Olena Lysenko
As a freelance producer and journalist, I help international media and documentary filmmakers tell their stories. My experience includes working with The New Yorker, NPR, Vox, National Geographic, Vice and others.
Get in touch: olena.v.lysenko@gmail.com
Freelance Producer and Journalist:
Vrij Nederland
- The book about the effect of the full-scale Russian invasion on the lives of Ukrainian women. It’s expected to be published in fall 2024 in The Netherlands.
NRC Handelsblad
- Overleven we deze hel? We weten het niet
- Zal de wereld de brute oorlog die Rusland tegen ons voert gewoon als het ‘nieuwe normaal’
- Vergis u niet, onze veerkracht is groot
- Dansen op het koord tussen de Kievse technoclub en oorlog met Rusland
Vox
- How Russia’s invasion transformed one Ukrainian city
- There are now more land mines in Ukraine than almost anywhere else on the planet
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy, explained in 8 moments
- Putin’s war on Ukraine, explained
- When Russian troops arrived, their relatives disappeared
The New Yorker Magazine
- Produced the award-winning documentary, I Never Had Dreams of My Son, which was released by The New Yorker magazine. Accolades: New Orleans Film Festival, Doc. Berlin, Palm Springs IFF.
National Public Radio (NPR)
Nathan Rott
- The once-quiet southwestern corner of Ukraine is now playing a key role in trade
- Shredded trees, dead dolphins and wildfires — how Russia’s invasion is hurting nature
- Russia’s War In Ukraine Is Hurting Nature
Frank Langfitt
- A member of Ukraine’s parliament now trains a recon and sabotage unit to fight Russia
- Russia intends to annex Kherson in southern Ukraine
- People in Ukraine pay close attention to Putin’s speech on Victory Day
- Russian troops continue push into east and south Ukraine
- Why Russia’s rocket attack on Kyiv is seen as an insult to the U.N.
- Russian missile hits Kyiv just after the head of the U.N. spoke there
Elissa Nadworny
- They’ve spent a lifetime in Kyiv. Not everyone can flee Russia’s war in Ukraine
- After fleeing northern Ukraine, a family works to start a new life
Franco Ordoñez
- War crystalizes young Ukrainian leaders’ calls for a future aligned with Europe
- The latest on the probe into atrocities committed by Russian forces around Kyiv
- Ukrainian doctors describe delivering babies as Russia shelled the hospital
- Ukraine latest: Ukraine forces fight to hold onto Mariupol
- Ukraine’s prosecutor general is determined to hold Russia accountable for atrocities
- The complex effort to hold Vladimir Putin accountable for war crimes
- Russians wreak havoc on Ukrainian farms, mining fields and stealing equipment
Ryan Lucas:
- Ukrainian-Russian families are being torn apart by Russia’s invasion
- Russian forces continue attack on Kyiv and seize Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant
- Ukraine latest: Another cease-fire attempt fails
- After Ten Days Of War, The View From The Ground In Ukraine
- Ukrainian President Zelenskyy spoke to Parliament to ask for global assistance
- Russia is moving its attacks into western Ukraine
Lauren Frayer:
- Some LGBTQ Ukrainians are fleeing Russian occupation. Others are signing up to fight
- Some of Ukraine’s Orthodox churches want to break away from their Russian patriarch
- Ukrainians work to protect historic monuments from Russian bombs
- A direct Russian strike devastated a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Zelenskyy says
- Ukrainian musicians and artists respond to the war in many different ways
- How some people are trying to make art, not war, in Ukraine right now
Daniel Estrin:
- The messaging from Ukrainian officials is that a Russian invasion isn’t imminent
- Where President Zelensky’s popularity stands with people in Ukraine
- Bar, bookstore or bunker? Kyiv residents wonder where to shelter in case of war
- Russia’s Putin accuses the U.S. of trying to drag him into war
- Security experts doubt Ukraine readiness against Russian cyberattack
- Is Ukraine ready for a Russian attack? It depends what kind
- Kyiv braces for Russian attacks, physical and beyond
- Where President Zelensky’s popularity stands with people in Ukraine
- The messaging from Ukrainian officials is that a Russian invasion isn’t imminent
- For Ukrainian musicians, rejecting Russia is a matter of national pride
- In a twist of fate, a family straddles the Russia-Ukraine conflict
- Bar, bookstore or bunker? Kyiv residents wonder where to shelter in case of war
Rob Schmitz:
- Threat of Russian invasion escalates as both sides amass troops at Ukraine border
- Biden administration considers sending up to 5,000 troops to Eastern Europe
- Ex-Ukrainian defense official doesn’t expect Russia to fully invade Ukraine
- Ukraine crisis deepens after U.K. says Russia may try to install a pro-Kremlin leader
- Ukraine has thousands of veterans who would be called to serve in the reserves
Joanna Kakissis:
- Ukrainian women prepare to mobilize in case Russia invades
- Many fleeing Ukraine were still rebuilding their lives after the 2014 Russian assault
- Reservist in Ukraine, with a surprising past, had to decide whether to stay and fight
- Biden says U.S. intelligence signals Russia has decided it will invade Ukraine
- The latest on Russia-Ukraine tensions
- A Ukrainian chef’s borsch is an act of resistance
- On The Ground In Ukraine As Threat Of Russian Invasion Grows
- German Chancellor Scholz is in Kyiv to meet with Ukraine’s president
- Americans living in Ukraine question President Biden’s warning to leave immediately
- U.K.’s Boris Johnson visits Kyiv to stand with Ukraine and Putin remarks on tensions
Frank Langfitt:
- Biden warns Putin of ‘decisive’ response if Russia invades Ukraine
- NATO wants proof after Russia says it’s pulling back troops from Ukraine’s borders
- Russia has ‘hybrid warfare’ options to attack Ukraine
- Russia continues to advance on Kyiv in attempt to topple Ukrainian government
- The latest in Ukraine
- Russian military blasts are felt in the Ukrainian strategic port city of Odesa
- Ukraine’s drift away from Russian influence
- Russia Recognizes Parts Of Ukraine As Independent, Escalating Conflict
- Russia recognizes 2 Ukrainian regions as independent
- Diplomatic talks continue over Ukraine. Will there be a Biden-Putin Summit?
