A PR professional in Ukraine

I was on a Teams call with Ukrainian PR professional Julia Petryk from her apartment in Kyiv. We were discussing her potential appearance on our PR podcast when sirens started wailing in the background. Incoming Russian drones.

I froze. When I listen back to the recording you can hear the nerves in my voice. Should we end the call? Was she safe?

Julia glanced toward her window where a small cat – one she'd adopted at the start of the war – was fast asleep in the sunshine, completely ignoring the sirens.

"She has an innate sense about real danger," Julia told me. "If she's still sleeping, we're okay to continue."

That cat. That siren. It suddenly woke me up. Three years of headlines had told me one thing. That siren made it real.

Too often war is just something we scroll past on our phones or catch on the morning news. But it's happening to people exactly like us. Professionals in our industry.

Of course we recorded the podcast. It tells Julia's story about living and working in Kyiv under constant threat of attack. Not from a report, or spokesperson or politician, but from someone whose life was simply turned upside down by forces beyond her control.

Countering disinformation

Julia Petryk is one of us. She is a communications professional who found herself at the centre of one of the most significant wars of our time. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, she could have fled. Instead, she took action in the way she knew best.

Within hours of the invasion, Julia founded the PR Army – a network of communications experts working to amplify Ukrainian voices globally, counter disinformation, and ensure the truth reached the world.

What started as an instinctive response has grown into a vital resource connecting international media with authentic Ukrainian stories.

"We realised immediately that this wasn't just a military conflict," Julia explains in our conversation. "It was an information war. And we had the skills to fight it."

The PR Army represents something remarkable in our profession: the power of communications to serve something greater than client objectives or campaign metrics. It's about truth, survival, and the fundamental human need to be heard.

Life during war

Julia paints a moving picture of the "half-life" she and her family have endured – caught between normal professional responsibilities and the constant backdrop of war.

Client calls interrupted by air raid sirens. Strategy sessions. Sleeping in a car. The surreal normality of checking whether it's safe to continue a meeting based on a cat's behaviour.

Yet throughout our conversation, what strikes me most is Julia's unwavering commitment to her work and her country. She speaks with the quiet determination of someone who has found purpose in the most challenging circumstances.

How can we help

Julia's story has had a profound impact on me . To be honest it has left me with more questions than answers right now. How do we support colleagues in crisis regions? What responsibility do we have to amplify voices that might otherwise be silenced? How can our industry's skills serve humanitarian causes?

Her answer is simple: "Show support, keep showing support, and keep showing the people of Ukraine that you care."

So, that’s what I’m doing. If you need inspiration, listen to or watch Julia’s conversation with me. We set up our podcast PR in The Real World to shine a light on the industry’s unsung heroes. In that sense Julia makes the perfect guest.

Sometimes the most important conversations happen between sirens, with a sleeping cat as our guide to what courage actually looks like.

Julia Petryk is a hero in my eyes. When Russia invaded her country, she stayed to fight in the best way she could. I'm not sure I'd be as brave.

But I can share her story. And so can you.

Tony Garner is the founder of Viva which was named Small Agency of the Year 2025 at the CIPR Excellence Awards. Tony’s interview with Julia Petryk is available on the PR in The Real World podcast on YouTube, Spotify and Apple. His blog was originally published on the Viva website.