On 27-29 January 2026, the 2nd International Winter School on Disinformation was held online, organised by the Odesa Centre for Disinformation Studies (OCDS) at Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University.
The Winter School aimed to strengthen theoretical and applied expertise in disinformation studies, information manipulation and hybrid threats through a combination of theoretical lectures, methodological approaches and practical case studies.
The theoretical and methodological modules featured lectures by leading international scholars:
Prof John Downey (Loughborough University, UK) on comparative methods for analysing disinformation and misinformation;
The Odesa Centre for Disinformation Studies (OCDS) is pleased to announce the 2nd OCDS International Winter School devoted to the challenges of disinformation in contemporary world politics.
The Winter School will be held online from 27 to 29 January 2026, and all sessions will be conducted in English.
This year’s programme focuses on analysing how disinformation strategies influence global political and communication processes. Participants will examine the evolution of Russian propaganda across different regions, evaluate the impact of misleading narratives on international security, and explore global experiences in combating disinformation and propaganda.
The School aims to broaden the understanding of analytical and research methods used to study disinformation, while also encouraging young researchers to engage in expert-level discussions about information manipulation, propaganda tools, and their significance in foreign policy.
This blog post was prepared by Yillia Tarasiuk, representative of the Odesa team in
101132692 — GEO-POWER-EU — HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01 - Empowering the Geopolitical EU in the Eastern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans
Project acronym: GEO-POWER-EU
Project duration: 1 June 2024 – 31 May 2027
Project сoordinator from ONU: email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Project goals and specific tasks: Starting in and continuing for three years, a consortium of 14 partner institutions has embarked on the “GEO-POWER-EU: Empowering the Geopolitical EU in the Eastern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans” project, funded by the European Union’s H2020 Research and Innovation programme.
Cultural and social impact of the Turkish Republic on Ukraine in 2008-2024 (PDF)
The school’s geography was very wide: we have had participants from Lithuania and the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Italy, and Turkey to distant Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and Malaysia. Our lectors represent the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Bulgaria, and Mexico.
Feedbacks from more than 30 participants were positive: 83.3% evaluated School as excellent, 16.7% as good. The best opinions were told about level of delivered lectures from Ivanka Mavrodieva (Bulgaria), Ernesto Calvo (the USA) and José Joel Peña Llanes (Mexico). 100% of participants wrote, that they would recommend such events to their fellows.
The Odesa Centre for Disinformation Studies (OCDS) will organize the 1st OCDS International Winter School on Disinformation in Modern World Politics.
The meeting will be organised online, and the preliminary dates are scheduled for February 17-19, 2025. All lectures at the OCDS International Winter School are held in English.
We cordially invite you to the following meeting:
January 31, Friday, at 6 pm (Kyiv time)
Speaker: Svitlana Balinchenko is a Senior Researcher at the Department of History of Foreign Philosophy, H. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, NAS of Ukraine. Since 2001, she has studied the integration tendencies and choices of Ukraine through the perspective of social philosophy. Since the war-triggered internal displacement from Donetsk oblast in 2014, the focus of the research has shifted to the democracy, social cohesion, and solidarity challenges in the context of the war impact on the social-cultural space of Ukraine, in particular, migrants’ visibility in host communities, as well as postwar scenarios for the currently Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Seminar Title: Visibility Contexts of Migration in Ukraine
Last week, the Department of Microbiology, Virology, and Biotechnology at Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University held the XIX International Summer School "Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, and Biomedicine." This scientific event, held annually since 2005, aims to provide high-quality education, promote cutting-edge science, and support the development of young scientists, even amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Summer School serves as a platform where Ukrainian students, graduate students, and young scientists from various countries can interact and listen to lectures from leading scientists worldwide on a wide range of topics in modern biology, biotechnology, and biomedicine.
On the martinoticias.com page, in the special section dedicated to the collaboration between the Office of Cuban Broadcasting (OCB) and OCDS, a new article has been added: Olga Brusylovska, Iryna Maksymenko “Informe Especial sobre votación de Cuba, Venezuela y Nicaragua entre 2014 - 2023 (Parte I)”.
The event was organized under the joint plan of the State Higher Educational Institution "Uzhhorod National University", the NGO "Institute of World Policy", the Volyn Regional Branch of the Center for Ukrainian and European Scientific Cooperation.
On the martinoticias.com page, in the special section dedicated to the collaboration between the Office of Cuban Broadcasting (OCB) and OCDS, a new article has been added:
Kateryna Vakarchuk, Maiia Nikolaieva «Cuba, una pieza clave en la propaganda de Rusia contra Ucrania», https://www.martinoticias.com/a/cuba-una-pieza-clave-en-la-propaganda-de-rusia-contra-ucrania/384175.html
The Willy Brandt Centre organized a workshop “Contested solidarity: perceptions and attitudes towards the Russian war against Ukraine in Latin America and Europe” on March 12, 2024, in hybrid format in English, dedicated to the second anniversary of the start of the Russian aggression against Ukraine. At the workshop, the issues of the attitude of European countries towards Ukraine and the influence of Russian propaganda in the countries of Latin America were discussed. Kateryna Vakarchuk, an employee of the OCDS, took part in the workshop.
On March 18, 2024, a scientific-methodological seminar on "World-system analysis as a method of researching global political processes" was held at the Department of Political Science was held
The main speaker, doctor of philosophy, prof. Vasyl Popkov highlighted the essence of the problem and its relevance for contemporary world political processes. The seminar was attended by lecturers of the department, students and postgraduates of the "Political Science department" specialty, who took an active part in the discussion of the topic.
