Eddie Priymak

In this article @DVKirichenko and I explore the potential impact of evangelicals as an advocacy group for Ukraine. euromaidanpress.com/2025/04/09/rus…

For the first time, three of America's most influential cardinals and archbishops agreed to a joint interview, sharing their candid take on war in Iran, immigration, and the future of the Catholic Church. Sunday on 60 Minutes. 60Minutes.com

Trump officials deny threatening Church over Pope Leo’s criticisms ft.trib.al/7ZDDK8G

Under Greek Catholic Nuncio Ceffalia, all Belarusian Greek Catholic parishes in Brest region have been liquidated by the authorities. On 9 April 2026, the Supreme Court upheld the decision to liquidate the registration of Brest Greek Catholic Parish. @VaticanNews @HolySeePress

I have a long piece in the Guardian about... well, myself. As a writer and a historian, I generally tell other people's stories. So, this story was difficult to write. It took me about six months. It's about my understanding of my own identity: who, or what am I, really?

In this interview with the Kyiv Independent, renowned Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy discusses why there’s no question that Russia has always been an empire, how the movement for an independent Ukrainian state in the 20th century began as a leftist project, why Russia is more fixated on destroying Ukraine than any other country, and more. kyivindependent.com/acclaimed-hist…

Just a thought: Ukraine’s President is Jewish. Our Defense Minister is a Muslim, a Crimean Tatar. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is an ethnic Russian. Our top drone ace — recently awarded the title Hero of Ukraine — is an ethnic Hungarian. Over 70,000 women serve in the military now. Almost all of the most renowned combat medics are women. The revolution that changed this country forever began with a Facebook post by an ethnic Afghan Pashtun, a prominent Ukrainian journalist. And in our parliament, we have a Black MP — an Afro-Ukrainian and universally admired Olympic champion. All of this — in a country that is still, for the most part, Slavic. On the streets of Kyiv today, you’ll see halal restaurants for Muslim tourists standing peacefully next to Jewish eateries. Nearby are a museum and a monument to Sholem Aleichem, and a plaque bearing the face of Golda Meir, who once lived here. Among our main landmarks: 19th-century synagogues. Just a short walk away — a large mosque and Muslim cultural center. And above all, of course — the ancient Christian churches and monasteries that are the oldest and most significant in the East Slavic world. I still can’t get over the fact that Ukraine’s chief Muslim mufti (an ethnic Tatar from Donetsk) stepped down to serve as a frontline paramedic in the army. That our chief rabbi works tirelessly every day to help Ukraine across the globe — and that his adopted son died fighting for Ukraine, weapon in hand. For many years now, a giant glowing menorah has stood each Hanukkah in the heart of Kyiv’s main square. And on Independence Day, every religious denomination gathers in Saint Sophia Cathedral to offer prayers for Ukraine, each in their own rite. Just as they all come together for remembrance at Babyn Yar and the Holodomor monument. The more you look at the world, the more often you realize how much healthier Ukrainian society has become when it comes to coexistence between nationalities and faiths. We weren’t always like this. We are becoming this now — as the country is being radically transformed by revolution and by the defense against imperial Russia. We are shedding the weight of so many remnants of the past — really fast. Just recently in May, Ukraine held its WWII commemorations — with poppies and the slogan “Never again!” What a stark contrast to the satanic frenzy of Russia’s “Victory Day,” with its death cult, its “We can do it again!” bravado, and its glorification of dying for the Tsar. Against the backdrop of war, Ukraine is living through a real national and cultural renaissance. We are rediscovering the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian books, music, cinema — as something precious. And for how many decades were we taught to look down on everything Ukrainian — as “third-rate,” “peasant,” “inferior”?... I walk the streets of Kyiv on Christmas (December 25th, not January 7th as demanded by Moscow priests) and see bands of children in traditional embroidered clothes carrying colorful Bethlehem stars and singing carols. “Ukrainian Christmas” is returning to these lands as a vibrant cultural tradition. On Easter, crowds gather near Saint Sophia Cathedral for picnics and spring dances. In the old city above Podil, I often hear youth pounding out Cossack songs on drums. I always see many people at our nation’s sacred places — the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the cathedrals of Lviv, the Motherland Monument, the old castles. We haven’t suddenly become devout believers. We’ve simply come to take pride, like never before, in being Ukrainian — in treasuring our traditions, our culture, our history, and our way of life, in our own country. New traditions keep being born in wartime, against all odds. Today, we honor war veterans by inviting them to make the symbolic first kick at football matches — and then we give them a standing ovation from the stands, for their service. I could go on like this for hours. What I’m trying to say is — I love what Ukraine is becoming. This hope — breaking through unspeakable pain and hardship — feels like a light piercing the tunnel. Ukraine now, and Ukraine 12 years ago, are two completely different countries. The road ahead is brutally hard, but if only — if only our Ukraine can survive this war for its very existence.

