Ukraine: The Human Price of War

The CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security presents Ukraine: The Human Price of War, a short documentary series examining the shocking attack on the country and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin and his armed forces will continue their past behavior in Syria and Chechnya - targeting civilian populations and infrastructure - including the medical sector. Our exploration includes voices of Ukrainians on the ground and leading experts on security, humanitarian issues and international law.

Ukraine: The Human Price of War is the fourth collaboration between CSIS Senior Vice President J. Stephen Morrison, and Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist Justin Kenny (Small Footprint Films). Their first CSIS GHPC feature film, The New Barbarianism (2017), was awarded the Best Documentary prize at the LA Film Festival, aired on PBS, and was featured in the Christian Science Monitor, PBS NewsHour, and PBS’s Story in the Public Square.

Episode 8

As the two year anniversary of Russia’s escalated invasion of Ukraine approaches, a troubling and underreported trend is emerging. Over 80 percent of Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from the frontlines are carrying antimicrobial resistant (AMR) organisms. The carriers are worsening an already grave AMR global crisis by spreading the highly resistant organisms to hospitals and clinics across Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe. 

Episode 7

Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine one year ago. How do we understand the true, complex human toll that Russia’s campaign of barbarianism exacts upon Ukrainian society? And what lies ahead in year 2? Will the Ukrainian nation hold together? What about essential external allies?

In episode 7 of Ukraine: The Human Price of War, we hear from Susan Glasser of the New Yorker, Nick Schifrin of the PBS NewsHour, Ukraine Minister of Health Dr. Viktor Liashko, The German Marshall Fund of the United States President Heather Conley, Seth Jones, Harold Brown Chair / Director, CSIS International Security Program, and J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President, Director, CSIS Global Health Policy Center.

Episode 6

The Russian missile attacks upon Ukraine’s power grid, starting October 10 across all of Ukraine, have been relentless over the past ten weeks. The very viability of heating, water and basic services is on the table. As winter advances, the race is on to accelerate efforts to protect Ukrainians. How close is Ukraine to the breaking point? And what would that mean?

This episode includes answers from World Health Organization (WHO) European Regional Director Hans Kluge, Ukraine Minister of Health Viktor Liashko, Alliance for Public Health International Programs Director Tetiana Deshko, German Marshall Fund of the United States President Heather Conley, CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program Director Joseph Majkut, CSIS Senior Vice President and CSIS International Security Program Director Seth Jones and CSIS Senior Vice President and CSIS Global Health Policy Center Director J. Stephen Morrison.

Episode 5

On October 8, Ukraine scored militarily when it bombed the bridge to Crimea. Russia retaliated with sustained bombing of Ukraine’s civilian power grid and water system, pegged to the advent of winter. Russia’s escalating attacks could trigger more than three million additional Ukrainians fleeing their homes. Kyiv officials are planning for a possible evacuation.

In this episode we explore the war’s changing dynamics and the potential severe impact on Ukraine’s population with The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser, PBS NewsHour’s Nick Schifrin, USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Assistant Administrator Sarah Charles, CSIS Senior Vice President and CSIS Global Health Policy Center Director J. Stephen Morrison, CSIS Senior Vice President/ Harold Brown Chair/ CSIS International Security Director Seth Jones, Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition Director Leonard Rubenstein and Ukrainian health officials including 100% Life’s Coordination Council Head Dmytro Sherembei, 100% Life’s Chernihiv Network Chairman Anzhela Mojseenko and Alliance for Public Health International Program Director Tetiano Deshko.

Episode 4

At the three-month mark of Russia's invasion, Ukraine, while fragile and vulnerable, is surviving. In the face of a long and bloody war of attrition unfolding in the East and the South, as Russia blockades Ukraine's access to the Black Sea, the human toll for Ukraine's citizens is likely to worsen. Can massive Western assistance reach Ukraine in time to defeat Putin? Can the transatlantic alliance hold together under mounting stress? An exceptionally high volume of Russian attacks on healthcare persists, drawing the condemnation of the World Health Organization leadership. An historic moment in international justice may be emerging, when it is possible to bring Russian war criminals to justice.

The episode features Nick Schifrin, Foreign Affairs & Defense Correspondent at PBS Newshour; Derek Chollet, Counselor at the United States Department of State; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme; Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine at the World Health Organization; Oleksii Laramenko, Deputy Minister for European Integration at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine; Anzhela Moiseienko, Chairman of the Board at 100% Life Chernihiv Network; Apoorva Mandavilli, Reporter at the New York Times; Len Rubenstein, Director, Program on Human Rights, Health and Conflict and Author of Perilous Medicine (2021); Judyth Twigg, Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University; Max Bergmann, Director of the CSIS Europe Program; Seth G. Jones, CSIS Senior Vice President and Harold Brown Chair/Director of the CSIS International Security Program; and J. Stephen Morrison, CSIS Senior Vice President and Director of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center.

Episode 3

Russia's strategic failure to capture Kyiv fuels the rise in terror and atrocities against civilians. Mariupol and Bucha have become symbols of Russia’s barbarity, just as it has become clear that Putin and his commanders are committing war crimes. The second phase of the war has commenced: the campaign to lay waste to the southeast.

The episode features Susan Glasser, Staff Writer at The New Yorker; Dr. Anna Kukharuk, a pediatrician at the Zhytomyr Central Children's Hospital; Nick Schifrin, Foreign Affairs & Defense Correspondent at PBS Newshour; Dmytro Sherembei, Head of the Coordination Council at Ukraine’s 100% Life; Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director at the Alliance for Public Health in Ukraine; Marti Flacks, CSIS Khosravi Chair and CSIS Director of the Human Rights Initiative; Natasha Hall, CSIS Middle East Program Senior Fellow; Seth Jones, CSIS International Security Program Director and CSIS Senior Vice President; and J. Stephen Morrison, CSIS Senior Vice President and Director of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center.

Episode 2

The startling escalation of Russian military violence against Ukraine's medical system and civilian infrastructure has displaced over 7 million people, destroyed cities, and caused enormous civilian casualties. On days 19-22 of the invasion, David Miliband, Christina Wille, Alla Soroka-Krotova, Andriy Klepikov, Seth G. Jones, and J. Stephen Morrison dissect how Putin's decisions and the course of the war are driving towards ever high destruction of Ukrainian society, and may soon widen the war and cross boundaries.

Experts in security and global health are joined by leaders at the International Rescue Committee, Insecurity Insight, Alliance for Public Health, and Ukrainian Medical Club for the second episode of Ukraine: The Human Price of War.

Episode 1

Russia has shown a pattern of indiscriminate violence in their past behavior in Syria and Chechnya, historically taking a "scorched earth" approach that targets civilian populations and medical infrastructure. On days 8 and 9 of the invasion, Seth G. Jones, Marti Flacks, Jacob Kurtzer, Leonard Rubenstein, and Alla Soroka-Krotova assess the rapid escalation of the war thus far and look forward to the dangerous days ahead.

Experts in international security, human rights, and global health are joined by the Ukrainian Medical Club's International Communication Director to open the first episode of Ukraine: The Human Price of War.