Sign in

Sarah Whitmore

@drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social
163 followers 223 following 21 posts

Reader in Politics, Oxford Brookes University. Researching Ukrainian politics since 1998, current projects: defence reform; parliament@war. Lang: Ukr, Rus

PostsRepliesMedia
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I draw on my recently published research with Bettina Renz to argue that conflict between the defence minister and commander-in-chief is structural and is unlikely to be resolved by personnel changes theconversation.com/ukraine-war-... #Ukraine #Fedorov #Syrskyi @theconversation.com
theconversation.com
Ukraine war: inside the longstanding conflict between politicians and military commanders
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has just dismissed both his defence minister and commander-in-chief.
054
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
My latest article with Bettina Renz is now freely available to all via the link below: doi.org/10.1080/1060... The research examines the establishment of civilian control over the miltary under Zelensky and is based on extensive primary research.
doi.org
‘Repairing an aircraft mid-flight’: establishing democratic civilian control in Ukraine during war
This study evaluates progress made in establishing Democratic Civilian Control (DCC) in Ukraine under President Zelensky using key criteria drawn from the comparative literature: a civilian-led Min...
010
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This morning scrolling Bluesky, there is nothing at all in my feed about Putin’s barbaric attack on the Ukraine’s holiest site, the UNESCO protected Lavra so I’m posting this here.
19746692343
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Luke Cooper @lukecooper100.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Is there any precedent for a by-election explicitly designed to overthrow the sitting prime minister? This is a massive roll of the dice by Burnham in a Reform-friendly seat, setting up a what is surely the most consequential by-election ever mafiapoliticsglobaldisorder.substack.com/p/the-most-c...
Burnham as king of the north
033
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Ukraine Solidarity Campaign 🇺🇦✊🏽🚩 @ukrainesol.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Truth Under Siege: How Russian Disinformation Fuels the Far Right Join our emergency forum after the UK elections on how Russian disinformation fuels the far right, undermines solidarity with Ukraine, and erodes democracy. 🗓 Wednesday 20 May, 7:30pm 🎟 Register: bit.ly/russiadisinfo
bit.ly
How Russian disinformation fuels the far right – and how we can fight back
In the aftermath of the UK elections, a discussion of how fighting Russian-inspired disinformation connects to fighting the far right
13120
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Cllr Dr Max Morris @maxmorris.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Powerful performances at this evening's @thinkhumanfest.bsky.social event, 'Try Me For Treason', where actors read speeches made by anti-war protesters in Russian courts.
Actors reading translated excerpts from speeches given by Ukrainian and Russian anti-war protesters such as Darya Kozyreva (pictured on the screen)
042
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Think Human @thinkhumanfest.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Defiance on trial: actors bring to life courtroom speeches by Russian anti-war oppositionists, followed by discussion on dissent, repression and the politics of resistance. 📍 Clerici Learning Studio 🗓️ Wednesday 15 April ⏰ 6pm Use this link to book your ticket- www.eventbrite.com/cc/think-hum...
111
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Oxford people please join us for a performance followed by a discussion with Simon Pirani (Durham University), Anastasia Riabchuk (University of Oxford/National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy) and Denis Shedov (ODIHR/Memorial/OVD-Info) www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/try-me-for...
eventbrite.co.uk
Try Me for Treason: Voices Against Putin's War
A Think Human Festival Event
011
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
On 24 Feb, I was honoured to give a talk for The Hansard Society at the House of Lords on Ukraine's parliament during full-scale invasion. A bittersweet privilege afforded only by the fight of the Ukr armed forces & society. Without them there would be no democratic parliament in Ukraine.
010
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Olena Halushka @halushka.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Kyiv and the region are under intense drone attacks today. russians seem to have changed tactics — dispersing drone strikes throughout the day & night to paralyze daily life and disrupt businesses. They also resumed targeting our energy infrastructure, hoping to freeze us into surrender. Terrorists.
79940
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
A NEW THREAT TO FREEDOM? ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2025/09/07/a...
ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org
A NEW THREAT TO FREEDOM?
Sian Norris reports on the new threat to abaortion rights in Ukraine In June this year, the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council put in a public appeal to Ukraine’s RADA to suspend the right to safe and le…
010
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
In a depressingly familiar story, deputy Zhelezhniak explains how the schemers in Poltava produced decorations not fortifications and got promoted for their trouble www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPuD...
youtube.com
Куди зникли гроші на оборону Донеччини: фортифікації на папері, мільйони з бюджету та нові посади
YouTube video by Залізний нардеп
010
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Failure to learn the lessons from Afghanistan has profound consequences, including for the UK's commitment to support Ukraine, according to this damning RUSI commentary www.rusi.org/explore-our-...
rusi.org
Afghanistan: The Enduring Stain on the British State
The legacy of the UK’s involvement in Afghanistan is one of compounding whole-of-government failure.
010
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
tim frye @timfrye.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
What did the US get in return? Why now? What did Kremlin do to earn this? So many questions.
