How Ukraine Ruled Russia: Regionalism and the Politics of Empire
Orysia Kulick
19.10.2026, 16:00
Library of the Center for Urban History
This work was presented in Lviv prior to the full-scale invasion as an academic monograph-in-progress that explained the rise of the Dnipropetrovsk clan as a consequence of postwar reconstruction, the militarization of the Soviet economy, and the long-term demographic consequences of Stalinist violence.
This manuscript is now being rewritten as a series of creative non-fiction essays aimed at a broader readership. How Ukraine Ruled Russia: Regionalism and the Politics of Empire is the book the author had to leave academia to write. This work is rooted deeply in history, and draws on an historian's tools and sensibilities, but the outcome is no longer steered by the demands of academia. It is rather a reaction to the field’s response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which made acutely visible to the author how tattered our collective intellectual canvas really was (and is). Rather than trying to patch this irreparably damaged canvas, the essays in this book aim hold space for Ukrainian stories on their own terms, allowing the readers to see for themselves the gaping holes to which they point.
This Urban Seminar will bring together scholars, creative non-fiction writers and editors—some of whom have experienced for themselves this need to find a new genre of expression as a consequence of war. In the first part, the author will describe, briefly, the aims of the original project, the moment of rupture, and steps taken since to reformat the manuscript (this will include discussing a new table of contents and short-form sketches of new content). Afterward there will be a collective discussion of how to best make this transition to a non-academic text.
She is a historian and author, who has published widely in areas of Soviet history, cultural resistance, and material cultures of authoritarianism, including an exhibition catalogue, War and Revolution: 100 Years of Cultural Opposition in Ukraine. She holds a PhD in History from Stanford University and taught previously at the University of Manitoba, as an assistant professor in the departments of Political Science and German and Slavic Studies. She left the academy in 2025 to focus on writing for broader audiences, continuing to work on her first book How Ukraine Ruled Russia: Regionalism and the Politics of Empire. Orysia has made a number of research trips to Ukraine, most recently in spring 2025 as Scholar in Residence at INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange, in Lviv. 
Orysia Kulick
Urban Seminar will be held in a workshop format. Researchers are invited to discuss scholarly projects, research at various stages of development, and completed research that is being prepared for publication.
Participation in the Urban Seminar requires preliminary reading and discussion of the researcher's text. If you would like to join the Seminar, please email Anastasiia Fabirovska (a.fabirovska@lvivcenter.org), and we will send you the materials in advance.
Credits
Cover Image: "In many prison camps in the east, Bolsheviks, who were captured in the course of historic victory, are interned. At night, they must warm themselves by fire" / Photo taken by a war correspondent named Herber on October 17, 1941 / Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, the Roman Danylevych Papers