Vitaliy Portnykov
Vitaliy Portnykov
Leading Ukrainian political commentator, writer, and journalist
Vitaliy Eduardovych Portnikov (born May 14, 1967, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian journalist, publicist, writer, and TV presenter, laureate of the National Prize of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko (2023). He grew up in a Jewish intellectual family in Kyiv, studied at the Faculty of Philology of Dnipropetrovsk State University, and in 1988 transferred to the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, which he graduated from in 1990. He began his journalistic career while still in the eighth grade, and during his studies in Moscow co-founded the first Ukrainian civic organizations — the Ukrainian Cultural Society "Slavutych" and the Ukrainian Youth Club. Since 1989, Portnikov worked as a commentator for Nezavisimaya Gazeta, specializing in Ukrainian-Russian relations, and regularly publishes in Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. Since 1990, he has collaborated with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. From 1995 to 1999 he hosted programs on STB, and later on ICTV, K-1, TVi, and Espreso, where he founded and hosts the well-known discussion program "Politclub." He is the author of a publicistic trilogy about the formation of modern Ukraine, and a laureate of the "Golden Pen" award (1989), the Vasyl Stus Prize (2022), and the Shevchenko National Prize (2023).
