Siobhán O’Grady Joins Kyiv Bureau

When the first Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border in 2022, Siobhán O'Grady was in Kyiv to witness the beginnings of what would become the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

In the months that followed, she wrote about the horrors of artillery and trench warfare on the eastern front; atrocities, including rape , under Russian occupation; the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia ; and the desperation of Russian troops who fled the war.

Siobhán's early stints in Ukraine for The Washington Post, while she served as the paper's Cairo bureau chief, would eventually become a full-time assignment. She moved to Kyiv in 2023, serving first as chief correspondent and then as bureau chief for The Post, leading its coverage with insight, courage and empathy.

We are happy to announce that Siobhán is now joining our bureau in Kyiv, where she will be part of a powerhouse team, led by Andrew Kramer, that continues to produce compelling, insightful and innovative reporting of a war now in its fifth year.

Siobhán spent the past eight years on The Post's international desk, and has reported from more than 20 countries, including Afghanistan, Libya , Yemen , Tunisia and Algeria . Before joining The Post, she freelanced across sub-Saharan Africa and worked at Foreign Policy magazine.

In 2023, her project on Cairo's changing soundscape was recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award , and she was on the Post team that won the International Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism Award for work in Ukraine. She was also a finalist for the Livingston Award for stories on Ukrainian civilians under fire in 2024.

Siobhán grew up in Milton, Mass., and graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. She speaks fluent French, proficient (and ever-improving!) Ukrainian and basic Arabic.

She lives in Kyiv with her husband, Tim McDonnell, the energy editor at Semafor, and their rescue dog, Babette, who occasionally howls at air-raid sirens. When she's not exploring Kyiv's hiking trails and cafes with Babette and Tim, Siobhán can be found at the city's many kickboxing gyms or badly knitting from the back seat of an armored car. She is also known for sneaking animal references into stories as often as possible .

Please join us in welcoming Siobhán to The Times.

- Phil, Adrienne and Andy