Joanna Kakissis
Joanna Kakissis leads NPR's bureau in Kyiv, coverage of Ukraine and Russia's war on the country.
Since the Kyiv bureau officially opened in January 2023, she has documented the war through Ukraine's people: The citizen-spies who helped liberate their city from occupation; the talented young novelist killed in a missile strike; the small-town mayor trying to deliver aid to his besieged city; the second-graders attending classes underground in a besieged city; the ninety-year-old 'mermaid' swimming in a mine-filled sea; the suburban moms who formed a volunteer air-defense unit.
Kakissis started working with NPR in 2011 from Athens, Greece as a freelancer, traveling throughout Europe for the network. Her reporting focused on the forces straining European unity — migration, nationalism and the rise of illiberalism. She led coverage of the eurozone debt crisis and the mass migration of mostly Syrian refugees to Europe. She's reported extensively in central and eastern Europe and also filled in at NPR bureaus in Berlin, Istanbul, Jerusalem, London, Paris and Rome.
Before joining NPR's staff in 2022, she was a contributor to the award-winning audio documentary program This American Life and also wrote for The New York Times, TIME, The New Yorker online and The Financial Times Magazine, among others. In 2021, she taught a journalism seminar on nationalism and migration as a visiting professor at Princeton University.
Kakissis was born in Greece, grew up in North and South Dakota, and spent her early years in journalism at The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. [Copyright 2025 NPR]
-
With Russian attacks escalating, Ukraine is dependent on air defense systems and munitions supplied by western allies to protect Ukrainian cities. -
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares snapshots of moments from their lives and work around the world. -
The attacks was one of the largest on Ukraine's capital in months. It came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared for the G7 summit in Canada, where he is pushing for stronger sanctions on Russia. -
North Korea sent 11,000 elite soldiers to support Russia. Their progress — especially in drone warfare — has implications not only for Russia's war on Ukraine but also peace on the Korean Peninsula. -
President Trump said the Russian leader Vladimir Putin had warned that he would retaliate for a covert Ukrainian attack in Russia last weekend that destroyed dozens of Russian bombers. -
Officials from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday failed to reach a ceasefire but agreed to exchange more prisoners. -
Ukraine and Russia have begun the exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war, the largest such swap since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. -
The negotiations took place a day later than planned amid low expectations for a breakthrough, after Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump opted not to go to Turkey. -
There are lots of unknowns ahead of potential direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey. -
U.K. Prime Minister says Europe and the U.S. are "calling out" Putin, by proposing a 30-day unconditional ceasefire starting Monday.
