Andriy Kulykov
{{Short description|Ukrainian journalist}}
{{Infobox person
| native_name = Куликов Андрій Вікторович
| native_name_lang = UK
| image = File:Andriy Kulykov.png
| caption = Kulykov during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy
| other_names = *Andron Dovhotelesy
- Andrei Savitsky
| birth_date = September 27, 1957
| birth_place = Kiev, Soviet Ukraine, USSR
| citizenship = Former USSR
Current Ukraine
| alma_mater = Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
| occupation = *Journalist
| known_for = Propagandist for the Soviet State who became an independent journalist in later years
| awards = Teletriumph Award
| module = {{Infobox officeholder|embed=yes
|office1 = Cofounder and Chair of the board of Hromadske Radio
|term_start1 = September 14, 2015
|term_end1 =
|predecessor1 = Olexander Buzyuk
|successor1 =
|office2 = Chair of the Journalism Ethics Commission of Ukraine
|predecessor2 = Volodymyr Mostovyi
|term_start2 = 2016
}}
| module2 = {{Commons category-inline|Andriy Kulykov}}
}}
Andriy Kulykov (born 1957) is a Ukrainian journalist, editor, television and radio presenter, actor, media expert, and media editor.{{Cite web |title=Kulikov Andrii - latest news today – 112.ua |url=https://112.ua/en/tag/kulikov-andrej |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=112.ua |language=en}} He is widely known in Ukraine as the former host of {{Interlanguage link|Freedom of Speech (ICTV)|UK|Свобода слова (ICTV)}}, a popular political talk show broadcast on ICTV,{{Cite web |last=moroko |date=2022-11-14 |title=Andriy Kulykov {{!}} CivilMPlus |url=https://civilmplus.org/en/speakers/andriy-kulykov/index.htm |access-date=2025-05-14 |language=en-US}} but he also been involved with the BBC, Hromadske Radio, and other news media publications and broadcasters. Kurlykov is also a professional English-Ukranian language Translator-referent.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-01 |title=Andriy Kulykov |url=https://ukrainian-studies.ca/author/andriy-kulykov/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Forum for Ukrainian Studies |language=en-US}} He has been involved in the journalistic effort to explain the Russian invasion of Ukraine to English-speaking audiences.{{Cite news |title=Ukrainian journalist paints a picture of the country under siege |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/02/26/1083283258/ukrainian-journalists-paints-a-picture-of-the-country-under-siege |access-date=2025-05-14 |work=NPR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=democracyparadoxblog |date=2022-04-26 |title=Marta Dyczok and Andriy Kulykov on the Media, Information Warriors, and the Future of Ukraine |url=https://democracyparadox.com/2022/04/26/marta-dyczok-and-andriy-kulykov-the-media-information-warriors-and-the-future-of-ukraine/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Democracy Paradox |language=en-US}} On March 1, 2022, Kulykov was broadcasting live from his apartment when the Russian military bombed the Kyiv radio transmission tower.{{Cite web |title=Ukraine’s Information Warriors |url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/ukraines-information-warriors/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Journal of Democracy |language=en-US}} Kulykov also demanded the release of captured Ukrainian journalist Maksym Butkevych, publicly pleading the case for his safe return to Ukraine.{{Cite web |title=Truth is only thing to counter Russian lies about Maksym Butkevych – father of captured human rights defender |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/oleksandr-butkevych-andriy-kulykov-truth-is-only-thing-to-counter-russian-lies-about-maksym-but |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=The Anarchist Library |language=en}}
Kulykov is currently the chair of the board of Hromadske Radio and leads Ukraine’s {{Interlanguage link|Commission on Journalism Ethics|UK|Комісія з журналістської етики}},{{Cite web |date=2023-02-27 |title=Commission on Journalism Ethics |url=https://www.presscouncils.eu/commission-on-journalism-ethics/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Media Councils in the Digital Age (MCDA) |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=About the CJE |url=https://cje.org.ua/en/about/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Комiсiя з журналiстської етики |language=en-US}} a professional self-regulatory body. He lectures regularly at higher education institutions across Ukraine,{{Cite web |date=2016-12-03 |title=Андрій Куликов став головою Комісії з журналістської етики {{!}} Українські Новини |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203153231/http://ukranews.com/ua/news/463648-andriy-kulykov-stav-golovoyu-komisii-z-zhurnalistskoi-etyky |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=web.archive.org}} and is part of the academic staff at Mariupol State University in Donetsk Region. He holds academic credentials in international relations and works as a consulting translator.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-23 |title=Andriy Kulykov |url=https://hromadske.radio/en/persons/andriy-kulykov |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Hromadske Radio |language=en}}
Early life
Andriy Kulikov was born into a media-involved family; his grandmother, Nina Savytska, was a well-known announcer for Ukrainian Radio and played a significant role in introducing him to the world of broadcasting. During his adolescence, although he initially failed a voice audition in a radio studio, he developed a strong interest in radio programs, especially those in various languages including Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Polish. His early fascination with music and language led him to explore cultural and linguistic nuances through international radio broadcasts.
