---
title: Words on War
date: 2022-08-01T10:05:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/words-on-war"
section: Articles
---
# Words on War

*August 1, 2022* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Alum at Helm of Ukrainian Newspapers Redoubles Efforts to Connect and Inform During Russian Invasion

*Ukraine newspapers 1920x1080 — Andrew Nynka Ph.D. '18 (below) is the editor of two long-running Ukrainian American newspapers. In February, he escaped Ukraine through Poland as Russia began its invasion, and has since focused the papers' coverage on a conflict that has devastated cities and towns throughout the country and killed thousands of noncombatants.*

As Andrew Nynka Ph.D. ’18 stood in line for 26 hours at a checkpoint to cross from Ukraine into Poland, his thoughts repeatedly returned to his grandmother. Her account of fleeing Ukraine as a 22-year-old during World War II “didn’t really hit me until all of this happened,” he said.

Nynka, editor of the Ukrainian-language newspaper [Svobod](https://svoboda-news.com/svwp/)[a](https://svoboda-news.com/svwp/) and its English-language counterpart, [The Ukrainian Weekly](https://subscription.ukrweekly.com/), was delivering satellite communication devices to freelance reporters in Ukraine at the beginning of Russia’s invasion. After his escape, Nynka set to work telling the stories of the war in Ukraine, and even returned to the region several months later.

The grandchild of four Ukrainian immigrants, Nynka grew up in a tight-knit community in New Jersey. “Everybody knows everybody,” he said. “We all came from the same part of Ukraine.” Svoboda, founded in 1893, and The Ukrainian Weekly, created in 1933, were essential reading for Ukrainian Americans, with news and features on politics, culture, sports and people. Today, the Weekly has about 5,000 subscribers, and Svoboda has some 3,000; the staff for both papers is three full-time employees, a part-time copy editor and 10 to 15 freelancers.



*portrait of Andrew Nynka*




**Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni), [War in Ukraine](https://today.umd.edu/topic/war-in-ukraine)


**Units:** [Philip Merrill College of Journalism](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philip-merrill-college-journalism)