The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay

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Editor's Picks: A Strenuous Month in Kyiv
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Editor's Picks: A Strenuous Month in Kyiv

Dennis Santiago
Dec 30, 2022
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Editor's Picks: A Strenuous Month in Kyiv
holliesmckay.substack.com

Just before Russia invaded Ukraine, Hollie had just returned from visiting the eastern Donetsk/Luhansk portion of the country. From her apartment in Virginia, the message traffic speculated on whether the Russians would invade, and what would happen if Putin’s forces did. At the time, the posturing of the Russian military still had the aura of the mighty undefeated armies of the World War II’s Great Patriotic War and the massive tank armies of the Soviet Union facing off against NATO in the Fulda Gap. Global military analysts gave the Ukrainians little chance.

And then the invasion began. It normally takes months of preparation to set up a trip into a war zone. This was different. Kyiv had just become the epicenter of where a war correspondent had to be to cover the story. I remember one line from a phone call, “You have the skill to maneuver through a war zone line no one else has. You don’t really have a choice. You have to go.”

Independent journalist. No network. With little more than a valid passport and a plane ticket, Hollie flew back to Europe. The journey back to Kyiv would be by car driving with blacked out lights through back roads. The time in Kyiv would be reporting under constant threat of bombardment. She would see friends and colleagues lose their loves, in one highly publicised case, a US television crew ambushed at a location Hollie had reported from not more than an hour before. A crew that had been part of the family of reporters who shared common plans to flee in case the Russians succeeded in taking the capital. The exit from Ukraine was by train traveling like a refugee along with so many others fleeing onslaught. The journey would end unceremoniously back at the same apartment in Virginia.

It’s all so neatly summarized in a paragraph. It was a bit more chaotic as a series of real time Signal, WhatApp, Zoom and email messages. But for your review, here are the substack interviews that chronicled the month of March of 2022.

We begin with the transcript of the first interview I did with Hollie when she arrived back in Kyiv,

The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
Dispatches from Ukraine: Chat from Kyiv
Listen now (13 min) | Welcome to another dispatch, this time from Ukraine by Hollie McKay. Holly you were in Ukraine a couple of weeks ago left and came back to the United States and now you're back in in Kyiv. Tell us a little bit about that journey in terms of how you got back there…
Listen now
a year ago · Hollie McKay

Next, on Day 11 of the war, questions about it were stacking up on the internet. So, we set up a session to answer some of them.

The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
Dispatches from Ukraine: Hollie Answers Question from Kyiv on Day 11 of the War
Listen now (17 min) | Hello and welcome to another dispatch from Ukraine with Hollie McKay. Today, we're going to be asking Hollie some questions and that have come from people on the Internet. We are going to get some answers from the source herself. How are you doing today, Hollie…
Listen now
a year ago · Hollie McKay

In these next two dispatches, Hollie gets down to the business of reporting on the war,

The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
DISPATCHES FROM UKRAINE: Medical Angels, Russian Corpses, The Actor Who Took Up Arms to Guard Presidential Buildings and the Tragic Besieging of Kyiv
“The president can't change the country on his own. But what can he do? He can give an example.” Volodymyr Zelensky ON THE FRONT LINES WITH UKRAINE’S ‘MEDICAL ANGELS’ They are Ukraine’s “medical angels,’’ a roving band of bright yellow ambulances with blue and khaki signage that rush to the front lines at the first hint of something amiss…
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a year ago · Hollie McKay
The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
DISPATCHES FROM UKRAINE: Everyday Kyiv Life, Grannies Making Molotov Cocktails, Holocaust Survivors, Shooting Victims and the Plight of the Physically Disabled Who Cannot Leave
“I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles; my constituents don't know how to read, but they can't help seeing them damned pictures.” William M. Tweed HOW LIFE IN KYIV CHANGED IN AN INSTANT: ‘I FEEL LIKE I AM IN A DREAM’ For those who remain in Kyiv, life has been reduced to the almost constant sound of artillery booming in the distance, the whirl o…
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a year ago · Hollie McKay

As more questions from the internet piled up, another Q&A interview ensued.

The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
Dispatch from Ukraine: Hollie Answers Internet Questions About People's Morale, Warfighting, and Strategy
Listen now (24 min) | Hello and welcome back to another edition of dispatches from Ukraine with Hollie McKay. Today, Hollie is going to be answering some questions that were posted on the Internet. How are you today, Hollie? Hi, I'm doing well. How are you? Quite good. Our first block of questions is from people that are asking about the morale of Ukrainians…
Listen now
a year ago · Hollie McKay

Another dispatch with Hollie’s signature vignettes of life inside a war zone followed,

The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
DISPATCHES FROM UKRAINE: Mariupol Escape, Nuclear Threats, and Grim Recoveries
DISPATCHES FROM UKRAINE: Mariupol Escape, Nuclear Threats, Grim Recoveries and “If everyone fought for their own convictions, there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace ESCAPE FROM MARIUPOL: LEAVING FAMILY, A WOMAN FLEES HER HOMETOWN Mariya Moskalenko’s last memory of a somewhat ordinary life was Feb. 23, the day before Russia’s full-scale invasio…
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a year ago · Hollie McKay

And then this one that leads sorrowfully reflecting on the loss of friends. Beneath the professional notation in the Substack, the reality is that Hollie McKay and Pierre Zakrezewski were longtime friends who communicated constantly during that month in Kyiv.

The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
DISPATCHES FROM UKRAINE: What Russian Foot Soldiers Do Inside Occupied Terrain, Saboteurs Using Ambulances, Top Ballet Dancer Becomes Military Medic, and Behind the Death and Destruction
Listen now (18 min) | “But everyone cannot be there, and that is why photographers go there - to show them, to reach out and grab them and make them stop what they are doing and pay attention to what is going on - to create pictures powerful enough to overcome the diluting effects of the mass media and shake people out of their indifference – to protest and by the strength o…
Listen now
10 months ago · Hollie McKay

And finally, a 40 minute interview about what it was like to leave Kyiv by train.

The World of War, Crimes + Crises with Hollie McKay
Dispatch from Hollie: A Journalist's Eye View of Kyiv and the Train Ride of Out of Ukraine
Listen now (40 min) | *We recommend the raw interview audio as the best way to experience this dispatch. (approx. 40 min) Hello and welcome back to another dispatches from Hollie McKay. Hollie recently went to Ukraine and is now back in the United States. Today we're going to talk about what that experience was like, while she was there, and what it was like when she left Kie…
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10 months ago · Hollie McKay

I’ve worked with Hollie on her journeys since 2014. March 2022 was a tough month. Stay tuned in 2023 for more.

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