The Berlin-based newspaper DER TAGESSPIEGEL listed Dr. Nataliia Steblyna as one of the 100 most important and influential scientists in the Berlin-Brandenburg region.
TAGESSPIEGEL’s laudation: Ukrainian researcher Nataliia Steblyna began her career as a journalist before moving into coding. Today, she uses software to scan millions of online posts for traces of Russian disinformation. During the summer semester 2025, she shared her expertise with students at Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), where she served as the first visiting professor of the KIU competence network. Beyond academia, she is also active in a democracy NGO, helping to expose war propaganda on Telegram and other platforms.
In this interview she talked about her career, the special situation of her university, Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University, which had to re-locate from eastern Ukraine in 2014, and what she expected from Viadrina students.