On the Syria-Ukraine Network.

This week, I was doing what I usually do when I have a few minutes of downtime, listening to a podcast and puttering around the kitchen, when something caught my attention.
I had on an episode of Pod Save the World that included an interview with Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Lapatina, who is reporting on the war in her country.
Lapatina said there is a fundamental gap in understanding war and conflict between people who have lived through these experiences and those who haven't.
"I think it's impossible to fill that gap, no matter how much you read the books and watch the documentaries and talk to people from the Middle East and Africa and anywhere else," she said.
"I've been a political junkie my whole life. I've followed all sorts of conflicts. I have friends in Syria, in Iraq, I have friends in Palestine, and until this war began I really thought, in a way, I got what they're going through," Lapatina said "But the second it was my city that was getting bombed, and the second that it was my people who were being killed, and my country where a genocide was committed, my understanding of that jut skyrocketed."
That made me sit up straight because it was so utterly relatable. Those of us who follow world news ad nauseam feel so connected to the events we cover. We've been to the places under attack and have friends on the ground.
I've found myself pouring over the images of bodies people send me from Bucha. But despite my connection to Ukraine and my devotion to covering events there, I have absolutely no idea what the Ukrainian people are experiencing.
Lapatina noted that she is in constant contact with friends in Syria and Iraq because they get it.
The day after I heard that podcast, I saw that my friend Olga Lautman was helping coordinate a new group called the Syria-Ukraine Network.
Olga is a powerhouse. She's an expert on all things Russia, the Kremlin, intelligence, and organized crime. She's worked as a researcher for author Craig Unger on his book House of Trump, House of Putin, and she's now a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and hosts a podcast, the Kremlin File. She's also half Ukrainian and half Russian.
We met years ago in New York, and I've always been impressed by her passion, breadth of knowledge, and tenacity. I sat down with her to hear about the Syria-Ukraine Network and how people from both countries can support each other when facing Russian aggression.
Cristina: Tell me about this new project. Is this something you started?
Olga: I didn't start this. It fell into my lap, and when I heard about it, I said, 'Oh my God, yes, I am on it.'
A guy named Mouaz started it. He runs the Syrian Emergency Task Force. He's Syrian. He's had this organization for over a decade, and they have contacts with many Syrian groups.
After everything started happening in Ukraine, they asked what more they could do. Their first instinct was to ask how they could help because they saw it was similar to what happened to them in Syria. So they decided to try to connect to Ukrainians.
They have all of the contacts in Syria. I know everyone in Ukraine. It's all coming together because this is only two weeks old.
Cristina: What have you been working on so far?
Olga: One of the first things we did was send out Doctor Tennari, from the Syrian American Medical Society. He runs secret hospitals in Syria to treat chlorine and sarin patients. We helped him get to Kyiv, and he's been working there in a hospital.
I've also contacted all of the civil society organizations in Ukraine. I told them about it, and everyone was enthusiastic. We've got Stop Fake involved. They work with disinformation. We have another organization in Kharkiv that is documenting war crimes. So we're creating a loose coalition.
Now we're going to start partnering people. My job is to help with that. If we have a chemical weapons expert, we'll partner them with people who need that expertise in Ukraine. Or, if people are documenting war crimes in Ukraine, we'll partner them with Syrians with expertise on that.
People will be traveling back and forth, communicating over the phone, sending manuals, and sharing best practices and their own experiences.
Ultimately, hopefully, both will eventually find justice. There are Russian Generals who have operated in both theaters, and soldiers and mercenaries. With the evidence compiled from both countries, we can show these are the same tactics.
This all came together because there were two groups of people: one is suffering and the other has been suffering. The project is leading us.

The network is brand new and doesn't have a website yet. But you can follow them on Facebook or Twitter for more updates. Partnerships will be announced on the Facebook page.
Please share this newsletter on social media or upgrade to a premium subscription for $2 a month if you can afford it. You can also write to me for any reason: c.maza@protonmail.com.