JOURNALIST • EDITORIAL PRODUCER
Reporting across borders. Producing journalism built for the moment.
I report and produce stories about Russia, Ukraine and the human consequences of political change. My work spans investigations, breaking news, live television and audience-centered digital storytelling.
Currently an audience engagement specialist at the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, working on audience growth and digital distribution. Previously Russia producer at CNN.
Reporting only matters if it reaches people. At the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ, Uliana Pavlova works on audience growth and digital distribution for one of Chicago’s largest newsrooms — across social, homepage, push and emerging platforms.
Audience Engagement Specialist · Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ · February 2025 – present
Social-first video, explainer carousels and visual storytelling, developed and executed across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, Bluesky and Reddit.
Homepage curation, audience-focused headlines, push alerts and platform-specific copy written around breaking news and major coverage.
Content and platform performance analysis to identify audience trends, optimise distribution and find openings for engagement and growth.
Works across
Featured story
An exclusive account from a junior Russian officer who resigned after taking part in the invasion of Ukraine, tracing confusion, guilt and dissent inside the ranks.
Read at CNN (opens CNN)2025
An examination of how Russia’s extremism rules have reshaped LGBTQ life and culture, and how people continue to navigate those restrictions.
2023
A profile of 19-year-old Olesya Krivtsova, prosecuted over anti-war social-media posts and placed on Russia’s official list of terrorists and extremists.
2022
Voices from across Russia in the days after Putin’s mobilization order, as men weighed conscription, flight and the cost of refusing.
2022
An obituary of the last Soviet leader, and of the reforms that ended one system without settling what would replace it.
2022
A reported look at Russians who left their country after the invasion, and how war transformed their relationship with the only political system many had known.
News happens in fragments. Producing means turning those fragments into accurate, coherent coverage under pressure. At CNN, Uliana Pavlova reported, wrote and produced coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian politics and the Wagner mutiny. Her work included research, verification, reporting and editorial coordination across television and digital platforms.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The military buildup
The Wagner mutiny
Russian domestic politics and the crackdown
News & Documentary Emmy Award
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award
White House Correspondents’ Association Scholarship
Theo Wilson Scholarship
Uliana Pavlova is a journalist and editorial producer covering Russia, Ukraine, political repression, migration and the human consequences of geopolitical change. A former CNN Russia producer, she now works in audience engagement and digital strategy at the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ. Her reporting and production work spans international print, digital, television and radio journalism.