64921
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
I'm currently reading @shaunwalker7.bsky.social's account of the scrupulous recruitment, years of training and diligent handling of the USSR's 'illegals'. The contrast with the crude FSB op detailed here couldn't be more striking. www.reuters.com/investigates...
reuters.com
Russia recruited a teenage spy. His arrest led to a crypto money trail
Russia is using untrained spies after operatives were expelled from Europe in 2022. The case against a Canadian teen shows how Moscow conducts the operations.
021
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Maria Popova @popovaprof.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
As the diplomatic theater drags on, I'm here to remind you that nothing has changed politically/militarily to move the status quo. Ru wants capitulation, Ukraine won't surrender, Europe is w Ukr rhetorically but is unable to step up big time, Trump wants a quick end but perhaps not at any cost.
110713
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Olga Tokariuk @olgatokariuk.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
A chilling story about my ex colleague, journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, detained by Russia on the occupied territories of Ukraine while reporting. She was tortured and killed, her body returned to Ukraine several months later with missing organs, as brain www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
‘Numerous signs of torture’: a Ukrainian journalist’s detention and death in Russian prison
The Guardian, working with media partners, has tracked down first-hand accounts to reconstruct Viktoriia Roshchyna’s final months
5198111
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Shaun Walker @shaunwalker7.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Yesterday we published our investigation into torture & death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna. Now, what I & several Guardian colleagues have been working on for past few months: inside one of Russia's worst torture prisons for Ukrainians www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
Inside Taganrog: beatings, electrocution and starvation at prison where Ukrainians were tortured
Russia is holding an estimated 16,000 civilians in arbitrary detention at 180 separate facilities. Taganrog was the most notorious.
5211163
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Think Human @thinkhumanfest.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
War and Peace in Ukraine 🗓️Weds 7 May, 3pm-5pm Join us for a discussion on possible peace deals & plans for post-war reconstruction in Ukraine, featuring exhibit posters from Yurko Gutsulyak’s ‘Blue-Yellow Series’ 🇺🇦 Tea/coffee & Ukrainian snacks provided! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1259287907...
121
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Uilleam Blacker @uilleamblacker.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Moscow killed Mike Yohansen in 1937 and banned his books. I never expected Washington to try to kill my translation of his best novel in 2025. Read @katetsurkan.bsky.social's latest for @kyivindependent.com on Trump's attack on Ukrainian literature in translation. kyivindependent.com/publishing-h...
kyivindependent.com
Publishing house of Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute latest target of Trump’s federal budget cuts
The future of Harvard’s Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI) publishing program is in jeopardy, as it has become the latest target of sweeping grant cuts under the administration of U.S. President Dona...
37436
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
SPRAVDI - Stratcom Centre @stratcomcentre.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
No longer hiding behind nonsense propaganda about NATO or "protecting Russian speakers" or "nazis", Russians now admit that their aim in Ukraine is merely genocide. Russia's Lieutenant Colonel Selivanov lays out the core of Russian culture.
312341
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Think Human @thinkhumanfest.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
@kcraik1.bsky.social @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social
101
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Martin Sandbu @martinsandbu.ft.com · 21/03/2025
Europe is about to commit its greatest strategic mistake. on.ft.com/4bVGZZ9
on.ft.com
Europe is about to make its biggest strategic mistake
[FREE TO READ] Control over Moscow’s blocked foreign reserves empowers the EU to shape how the Ukraine war ends
54721
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Join us in Oxford for a timely public roundtable on 7/5 w/ leading Ukr experts, plus poster exhib. Pls register via link Spkrs: Kateryna Busol @simonpirani.bsky.social Anastasiia Riabchuk @olgatokariuk.bsky.social Andrew Wilson #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/war-and-pe...
eventbrite.co.uk
War and Peace in Ukraine
Join us to explore the nature of possible peace deals and plans for post-war reconstruction in Ukraine
153
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Julia Davis @juliadavisnews.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Meanwhile in Russia: state TV host Vladimir Solovyov asserted that there will be no ceasefire and peace will happen only on Russia's terms. He mocked American politicians who pledged to stand with Ukraine, but now their support is nowhere to be seen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QyO...
youtube.com
Vladimir Solovyov says Russia won't agree to a ceasefire
YouTube video by Russian Media Monitor
461351573
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
NOELREPORTS @noelreports.com · 07/03/2025
During a meeting with Putin, the mother of a deceased Russian soldier openly admitted to abducting a child from the occupied Kherson region and taking them to Russia. Another example of a heinous violation of human rights by Russia and its people.
1222644990
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Some scattered thoughts after the most shocking and horrible moment of US diplomacy most of us have ever seen. Not even sure what the point of writing anything about this is, but here goes. 1/
201813380
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 28/02/2025
America’s withdrawal from Ukraine appears to be moving to warp speed now.
18565193
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Anders Åslund @andersaslund.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Voting with Russia, Trump has placed the US together with Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua & rogue African military dictatorships friendly with Russia. Trump has taken the US out of the family of democratic countries. Even China, Cuba & Iran abstained. Shame!
