Missing Perspectives

Four years on: A special conversation between Solomiya Sywak and Kateryna Argyrou

Missing Perspectives

We wanted to begin the year by going to the very heart of why Missing Perspectives exists: to centre voices too often pushed to the margins, and to create space for conversations that feel both urgent and deeply human.

The episode brings together two remarkable women - Solomiya 'Miya' Sywak, a young Ukrainian-Australian, and Kateryna Argyrou, recently appointed Honorary Consul of Ukraine in NSW - for a deeply raw conversation.

As 2026 marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Miya and Kateryna reflect on what this prolonged war has meant for Ukrainian women - those fighting on the frontlines, those holding families and communities together under unimaginable strain, and those living far from home, carrying grief, fear and resilience across borders. 

They speak candidly about the emotional toll on young Ukrainian women in Australia: the weight of watching a homeland under attack, the complexity of belonging, and the quiet endurance required to keep showing up to everyday life while history unfolds in real time.

This isn't a conversation driven by headlines or statistics, but by people. It is about womanhood in wartime, diaspora identity, and leadership born of necessity. We couldn't think of a more moving episode to kick off your year.