Episode 97

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Published on:

4th Sep 2025

Ukrainian POW Recalls How He Went From Pacifist To Soldier

I sat down with Maksym Butkevych, a human rights activist who spent more than two years as a POW in Russian captivity. Hearing him describe the torture and starvation he endured was heartbreaking.

What moved me most was Maksym's transformation—from a pacifist with no military experience to someone who took up arms to defend his homeland immediately after the Russian invasion. He fought bravely until he and his unit were captured in June 2022.

During his captivity, Maksym was starved and fed stale food, like his fellow POWs. He thought he wouldn’t make it out alive. He was released in October 2024.

Today, Maksym continues to advocate for war veterans, defend refugee rights, and push for a diverse, inclusive Ukraine.

To watch the full interview go to www.youtube.com/@terrelljstarrofficial

Executive producer and host: Terrell J. Starr

Editor and producer: Mike Hull

Guest: Maksym Butkevych

Special Thanks: Philip Ittner and On The Edge studio

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Blue Sky at @terrelljstarr.

Support our work on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/Terrelljstarr...

#ukraine #ukrainewar #ukrainenews #trump

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About the Podcast

Terrell J Starr Official

The world is full of black people, but when the mainstream media talks about the world, we hardly ever hear from them. Black Diplomats—a podcast dedicated to international politics and culture from the perspective of people of color—is going to...

Founded in 2020 and led by Terrell Jermaine Starr, this is the go-to podcast for those who want relatable content on global affairs that doesn’t center the perspectives of white male experts.

Few foreign policy shows are led by Black people or center the opinions, experiences and expertise of people of color. Black Diplomats is one exception. Guests are mostly people of color and people who are indigenous to the regions the episodes focus on.

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About your host

Terrell Starr

Terrell Jermaine Starr is the senior reporter at The Root, where he writes about the 2020 election and foreign policy, mostly U.S. relations with Ukraine and Russia. He is also the The Root’s 2020 correspondent and is tasked with interviewing presidential candidates and traveling to communities around the country to see who voters are eyeing to cast ballots for during the 2020 primary and the general election.

Some of the people Starr have conducted sit-down interviews with include U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke, former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, U.S. Senator Cory Booker and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, among other politicians.

Before working at The Root, Starr was at Foxtrot Alpha, a blog that focuses on military, technology and policy. Prior to that, he worked for FUSION as a national political correspondent covering the 2016 presidential campaign. He lived Ukraine as a Fulbright fellow, and Georgia as a Peace Corps volunteer. Starr has over four years of experience living in the former Soviet Union and more than eight years working as a reporter. Starr uses his media skills to break down Russia-U.S. relations in ways that make him not sound like a Washington hack. He is a frequent guest and co-host of the popular podcast In The Thick and his work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Mother Jones and Buzzfeed.

Starr is a regularly sought after speaker on U.S.-Russian relations, Ukrainian politics and the intersection of race and politics in America.