RUSSIA/UKRAINE CRISIS

This staff-curated list of books, films, podcasts, and more will help you understand the histories of Russia and Ukraine, as well as provide context for the current Russia-Ukraine conflict.

(created March 2022)

Providing Aid

Top-Rated Charities Providing Aid in Ukraine | Charity Watch (2/28/22)

Want to support the people in Ukraine? Here’s how you can help | NPR (2/25/22)

Books

Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West by Catherine Belton (2020)

The Folly and the Glory: America, Russia and Political Warfare: 1945-2020 by Tim Weiner (2020)

Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition and Compromise in Putin’s Russia by Joshua Yaffa (2020)

Midnight in Chernobyl: the untold story of the world’s greatest nuclear disaster by Adam Higginbotham (2019)

Putin’s World: Russia against the West and with the rest by Angela E. Stent (2019)

Chernobyl: History of a Nuclear Catastrophe by Serhii Plokhy (2018)

Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine by Anne Applebaum (2017)

Putinism: Russia and its future with the West by Walter Laguer (2015)

The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy (2015)

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder (2010)

The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation by Andrew Wilson (2000)

Hoopla (eBooks & Streaming)

Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by Serhy Yekelchyk (2020)

Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine, and the New Cold War by Martin Kalb (2015)

Movies

Building Chernobyl’s Mega Tomb | Nova (2017 – DVD)

Vladimir Putin | A&E (2021 – Kanopy)

A Sniper’s War |Journeyman Pictures (2018 – Kanopy)

Understanding Russia: A Cultural History | The Great Courses (2018 – Kanopy)

On Putin’s Blacklist: Human Rights at Risk in Putin’s Russia | 1091 Media (2017 – Kanopy)

Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine | Synergetic Distribution (2016 – Kanopy)

Putin’s Way | PBS (2015 – Kanopy)

The Russian Woodpecker | Gunpowder & Sky (2015 – Kanopy)

Battle Zones: Ukraine and Syria | PBS (2014 – Kanopy)

Maidan: Uprising in Ukraine | Cinema Guild (2014 – Kanopy)

The Ukrainian Powder Keg | Upside Television (2014 – Kanopy)

Winter, Go Away! : Ten Filmmakers Chronicle Protests in Russia | 1091 Media (2012 – Kanopy)

Putin’s Kiss | Kino Lorber (2011 – Kanopy)

Oleg’s Choice: A Personal Look at the Conflict in Ukraine | Java Films (2016 – Kanopy)

The Babushkas of Chernobyl | Holly Morris (2015 – Kanopy)

Podcasts

“State of Ukraine” | daily podcast from NPR

Can the West Stop Russia by Strangling Its Economy? | NYT/Ezra Klein Show (3/1/22 – podcast link and transcript)

The Real and Imagined History of Ukraine | Vox/Today Explained (2/25/22 – podcast link and transcript)

Videos

How the Russia-Ukraine conflict really started: Just the FAQs | USA Today (3/2/22)

A Brief History of Modern Ukraine | BBC (2/25/22)

What is Happening in Ukraine? Russia’s Invasion, Explained | Reuters (2/24/22)

Ukraine and Russia: What is Really Going on? | The Economist (2/16/22)

Articles

Timeline—Ukraine’s Struggle for Independence in Russia’s Shadow 1999-2022 | Council on Foreign Relations

Russia Invades Ukraine (graphics with regular updates) | Reuters

Fact Check Round Up: Narratives of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine | Logically (3/9/22)

10 things to know about Ukraine | The Hill (3/3/22)

How to talk to your kids about Ukraine, according to psychologists | CNN (3/2/22)

Understanding Ukraine | The Geopolitics (3/1/22)

Russia’s At War with Ukraine: Here’s How We Got Here | NPR (2/24/22)

Ukraine’s New Leading Man | New York Review (2019)

Putin Lives in Historic Analogies and Metaphors | Spiegel International (3/17/22)

Why Is There a Refugee Crisis in Ukraine? | Anti-Defamation League