When Russia expanded its war against Ukraine in early 2022, many Western observers expected the country to surrender within moments. But Ukrainians are fighting resolutely for their freedom-once again.

This text explores Ukrainian conceptions of freedom, starting with the Cossacks, but placing a clear emphasis on events since 1991. Writer and historian Olesya Khromeychuk argues that the roots of Ukrainians' contemporary resilience can be found in a long-standing rejection of imperialist oppression. She relates these concepts of Ukrainian freedom, mirrored in her own history, in a courageously personal manner. In this way, she renders accessible the history of a country about which there is too little knowledge in many parts of the West