US blogger learns Ukrainian, exposes Russian imperialism on Instagram
The notion of Ukraine and Russia as “brotherly” whitewashes centuries of imperialism that American Alison Rochford aims to reveal.
In an interview with Euromaidan Press, American blogger and journalist Alison Rochford explained how learning the Ukrainian language and culture inspired her Instagram platform of over 46,000 followers to advocate for more aid to Ukraine.
“My life has been very enriched by learning the Ukrainian language and about Ukrainian culture,” says an American blogger, Alison Rochford, after almost two years of studying Ukrainian. Coming from a communications background, she’s been doing independent reporting and sharing valuable resources on helping Ukraine on her social media since 2022. Alison’s Instagram blog has gained a 46,000 audience, shifting towards becoming more Ukrainian-centric the more she shared about her learning journey.
“My intention was to share lesser-known aspects of the war with an American audience. One of my major goals for 2024 is to find new ways to center Ukrainian voices with an American audience,” shares Alison, admitting that it might be challenging with most of her audience coming from Ukraine.
Alison started learning Ukrainian following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She wanted to understand President Zelenskyy’s daily addresses and first-hand news reports to close the gap between foreign media coverage and the accounts of people directly impacted.
