This article is part of the Ukraine Special Edition, a collaboration between PRovoke Media and the Ukraine Communication Support Network that draws together authoritative international voices to explore the ongoing war through a specific PR and communications lens. More here.

We assembled the Ukraine Communication Support Network (UCSN) just a few months ago, but it seems like a hundred years. So much loss, suffering, and horror has transpired since then, and the war has taken on a very different profile since Russian troops ripped into Ukraine in February.

Then, the war was expected to be brief. Decades of Kremlin propaganda propped up images of an invincible Russian war machine and expectations of a fast and inevitable Ukrainian capitulation, while the rest of the world looked helplessly on. Instead, Ukrainian resistance has been fierce, and effective. The international community responded quickly and decisively, and the Russian blitzkrieg has ground down to a protracted, bloody conflict, with no immediate end in sight.

As the war in Ukraine shifted quickly, so too have the efforts of UCSN. Established initially to enlist communicators from mainly the UK to harness public support for the Ukrainian people through strategic PR, the network will soon have activities underway in dozens of countries to maintain local support for Ukrainian assistance, discourage business from a premature resumption of operations in Russia and Belarus, and to lay the foundations for the rebuilding of a free and intact Ukraine, among many other initiatives.

There is so much hard work left to do. Pressure to lift sanctions is already mounting in some quarters, and others are suggesting what amounts to a Ukrainian surrender in order to restore global supply chains and corporate profits. Neither is tolerable to the Ukrainian people or, we would argue, to anyone who believes in the rule of law.

PRovoke Media have been a stalwart ally for this project from the very beginning, and we are grateful for their continued support with this special series of posts from colleagues around the world. We know you will find inspiration, insight and encouragement in their words, and in the actions of so many others in Ukraine today. Please, stand with us, and stand with Ukraine. 

Nataliya Popovych and David Gallagher are co-chairs of the Ukraine Communication Support Network. 
This article is part of the Ukraine Special Edition, a collaboration between PRovoke Media and the Ukraine Communication Support Network that draws together authoritative international voices to explore the ongoing war through a specific PR and communications lens. More here.

The Ukraine Communications Support Network (UCSN) is an international organisation of PR associations, agencies and advisors committed to helping the people of Ukraine through the power of strategic communications. To stay up to date with UCSN activities globally and to learn what’s happening in your country, please subscribe to the international newsletter.