He is a strong supporter of Ukraine, and his work includes a comprehensive overview of events in Ukraine both prior to and following Russia’s full-scale invasion. Besides his famous daily updates on Ukraine via Twitter, reaching nearly 300K followers, John Sweeney was in Ukraine in February 2022. He remained in the capital during the Battle of Kyiv to report firsthand on the situation. He also filmed the documentary ‘The Eastern Front: Terror & Torture in Ukraine’, investigating war crimes, and wrote ‘Killer in the Kremlin’, exposing, among other subjects, the events leading to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

During the session, our students asked John questions about his work as a journalist and writer, learned about the importance of humour in building relationships with people, heard numerous incredible anecdotes from John’s life, and much more! To give you a taste of how it all went down, here are a couple of quotes from John and impressions from the students who attended the event:

“The stories that matter are the stories that power and money don’t want to be told. It’s not a mission; I just want to tell the truth and stand up for ordinary people who can be quite extraordinary and give a voice to people who might not have a voice. I have made lots of mistakes in my life, but staying in Kyiv in February, March, and April 2022 was not one of them.“

John Sweeney

“John Sweeney - what a MAN. What a life he's lived; this hour flight so fast... Magnificent experience (I would like to repeat it😁)”

Nikita Balan

Click here to watch the recording of the session with John.