Olena Prytula will visit WHYY’s Civic Space for a public forum Sunday, April 8th, at 4 p.m. She’ll be accompanied by post-Soviet experts Olga Andriewsky and Marta Dyczok, who can put recent events in a wider historical context.

The Philadelphia area is home to an estimated 200,000 immigrants from Ukraine, and the Ukrainian community has played a defining role in the region’s history. Philadelphia-area residents will get a rare glimpse into a political drama that is currently consuming Ukraine.

This former Soviet-controlled state is in the midst of the biggest social upheaval since gaining independence nearly a decade ago, and Olena Prytula, editor of the Internet news site Ukrainian Truth (www.pravda.com.ua) is in the middle of it. Last September, her publisher, Georgy Gongadze, disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Prytula recently identified a body found outside Kiev as Gongadze’s, leading to a government scandal, which was heightened by the release of audio recordings of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. Resulting protests and turmoil in Ukraine have not abated, and the political fallout has prompted concern from Western leaders, who see Ukraine as a linchpin for European stability.

Sunday’s discussion promises to be a fascinating one for anyone concerned about international affairs and the changing post-Soviet world.

This free public forum is made possible by generous support from the Slovak-American International Cultural Foundation, the American Association for Ukrainian Studies, Philadelphia Daily News, and WHYY. For reservations, call 215-351-0511.