4/12 Years of Russo-Ukrainian War - CIUS Round Table 2026

From Chronicles to Testimony: The Narratives on Russo-Ukrainian War

23 February 2026
10:00 a.m. MST (Edmonton) / 12:00 p.m. EST (Toronto) / 6:00 p.m. CET (Warsaw) / 7:00 p.m. EET (Kyiv)

Online only

How does narrating the war in real time shape what will later count as “history”? This round table brings together historians, journalists, political scientists, and anthropologists to examine the evolving discourses of the Russo-Ukrainian War since 2022. The discussion will address transformations from authoritative chronicle and political interpretation to media mediation and the increasing centrality of testimony in documentary and scholarly production.

Participants will consider how the immediacy and urgency of present-day interpretation may shape future historical distance, judgment, and explanation. The conversation will also explore differences and tensions between narratives produced within Ukraine and those constructed elsewhere, as well as the role of translation, audience, and disciplinary perspective in shaping the authority and meaning of expert commentary and testimony.

Speakers: 
Natalia Khanenko-Friesen, Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Oleksandr Pankieiev, Andriy Shevchenko and Frank Sysyn

Moderator — Larysa Bilous

Watch the recording: