Manchester is well-known as a city steeped in history of protest and mobilisation, so perhaps it is no surprise that the city has come together to support Ukraine over the last few months. But Manchester’s support means more to some of the city’s residents than many realise.
Dr Olga Onuch is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester. Onuch is ethnically Ukrainian and has spent a great deal of time in Kyiv. Though based in the heart of the city, she has been advising governments on Ukraine for years - including now, at a time when the need for understanding Ukrainian politics and national identity has never been more relevant.
Onuch came to the UK to pursue her graduate studies at the London School of Economics (LSE), where she had planned to focus on Latin American politics. But she moved in the year following Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, and as someone with ethnic roots in the country, she said it became “weird” for her not to study protests.
