Forthcoming
Shadows of
the Empire
Lessons from Russian LGBTQ+ Asylum seekers
Represented by Convistero Literary Agency
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Forthcoming
Lessons from Russian LGBTQ+ Asylum seekers
Represented by Convistero Literary Agency
Olga Grigoryants is a Los Angeles-based journalist and writer. She has reported on immigration, housing, and the environment for the Los Angeles Daily News.
Her work chronicles the lives of Russian and Ukrainian communities in Southern California, tracing the fault lines of identity, memory, and belonging that define the post-Soviet diaspora. Her reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Daily News, The Forward, LA Weekly, the Jewish Journal, and on KCRW.
Reporting from the Russian–Ukrainian diaspora in Southern California, and beyond.
Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles County is home to roughly 26,000 expats from Ukraine. Many fear a humanitarian crisis that will further divide families on both sides of the border.
Los Angeles Daily News
Some had held out hope that the rhetoric of recent weeks would not become reality. That became history as Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
Los Angeles Daily News
In "Russian World" or Russkiy Mir, poor young men from remote regions are pressed to fight Putin's war.
Los Angeles Daily News
An uneasy discussion unfolds in Southern California, where tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants live.
Los Angeles Daily News
How Vladimir Putin's Nazi accusations against Ukraine are spreading in California.
KCRW — Greater LA
Two Angelenos — one Ukrainian and one Russian — discuss what their families are living through in their respective native countries.
Los Angeles Daily News
Many expats in Southern California are filled with uncertainty and angst as invasion rages back home. They seek solace during the holiest time of year for the ancient faith.
Los Angeles Daily News
Benjamin Voloshchuk was invited from Ukraine to serve at a Russian Orthodox Church in L.A. Now he's under pressure to go home.
Los Angeles Daily News
One family expects at least one guest to bring a Ukrainian dish because 'Ukrainians never show up empty-handed.'
Los Angeles Daily News
Jan. 7 is a second Christmas for kids, but for adults a reminder that war has divided churches in Eastern Europe.
Los Angeles Daily News
In the Silver Lake community of Los Angeles, Rev. Nazari Polataiko is still haunted by sirens in Ukraine.
Los Angeles Daily News
Living in a donated home in L.A., the Kochetkovs wonder at the newspaper on the porch — and spotting Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Los Angeles Daily News
Inna Kochetova, her husband Oleksii, and mother-in-law Olena, are among war refugees in SoCal.
Los Angeles Daily News
"This man is a hero and we're proud of him," declared Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Daily News
Maksim, Dmitrii, Max and Ivan are part of growing Russian-speaking LGBTQ+ wave seeking refuge.
Los Angeles Daily News
Among them, a nonprofit has formed to help LGBTQ newcomers in SoCal abused in Russia.
Los Angeles Daily News
It happened under the Biden administration and some are worried it will be worse under Trump.
LA Weekly
An analysis of the gentrification of West Hollywood and how the once-dominant Soviet Jewish enclave is dispersing.
Jewish Journal
The story of the Russian Language Public Library in West Hollywood and the Soviet immigrants who donated personal collections to preserve their culture in exile.
Jewish Journal
A cultural feature of the food and traditions that defined the Soviet immigrant experience in L.A.
LA Weekly
How Soviet-era immigrants choose Hollywood Forever Cemetery for lavish monuments and sculptures forbidden in other cemeteries, recreating the burial traditions of Moscow and Odesa.
Los Angeles Times
After pro-Russia forces entered Crimea, many American friends were aghast. But in Russia, where I grew up, it's an alternate universe.
The Forward
A poignant look at survivors in West Hollywood whose "souls are torn apart." Profiles Roza Nemirovskaya, who fled the Nazis in Ukraine as a teen, and contrasts her with others who believe Russian state media claims.
The Forward
Coverage of heightened tensions during May 9th Victory Day celebrations in Los Angeles, where the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany became a flashpoint for pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine sentiment.
The Forward
Reporting on the cancellation of a long-standing community tradition due to fears of physical altercations and political division within the "Little Odessa" neighborhood.