Interview with Olena Zinenko, project coordinator at KRF Public Alternative, about the tense situation in Ukraine a few days before the start of the Russian war of aggression on 24 February 2022.

In February 2022, we had just finalised an interview with our programme coordinator Olena Zinenko in Ukraine. Two days later, the Russian army attacked. As the second anniversary of the war of aggression approaches, Olena recalls her state of shock in those early days and months of the war and the journey she has taken since then. She also explains why talking about peace in Ukraine can create divisions and how women need to be the driving forces for a forward-looking “life agenda”.

Women living in communities close to the contact line are affected by the war between Ukraine and the autonomous Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in multiple ways. At the Women’s Peace Tables they can both network and freely share their experiences and visions of peace. We interview Board member Margret Kiener Nellen and our project coordinator Annemarie Sancar after their project visit in September

“Ukraine talks,” “peace negotiations,” “US-brokered peace talks”: for weeks, the media have been reporting on the so-called “peace process” for Ukraine led by the United States. The reporting largely ignores whether such negotiations can be effective. Nor does it address the question everyone should be asking: who should be determining Ukraine's future?

Since the beginning of our programme, and especially since Russia's war of aggression in 2022, we have been building trust with women affected by the war in Ukraine. Our meetings have fostered an environment where women can openly share experiences and talk about their visions for peace – whether they have gone into exile, remained in eastern Ukraine or were displaced to other parts of the country. Following the launch of the redesigned Ukraine programme in the autumn of 2024, we organised a train-the-trainer workshop in Krakow in February for women who play a leading role in their municipalities.