The Sunday Show: Kholodnytskyi Case, Beach Season in Donbas, War Trauma

✅ What’s Next for Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Agencies?

Tensions between anti-corruption bodies have been escalating amid attempts to remove Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) head Nazar Kholodnytskyi from his post. He has been accused of sabotaging anti-corruption efforts and assisting high-profile officials under investigation. This month the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor closed a prominent case on the Interior Minister’s son, who was accused of embezzlement. Since then, more anti-corruption bodies have joined NABU head Artem Sytnyk with Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko in calling for Kholodnytskyi’s dismissal. This week, however, the Qualification Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors failed to remove Kholodnytskyi from his position. Hromadske speaks to Anti-Corruption Action Center’s Anastasia Krasnosilska about what this means for anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine.

Anastasia Krasnosilska

expert, Anti-Corruption Action Center

✅ Supporting Political Prisoners Near Annexed Crimea

Popular Ukrainian band Boombox played a protest concert dedicated to Ukrainian political prisoners this week near the Crimean border. Even though the event organizers chose not to publicize the event, people from annexed Crimea and the neighboring Kherson region of Ukraine came out to show their support and enjoy the music. In particular, people were there for Crimean political prisoner Oleg Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike since May 14. Hromadske was at the gig to see how the event unfolded.

✅ 100 km Difference: Beach Season on Both Sides of the Donbas Contact Line

For the people living on and around the Donbas conflict line, options for summer holiday destinations are limited. In the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, there is only one beach resort and it’s considered expensive. Hromadske traveled to beach resorts on both sides of the conflict line to find out how the war in Donbas has affected the region’s holiday-makers and tourism industry.

✅ What’s Holding Europe Together in a Changing World?

The European Union has been shaken by internal conflicts since the eurozone crisis in 2009, and more recently by the influx of migrants from Africa and refugees from the Middle East. Yet this strain from both within and outside the EU’s borders is also what impels member states to work together. Hromadske sat down with political theorist Luuk van Middelaar to discuss the fundamental duality of the EU, the challenges of populism and shifting alliances, and what holds Europe together despite increasing internal and external pressures.

Luuk van Middelaar

Dutch political theorist and historian

✅ Healing War Trauma in Ukraine

According to Professor of Comparative Literature Cathy Caruth, whose area of research focuses on trauma and language, events in Ukraine’s history such as the Holodomor could have had long-lasting traumatic effect on the whole nation. Fast forward 80 years and for those struggling through the ongoing war in Ukraine’s occupied eastern territories, the effects of trauma are more prevalent than ever. Hromadske sat down with Caruth to discuss how Ukraine’s history has shaped modern day Ukraine and the people who live there.

Cathy Caruth

professor, Cornell University