De-occupied by Bogdan Logvynenko

De-occupied by Bogdan Logvynenko – Stories of Ukrainian Resistance – is a wonderful book, a must-read. I got it from Ukraine and it’s not widely available, unfortunately. Hopefully this will change in the future, as I think many would want to read the stories told in this book. It is a history book, a compilation of reportages from the recently de-occupied territories of Ukraine. Some of the stories are from well known places, such as Bucha, Irpin, Izium, and Kherson. Some are of small villages, one so small, with only 20 houses, that it didn’t even have a store. This makes the book so interesting, as these stories, of a few people in a remote location were highly unlikely to be told, unless there was an organisation like Ukraїner.

The book offers a good balance between stories of resistance and some on collaboration. Only one story is of the village X, in which all the names are changed, as it is the story of a collaborator.

I liked a lot of aspects of the book, the stories are intertwined with ideas of nationhood, motivations, what is collaboration, how people change, historical precedents of modern-day actions, a few comments on language. It is a complex story, and an ongoing story. The book was published in 2023 in Ukrainian and this is the 2025 translation, but the war moved, one of the cities mentioned – Kupiansk – is again in the news. It was occupied and de-occupied. Now it is almost completely destroyed. It is the one putin said it was captured in November, where President Zelenskyy filmed his video in December, showing that the city in fact is not occupied.
I highly recommend the book. Do read it if you have the opportunity.

De-occupied by Bogdan Logvynenko

Details about the picture: Ukrainian cup of coffee
My rating: 5/5 Stars
Would I recommend it: YES!
Published by: Ukraїner
Year it was published: 2025 [Ukrainian language edition published in 2023]
Format: Hardcover
Genre(s): History of Ukraine
Pages: 400

About the author: Bogdan Logvynenko was born in 1988, in Kyiv. He is a Ukrainian journalist, writer, and founder of the Ukraїner media platform and publishing house.
In the years preceding Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, together with Ukraїner’s team, he travelled across Ukraine, gathering stories of people who preserve local traditions and drive social initiatives.
In 2022, he carried out a series of expeditions and documented the journey through territories liberated from Russian occupation. The result is this collection of stories — living accounts of survival and defiance.
Through the voices of everyday Ukrainians — civilians, volunteers, and soldiers — Logvynenko captures the raw, unfiltered reality of war: the brutal pain of Russian occupation and the extraordinary triumph of resistance.
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