Ukraine’s veterans. Coming home from a war that isn’t over

Ambassador Erin E. McKee is a highly respected global strategist and policy expert recognized for her leadership in advancing U.S. national security, governance, and economic diplomacy. A trusted advisor at the highest levels of government, Ambassador McKee has served under five U.S. presidential administrations, earning two Senate-confirmed appointments. She has held C-suite equivalent roles since 2009, directing multi-billion-dollar initiatives and managing large-scale operations across diverse regions. Most recently, as Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, she led the agency’s largest budget ($30 billion) and a workforce of 750 professionals across 17 locations, advising on regional dynamics and testifying before Congress to safeguard U.S. interests. 

Previously, as U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, she spearheaded U.S. strategic engagement in the Indo-Pacific, countering geopolitical threats and reinforcing regional stability. Before her diplomatic service, Ambassador McKee built a strong foundation in the private sector, holding leadership positions in capital investment, project management, and legal affairs. This business acumen has been instrumental in fostering economic growth, supporting U.S. enterprises abroad, and navigating complex financial landscapes.

Alina Sarnatska is a Ukrainian writer, playwright, war veteran, a member of PEN Ukraine, PhD in Social Work, author of two books and a Petro Jacyk Scholar at the University of Toronto. Her work restores complexity to people often reduced to social roles, exploring war, memory, mythology, and cultural resilience. A former combat medic in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, she believes that people are far more complex than the roles society assigns to them. Her work has been staged and presented in Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, Germany, the USA, Ireland and Poland. (Alina will join the discussion remotely).

Oleksandr Tereshchenko is a Ukrainian veteran, civic activist, writer and expert on veterans’ policy. He volunteered to defend Ukraine in 2014 and served in the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade. In October 2014, while defending Donetsk airport, he was severely wounded and lost both hands and the sight in one eye. From 2019 to 2021 he served as Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs. He is the founder of the Oleksandr Tereshchenko International Charitable Foundation in Ukraine and its sister foundation in Lithuania. Both support service members and veterans with amputations and other severe injuries, and run peer-to-peer adaptation programmes. He is the author of Life After 16:30 and its sequel Life After 16:30: Seven Years On, about his experience of war, injury and recovery.

Lee Watson is the founder and Executive Director of Fierce Calm, a UK–Ukraine rehabilitation organisation. He has more than 15 years’ experience supporting refugees and survivors of war and torture. Since February 2022, he has been based and worked extensively in Ukraine, developing Ukrainian-led rehabilitation programmes for military personnel and veterans. Fierce Calm’s work brings together psychological support, peer connection & support, adaptive activity, legal advice and community-based rehabilitation, helping veteran recovery continue beyond hospital and into everyday life.

Larissa Babij is the editor of the London Ukrainian Review. She has lived in Ukraine since 2005, working as a translator, writer and performing artist. Her book, A Kind of Refugee: The Story of an American Who Refused to Leave Ukraine (ibidem, 2024), is based on her wartime dispatches on Substack. Her writing and translations have appeared in The Guardian, AGNI, Asymptote, The Evergreen Review and Krytyka, among others. Her co-translation with Helena Kernan of Maksym Kryvtsov's Poems Through the Loophole is forthcoming with Jantar Publishing in 2027. She is a member of PEN Ukraine.