Greetings from Novorossiya: Eyewitness to the War in Ukraine

by Pawel Pieniazek, Malgorzata Markoff (Translator), John Markoff (Translator)

Overview

Introduction by Timothy Snyder Polish journalist Pawel Pieniazek was among the first journalists to enter the war-torn region of eastern Ukraine and Greetings from Novorossiya is his vivid firsthand account of the conflict. He was the first reporter to reach the scene when Russian troops in Ukraine accidentally shot down a civilian airliner, killing all 298 people aboard. Unlike Western journalists, his fluency in both Ukrainian and Russian granted him access and the ability to move among all sides in the conflict. With powerful color photos, telling interviews from the local population, and brilliant reportage, Pieniazek’s account documents these dramatic events as they transpired. This unique firsthand view of history in the making brings to life the tragedy of Ukraine for a Western audience. Historian Timothy Snyder provides wider context in his superb introduction and explores the significance of this ongoing conflict at the border of East and West.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822983262
Publisher:	University of Pittsburgh Press
Publication date:	01/12/2018
Series:	Russian and East European Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	727,164
File size:	32 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Pawel Pieniazek is a Polish journalist. He is a contributor to major Polish media, including Tygodnik Powszechny, Gazeta Wyborcza, Dziennik Opinni, and New Eastern Europe and is a freelance contributor to Polish radio. In 2015, he was named as a Poynter Fellow in Journalism at Yale University.

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction by Timothy Snyder 1. Cheerful in Donetsk 2. Disintegration 3. In Novorossiya, or Where? 4. The Separatists’ First Capital 5. Kiev Is Powerless 6. Disaster Comes 7. The Fallen City 8. War Comes to Donetsk 9. The Story of a Missile 10. Transnistria on the Don Acknowledgments Illustration Captions Index

Editorial Reviews

09/25/2017
Polish journalist Pieniazek’s expertise in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, garnered from over two years of investigative journalism in the country beginning in April 2014, results in an interesting, yet confusing, glimpse into daily life during war. His recollections range from the mundane act of extracting the last currency from ATMs near the front line to the most explosive moments of the conflict. Pieniazek provides an excellent rendition of the intense, strange atmosphere that prevailed in 2014 Ukraine, complete with descriptions of trains full of corpses from the downed Malaysian airliner, the corrupt political circus in the people’s republics, and the infiltration of the country by the now-familiar phenomenon of “fake news.” Like the war itself, Pieniazek’s lively and detailed account can be difficult to follow and may not provide Western readers with a clearer picture of what happened. Because of the many actors involved in the conflict, a general audience may find it difficult to follow who sides with whom, where, and when—a difficulty also encountered by the residents who experienced the conflict firsthand. 52 color illus. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Pieniazek provides an excellent rendition of the intense, strange atmosphere that prevailed in 2014 Ukraine, complete with descriptions of trains full of corpses from the downed Malaysian airliner, the corrupt political circus in the people’s republics, and the infiltration of the country by the now-familiar phenomenon of ‘fake news.’ A lively and detailed account.”
—Publishers Weekly


“There was no Orwell of the Ukrainian revolution, but readers of Paweł Pieniążek will get something like the everyday grit and political insight of Homage to Catalonia.”
—Timothy Snyder, from the introduction


“To understand recent events in Ukraine, this book is an absolute must. But it also provides an understanding of what the future may hold; while Ukraine is breaking with its Soviet past and becoming globalized, the world is in danger of becoming “Ukrainized.” In this new “post-truth” epoch, the words of a brave young Polish journalist testify that the facts still matter.”
—Yaroslav Hrytsak, Ukrainian Catholic University


"Pieniazek has a wonderful eye and ear for details that are mundane in themselves, yet portray a great deal. . . . While his sympathies are clear—he succeeds at letting other people, along with his observations, do most of the talking." 
—The Russian Review
 


“Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how Russia’s covert war in Ukraine began. From his firsthand experience at the front, Pieniążek describes the blurred lines that define Russia’s new approach to war making and the stark consequences for its neighbors.”
—Simon Ostrovsky, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist

"This is some of the best reportage from a little-understood war. Pieniazek’s stories reveal the tragedy of hybrid war in the age of post-truth: people are being killed in fact for reasons that are fiction."
—Marci Shore, Yale University, author of The Taste of Ashes: The Afterlife of Totalitarianism in Eastern Europe
 

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