The title of this talk is also the title of James Verini ‘s May 22 article in the New York Times Magazine. Kharkiv, in the north-east of Ukraine, is 25 miles from the Russian border. It has been under continuous attack by Russian forces for nearly three months. By mid-May the Ukrainian defenders had pushed the invading Russian troops back to the Russian border.
The second-most-populous city in Ukraine and the gateway to the country’s east, Kharkiv is strategically important. It is also symbolically important. The historian, Volodymyr Kravchenko, has called it a “borderland city”, and not just because it is so near the border. To many of its inhabitants – most of whom are Russian-speaking - the distinction between Ukraine and Russia meant little before the war.
James Verini, who was physically present in Kharkiv during the siege of the city in March and April, will be able to give us a graphic, eye-witness account of what life was like for ordinary Ukrainians. Before Kharkiv, Verini reported on the situation on the frontline in Donbas.
James Verini is a features writer at The New York Times Magazine, where he covers conflict, geopolitics, and other matters. He is at work on a three-part series for the magazine about the war in Ukraine. He is the author of They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate, which is based on his series for the magazine about the war against ISIS. His journalism has also appeared in National Geographic Magazine, The New Yorker, Foreign Policy and elsewhere. His work has received a National Magazine Award and a George Polk Award. He lives in London and is a fellow in the War Studies Department at King’s College London and an associate at the Imperial War Museum Institute.
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