Fighting For Ukraine
Yuriy Matsarsky is a Ukranian journalist turned civilian fighter against the Russian invasion on the democratic country of Ukraine. In this podcast he brings daily updates from the frontlines of the Ukranian resistance. “As a journalist I thought, ‘You shouldn’t be involved in this. You should be watching from the sidelines.’ But the Ukrainian citizen part of me told me, ‘No, this doesn’t work anymore. You should protect your country, you should protect your loved ones, you should protect your freedom—you should protect your people.’”
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Yuriy Matsarsky
Yuriy is a Ukranian journalist based in Kyiv who has spent most of his professional media career covering warzones. Now he finds himself in one and the battle is his. Yuriy has put down his journalist pen and picked up a rifle to protect his country against the Russian invasion.
“I want Ukraine to be prosperous, to be a happy country, my people all around me to be happy. Putin is following in the steps of Hitler right now. Every day, with every bombing, with every rocket fire, it’s more and more and more dead Ukrainians. More dead Ukrainians.
“This fight is not only for us. We are fighting for the whole world. I really, really love the United States, and the United States people. We love the same music, we love the same books, we love our kids in the same way. Please help us.”
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 16, 2022
Wednesday Mar 16, 2022
March 16th 2022.
Yuriy responds to questions from around the world about whether the Russian military has fallen in parts of Ukraine. President Zolensky has requested that no detailed locations of Russian bombing on residences are released so as to protect the integrity of Ukranian intelligence. Yuriy questions the Russians ideology.
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
March 15th, 2022
Today marks a very important day for Yuriy. It is his daughter's 17th birthday, and they are separated for this birthday because of the war. He remembers all of the things he gave her on her birthday and even if he was working he would always make it home to see her.
Monday Mar 14, 2022
Monday Mar 14, 2022
March 14th, 2022
Yuriy describes difficult realities on the ground, like bitter cold weather, and Russian forces plundering valuables from Ukrainian civilians. But even as shells and missiles strike Kyiv and the city empties of residents, Yuriy sees signs of hope, like the reopening of a single restaurant.
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
March 13th 2022
Yuriy has been working with journalists from all over the world and reflects on his time as a journalist in warzones. Today, news broke about the death of American journalist Brent Reno who was killed in a shelling in Kyiv overnight. Brent has a similar background to Yuriy, covering wars in Iraq, Afghanistan.
Saturday Mar 12, 2022
Saturday Mar 12, 2022
March 12th 2022
Yuriy returns to the radio station he used to work at before the war and goes on air to tell Ukrainians to keep fighting. He received a message after the show from a listener who spoke of her small town in Donetsk that had been taken over and she was trapped. Yuriy draws a parallel between the once flourishing towns and cities in Ukraine and the ghost town of Pripyat that was devastated by the Chernobyl power plant explosion.
Friday Mar 11, 2022
Friday Mar 11, 2022
March 11th 2022
Today marks the beginning of the third week of the Russian invasion on Ukraine.
Yuriy's spends his mornings assisting foreign reporters, and his afternoons on patrol in Kyiv.
Yuriy describes a day when he took a French TV crew to a refugee shelter and they met with an old lady who grew up when Kyiv was being bombed for the first time in WW2. She sees only one difference between the first time and now, and has a plea for European allies.
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
March 10th 2022
Yuriy and the other volunteer civilian fighters are all equals in the regiment, whatever rank or status they may have been before. Now they sleep in the same conditions, eat the same food and they spend their days making fortifications out of whatever materials they can find and look for the best places to defend their positions and hold the line against the Russian army.
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
March 9th 2022
Yuriy introduces himself and why he has decided to exchange his journalist's notebook for a rifle and enlist in Ukraine's army and defend his country.