Raw Travel's "My Summer in Ukraine" Impact Summary
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Raw Travel’s “My Summer in Ukraine” is a four-part docuseries filmed on location in Ukraine during the summer of 2023 by Raw Travel TV producer and host Robert G. Rose.
Over four weeks in April and May of 2024, the edited docuseries premiered on weekend broadcast syndication in over 185 cities on over 200 broadcast affiliates (local ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc.), representing 97% of the United States on weekend broadcast syndication in Raw Travel’s timeslots. The series re-ran again in four weeks in August and September of 2024.
BACKGROUND
Unbeknownst to producer Robert G. Rose, the groundwork for this effort first began when Rose visited Russia in 2010, where he was followed and harassed by the FSB. That trip was fateful as that was when he met recently exiled anti-war Russian musician Dmitry (Dima) Spirin of the famed Russian punk rock bank Tarakany! (Cockroach) and signed him to his record label, Punk Outlaw Records. When putting out their first release in the USA, “Russian Democrazy,” Rose got to know Tarakany! musical collaborator and fellow American turned Russian resident Travis Leake, who is currently a political prisoner in Russia on trumped-up charges.
Rose then visited Ukraine in 2012, when Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych, was in power just after Ukraine’s Orange Revolution and before the 2013-14 Euromaidan Revolution (Revolution of Dignity) when Yanukovych was driven from power and left Ukraine for Russian exile in early 2014 just before Russia’s proxy invasion of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.
Rose returned to film twice in 2019 and visited the hallowed ground where the Euromaidan had occurred and over 100 protestors had died.
Perhaps more significantly, Rose met videographer Anastasia Zuy, a refugee from the Donbas Region from Russia’s 2014 Crimea and Eastern Ukraine proxy war. Anastasia became a valued member of the Raw Travel crew in Europe, filming in Ukraine (2019, 22, 23), Lithuania (2019), Portugal (2021), France, and Poland (2022)
After a film trip to the country of Georgia and the Russian-occupied territory of South Ossetia, also in 2019, Rose began to comprehend the scope, scale, and human toll of Russia’s history of aggression on its neighbors and the chaos it causes throughout the world.
After Russia’s attempted full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Rose committed to doing everything he could to support Ukraine’s people, refugees, and sovereignty. In the summer of 2022, Rose reunited with Zuy, who was refugeed with her little brother in Paris, France. Rose delivered a much-needed surveillance drone from the USA for Anastasia’s father’s troop.
Anastasia and Robert returned to Western Ukraine briefly to film the volunteer and war efforts in Eastern Poland and Western Ukraine in “Steadfast for Ukraine.”
Rose now had a taste of what it felt like to film in a war zone, and he returned to the USA to raise awareness and funds for Ukraine. He returned to Ukraine in 2023 to film “My Summer in Ukraine,” where he spent several weeks traveling throughout the country.
He returned in the summer of 2024 to showcase the finished project to Ukrainians while volunteering and documenting the war and its continued toll.
Rose has vowed to return in 2025 and each year thereafter to help Ukraine in any way possible.
2024 OBJECTIVES
Through a four-part docuseries documenting Robert’s travels through Ukraine during the summer of 2023, to raise awareness, educate, advocate, and raise funds and other tangible resources for the people of Ukraine against a backdrop of disinformation campaigns, U.S. political chaos, and a war-weary and confused public.
Episode 1101 – Chapter One: “Silence is Death”
Premiered on April 27th and 28th, 2024
Robert begins his summer in Ukraine by connecting with old and new friends. He travels from Lviv to Kyiv and visits the suburbs of Irpin, Bucha, and other outlying villages. He is astonished by what he witnesses and the stories he hears and vows never to remain silent in the face of evil.
Episode 1102 - Chapter Two: “Answering the Call”
Premiered May 4th and 5th, 2024
Despite dodging artillery fire, Rob hops in the van with humanitarians Hymie Dunn and Mark Cary as they answer the call to bring supplies to Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson City, and surrounding villages just days after Russia devastatingly flooded towns, homes, and farmland.
Episode 1103 - Chapter Three: “I Made a Promise”
Premiered May 11th and 12th, 2024
Rob and the gang head east to Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, perilously near the Russian border. Despite the almost daily bombardment, Rob falls in love with Kharkiv and the stoic bravery of its denizens and volunteers and promises to tell their stories.
Episode 1104 –Chapter Four: “Fight for Peace”
Premiered May 11th and 12th, 2024
Rob has the extraordinary opportunity to be embedded in a training program for soldiers heading to the front. He meets other soldiers who have sacrificed limbs to protect their homeland as they try to rehabilitate and adjust. He learns that in Ukraine, one must fight for peace.
OBJECTIVE MET
AWARENESS
RATINGS AND VIEWERSHIP: The four-weekend premieres (April 2 attracted over 2.5 million "LIVE" U.S. viewers, an increase of +6% over the same period last year. Considering that linear TV viewing was down (-5 %) this year, this net swing is +11%. The docu-series gained momentum and grew +20% from its debut week to its final weekend.
The re-broadcast in August and September of 2024 resulted in an additional 2.2 million “LIVE” U.S. viewers, totaling +4.6 million “LIVE” U.S. viewers who tuned into the docuseries in 2024. This does not consider the tens of thousands of viewers across the border in Canada who view Raw Travel from border DMAs such as Detroit, Buffalo, etc. or the high number of DVR viewers.
