Tracks East

Tracks East - Speciale

Tracks goes east and meets artists and journalists to get a different perspective on the war in Ukraine.

In Ukraine, long-distance love is the new normal. Indie pop icon Ingret Kostenko had a meteoric rise to fame until the Russian invasion forced her to flee to Germany. The man she loved was a soldier at the front and she went home regularly to see him. This separation is the inspiration for Ingret’s music.

Love in Wartime

Ukrainian Indie pop icon Ingret Kostenko is in a long-distance relationship with a soldier, the inspiration for her music.

Should artists and musicians be active cultural warriors in the war in Ukraine? Or should art provide solace from the brutality of war? Tracks East focuses on artists from countries devastated by war and how they are received in the west.

Culture Warriors: Art in Wartime

Should artists and musicians be active cultural warriors in the war in Ukraine? Or should art provide solace from the brutality of conflict? 

 In war it is often the children who suffer the most. Their stable home lives are destroyed and they have to flee. According to Ukrainian sources, 12,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia, the Kremlin says they have been ‘brought home’.

Children of War

How is the war in Ukraine affecting children? According to Ukrainian sources, 12,000 Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia, the Kremlin says they have been ‘brought home’.

It will soon be a year since Russia invaded their country, but Ukrainians remain optimistic: 88% of them are convinced that within ten years their country will be a member of the European Union and will enjoy prosperity. And many Ukrainian artists, singers, inventors and entrepreneurs believe that their country should not be reduced to the role of victim. Musician Olga Osinnya meets people in Kyiv who are looking towards the future with hope.

The Day After Tomorrow

Tracks East meets people in Kyiv who are looking towards the future with hope.

Addressing the issue of exploitation and power relations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Tracks East focuses on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

Hierarchies – Who’s in Charge?

Exiled in Latvia since 2022, Russian journalist Masha Borzunova and her team are on a mission to teach Europe what Russian state media propaganda actually looks like: Sinister, full of contradiction and absurd.

Fake News: Russian Propaganda for Beginners

In Kyiv's Closer Club, Ukrainians are trying to preserve a bit of normality in wartime. In the past, dance fans from across Europe made the pilgrimage to the Ukrainian capital's legendary techno nights. Every December, the Black Factory Night takes place, and this winter is no different. If there’s a blackout, they’re got generators at the ready.

Blackout

In Kyiv's Closer Club, Ukrainians are trying to preserve a bit of normality in wartime as the country experiences blackouts.

Religion has played a major role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill supports the war - Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is sending Muslim soldiers to Ukraine in a "holy war". We meet the Ukrainian muslim bloggers. Artist Masha Maroz takes us on a journey through the ancestral rites of Polesia and Mihaela Drăgan invokes Roma superstitions about witches.

Myth, Religion and War

Religion has played a key role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

When bombs are raining down all around, when freedom of expression is removed, does this make you laugh? Tracks East looks at how humour is used as a weapon in testing times in Belarus, Ukraine and Bulgaria. (And how dictators don’t have a very developed sense of humour.)

Humour as a Weapon

Tracks East looks at how humour is used as a weapon in testing times in Belarus, Ukraine and Bulgaria. (And how dictators don’t have a very developed sense of humour.)

“The world has lost its love for democracy. The world has become disappointed with the power elite. The world has begun to turn to dictatorship” So said Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Moscow opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. While Belarus and Russia are striking examples of dictatorships,  Tracks East also looks at the situation in Iran.

Dictators: Control over Mind and Body

Dictatorships want to control your mind and body. Tracks looks at the situation in Russia, Belarus and Iran.

Suddenly it's back - the fear of nuclear Armageddon. Tracks East explores this highly explosive topic in this latest episode. Ukrainian writer Mitya Churikov recalls the Chernobyl disaster and ask whether Zaporizhzhya will be the trauma of the next generation. Tracks East also meets bestselling Russian author Dmitry Gukhowsky, whose novel Metro 2033 imagines a post-apocalyptic Moscow after a nuclear war.

Going Nuclear

Suddenly it's back - the fear of nuclear Armageddon. Tracks East explores this highly explosive topic in this latest episode.

As much of Western Europe worries about having enough gas for the winter, Tracks East looks at how people in Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are facing the energy crisis and a cold winter ahead.

Winter of War

Tracks East looks at how people in Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are facing the energy crisis and a cold winter ahead.

Tracks East interviews Ukrainians who refuse to take up arms and Russian men who have been living in fear of being called up since the call for partial mobilisation.

Tracks East - Mobilisation

In this tenth and final part of Tracks East, Central and Eastern Europeans - journalists, artists, a male model and a former sex worker - hold up a mirror to Western Europeans.

The West Seen from the East

More than 30 years have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. What remains today of what was the largest federation of states in the world? As the Ukraine war shows, the ghosts of the USSR still linger. Nowhere is safe for critics of the Kremlin: they could be denounced to the authorities by their own families and neighbours.

Soviet Heritage

Nowhere is safe for critics of the Kremlin: they could be denounced to the authorities by their own families and neighbours.

In 1991, the Soviet empire collapsed, giving rise to the Russian Federation and fifteen other independent states. Today, Vladimir Putin does not respect the sovereignty of these independent nations, particularly Ukraine. How is a nation defined? Are borders the only constituent element? A focus on the renewed patriotism in the post-Soviet world.

The New Patriotism

At the cusp of adulthood, an entire generation is now facing an unprecedented crisis. Between escape and resistance, Gen East shares its vision of tomorrow with us.

New Generation

Between escape and resistance, Gen East shares its vision of tomorrow with us.

Tracks East highlights the multiplicity of creative and surprising expressions of solidarity with Ukraine by artists in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Solidarity

Can identities be forced, discarded, changed or revived? In the USSR, national identities were a political instrument. Millions of people were resettled, deported, and Russified. Today, the multi-ethnic social fabric of post-soviet nations harbours explosive tensions and the Ukraine war is opening up old wounds. What does identity mean for the next generation?

Identity

The multi-ethnic social fabric of post-soviet nations harbours explosive tensions and the Ukraine war is opening up old wounds. What does identity mean for the next generation?

Whether they have fled, been banished or deported, some exiles find themselves alone, while others form communities in their host countries. But all feel nostalgia and even homesickness. Tracks East goes in search of the exile experience.

Exile

Tracks East goes in search of the exile experience of those who have fled, been banished or deported.

Tracks East

All videos

Tracks East

Love in Wartime

Tracks East

Culture Warriors: Art in Wartime

Tracks East

Children of War

Tracks East

The Day After Tomorrow

Tracks East

Hierarchies – Who’s in Charge?

Tracks East

Fake News: Russian Propaganda for Beginners

Tracks East

Blackout

Tracks East

Myth, Religion and War

Tracks East

Humour as a Weapon

Tracks East

Dictators: Control over Mind and Body

Tracks East

Going Nuclear

Tracks East

Winter of War

Tracks East - Mobilisation

Tracks East

The West Seen from the East

Tracks East

Soviet Heritage

Tracks East

The New Patriotism

Tracks East

New Generation

Tracks East

Solidarity

Tracks East

Identity

Tracks East

Exile

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Ukraine: A Year of War