Library resources
Below are library and information resources that can help contextualize recent Ukrainian history, Ukraine's relations with Russia, and the beginnings of Russia's war on Ukraine, from 2014 to the full-scale invasion in 2022.
The Petro Jacyk Central & East European Resource Centre compiles information to many sources for research in Slavic and East European Studies available throughout UTL. This information includes summaries to the following types of resources:
Article Databases, Encyclopedias and Dictionaries, and Primary Sources
Current and Historical Newspapers
Primary Sources and Digital Archives
To find books and films on the topic, conduct a “subject” search in Library Search for the following controlled vocabulary (Library of Congress Subject Headings):
Russo-Ukrainian War, 2014- Ukraine — History — Euromaidan Protests, 2013-2014 Ukrainian Literature—21st century Ukraine — Politics and government — 21st century Crimea (Ukraine) — History — 2014- Donets Basin (Ukraine and Russia) — History Russia (Federation) — Foreign relations – Ukraine
To find scholarly articles on the topic, conduct a search in one of our research databases, which index or provide full text to journals in different academic disciplines, research areas, and world regions.
Contact Ksenya Kiebuzinski, Slavic Resources Coordinator, for research help.
Information resources
AGNI
The journal AGNI, in response to the Russian invasion, is publishing dispatches from Ukraine in English translation.
Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies
CIUS has a series of short videos called “Did you know?” That answers questions such as “Are Ukrainians and Russians the same people” “Are Ukrainian and Russian the same language” “Is the conflict in Ukraine an ethnic conflict?”
CIUS publishes the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, an online encyclopedia of Ukraine that includes detailed and extensive entries on Ukraine.
Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
HURI has assembled a resource page entitled “Russia’s War on Ukraine” which has news articles on different topics under one tab and reports and book chapters under the HURI resources tab.
Pen Ukraine
Pen Ukraine has compiled a list of 30 fiction and non-fiction books to help readers better understand Ukrainian history and mentality. The University of Toronto Libraries will have most of these titles in print or as eBooks. Find the titles in LibrarySearch.
Peripheral Histories
Resources on Russia's war against Ukraine for researchers, teachers, and students, with a focus on historical perspectives.
Ukrainian Institute London
This institute has recordings of various talks on Ukrainian culture and a video series called 10 Things You Should Know about Ukraine.
University of Toronto
The Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine at the does not have a resource page but they regularly hold excellent events.
Mainstream and local media
In terms of following the war, now the mainstream media is covering it thoroughly.
The Financial Times has opened its coverage.
For local Ukrainian media see:
Novynarnia (in Ukrainian)
TV Channels from Ukraine: LIVE and wwitv.com
Commons Journal (left commentary)
Journalists and correspondents to follow on twitter:
Terrell Jermain Starr, non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and senior reporter at the The Root, an English-language online magazine of African-American culture.
Olga Tokariuk, Kyiv-based independent journalist and non-resident Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).
Christopher Miller, an American retired United States Army Special Forces colonel and former acting US Secretary of Defense.
Natalia Gumeniuk, head of Hromadske International.
Illia Ponomarenko, defense reporter with The Kyiv Independent.
Francis Scarr, reporter for the British Broadcasting Company.
Neil Hauer, independent journalist in country.
Shaun Walker, journalist for The Guardian.
Christopher Miller, correspondent for BuzzFeedNews.
OSINTtechnical, American blogger and freelancer at UK Defense Journal, who publishes open- source imagery of fighting.
Maps & Data
Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map by Cen4infoRes (Centre for Information Resilience)
The Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map is a crowdsourced effort to map, document, and verify information so as to provide reliable information for policymakers and journalists of the on-the-ground and online situation in and around Ukraine.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine since 2015 creates and operates the Unified State Open Data Web Portal which provides access to public information.
Public opinion data is available online through the National Bank of Social Data.
For those interested in studying local politics in Ukraine, the Kyiv School of Economics has set up an a GitHub repository.
Finally: how to help
You can donate to charities and credible information channels at Razom--Together we are Ukraine.
The University of Michigan maintains a research guide which includes information on organizations which have a track record of providing vital aid to Ukraine. Most are currently raising funds to support those in need on the ground in Ukraine, while a few focus on investing in the country's future.