Russian propaganda spreads the false narrative that Crimea has belonged to Russia for most of its existence and that its indigenous people, the Qırımtatarlar, or more commonly known as the Qirimli, have always been a small part of the Crimean population and have mixed with Russians.

Despite Russia's numerous attempts to wipe them off the map to fulfill this narrative, today, the Qırımtatarlar are alive and fighting for their homeland on the peninsula and on the other side of the Russian front as part of the Ukrainian Army.

Today, Yuliia and Alim Aliiev, Deputy Director General of the Institute of Ukraine, member of PEN Ukraine, and founder of the Crimean Fig literary project, will discuss the most disputed peninsula in the world — Qirim, or Krym in Ukrainian. Who does it really belong to? Was it really originally Russian land? What happened there between 1918 and 2014, when it became known worldwide after the Russian occupation?

Linnea and Yewleea bring you up to speed on the War in Ukraine in about 20 minutes or less. In today's brief, Yewleea talks about NATO, the counteroffensive, and Russian Meltdowns.

In 2014, Western media took a liking to frequent reporting on what they deemed to be the Ukrainian conflict, labeling the paid-by-Russia militia and their Russian troops as separatists. Through that perception of an independent group of people in the region of Donbas, whose culture and identity were supposedly persecuted, the narrative was formed that they wanted nothing more than to cease being Ukrainian and form their own sub-republics adjacent to Mother Russia.

Today we'll discuss what really happened in Donetsk in 2014 from the perspective of a then 16-year-old born and raised in the city. Were there really pro-Russian crowds yearning to separate from Ukraine, so much that they decided to create their own independent republics?

For Story Saturday on the Ukraine War Brief Podcast (with Yewleea and Linnea), an interview with Harley Whitehead, a logistical support and explosive ordinance disposal volunteer in Ukraine.