Olesia Zhytkova

Olesia Zhytkova (; born September 10, 1992, Kropyvnytskyi) is a Ukrainian historian, human rights activist and member of the Ukrainian diaspora in Ireland.

Biography

Olesia Zhytkova was born on September 10, 1992, Kropyvnytskyi (formerly Kirovohrad). She graduated from the Faculty of History of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a Master’s Degree with honors in 2015. She completed doctoral studies at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and defended her PhD dissertation “Activity of the UAOC in Kyiv (1919-1930)” in 2019, with a PhD diploma being issued in 2020.

Academic research

Olesia Zhytkova specializes in corruption studies, contemporary history of Ukraine (1914 – present), religious studies (history of the Orthodox Church in 20th-21st centuries, religion in the USSR and Soviet repressions), struggle for independence in Ukraine (20th century), war and conflict studies (cultural and religious factors of the Russian-Ukrainian war, civil conflict in Belarus), and studies in the comparative history of Ireland and Ukraine.

From 2020 to 2022, Zhytkova conducted research as an independent researcher. From 2022, she works as a postdoctoral researcher at Dublin City University (DCU) Business School and Anti-Corruption Research Centre (Dublin, Ireland). In 2022-2025, she conducted research on the “Corruption, Gender, and Sustainable Development (COGS)” project. The project examined how sextortion can act as a barrier to female entrepreneurship, how gender stereotypes dissuade women from pursuing a career in elected political office, the impact of corruption on accessing health and education services, and how a lack of interagency trust arising from perceptions of corruption can impede coordination and action to combat climate change.

Since 2025, Olesia Zhytkova has been a lead researcher in the “Sexual Corruption in Ukrainian Higher Education (SECURE)” project. SECURE aims to analyse sexual corruption in Ukrainian higher education, to explore the interconnections between war and sexual corruption, and to analyse the role of Russian propaganda in utilising sexual corruption narratives. It will also contribute to the development of evidence-based solutions and policies for educational institutions and authorities in the EU and Ukraine.

In 2024–2025, she was also a researcher at University College Cork (Cork, Ireland).

Cultural and academic diplomacy, human rights advocacy

Zhytkova is a human rights activist and a leader of the Ukrainian diaspora in Ireland. She organises and participates in educational, cultural and other public events. She has written for RTÉ Brainstorm, The Irish Times and other media on various topics, including the Russian-Ukrainian war, resistance in Ukraine, and the human rights situation in Belarus.

Olesia Zhytkova is married to former Belarusian political prisoner Kim Samusenka.