711630
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Sam Joiner @samjoiner.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
New: Russia’s executions of Ukrainian prisoners point to systematic policy. Investigation with @christopherjm.ft.com @joesinft.ft.com @alisonkilling.bsky.social @digitalcampbell.ft.com @peter.andringa.me
on.ft.com
Russia’s executions of Ukrainian prisoners point to systematic policy
[FREE TO READ] FT documentary investigates rise in cases of Russian soldiers executing Ukrainian POWs
07830
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Lots of talk about "spheres of influence" in the context of the Trump admin's novel approach to foreign policy and their apparent plan to hand some/all of Ukraine to Russia, which is very keen on the "spheres of influence" idea. It's a non-starter for both Russia and the US 🧵
15618
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
tim frye @timfrye.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/w...
nytimes.com
Foreign Strongmen Cheer as Musk Dismantles U.S. Aid Agency (Gift Article)
Leaders in Russia, Hungary and El Salvador welcomed the Trump administration’s assault on U.S.A.I.D., which many authoritarians have seen as a threat.
22010
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Olga Onuch @oonuch.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Belarusians march against #election2025 in Warszawa “We will take back our country and we will definitely return home!” “What is happening in Belarus today has already been called different words. Farce, comedy, special operation.” Taken from Tsikhanouskaya’s telegram
012434
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Oliver Carroll @olliecarroll.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Reports Gulag historian Yury Dmitriev, 68, has been sent to solitary confinement in Russia's Mordovia colony for "unsatisfactory stretching." The most evil kind of evil. Descendants of the KGB officers he implicated first jailed him. Now they appear after after his life.
buff.ly
Историка Юрия Дмитриева отправили в ШИЗО за «неправильное выполнение зарядки» в мордовской колонии — Новая газета
17 января 68-летнего экс-главу карельского «Мемориала» Юрия Дмитриева поместили в штрафной изолятор на 6 суток. Официальной причиной наказания стало «неправильное выполнение утренней зарядки»,…
23219
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
SAINT JAVELIN @saintjavelin.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
All Pentagon officials overseeing Ukraine and aid have been dismissed or removed from their positions. The U.S. Department of Defense is undergoing a comprehensive restructuring, indicating a shift in the framework of its relations with Ukraine, according to reports from Ukrainian journalists.
10265133
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Olena Halushka @halushka.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
If russia loses the war, they'll go back home. If Ukraine loses the war, the scale of genocide and atrocities would be unprecedented since WWII. The stakes for us and the russians in this war are vastly different.
519369
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Ukraine Solidarity Campaign 🇺🇦✊🏽🚩 @ukrainesol.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
📢 THE REALITY OF RUSSIAN OCCUPATION - WHY WE MUST SUPPORT A UNITED UKRAINE 🗓 Wed, 29 Jan | 🕖 19:00 UK time Activists from eastern Ukraine discuss oppression, exploitation & resistance under Russian occupation. 🔹 Galkina (NGPU) 🔹 Yastrebova (EHRG) 🔹 Koynash (KHRPG) 📌 Register: bit.ly/ukraine29jan
bit.ly
The reality of Russian occupation - why we must support a united Ukraine
Activists from eastern Ukraine lead a discussion on what Russian occupation means for workers and communities: and why resistance continues.
022
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Ukraine Solidarity Campaign 🇺🇦✊🏽🚩 @ukrainesol.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Support the Ukraine Mining Rescue Squads: Help Us Reach Our Target of £22,000 Since its launch in June 2024, our appeal for the Ukraine Mining Rescue Squads has raised over… ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2024/…
094
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
UNITED24 Media @united24media.com · 09/01/2025
⚡️ Ukraine’s Parliament recognized the genocide of the Circassian people committed by the Russian Empire during the Caucasus War of 1763–1864.
The Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv on October 16, 2024, during the presentation of Ukraine’s Plan For Victory. (Source: Getty Images)
415323
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles...
pravda.com.ua
Do not appease evil: Ukrainian public figures appeal to world leaders
An open appeal by Ukrainian public figures to the world leaders and the international community.
011
Reposted by Sarah Whitmore
Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
This week the Guardian's owner, the Scott Trust, gifted the 233-year-old Observer to Tortoise Media. This isn't just a dark day for journalism, it's a sign. Meet the team. This is Putin giving Tortoise's energy advisory board member an 'Order of Friendship' medal in 2017. 1/
561781936
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
'Residents of 4 occupied regions face a deadline of 31.12.24 to exchange their Ukrainian passports for Russian ones. Those who haven't adopted Russian citizenship will be classified as "foreigners" in their own homeland [and face] deportation & seizure of their property' sceeus.se/en/publicati...?
sceeus.se
Over a Million Ukrainians Face Loss of All Legal Rights by New Year - Sceeus
SCEEUS Commentary No. 17, 2024 | Over a Million Ukrainians Face Loss of All Legal Rights by New Year by Jakob Hedenskog and Stefan Ingvarsson | Centre for Eastern European Studies, SCEEUS
100
Sarah Whitmore @drsarahwhitmore.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Hello everyone! I wanted my first post in here to be joyous: the healing, elevating, cathartic power of music that is with us always but extra special when live. It is my medicine #okeanelzy
041