On 29 January 2024, the Faculty of International Relations, Political Science, and Sociology carried out a solemn ceremony, where graduates majoring in Political Science were awarded their master's diplomas. The faculty's leadership offered words of encouragement, urging them to continue progressing and explore new opportunities. They highlighted that many doors are open for them, and exciting ventures lie ahead. We look forward to seeing these young colleagues pursue further studies in the doctoral program!
The school serves as an educational hub for students, learners, and political enthusiasts.
The School hosts enlightening lectures and discussions and offers a fantastic opportunity to delve deeper into political science and understand the dynamics of both domestic and global politics.
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Thanks to Alvaro Alba, Deputy Director Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB)/ USAGM, the special section created on martinoticias.com for the publications dedicated to cooperation between the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) and the OCDS: www.martinoticias.com
For the moment it consists of an introductory article, the USAGM publication at the beginning of the joint work, the two articles by Kateryna Vakarchuk and her two videos. We will be adding to the section the materials that will be made in the future!
2nd International Round Table “INTERNATIONAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS IN THE DIGITAL AGE”, November 28. Format: online (remote). Purpose: discussion of current issues of international digital media communications. Kateryna Vakarchuk proposed the presentation "Russian propaganda in media of Latin American countries", noting the main narratives that Russia is spreading in the region, appealing to the colonial past of Latin American countries and strengthening anti-American sentiment.
On October 1, 2023, Luigi Nicolò Segarizzi, Research fellow, Institut d’études européennes (IEE-ULB), Brussels, and Attaché – Political, Press and information Delegation of the European Union, Chisinau, visited the Center. The purpose of the visit was to establish stronger scientific and public ties between our institutions, united by the desire for truth in the post-truth era. The focus of our future joint projects is exposing Russian disinformation, which has acquired a universal scale and whose influence negatively affects the lives of all European peoples.
On October 27-29, 2023, training was held as part of the Train the trainers project for representatives from the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions. The purpose of this project is to train trainers in cross-sectoral crisis simulation exercises. Now there are 16 certified trainers in Ukraine, including Ganna Grabina, Assoc. Prof. of the Department of International Relations, and member of the OCDS.
On October 21, 2023, at 11:00 a.m., a guest lecture on the topic "The role of remote monitoring in agriculture and spatial planning" will be held online for students of the Faculty of Geology and Geography , specializaion 103 «Earth Sciences» and speialization 106 «Geography».
The lecturer is Yaryna Oleksandrivna Butenko, PhD in agricultural sciences, senior researcher of the department of information technologies and innovation marketing of the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation of the National Academy of Sciences.
The lecture is open for students of the faculty and all interested in the topic.
Conference ID: 895 1977 5053
Access code: r61jYu
During 1- 21 September 2023, Tetiana KONDRATIUK, a PhD in the geology of oceans and seas, and Valentyna YANKO, a PhD candidate at the Geology and Geography Department of Odesa National Mechnikov University, perform their research work on board the Romanian research vessel "Mare Nigrum" in the Romanian and Bulgarian waters.
The works are carried out within Odesa National Mechnikov University’s associated participation in the international project "DOORS" - "Developing Optimal and Open Research Support for the Black Sea.” This EU research project incorporates science, politics, and industry to recover the Black Sea.
July, 25-28 – The congress “Discourses and their impacts on a world of multiple crises”, co-organised by the international association DiscourseNet and the Latin-American association ALED, at Valencia University, Spain (Olga Brusylovska, Kateryna Vakarchuk)
Hard times always reveal true friends and we are happy to say we have them. During this semester our international colleagues, legal scholars, kindly agreed to give distance guest lectures to the Law students of the Economics and Law Faculty, thus reaffirming the fact that, despite the wartime and related unfavorable conditions, our partners will not leave us behind and do everything they can to aid us and provided:
Plenary Session «THE WAR AGAINST UKRAINE AND THE FUTURE OF EUROPE»
Key note speakers:
- Liliana Rodrigues, former MEP, professor at the University of Madeira (Portugal)
- Olga Brusylovska (Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University, Ukraine) «The Role of Poland in the Formulation and Implementation of EU Eastern Policy».
- Jaroslaw Janczak (Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznan, Poland), «Geopolitics of the European Union: Transformation of EU’s External Borders in the Context of Changing Global Order».
- Anna Serdinova, (Dnipro University of Technology, Ukraine) «World Economy Impacts of the Russian-Ukrainian War»
- Ihor Todorov (Ughgorod National University, Ukraine) «Cooperation between the EU and Ukraine in the Light of Strengthening the Resilience in the Region».
Moderator: Oksana Holovko-Havrysheva
Associate professor of the international relations department Volodymyr Dubovyk took part in the round table "Russia's invasion of Ukraine: repercussions for Belarus and Moldova" at the Fletcher school of law and diplomacy, Tufts university (U.S.) on October 13, 2022.
On October 10-14, 2022, the XII International Summer School "Response to New Nuclear Realities: Concepts and Actions" was held, organized by the Odesa Center for Nonproliferation and the Bodrum Institute with the support of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority and the Richard Lounsbury Foundation. The Summer School was held in the Turkish city of Bodrum. During three days, full of lectures, discussions, and a simulation game, where each student represented his own UN member country, 44 participants from 10 countries took part in the School offline and online. The School's program focused on the study and analysis of the impact of the war in Ukraine on arms control and nonproliferation. The Odesa Center for Nonproliferation supported 8 Ukrainian students in their professional and academic activities by providing scholarships for their participation. The main goal of the Summer School is to train the youth of Europe and the countries of the Black Sea region in the field of nonproliferation, the policy of nuclear countries, arms control and disarmament. Polina Sinovets, Director of the OdCNP and Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations, prepared two lectures for School participants, namely "War in Ukraine: impact on non-proliferation and disarmament" and "Russian nuclear doctrine and European security ".
