Wojciech Konończuk
Director of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) since 2022. Previously Deputy Director and Head of the Department for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, as well as an analyst on Russia’s energy and foreign policy in OSW’s Russian Department. In the past, he coordinated international projects at the Batory Foundation, part of the Open Society Foundations network, and was a visiting scholar at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute in Washington, DC. He has participated in several international research projects, including those organized by Sorbonne Nouvelle, CEPS, and Think Visegrad.
He lectures at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and serves as chairman of the Polish-Czech Forum at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is also a member of the Board of POLONIKA – the National Institute for Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, and of the Council of Memory at the Pilecki Institute. Since 2014, he has been a columnist for Tygodnik Powszechny, Poland’s longest-running weekly. A regular commentator for Polish and international media.
He is the initiator and editor of the three-volume collected works of Włodzimierz Bączkowski, a prominent Polish-American Sovietologist (Mieroszewski Centre & OMP, 2022). He is the author of the books Endangered Heritage. Polish Cultural Goods in Ukraine and Belarus (OSW, 2020) and The Art of Survival. Soviet Deportations from the Bielsk County, 1940–1941 (in Polish, IPN, 2019).
A graduate of the University of Warsaw in International Relations and the Centre for East European Studies, he also studied at Saint Petersburg State University and the Warsaw School of Economics. He completed a course in the Oxford Leadership Experience program at Jesus College, Oxford. He speaks fluent English, Russian, and Ukrainian.
- political and economic situation in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova
- Russian foreign and domestic policy
- energy policy
- European integration
- politics of memory
- history of Polish political thought about Eastern Europe
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Year four of the war: the front stabilises, negotiations stall, OSW, 24.02.2026
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It’s time for Germany to start paying the cost of maintaining Auschwitz and other former Nazi camps in Poland, Notes from Poland, 25.01.2026
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Příkladné sousedství ale prochází náročným testem, “Hospodářské noviny” (20.10.2025) and “Rzeczpospolita” 22.10.2025 (with Vít Dostál)
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Russia’s maximalism vs Ukraine’s struggle for existence. Why the war will not end anytime soon, ESCP Business School, Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2025
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Il museo nella natura, Internazionale, 23.10.2025 (also in Polish)
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Wyostrzyć obraz. O metodzie analitycznej OSW, in: Uporządkować rzeczywistość. Poradnik analityczny Ośrodka Studiów Wschodnich, eds. W. Konończuk, M. Menkiszak, OSW, 2025
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Year three of the war: Russia’s hopes for victory and a crisis in transatlantic relations, OSW Commentary, 24.02.2025
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Neither David nor Goliath: Perspectives on the Ukraine Defense, Aspen Review, 14.08.2024
- Wymazywanie Białorusi [Erasing Belarus], „Twórczość”, nr 7-8, 2024
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Year two of the war: Russia goes on the offensive, the West trapped in its strategic delusions, OSW Commentary, 23 February, 2024
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View from Poland: Ukraine’s Victory is Indispensable for European Security, Liberale Moderne, 8 November, 2023
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The Polish-Ukrainian Bond Is Here to Stay, Carnegie Europe, 3.10.2023
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Почему украинское зерно стало проблемой для Центральной Европы, Novaya Polsha, 22.08.2023
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Pax Post-Sovietica? The Final End of Post-Sovietness, AREI. Journal for Central and Eastern European History and Politics, no. 1, 2023
- Germany, Poland, Ukraine: how can we avoid the kitsch of reconciliation?, Liberale Moderne, 30 May, 2023 (together with Anna Kwiatkowska)
- Come la guerra cambia l’Europa centro-orientale, Limes, 13.04.2023
- One year of war. Russia’s imperial maximalism versus Ukraine’s resistance, OSW Commentary, 28.02.2023
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No Stable EU Without a New Eastern Enlargement, SCEUUS, 10.11.2022
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Die unendliche Desintegration. 30 Jahre nach dem Zerfall der Sowjetunion, Pilecki Institute, wrzesień 2021
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Regime-sanctioned oligarchs. Big business in Belarus, „Sprawy Międzynarodowe” 2021, nr 2
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Наше — и не наше. Что такое совместное наследие и как его беречь, NovayaPolsha.pl, 13.10.2020
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Похвала последовательности, "Tygodnik Powszechny", 20.09.2020
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Ґедройць і Осадчук: півстоліття у листах, Culture.pl, 12.06.2020
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Endangered heritage Polish cultural goods in Ukraine and Belarus, OSW Report, May 2020 (cooperation: Piotr Kosiewski)
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Temporary stabilisation: Russia-Ukraine gas transit deal, OSW Commentary, 31.12.2019
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«С точностью до наоборот»: о польском и российском взгляде на Украину „Неприкосновенный Запас”, nr 1, 2019
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Політика України щодо Польщі. Погляд з Варшави, Ukrainian Prism, 17.01.2019
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Gas revolution? Prospects for increased gas production in Ukraine, OSW Commentary, 24 September 2018
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Troublesome Investment. The Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant in Astravyets (ed.), OSW Studies, 7 July 2018
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The Paradoxes of Polish-Ukrainian Relations, Wilson Center, 23 May 2018
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Why Poland needs a post-Giedroyc doctrine towards Ukraine, New Eastern Europe, 22 March 2018
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Dark clouds over the Ukrainian gas market reform, OSW Commentary, 4 October 2017 (co-author)
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A dangerous energy policy: Ukraine, despite war, is making itself dependent on Russian oil, Energy Post, 8 September 2017
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Moldova Falls Victim to Politicising, Emerging Europe, 24 June 2017
