Due to life upheavals, a *very* belated plug for my latest @indexoncensorship.org article Inspired by a powerful exhibition entitled “Women’s Labour” that I had the good fortune of seeing in Almaty, it takes stock of 🇰🇿‘s feminist movements 1+ year on from the Bishimbayev case 1/

My era of gainful unemployment is finally over: Next week I’ll be joining The McCain Institute as the Program Coordinator for their Global Democracy team 🌍 In this new role, I’ll be focusing on frontline democracies, including Ukraine 🇺🇦 1/

Nothing makes me feel safe and warm as a British woman of colour than arriving in a town that’s covered in England flags and St George’s cross graffiti (it’s on the zebra crossings ffs)

Love to see the Ukrainian flag flying proudly over Whitehall 💙💛 (This was just one of several)

What’s happening in Alaska today will generate endless op-Eds, hot takes, and media comments but there’s really only so many ways to say “this is morally repugnant and a betrayal of Ukraine”

Including features from @rebeccalroot.bsky.social, @kayagenc.bsky.social, @emilycouchuk.bsky.social, @martinbright.bsky.social, @nikwilliams.bsky.social, @katiedd.bsky.social, and many others.

For a limited time only, our new magazine issue, Land of the Free? is free to access! In it, we explore how #Trump's administration is impacting free speech in the #US & beyond. Explore: journals.sagepub.com/toc/IOC/curr...

In my latest for @ForeignPolicy , I asked Ukrainians what they make of Americans’ seeming inability to effectively protest rising authoritarianism, & ask what the latter can learn from Ukraine’s impressive history of mass movements 🇺🇦 foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/28/u...

In my latest for @ForeignPolicy , I asked Ukrainians what they make of Americans’ seeming inability to effectively protest rising authoritarianism, & ask what the latter can learn from Ukraine’s impressive history of mass movements 🇺🇦 foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/28/u...

In the latest edition of the @indexoncensorship.org magazine, I cover the impact of the US foreign aid freeze (specifically on 🇺🇦) & why this is the moment for the U.K. to step up - not cut - its own foreign aid budget. For obvious reasons, this topic is close to my heart personally & professionally

Very excited to have finally made it to Kazakhstan after Va all these years 🇰🇿 Better late than never!

If there is a new Ukrainian restaurant, trust you will find me there 🇺🇦🍽️ This time: Tatar Bunar in Shoreditch, London

Devon supremacy

Can’t help but feel that it’s possible to say “I wish that US leadership was willing to truly stand up to Russia over Ukraine” without wishing for “another Reagan”

Today was my last day with Freedom House after 3 years of working on the Ukraine team. While I knew this was coming the moment that the Trump administration cut our funding, hard not to feel pretty profound sadness. None of it had to be this way.

In my latest for @indexoncensorship.org, I highlight the tragic yet inspiring renaissance of 🇺🇦 literature in wartime. With deep gratitude to Nedopysani’s @lyr.bsky.social , @chytomo.bsky.social ‘s Iryna Baturevych, & INDEX Ukraine’s @dovzhyk.bsky.social for sharing their important work & insights

Guess the time has come to make it known that I’m now one of the thousands of people in the human rights and international development fields who are being laid off as a result of the Trump administration’s cruel and disastrous executive order “pausing” all US foreign aid

A moment of nerdy pride upon receiving a physical copy of the multiauthor volume I recently contributed to. I’ve been lucky enough to have several things published online but seeing one’s name in print just hits different 📚

At Dulles and there’s a group of British people laughing at the MAGA hats for sale in one of the stores saying they’re going to buy them “for the banter”. Wanted to ask them if they’d also buy something with a swastika on it “for the banter”? Embarrassing.

DC is a weird place to live in the best of times but especially now. Seeing so much unnecessary chaos and pain while knowing large contingents of US society is cheering it on bc for them the people who live here are evil swamp bureaucrats

This evening

The scales should’ve fallen from people’s eyes long ago re so called “good republicans” but we’re really about to see the final ember of the “bipartisan support for UA” myth go up in smoke. Do any of us really believe that Rs will do anything substantive to fight this evil decision?

Today, Zelensky is my President. Dignity in the face of evil.

A day that will live in infamy. Ashamed to be a citizen of this country today. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Honoured to be among the contributors to this multiauthor volume for Routledge, edited by Wendy Sloane and Aleksandra Raspopina. My chapter - “First Targets: the overlooked battle for freedom of expression in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories” www.routledge.com/Kremlin-Medi...

Today at the Lincoln Memorial. Ми тут 🇺🇦

Honoured to be among the contributors to this multiauthor volume for Routledge, edited by Wendy Sloane and Aleksandra Raspopina. My chapter - “First Targets: the overlooked battle for freedom of expression in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories” www.routledge.com/Kremlin-Medi...

