I sat down with Maksym Butkevych, a human rights activist who spent more than two years as a POW in Russian captivity. Hearing him describe the torture and starvation he endured was heartbreaking.

What moved me most was Maksym's transformation—from a pacifist with no military experience to someone who took up arms to defend his homeland immediately after the Russian invasion. He fought bravely until he and his unit were captured in June 2022.

During his captivity, Maksym was starved and fed stale food, like his fellow POWs. He thought he wouldn’t make it out alive. He was released in October 2024.

Today, Maksym continues to advocate for war veterans, defend refugee rights, and push for a diverse, inclusive Ukraine.

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Executive producer and host: Terrell J. Starr

Editor and producer: Mike Hull

Guest: Maksym Butkevych

Special Thanks: Philip Ittner and On The Edge studio

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Regardless of how the talks in Alaska end between Russian President Vladimir Putin And U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian-American soldier Yaroslav Ponomarov believes it will not end in Ukraine’s favor.

Yaroslav moved to Brooklyn with his parents when he was five and grew up American. But when Russia invaded his homeland he decided to return, join the military and fight the colonizers. He said his commander gave him some sage advice.

”’Let them play their games. We don’t have a choice but to play along,’ he recalls his superior officer advising him. ‘In a way it's good that Ukraine is playing along because it’s showing the rest of the world that Russia doesn't want peace.’”

Dubbed as a “listening session,” Trump says any hopes for Ukraine to join NATO are off the table, but he’s open to offering Kyiv security guarantees once peace is brokered. However, virtually no one in Ukraine feels peace will follow Trump’s meeting with Putin.

Go to Terrell J Starr Official on YouTube to see video of this interview!

Executive producer and host: Terrell J. Starr

Editor and producer: Mike Hull

Guest: Yaroslav Ponomarov

Special Thanks: Philip Ittner and On The Edge studio

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Blue Sky at @terrelljstarr.

Support our work on Patreon!

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#ukraine #ukrainewar #ukrainenews #trump

Terrell was invited to be on a panel at the Hay Festival in Lviv in October. It's a wide ranging conversation that places the current war in the kind of historical context that is rarely a part of legacy media reporting.

The work of Myroslav Shkandrij, professor emeritus at the Department of German and Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba, and author of Revolutionary Ukraine, 1917-2017: Flashpoints in History and Contemporary Memory Wars, prompted Ukrainians to reflect on serfdom as a form of slavery that existed in Ukrainian territory. Terrell Jermaine Starr is an American journalist and activist who writes about Ukraine, foreign policy and race. Chaired by Bohdana Romantsova, editor at Tempora Publishing House.