---
title: "The \"Great Return\": How Ukraine is building a dialogue with five million Ukrainians in emigration"
description: "NGO Internews-Ukraine, within the framework of the German YOUA project, is launching an ambassador initiative for a dialogue on the return of five million Ukrainians from emigration. Program Director Andrii Kulakov explains the strategy."
date: 2026-11-13T17:10:33.714Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/dialogue-on-return-of-ukrainians-from-emigration
tags: [ukraine, diaspora, reintegration, germany, giz, sociology, media]
author: "Alexander Buran"
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# The "Great Return": How Ukraine is building a dialogue with five million Ukrainians in emigration

![Andrii Kulakov, media professional and program director of Internews-Ukraine NGO, giving an interview](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/13/dialog-o-vozvrashchenii-ukraincev-iz-emigratsii/dialog-o-vozvrashchenii-ukraincev-iz-emigratsii-1.webp)

## Key Points

- NGO Internews-Ukraine has launched the project "Strengthening Dialogue on Return and Reintegration through the Ambassador Initiative."
- The initiative is part of the YOUA program, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Government.
- CAT-UA research showed that the topic of Ukrainians leaving and returning is the most polarizing (43%) among eight topics studied.
- Program Director Andrii Kulakov refutes the "Monaco Battalion" myth and highlights the trauma of displacement.

The NGO "Internews-Ukraine" has begun implementing the project "Strengthening Dialogue on Return and Reintegration through the Ambassador Initiative." The initiative relies on artistic formats, the involvement of people with personal experience of forced emigration, and representatives of local communities: the goal is to build sustainable "bridges" between those Ukrainians who stayed in the country and those who left at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. How to make this difficult communication effective without slipping into pathos and didacticism was explained in an interview with RBC-Ukraine by Andrii Kulakov, a media professional and program director of Internews-Ukraine NGO.

### "The Great Return" versus enemy narratives

According to Kulakov, the enemy cannot help but use the objectively difficult situation with forced emigration to strengthen its own narratives — to counter the return of Ukrainians home and the consolidation of society. At the same time, as the program director emphasizes, this should not stop "raising the topic of the great return." By analogy with the "Great Migration of Nations," he speaks of a "great return" of more than five million people forced to leave their homes. Kulakov identifies physical security against the backdrop of increased Russian strikes, changes in their timing, and the use of new technologies as a key problem, but insists: the dialogue about the necessity of return must not be stopped — "and this is needed not only by us."

### German support and the "Dodomu" platform

The ambassador project is being implemented as part of a larger program, "YOUA — Shaping New Paths, Building Ukraine’s Future," which is implemented on behalf of the German Government by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The global goal of YOUA is to strengthen the capabilities of Ukrainian partners at the national and local levels to support return and reintegration processes: from sociological research to the creation of practical tools, including the "Dodomu" digital platform with a clear route for returning to Ukraine, and work with communities. In this architecture, Internews-Ukraine will focus on developing communication with the diaspora, while German partners, according to Kulakov, understand the importance of social dialogue on this topic.

### 43%: a topic that divides society

The topic of return, according to experts, is extremely sensitive and has become one of the favorites for manipulation. This year, the NGO Internews-Ukraine, together with the research company CAT-UA, analyzed the lines of division in internal Ukrainian discussions. Among the eight topics studied, the highest level of differentiation and tension — 43% — was caused by the very topic of Ukrainians leaving abroad and their return; expressions of mutual understanding were recorded only in isolated cases. For Kulakov, this is a "clear signal": a dialogue is needed, based on the principle of "peer-to-peer" — a conversation about the "pains" common to everyone who is experiencing the invasion, and their discussion for the sake of finding mutual understanding.

### The myth of the "Monaco Battalion" and displacement trauma

The program director refutes the common myth that all those who left live like the "Monaco Battalion": most of the five million are in conditions far from the reality of ex-politicians and celebrities. In Ukraine, domestic comfort and services are highly developed, and many displaced persons experience its loss "at hand"; one has to adapt to a different system, prices, medicine, education, and an alien landscape. Along with caring host families, there are also cases of toxic attitudes or rising hostility toward Ukrainians, which are psychologically difficult to bear. Separately, Kulakov highlights the sociologically and psychologically proven trauma of displacement, which is particularly severe for the "rooted" Ukrainian mentality and which is often not noticed from inside the country.

The conclusion of Internews-Ukraine’s position is formulated simply: Ukraine, the state and the cities, are primarily people, and it is important to preserve not only borders and territories but also the filling of these territories with people. Those who have left, according to Kulakov, want to return themselves, live where they lived, and feel their roots. The task of the ambassador project is not to impose a position, but to create a space for equal dialogue in which the topic of return ceases to be a field for manipulation and becomes a common cause for society.

## Fact-Check & Sources

- [На уровне чувств: как строить диалог о возвращении украинцев из вынужденной эмиграции](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/rivni-pochuttiv-k-buduvati-dialog-povernennya-1794584028.html) - Source: interview with Andrii Kulakov. The launch of the ambassador project, connection to YOUA/GIZ, the "Dodomu" platform, CAT-UA data (43%, 8 topics), and the 5+ million displaced persons estimate are confirmed.

## FAQ

### What is the "ambassador initiative" project?

It is an Internews-Ukraine project, "Strengthening Dialogue on Return and Reintegration through the Ambassador Initiative," which builds a dialogue between those who stayed in Ukraine and those who left through artistic formats and people with emigration experience.

### Who funds and implements the YOUA program?

The program "YOUA — Shaping New Paths, Building Ukraine’s Future" is implemented on behalf of the German Government by GIZ GmbH; Internews-Ukraine works within it as a component responsible for communication with the diaspora.

### What data does the CAT-UA study provide?

According to research conducted with CAT-UA, out of eight studied topics, the topic of Ukrainians leaving and returning caused the highest level of differentiation — 43%.