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]
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An increasing number of women are joining the Ukrainian military, with thousands serving in front line roles, as Russia's war on Ukraine nears its fourth year — with no peace in sight. -
The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab says Russia's network of sites for Ukrainian children is larger than previously thought, and programs includes military training for children as young as 8. -
Poland said Wednesday that it and its NATO allies had shot down Russian drones that violated Polish airspace in what it called an "act of aggression" as Russia launched aerial attacks on Ukraine. -
After mass protests, Ukraine's government enacts a law restoring independence to anti-corruption watchdogs, quelling what threatened to turn into a domestic political crisis for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. -
The anti-corruption agencies were created after pro-democracy protests in 2013. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy claims corruption cases take too long and suggested the agencies were compromised. -
The two sides made little progress toward a ceasefire — despite President Trump's threats of harsh new economic penalties on Moscow should it fail to agree to a deal by early September. -
President Trump threatened to punish Russia with heavy tariffs on countries that trade with Moscow if the Kremlin fails to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, while promising Kyiv weapons. -
The northern regional capital has become a frequent target of Russian drones, missiles and guided bombs. Now, Ukraine's top general says at least 50,000 Russian troops have massed across the border. -
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.