The Trump administration summoned a Vatican diplomat to the Pentagon, and during the tense meeting a U.S. official invoked the Avignon Papacy. On July 4, the American pope will be in Lampedusa -- he didn't pick that date by accident. @TheFP thefp.com/p/why-the-vati…

It is crucial for those not closely following the war in Ukraine to understand that most Russian soldiers joined voluntarily, largely motivated by pay. The genocide in Ukraine is largely carried out by ordinary Russians who volunteered for money

Nothing in particular > Catholic or Protestant 😂

While members of the Russian Duma were hosted on Capitol Hill, their political master in the Kremlin was helping the Iranian regime more accurately strike U.S. targets. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…

At the current pace, as many as half the world’s Catholics could be in Africa by 2066, a shift so seismic for the church that it has been compared to the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation economist.com/international/…

As a reminder, this is exactly the kind of pressure that broke the camel’s back with Ukraine. In 2013, then-President Yanukovych (who had wanted to play the traditional “both sides” game between the EU and Russia) was forced to make a decision: his government needed money, and Putin offered cash. The catch was that Ukraine had to reject the trade agreement with the EU, which had been painstakingly negotiated and which Yanukovych had promised to sign, in favor of joining Russia’s Customs Union. He did exactly that, which provoked Maidan. Yanukovych, with Kremlin prodding, tried to suppress the protests with violence. That backfired, sparking mass demonstrations across the country. It ended with his flight to Russia, Putin’s annexation of Crimea, and the beginning of the current war. Armenia is in a much tougher spot with this ultimatum. It is too small and vulnerable to stand firm the way Ukraine did. In its rough neighborhood with both Turkey and Azerbaijan eyeing parts of its territory, Russia has long been its traditional protector. It’s unclear to me how much real help the Europeans can offer (beyond using their influence with Turkey and Azerbaijan).

“Russia has zero incentive to make peace now,” says Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister @DmytroKuleba. “As long as there are no driving forces for peace on the Russian side and for the change of attitude on the American side, Ukraine’s tweets will be falling on deaf ears.”

On this day in 1933, Welsh journalist Gareth Jones published a report revealing the existence of Moscow's intentional famine inflicted on the people of Ukraine in 1932–1933.

This, plus Merkel’s insistence that security in Europe will be built with Ru not against Ru lays waste to the ridiculous idea that Ru felt threatened by NATO.

Russian drone strikes destroy Ukraine maternity hospital full of newborns: 'This was pure terror' trib.al/J4lZJbD

נשיא אוקראינה זלנסקי מבקר ביומיים האחרונים בכל מדינות המפרץ כדי להדק את שיתוף הפעולה הביטחוני נגד איראן. המדינה היחידה שלא הזמינה אותו היא ישראל. נתניהו ביקש לדבר איתו בטלפון לפני שבועיים אבל לא התקשר ונעלם. באותו זמן פוטין ממשיך לסייע לאיראן צבאית נון-סטופ

BREAKING: Qatar and Ukraine sign defense cooperation agreement 🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/pg663c?update=…

Sarah Makin at CPAC USA 2026: "Russia has bombed, shelled, and looted 650 Christian churches. They have murdered, a conservative estimate is 49 pastors, priests, evangelical leaders, and other faith leaders in Russian-occupied Ukraine." Russia is exporting religious persecution to Ukraine.

This leak isn’t accidental. Everyone is distancing themselves from the war. Soon it will be some disembodied participant in a Signal chat that turns out to have launched it. I can’t help but wonder if there’s a more embarrassing excuse that “Netanyahu misled Trump” — we’re talking about the President of country with the world’s premier military and intelligence capabilities being led by the nose like some clueless toddler when he has at his disposal all the fucking information and assessments he needs.