While in the tenth grade, Kulikov participated in a school drama club and was invited to apply to a theater institute. However, upon consulting his grandmother, he was dissuaded from pursuing acting and later acknowledged her judgment as accurate, recognizing a distinction between artistic performance and comedic expression.
Kulikov graduated in 1979 from the Faculty of International Relations and International Law at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Unable to immediately find employment in his field, he worked unloading freight at the Petrivka railway station (later renamed Pochaina railway station) and provided private language lessons. His entry into journalism began when a journalist acquaintance encouraged him to submit trial pieces to the newspaper The News from Ukraine, two of which were published. This led to his employment in the newspaper’s Soviet propaganda department, where he remained for 13 years until 1992.
Career as a journalist
File:Writing About Charity wikicontest 2012 - 10.jpg
Andriy Kulikov began his journalistic career in 1979 with The News From Ukraine, a Kyiv-based publication associated with the KDB URSR, and was an organ of the KGB-funded Association for Cultural Relations with Ukrainians Abroad during the Soviet period of Ukraine. During the latter half of the 1980s, he transitioned to independent journalism and took part in the broader reform movement within the press.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-18 |title=Keynote Address by Mr. Andriy Kulykov {{!}} The UCC 2019 XXVI Triennial Congress official website |url=https://congress2019.ucc.ca/speaker/andriy-kulykov/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |language=en-US}}
Kulykov joined the BBC in 1992 as one of the founding members of the BBC Ukrainian Service, where he worked in London until 1995, and again from 2000 to 2005. Between these appointments, he held various positions in Ukrainian television. From 2005 to 2007, he contributed to a European Union-backed journalism training initiative in Ukraine.
From 2007 to 2016, he served as the host of {{Interlanguage link|The Freedom of Speech (ICTV)|UK|Свобода слова (ICTV)}}, a political talk show broadcast on ICTV. In 2013, he co-founded Hromadske Radio, an independent Ukrainian public-interest radio station. Since 2016, he has been involved full-time with the station and has also worked on projects for Hromadske TV, another third-sector media platform.
Political career
In the late 1980s, Kulykov was involved in the foundation of the Ukrainian Language Society and played a role in the establishment of the Rukh (People’s Movement of Ukraine), particularly within Kyiv and other regions of the country.
In 1989, Andriy Kulikov was a self-nominated candidate in the elections to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.{{Cite web |last=Холоденко |first=Олена |date=2017-09-28 |title=Андрій Куликов: «“Червона лінія”, можливо, в тому, що мої компроміси ніколи не були оплачені» |url=https://detector.media/community/article/130366/2017-09-28-andriy-kulykov-chervona-liniya-mozhlyvo-v-tomu-shcho-moi-kompromisy-nikoly-ne-buly-oplacheni/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=detector.media |language=uk}} And in 1990, labor collectives nominated him as a People's Deputy of the Ukrainian SSR. But later, Andriy decided that he did not want to be a people's deputy.
Career as translator-referent
In addition to his media work, Kulykov has translated various literary and academic works, including an art history monograph by Olga Petrova, and has published under the pen names Andron Dovhotelesy and Andrei Savitsky.
He contributed translations for the Ukrainian-language rock album 70/80: Classic Rock in Ukrainian Style by the Kyiv band Kamyanyj Hist, including a Ukrainian version of Slade's song “Coz I Love You.” His work spans journalism, translation, education, and media advocacy, with a longstanding commitment to public broadcasting and cultural expression in Ukraine.
See also
{{Wikiquote|Andriy Kulykov}}