First time in Armenia 🇦🇲

Don't Get Sucked into Putin's Ukraine Corruption Propaganda - McCain Institute McCain Institute Global Democracy Program Coordinator Emily Couch addresses Russia’s attempt to weaponize Ukraine’s latest anti-corruption scandal to undermine Western support.

In my 1st blog post for the McCain Institute, I offer my 2 cents on the Energoatom corruption scandal.

Framing it as representing the weakness of Ukrainian democracy misses the point & disregards 🇺🇦 society’s unshakeable commitment to democratic principles.

www.mccaininstitute.org/resources/bl...

2/

Immensely grateful to the Kazakh women activists & experts Raushan Zhandayeva, Diana Kudaibergenova, Olga Veselova, Aigerim Kussaiynkyzy, Laura Vaigorova, and Leyla Makhmudova) for taking the time to share their experiences and expertise.

I would be happy to share a PDF with anyone interested.

Due to life upheavals, a *very* belated plug for my latest @indexoncensorship.org article

Inspired by a powerful exhibition entitled “Women’s Labour” that I had the good fortune of seeing in Almaty, it takes stock of 🇰🇿‘s feminist movements 1+ year on from the Bishimbayev case

1/

After losing my previous job earlier this year, really didn’t think it would be possible to stay in the human rights/ democracy space given *gestures wildly*, let alone to keep working on Eastern Europe/ Eurasia.

Feel lucky to be able to keep doing both

My era of gainful unemployment is finally over:

Next week I’ll be joining The McCain Institute as the Program Coordinator for their Global Democracy team 🌍

In this new role, I’ll be focusing on frontline democracies, including Ukraine 🇺🇦

1/

Nothing makes me feel safe and warm as a British woman of colour than arriving in a town that’s covered in England flags and St George’s cross graffiti (it’s on the zebra crossings ffs)

Love to see the Ukrainian flag flying proudly over Whitehall 💙💛

(This was just one of several)

What’s happening in Alaska today will generate endless op-Eds, hot takes, and media comments but there’s really only so many ways to say “this is morally repugnant and a betrayal of Ukraine”

Including features from @rebeccalroot.bsky.social, @kayagenc.bsky.social, @emilycouchuk.bsky.social,
@martinbright.bsky.social, @nikwilliams.bsky.social, @katiedd.bsky.social, and many others.

For a limited time only, our new magazine issue, Land of the Free? is free to access! In it, we explore how #Trump's administration is impacting free speech in the #US & beyond. Explore: journals.sagepub.com/toc/IOC/curr...

Ukrainians Wonder When Americans Will Hit the Streets Mass protests have often transformed Ukraine—but rarely the United States.

In my latest for @ForeignPolicy , I asked Ukrainians what they make of Americans’ seeming inability to effectively protest rising authoritarianism, & ask what the latter can learn from Ukraine’s impressive history of mass movements 🇺🇦

foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/28/u...

With sincere thanks to EuroMaidan Press’s Alya Shandra, AutoMaidan’s Kateryna Butko , New Voice Ukraine’s @vagrantjourno.bsky.social & the Ukrainian Security & Cooperation Center’s Dmytro Zhmailo for their insights

I (unfortunately) wrote this before the protests against the erosion of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, but I think their occurrence speaks to the broader point of the piece

Ukrainians Wonder When Americans Will Hit the Streets Mass protests have often transformed Ukraine—but rarely the United States.

In my latest for @ForeignPolicy , I asked Ukrainians what they make of Americans’ seeming inability to effectively protest rising authoritarianism, & ask what the latter can learn from Ukraine’s impressive history of mass movements 🇺🇦

foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/28/u...

“I’m going to have some chai tea and naan bread on maidan square”

In the latest edition of the @indexoncensorship.org magazine, I cover the impact of the US foreign aid freeze (specifically on 🇺🇦) & why this is the moment for the U.K. to step up - not cut - its own foreign aid budget. For obvious reasons, this topic is close to my heart personally & professionally

Very excited to have finally made it to Kazakhstan after Va all these years 🇰🇿

Better late than never!

If there is a new Ukrainian restaurant, trust you will find me there 🇺🇦🍽️

This time: Tatar Bunar in Shoreditch, London

Devon supremacy

No need to lionise a man who - among other things - slashed the country’s welfare system and enabled the mass incarceration of black Americans

Can’t help but feel that it’s possible to say “I wish that US leadership was willing to truly stand up to Russia over Ukraine” without wishing for “another Reagan”

Today was my last day with Freedom House after 3 years of working on the Ukraine team. While I knew this was coming the moment that the Trump administration cut our funding, hard not to feel pretty profound sadness.

None of it had to be this way.

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

The article is available for free via Sage Journals. Also happy to share their important work PDF if anyone would like it

journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.11…

In my latest for @indexoncensorship.org, I highlight the tragic yet inspiring renaissance of 🇺🇦 literature in wartime. With deep gratitude to Nedopysani’s @lyr.bsky.social , @chytomo.bsky.social ‘s Iryna Baturevych, & INDEX Ukraine’s @dovzhyk.bsky.social for sharing their important work & insights

Obviously there’s far, far more at stake here than my job. What’s happening is symptomatic of how this administration is turning this country into a fascist, authoritarian state.

I’ve seen the writing on the wall since the EO came out& thought that would inoculate me against the inevitable but it’s still a blow. Knowing that I’m doing something - however small - to support 🇺🇦 in its fight for freedom has been what’s kept me going - it’s hard not to feel unmoored now

Guess the time has come to make it known that I’m now one of the thousands of people in the human rights and international development fields who are being laid off as a result of the Trump administration’s cruel and disastrous executive order “pausing” all US foreign aid

A moment of nerdy pride upon receiving a physical copy of the multiauthor volume I recently contributed to. I’ve been lucky enough to have several things published online but seeing one’s name in print just hits different 📚

Tfw you don’t want to be associated with either of your countries