Porohy – magazine of Ukrainians in Czechia

Which journal is being researched

Porohy is a Ukrainian cultural-political journal associated with the civic organisation Ukrajinská iniciativa v České republice. It is a contemporary periodical of the Ukrainian community in Czechia, rather than another interwar Prague journal or literary almanac of the 1920s. The project continues print publication and a digital presence at Porohy.cz. [PO01; PO02; PO03]

The publication brings together a long chronology of Ukrainian contacts with Czech society: diaspora cultural practices, memory politics, civic life, contemporary migration, social changes after 1989 and the experience of war. In the digital database it is a separate editorial entity R0093 linked with the existing canonical ID R0059 for the Ukrainian Initiative; publisher, editorial team and civic organisation are not automatically legally identical. [PO02; PO03]

The conflicting founding year: 1993 or 1994

A discrepancy has been identified between two pages within the publishing milieu itself. The Ukrajinská iniciativa website describes Porohy as appearing since 1993; the Porohy.cz archive heading likewise says “since 1993”. However, the editorial portal's “About us” page gives 1994 as the founding year. Its own chronology of publishing phases begins in 1993. [PO01; PO02; PO03]

Until the first issue and its publication details have been inspected, two separately attested assertions should be recorded, rather than “resolving” the date in favour of a more attractive anniversary. “Beginning” could mean the creation of an initiative group, a pilot issue, state registration or the first regular issue. These are hypotheses to check, rather than established explanations of the discrepancy. [PO01; PO02]

The Ukrainian Initiative as institutional context

The editors name Ukrajinská iniciativa v ČR as organiser and publisher; the civic organisation's website also has a separate “Porohy journal” page. The graph must distinguish a civic association's publishing function from the direct work of particular editors. Changes in leadership or staff over three decades do not automatically constitute re-registration of the periodical. [PO02; PO03]

The official portal identifies Viktor Raichynets among co-founders and organisers of publishing work, and names other current editorial participants. Linking individuals to particular issues requires each issue's colophon; the 2026 internet portal team is not identical to the printed journal's editorial team of the 1990s. [PO02]

How publication frequency changed

The editorial chronology describes phases: 1993–2001 — irregular issues; 2002–2009 — every two months; 2011 — twice a month; from 2012 — monthly, 24 pages. The sequence leaves 2010 unexplained and it cannot be filled by conjecture. The claim of “monthly publication from the beginning” also contradicts this table. [PO02]

The 2025–2026 digital archive reveals particular problems of issue number, year and publication date. For example, an issue labelled “No. 12 (2025)” has a signed-to-print date in February 2026. The database needs three separate fields: nominal_issue_year, nominal_issue_number and signed_to_print_date. [PO04; PO05]

After 2022: new migration and war

The editors report that in 2022–2023 the publication produced special material informing Ukrainians arriving in Czechia after Russia's full-scale invasion. From the second half of 2023 it returned to a broader cultural-analytical format. This is an important change in social function, but the exact number of special issues cannot be given without a complete issue-by-issue examination. [PO02]

A historical project can show this transition as reflecting a real change in community needs, while avoiding retrospective conflation of 1990s emigration and forced displacement in 2022. Similar subjects can coexist in one journal while arising from different social circumstances. [PO02; PO07]

Significance for links between Czech and Ukrainian societies

Porohy represents a longstanding practice of self-organisation and cultural mediation. Through changing editorial teams, generations, groups of authors and subjects, the publication can serve as a living source for the Ukrainian community's history, from Czechia's post-socialist transformation to the new reality of forced migration. [PO02; PO03]

However, the editors' own chronology is valuable but interested institutional testimony. An independent dossier needs additional external sources: first issues, library sets, Czech registration records and reviews by other media. Without them, no date or complete editorial list acquires the status of definitively verified archival truth. [PO02]