Highlighting Russia’s colonial imprint

Busts and statues of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and other Communist Party figures from the Soviet era at an informal outdoor museum in Kyiv. — ©2024 The New York Times Company

ON a recent afternoon in Kyiv, a professor of literature and a stand-up comedian ​got together to talk about Russian colonialism, a subject that has become ​a preoccupation among Ukrainian activists, cultural figures and bookstore owners.

​The moderator of the discussion, which was recorded for a new podcast for Ukraine’s national public broadcaster, was Mariam Naiem, a graphic designer and former philosophy student who has become an unlikely expert on the topic.