PRESS & PROMOTION - Leading up to the premiere, Producer Robert Rose was interviewed on various local news and lifestyle shows, such as KTVU Fox 2 in San Francisco, KOIN-CBS 6 in Portland, Oregon, WMC-NBC 5 in Memphis, TN, KMGH ABC 7 in Denver, Co., and WTVO Fox 39 in Rockford, IL, as well as a radio interview on WGNS in Murfreesboro (Nashville), TN.
Please visit https://rawtravelukraine.com/press or the MSIU Impact Summary press section to see more.
IN-PERSON SPEAKING AND PUBLICITY - In October 2023, after the film was shot but before it was edited, producer Robert Rose screened the “My Summer in Ukraine” Preview Trailer at the “Warm Up Ukraine” event in San Francisco.
In May 2024, Rose and filmmaker Rick Ray showcased clips from their respective Ukrainian-themed films to a near-capacity crowd at the Capitol Theater in Burlington, Iowa. Before this in-person screening, Rose and Ray were featured on various local radio stations and made the front page of Iowa’s oldest-running newspaper, The Hawkeye. See photos HERE.
Robert Rose returned to the Capitol Theater in Burlington, Iowa, in October 2024 to screen Chapter One: Silence is Death to kick off the theatre’s 2024-25 travelogue season. Rose was again interviewed and featured in various local media outlets.
In the summer of 2024, Rose returned to Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other parts of Ukraine to screen the docuseries for many people and organizations featured in the film. He also visited other parts of Ukraine such as Dnipro and Kramatorsk, to document the devastation for social media.
In November 2024, a film version of the docuseries premiered to a capacity crowd at New York City’s legendary DCTV Cinema for Documentary Film, kicking off a speaking tour and in-person screening of the documentary in locales such as San Juan, Puerto Rico (December 2024), Grand Rapids, Michigan (March 2025), and more.
The entire film version of the docuseries is currently on Raw Travel’s YouTube channel, where it continues to help raise awareness and funds for Ukraine.
DIGITAL ASSETS - A unique interactive and updatable website, RawTravelUkraine.com, was created specifically for the docuseries, which was promoted during the broadcasts and beyond and the site is kept evergreen with updated information. Visitors are encouraged to educate themselves about Russia and Ukraine relations and Russia’s historical oppression of the people, culture, and land of Ukraine, culminating in the current war. Viewers can read Robert’s blog and take action by educating themselves with recommended books, articles, and films, donating or hiring, sponsoring refugees, and advocating for Ukraine.
OBJECTIVES MET
FUNDRAISING, RESOURCES AND ADVOCACY
After the first Capitol Theater screening, generous locals agreed to sponsor a Ukrainian refugee family featured in one of Rick Ray’s clips.
Raw Travel viewers Bill C. and Greg C. volunteered to travel to Ukraine thanks to the awareness raised by Raw Travel.
Since the beginning of the full invasion in 2022, My Summer in Ukraine and Raw Travel have raised over $150,000 through cash donations (made online and in person), merchandise sales, and in-kind contributions for various causes.
Many of the organizations or donations went to people and grassroots organizations supported by Raw Travel or featured in “My Summer in Ukraine,” such as Care4Ukraine.org, Lada’s Orphanage, Mark Cary and Hymie Dunn’s Mobile Library Program, Raw Travel Ukrainian Videographer Anastasia Zuy’s father’s troop, H.U.G.S. Canada, The Military Hospital for Amputee Soldiers, and more.
It’s been written that Russia’s war in Ukraine is the most grassroots funded war in history. Almost every Ukrainian or Ukrainian diaspora is supporting multiple causes. By supporting grassroots organizations, Raw Travel viewers are assured that every dollar is working to directly support the causes and people of Ukraine, not a large bureaucracy.
The Ukraine Action Summit is a community event where individuals and organizations—from within and beyond the Ukrainian community—can advocate for their elected officials to continue helping Ukraine prevail against the Russian invasion. Rose has attended three of these summits and met with dozens of elected officials and their staffers to share his experience in Ukraine. Additionally, tt least two viewers of “My Summer in Ukraine” docuseries have been moved to join the American Coalition for Ukraine, Ukraine Action Summit’s bi-annual events in Washington, DC,
In coordination with the American Coalition for Ukraine and their Ukraine Action Summit, Rose used My Summer in Ukraine as an entree to advocate for Ukraine aid in Washington, D.C., during these trips to the nation’s capital to rally continued political and financial support for Ukraine.
Rose is currently working on a speaking presentation using key parts of the film to present to churches, community centers, schools, and universities. The presentation will emphasize U.S. geographical areas susceptible to Russian disinformation and misinformation.
SUMMARY
The success of My Summer in Ukraine as this one-of-a-kind viewing event is a testament to the power of broadcast TV and the support of Raw Travel viewers. Even though U.S. interest in Russia’s war on Ukraine had been flagging, My Summer in Ukraine was able to spark viewer interest to be engaged and aware again. They were reminded of the importance of the outcome to their own lives and the type of world they’d like to live in.
Broadcast affiliate efforts were instrumental in the docuseries’ success, from securing additional airings and improved timeslots to ensuring news coverage and protection from pre-emptions.
It was a group effort that culminated in a win-win for the producer, broadcasters, viewers, advertisers, and most importantly, the long-suffering people of Ukraine.
As one can see from the My Summer in Ukraine Impact Summary presentation the film has raised funds, awareness and touched and changed numerous lives.
The effort has not ended. It continues and will continue through the rebuilding and recovery phase for years to come.