. I have nowhere to take them, so this tim...

"I have an ageing mother, a lovely wife, and a daughter. I have nowhere to take them, so this tim...

The Currency — Last Friday, the Ukrainian military handed out over eighteen thousand weapons to civilians across Kyiv alone. Travelling or simply walking around Ukraine, now awash with arms, has become dangerous. Outside Kyiv, I witnessed a chaotic checkpoint in the countryside, where a band of fifty armed fighters had hastily erected barriers with sandbags.
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Hipsters represent a threat to Putin's vision of Russian satellite

Hipsters represent a threat to Putin's vision of Russian satellite

The i Paper — KYIV - Liubov Tsybulska, a specialist in hybrid warfare, splits her time between speaking at Nato conferences on disinformation and running Zigzag, an ultra-modern restaurant she owns with her husband on Kyiv's fabled Reitarska Street. In many ways, she represents the culture that Russian President Vladimir Putin has in his crosshairs.
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Female volunteers 'move like angels' in Ukrainian army as Russia tensions escalate

Female volunteers 'move like angels' in Ukrainian army as Russia tensions escalate

The i Paper — Women were the catalyst that brought the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year-old regime to brink of collapse in the summer of 2020. Now across the border in Ukraine, women are pitching up to confront another patriarchal autocrat by enlisting in the Ukrainian army.
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Sanctions, not military aid, are what will hurt Russia the most in Ukraine conflict

Sanctions, not military aid, are what will hurt Russia the most in Ukraine conflict

The i Paper — KYIV - In recent weeks, Boris Johnson has sprinted ahead of his EU counterparts in the race to provide Ukraine with a deterrent against Russian aggression. He travels to Ukraine on Tuesday where he hopes to receive something akin to a hero's welcome for the UK's recent provisions of so-called "defensive measures" supporting Kyiv.
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Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has gone from TV star to global stage in three years

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has gone from TV star to global stage in three years

The i Paper — A political ingenue only three years ago, Ukraine's 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has travelled a long road in an incredibly short time. Since he performed the fictional role of Ukrainian president in a popular TV series, the former actor won the presidency for real in 2019 with an impressive 73 per cent of votes, navigated one of Europe's weakest economies through the pandemic and weathered the Trump impeachment scandal.
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Britons based in Ukraine 'prepare for the worst' amid fears of Russian invasion

Britons based in Ukraine 'prepare for the worst' amid fears of Russian invasion

The i Paper — An overnight dusting of snow and an uneasy calm has settled over Ukraine's capital amid fears of a Russian invasion. With traffic jams lining Kyiv's snow-covered avenues, it was business as usual for the city, despite the build-up of over 100,000 Russian troops along the country's borders.
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Belarus protests: Lukashenko threatens to jail opposition 'hotheads'

Belarus protests: Lukashenko threatens to jail opposition 'hotheads'

The Times — President Lukashenko of Belarus accused opposition leaders of an attempted overthrow and threatened them with prosecution last night, even as EU states called on him to negotiate over his future.The 65-year-old dictator, the target of nationwide protests since the disputed election ten days ago, con
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Riot police break up Minsk rally as Lukashenko threatens new crackdown

Riot police break up Minsk rally as Lukashenko threatens new crackdown

The Times — Riot police broke up a rally outside a tractor factory in Minsk yesterday as President Lukashenko of Belarus threatened a new crackdown on dissent.Officers moved to clear a crowd outside the entrance to the sprawling Minsk tractor works, a focal point for opposition to Mr Lukashenko, who claimed v
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Belarus protests: Workers jeer dictator Lukashenko and tell him to stand down

Belarus protests: Workers jeer dictator Lukashenko and tell him to stand down

The Times — President Lukashenko was jeered by factory workers yesterday amid widespread protests over the disputed election that show no sign of ending.The US warned Russia not to interfere in the former Soviet state after it indicated it might provide military assistance to help "resolve the challenges facing
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Belarus protests: Workers jeer dictator Lukashenko and tell him to stand down

Belarus protests: Workers jeer dictator Lukashenko and tell him to stand down

The Times — President Lukashenko was jeered by factory workers yesterday amid widespread protests over the disputed election that show no sign of ending.The US warned Russia not to interfere in the former Soviet state after it indicated it might provide military assistance to help "resolve the challenges facing
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Belarus protests: Putin threatens to intervene as 200,000 gather to oppose Lukashenko

Belarus protests: Putin threatens to intervene as 200,000 gather to oppose Lukashenko

The Times — Russia said yesterday that it was ready to intervene in Belarus as an estimated 200,000 protesters in Minsk defied a brutal crackdown to demand the resignation of the former Soviet republic's leader.The Kremlin is prepared to invoke a joint defence treaty with Belarus, President Putin told P
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