Culture as a Weapon: How Finnish Entrepreneur Mikko-Pekka Hanski Supports Ukraine

Hi, I’m Julia. I’m originally from Ukraine.
I’m a volunteer, a fundraiser, and a passionate humanitarian aid activist.
I also work in the IT field — in recruitment and operations.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war I’ve been meeting people all over the world who stand with Ukraine — not just in words but in action.

People who didn’t grow up in Ukraine but stand with Ukraine.

Today I’m so excited to launch a podcast iUkraine where I’m telling the stories of amazing people who’ve made a real difference for Ukraine.

This video was made on 24th of April when the Ukrainian enemy launched a large-scale, coordinated attack on Kyiv city and at least eight other regions of Ukraine, with scores of loitering munitions and missiles.

Please meet my first guest - Mikko-Pekka Hanski, a Finnish entrepreneur and investor, co-founder of the global design studio Idean (acquired by Capgemini), co-founder of Double Tap Investments supporting Ukrainian defense tech, and founder of Solovey—a music mission building a heartline between Ukraine and Finland.

We’re talking about culture, art and music as the most important reasons why we should fight for freedom.

Unfortunately, history repeats and Ukraine’s been dealing with an aggressor for centuries.

Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
00:41 – What brought Mikko Hanski to Ukraine?
04:53 – The paradox Mikko feels in Ukraine
09:45 – How Double Tap investment company started
10:58 – Ukraine as a center of defense tech
24:24 – Mikko promoting Ukrainian songs in Finland
26:30 – Music as a weapon of the heart
29:29 – This war hasn’t lasted 11 years
36:00 – The story of Solovey: a musical mission between Ukraine and Finland
38:56 – Julia sings her favorite Ukrainian song
43:28 – Who is Maria Prymachenko?
47:12 – A 100-year-old Finnish poem about Ukraine
50:17 – Molotov cocktails from Finland still used by Ukrainians
54:40 – History repeats
57:14 – The Finnish mentality: “happy being sad”
57:55 – Julia’s surprise for Mikko
1:01:55 – Why Mikko believes congruence is essential in life

You can contact me via:
julia.iukraine@gmail.com
https://www.instagram.com/july_ilnytska/

I mentioned the history and song of my grandfather who was deported to Siberia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=MGGDK61y2nu90uZs&v=ALovetobls4&feature=youtu.be

Music Solovey page: https://www.instagram.com/music.solovey/

The Ukrainian song in Finnish Mikko mentioned during the video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D44ssPkSiaU

Видео Culture as a Weapon: How Finnish Entrepreneur Mikko-Pekka Hanski Supports Ukraine канала iUkraine