- Russia could be waiting for Olympics to end to move forward with Ukraine invasion
- Russian naval exercises stoke fears of Black Sea blockade
Tim Mac:
- After months of escalation, Russia has begun an invasion of Ukraine
- Russian military forces and Russian-backed separatists strike targets in Ukraine
- The latest on Russia’s multidirectional assault on Ukraine
- As Russia keeps up its attack, how long can Ukraine hold the capital city?
- Ukrainians are forced to adjust to life under martial law
- Ukrainian forces aren’t backing down, 5 days after Russian attacks began
- Kyiv and other cities remain in Ukrainian hands but Russia isn’t letting up
- The latest on the attacks in Ukraine
Reena Advani:
Consider This from NPR:
Morning Edition:
National Geographic
Rest of World
See Kyiv Youtube series
- DROP TO THE FLOOR: Inside Vogue Culture in Kyiv
- Finding ‘Illegal’ Parties in Kyiv
- “Not a Business” Business Model of Kyiv’s Hum:Hum
Voice of America
Researcher
Center for Media at Risk at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
- Wrote an article on Ukrainian documentary filmmakers’ portrayal of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
- Speaker at roundtable discussions How is War Changing Media Futures in Ukraine? (read the text transcripts here), Media Practise in an Emergent World Order (read the text transcripts here, watch the video here), OWN IT Penn: Resiliency in Academia.
- Conducted a workshop on ethical approaches to documentary filmmaking.
- Spoke on the podcast, The Role of Media in Making and Breaking Ukraine’s War Effort
- Featured in UPenn newspaper.
Princeton University
Speaker at the symposium Reporting the First Draft of History: How to Write/Film the War in Ukraine
English-Ukrainian-Russian interpreter and Translator:
Wall Street Journal
- Inside Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s Secret War Company | WSJ Documentary
- Ukraine’s Zelensky on Counteroffensive, China, Trump and More
- Why F-16s Could Be a Game Changer for Ukraine
- Zelensky’s Top Adviser Explains ‘Historic Shift’ in U.S.-Ukraine Relations
- Ukraine ‘Road of Death’ Shows Russians Fired on Civilians: A Video Investigation
- In Russian Occupied Mariupol, Residents Scramble to Find the Missing
War Games (2023)
- Documentary film, directed by Matt Danzico, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Men’s Health
The Daily Beast
WIRED
Vox
References:
Rosie Kingham, Line Producer, Drain The Oceans for National Geographic
It is my pleasure to provide you a reference for Olena Lysenko in regard to her role as our Local Producer/Fixer in Ukraine for Drain The Oceans Series for Mallinson Sadler Productions for National Geographic USA in 2020. Olena is reliable, efficient, detail-oriented and dedicated.
Olena and worked remotely with each other for a number of weeks whilst Olena set up a difficult and sensitive Interview for us in Kyiv during Covid.
Olena assisted us in making contacts, sourcing our Contributors and crew, finding suitable locations setting up the filming. She is well organised, solution driven, very good at managing relationships, she is great with people, and has excellent communication & organisational skills, works well under pressure, and is a good multi-tasker.
I have no doubt that Olena would be an asset to any production unit.
Peter Guest, editor for Rest of World
I worked with Olena Lysenko on a complex assignment in Kyiv. She was an absolutely amazing colleague, tracking down sources, building rapport and translating during interviews. I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.
Jason Blevins, director, producer
She has been my fixer/producer in Kyiv, Ukraine, for nearly seven years; as well as we co-created a YouTube series See-K to showcase this emerging city for a global youth-oriented market. In brief terms, none of my projects in the region would have been successful without her. She is dedicated, passionate and persistent in her work on a project. She also has a strong understanding of storytelling, which is important when providing translation/interpretation. For example, we conducted many interviews and she provided almost simultaneous interpretation with a strong emphasis on story points. She had a deep understanding of the story we were telling about a father’s missing child and was able to identify new information, contextualize it within our story and convey it both to the subject in Ukrainian and to me in English. This level of professionalism is not always present — but Ms. Lysenko excels at this.
Hannah Saleh, director, producer, former editor of VICE
Meeting Olena Lysenko seems like a thing that was meant to be a thing as we came across each other during music festival I visited whilst taking holiday in Kyiv in summer 2017. She made the rest of the holiday unforgettable as she kindly showed our group all the interesting spots we could barely find ourselves. She was also essential help for my photography project, because she showed me the best, yet hidden locations. Her deep insight and brilliant knowledge of the local context and situation turned not only Kyiv, but the whole Ukraine into a place that I will visit anytime I have a chance, both for leisure and work-related purpose. Our frequented and inspiring discussions brought to light the idea of a documentary project where she’ll take part and to which we both are already looking forward to. I strongly recommend Lena