Is anyone else having issues with their Duolingo Ukrainian course repeatedly freezing and crashing? I’ve tried deleting and re-downloading the app multiple times but this hasn’t helped

Not usually inclined to share articles from the Telegraph but I’m glad to see that at least one of my countries is maintaining a robust, pro-Ukraine position www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Attended a screening of the film “Intercepted” by Oksana Karpovych today. It overlays scenes of destruction in 🇺🇦 w intercepted calls between ru soldiers & their families. A very difficult & often nauseating watch. A powerful reminder (as if we still needed one) that this isn’t just “Putin’s war”

One thing I’m absolutely not here for today is posts to the effect of “his bark is worse than his bite, everything will be fine” from people with the privilege not to be in this administration’s direct line of fire

With all the usual caveats re the British Museum, the Silk Roads exhibition is quite wonderful. The bronze Buddha was made in what is now Pakistan c. AD 500-600 but was excavated in Sweden. If it could talk, what stories it could tell…

I’m mainly in listening mode right now so all I’ll say is this: Syria’s liberation from its brutal dictator is a reminder that what seemed impossible mere days ago can become reality in an instant. Gives hope for many other contexts.

A lovely way to start the week. Enormous thanks to Emily @emilycouchuk.bsky.social for being such a generous and thoughtful reviewer of COLD KITCHEN - I savoured each and every word! And thank you to @themoscowtimes.com too.

It was a pleasure to review ‘Cold Kitchen’ by @edentravels.bsky.social - which vividly captures the connections between food, place, and memory, for @themoscowtimes.com 📚 t.co/eciJn5Ug7C

Grateful to the Helsinki Commission for highlighting this under-discussed topic & inviting Kateryna Rashevska, who was a crucial part of my team at Freedom House’s joint report w RCHR, ZMINA, and Viasna on BY & RU regime's indoctrination & miltiarisation of 🇺🇦 children www.csce.gov/press-releas...

New starter pack on Russia’s war against Ukraine, and on Russia and Ukraine experts & journalists. Send me a private message if you want to be added. go.bsky.app/23BTWVx

So glad to have finally made it to Georgia 🇬🇪 It was wonderful to see not only the beauty of the country but also the clear support for Ukraine, particularly in Tbilisi 🇺🇦

It was a great honour to meet 🇺🇦 Nobel Prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk yesterday after her powerful remarks at the Atlantic Council. Her response to those who say that Ukraine should surrender for the sake of “peace”: “Peace is not when the invaded county stops fighting. That’s occupation.”

It is deeply, deeply, twisted that we’re now in a place where Zelensky - the president of a country fighting for its survival - is having to come over here & cater to the most extreme segment of US society in the hope that it might help ensure his country’s survival

It was a privilege to review “Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States” by @popovaprof.bsky.social & @oxanashevel.bsky.social - the 1st post-Feb 2022 book I’ve read analysing the domestic dynamics of both countries in such depth. Add it to your pile, folks 📚 t.co/HLxRakmqEN

Incisive remarks from Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk this afternoon at the Atlantic Council. Just hope that his message (+ those of other 🇺🇦 delegation members) can cut through the navel gazing fog that is descending over here in the run up to next year’s election

Attended a wonderful concert of Qazaq and Turkic music this evening at the Lisner Auditorium here in DC 🇰🇿🎶 Made me want to gallop across the steppe (with my nonexistent horse riding skills)

Compared to the powerful recollections shared by others today, my own memories of the day the Revolution of Dignity began are not important. The one thing I will say though is that it was that remarkable display of courage that inspired me to 1/

A short reminiscence apropos of yesterday’s EU Commission announcement: On my first trip to Ukraine, I remember being so struck by how many EU flags there were, on government buildings, in the streets, even the 12 stars painted onto walls, even benches 1/

Back at USIP today for “Faith under Fire: Perspectives from Ukrainian Faith Leaders” - a powerful demonstration of religious diversity and cooperation in Ukraine. Kudos also to @razomforukraine.bsky.social and Atlantic Council for organising 🇺🇦

Tis the season 🥣

Really interesting & substantive USIP event this morning: OPORA & IFES reps made a powerful case for why it would harm the legitimacy of 🇺🇦’s democratic institutions to hold elections during full-scale war. Bottom line: Focus should be on electoral reform so future 🗳️ are as free & fair as possible

Back from a whistle stop trip to Poland - I was there attending the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, but managed to squeeze in some sightseeing too 🇵🇱

I saw “My Mama & the Full-Scale Invasion”- a play by Ukrainian playwright Sasha Denisova about her mother’s decision to stay in Kyiv after Feb 24 2022, on the day that Zelensky visited DC. I think he would’ve loved it - I know I did. My review for The Moscow Times 🇺🇦 t.co/fgYqav0L6t