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Oligarchs in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia as key obstacles to reforms, CEPS, 3 DCFTAs project, 24 May 2017The never-ending collapse. The state of the Ukrainian oil sector, OSW Report, May 2017
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Explaining Oligarchic Moldova, Carnegie Europe, 4 May 2017 (co-author)
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The Failed Promise of Deoligarchization in Ukraine, VoxUkraine, 18 January 2017
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The Ukrainian Economy: A Slow Recovery and Much More to Be Done, Aspen Review issue 1, 2017
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Ukraine’s Omnipresent Oligarchs, Carnegie Europe, 13.10.2016
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Keystone of the system. Old and new oligarchs in Ukraine, OSW Point of View, 18.08.2016
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Ukraine’s Reforms: Promises Still Unfulfilled, Aspen Review 1/2016
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The bumpy road. Difficult reform process in Ukraine, OSW Commentary, 3.12.2015 (co-author)
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Reform #1. Why Ukraine has to reform its gas sector, OSW Commentary, 2.09.2015
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Reading Lukashenko’s Belarus Without Illusions, Carnegie Europe, 26.05.2015 (co-author)
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Oligarchs after the Maidan: the old system in a 'new' Ukraine, OSW Commentary, 16 February, 2015
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Die Ukraine: Ein ewiger Status-Quo-Staat? [in:] Simon Geissbühler (eds.), Der Euromaidan 2013/14 und die Zukunftsperspektiven der Ukraine, Ibidem, 2014, pp. 115-126 (book chapter)
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Russia’s Real Aims in Crimea, Carnegie Endowment, 13 March 2014
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Ukraine: What Russia Wants, The National Interest, 20 February 2014
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The fragile foundations of the Russian oil sector, European Energy Review, 11 June, 2012
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An inexhaustible source of income? The significance of Belarusian refineries and the outlook for the future (with K. Kłysiński), OSW Commentary, Issue 81, June, 2010
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Russia’s best ally. The situation of the Russian oil sector and forecast for its future, OSW Studies, no 39, 2012, pp. 1-68
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Rosyjska gorączka sztuki, „Nowa Europa Wschodnia”, no 2, 2011, pp. 76-88
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Lukashenka has to choose: reforms or concessions to Russia (with K. Kłysiński), OSW Commentary, Issue 42, 27 December, 2010
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Elita władzy a wielki biznes, [in:]. T. Bodio, W. Jakubowski (eds.), Przywództwo i elity polityczne w krajach WNP, t. II, Warszawa 2010, pp. 167-184
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Rosyjski dylemat w polskiej polityce zagranicznej po 1999 roku (with M. Kaczmarski) [in:] Andrzej Gil, Tomasz Kapuśniak (eds.), Polityka wschodnia Polski. Uwarunkowania, koncepcje, realizacja, Lublin-Warszawa: IESW 2009, pp. 203-218
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Making money on the crisis in Russia: the case of Gennady Timchenko, OSW Comentary, Issue 31, 28 December 2009
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Gunvor i reszta, czyli o handlu rosyjską ropą, „Arcana”, no 86-87, 2009, pp. 282-295
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Polen und seine östlichenNachbarn (with J. Cichocki), [in:] D. Bingen, K. Ruchniewicz (eds.), Länderbericht Polen, Bonn 2009, pp. 625-643
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Energetyczna intryga, „Res Publica Nowa”, no 6, 2009, pp. 232-237
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Rosja i dwa Katynie, „Nowa Europa Wschodnia”, no 3-4, 2009, pp. 167-171
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Achillesowa pięta Ukrainy, „Nowa Europa Wschodnia”, no 1, 2009, pp. 22-30
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Historical baggage – relations between Turkey and Armenia, [in:] A. Balcer (ed.), Turkey after the start of negotiations with the European Union - foreign relations and the domestic situation, OSW Report, Warsaw, July 2008, pp. 19-30
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A Caucasian ally? Turkish-Georgian relations, [in:] A. Balcer (ed.), Turkey after the start of negotiations with the European Union - foreign relations and the domestic situation, OSW Report, Warsaw, July 2008, pp. 31-41
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Crimean potential of destabilization, Russkiivopros, no 4, 2008
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The East Siberia/Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline: a strategic project - an organisational failure?,OSW Comentary, Issue 12, 22 October 2008
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CIS Countries' Interests vis-à-vis the European Union and its Eastern Policy (with M. Menkiszak and M. Kaczmarski), CASE Network Studies and Analyses, no. 365, 2008, pp. 1-46
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Difficult ”Ally”. Belarus in Russia’s Foreign Policy, OSW Studies, no 28, 2008, pp. 31-55
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Perspektywy stosunków UE-Ukraina po rozpoczęciu negocjacji nad nowym układem, „Wspólnoty Europejskie” no 3, 2007, pp. 10-15
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Putin’s Empire (eds.), Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw 2007, pp. 1-174
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The Failure of integration. The CIS and other international organisations in the post-Soviet area 1991-2006, OSW Studies, no 26, 2007, pp. 29-51
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Walka o pamięć. Rosyjsko-estoński kryzys wokół „Żołnierza z brązu”, „Nowe Sprawy Polityczne”, no 33, 2007, pp. 51-59
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Energy Game. Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus between the EU and Russia (with G. Gromadzki), Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw 2007, pp. 1-44
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Belarusian-Russian energy conflict: the game is not over, Stefan Batory Foundation, January 2007
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Belarus after the “election”. What future for Lukashenka regime? (with G. Gromadzki, L. Veselý), Stefan Batory Foundation, AMO, Warsaw-Prague 2006, pp. 1-40
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Belarusian and Ukrainian strategy towards post-Soviet integration, [in:] Security Challenges in the post-Soviet Space, A. Eberhardt, A. Iwashita (eds.), Warsaw-Sapporo 2007, pp. 55-65
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The "Yukos Affair", its Motives and Implications, OSW Studies, no 25, August 2006, pp. 32-58