Author | Lightnews

Maria Romanenko

@rommari.bsky.social

4K followers 160 following 200 posts

Multi-award-winning journalist, activist, event host, and public speaker || from Ukraine 🇺🇦, now in Manchester 🇬🇧 || Instagram/Twitter: @rommari || 📩: [email protected]

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Nov 19

📍‼️🇺🇦🇷🇺 1000 Days ‼️📍

“And if the US does stop [supplying weapons] under Trump, how long will Ukrainians continue to support the war?” BBC 5 live presenter Stephen Nolan asked me in an interview a few days ago.

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · 5d

(Photo of Podil taken a couple of years ago from somewhere I used to live — for illustration purposes only.)

Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · 5d

Last night, Russia hit my district in #Kyiv —Podil —3 times. Too close to home.
My heart aches for everyone whose homes were damaged, for the injured, and for those who lost loved ones.
It’s horrifying that this is still happening nearly 4 years into the full-scale invasion.
#RussiaIsATerroristState

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · 29d

Honoured to receive a Certificate of Gratitude from 🇺🇦 Ambassador General Valerii Zaluzhnyi at the Stronger Together forum in #London — recognition of my work supporting Ukrainians in the UK and beyond 💛💙

#Ukraine

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Sep 25

Proud to present All For Ukraine’s community work at the #StrongerTogether forum by British-Ukrainian Aid and the Embassy of Ukraine in the UK.

If you’re near Holland Park today, come say hi and discover more about mine and Jez Myers’s award-winning initiatives 💛💙

#London #Ukraine

Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Sep 24

On my way to #London for the first-ever #Ukraine Forum, organised by British-Ukrainian Aid and the Embassy of Ukraine in the UK 🇺🇦🇬🇧

Excited to share our story and the work of All For Ukraine over the next two days 💛💙 (with Pes Patron in tow as a symbol of resilience 🐾)

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Sep 10

I am in #Kyiv, #Ukraine. In a spectacular fashion only I could manage, I slept through all the explosions. Kyivans I’ve spoken with today had a sleepless night.

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Sep 3

Last night in #Kyiv I asked a friend:
“Do you think it’ll be bomby tonight?”
He said: “Of course it’ll be bomby.”
Me: “No, I mean… extra bomby.”

This is what passes for small talk in wartime Kyiv.

#Ukraine

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Sep 2

Breakfast one moment, explosions the next. That’s life in #Kyiv — and somehow, even so, I’m just worried about being late to the dentist.

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 28

One of the craziest yet most accurate photos of life in #Ukraine since 2022:

Two young women calmly getting their hair done in a #Kyiv salon, minutes after it was damaged by a russian missile. Because life goes on.

📸 Ivan Antypenko / Suspilne News

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 24

A fantastic show of solidarity from Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney and Lord Provost of Edinburgh Robert Aldridge for Ukraine’s Independence Day today.

Scotland stands with Ukraine 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇦

Slava Ukraini! Happy Independence Day of #Ukraine!

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 23

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for Fringe shows to see this weekend, please let me know! I’m a Fringe virgin so this is all super new and exciting for me.

Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 23

I am in #Edinburgh for the next couple of days. Does anyone know of any Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations in the city? I couldn’t find anything apart from an opera concert.

Also, if anyone is here too, give me a shout. I will have some free time 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 23

Happy Day of the National Flag of #Ukraine!

Colours of freedom 💛💙

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 21

Ceding land to #Russia is just waiting for the next war.

2014 proved it: giving up #Crimea only paved the way for the 2022 invasion.

My answer on #BBCBreakfast👇🏻

#Ukraine

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 20

#Russia must go home — and pay for what it’s done.

And when the #BBCBreakfast presenter asked me if I’ll go back to #Ukraine one day, my answer was a resounding yes — before she even finished the question.

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 19

Me on BBC Breakfast this morning:

Talks in #Washington may sound optimistic – but #Russia tortured & killed my journalist friends Maks Levin and Victoria Roshchyna. No paper signed in DC will erase that reality, or #Moscow’s imperialism.

#Ukraine #BBCBreakfast

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 17

It was great to join Stephen Nolan on @bbc5live.bsky.social as the Alaska summit was unfolding. In hindsight, it turned out exactly as many feared — more spectacle than substance.

#Ukraine #Russia

Steve Fifield @stevefifield.bsky.social · Aug 17

Maria Romanenko with Stephen Nolan on Radio 5 Live:

“This is the man responsible for killing thousands of Ukrainian’s torturing civilians being treated as an honoured guest of the United States who are supposedly the leaders of the free world”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyJ4...

@rommari.bsky.social

Trump & Putin in Alaska - Maria Romanenko talks with Stephen Nolan

YouTube video by Steve Fifield

www.youtube.com

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 16

Thanks to @lbc.co.uk and @natashadevon.bsky.social for having me on to discuss the Trump–Putin talks.

My main message: ceding land doesn’t save lives, it rewards killing. Ukrainians are fighting for sovereignty, not to be pushed into an imperialism deal.

#Ukraine #Russia

LBC @lbc.co.uk · Aug 16

‘We don’t want imperialism dressed up as peace.’

Ukrainian journalist Maria Romanenko tells @natashadevon.bsky.social that she wants ‘accountability’ from Russia, instead of peace talks that ‘extort’ her country.

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Maria Romanenko @rommari.bsky.social · Aug 14

I’m appalled that the Royal Opera House & Royal Ballet plan to host Anna Netrebko—tied to Putin & the Russian state—while #Ukraine is under daily attack.

I joined others in an open letter in @theguardian.com urging them to reconsider.

Read here and please share:
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

The Royal Ballet and Opera must reconsider its invitation to Anna Netrebko | Letter

Letters: The Russian singer is symbol of cultural propaganda for a regime that is responsible for serious war crimes in Ukraine, say co-signatories including Sergiy Kyslytsya, Andriy Kurkov, Helen Cla...

www.theguardian.com

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