RIA Novosti: Ousted Ukrainian leader wants political comeback – interview to Russian media

Viktor Yanukovych file photo

(RIA Novosti – December 8, 2015) Deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has expressed his wish to return to politics. He said this in an interview with RIA Novosti (part of the state-owned International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya), excerpts from which were published on 8 December. “I want to return to politics. Today… [ellipsis as received] I do everything in my […]

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NEWSWATCH Atlantic Council/Anders Aslund: “Ukraine Two Years After Euromaidan: What Has Been Accomplished?”

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

Anders Aslund assesses developments in Ukraine since Euromaidan. Two years ago, popular protests erupted against Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych on Kyiv’s Maidan. Since then, Ukraine’s economy has deteriorated sharply, with a contraction of 18 percent in two years, but the Poroshenko Bloc was the biggest party by far in the October 25 local elections. One might say that the […]

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Mariupol elections: will Donbas voters be represented in Ukrainian politics?

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

The Donbas is being airbrushed out of Ukrainian politics. This will only build another barrier to a united and democratic country. (opendemocracy.net – Vitalii Atanasov – November 26, 2015) Vitalii Atanasov is a freelance journalist, videographer and coordinator of media education projects at Kyiv’s Center for Social and Labor Research. He specialises in reporting on social inequalities, civil and labour […]

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Ukraine is caught between war and reform

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

Two years on from the protests that ignited Maidan, Ukraine is suffering from a clash of agendas. (opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Minakov – November 27, 2015) Mikhail Minakov is Associate Professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and President of the Foundation for Good Politics, Kyiv. He is also director of the Krytyka Institute, and editor-in-chief of the journal Ideology and Politics. Two years […]

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Another Georgian native gets Ukrainian citizenship, high post in Ukraine’s national police

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

KYIV. Nov 15 (Interfax) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree giving Ukrainian citizenship to Giorgi Grigalashvili, who previously headed the Georgian patrol police. “You have demonstrated a result in the reform of the Georgian law enforcement system, you have to demonstrate it in Ukraine, too. I hope for your professionalism and decency,” Poroshenko said while signing the […]

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EVENT: The Ukraine Syndrome and European Monism with Dr. Richard Sakwa, Wednesday, November 18 in Washington, D.C.

File Photo of George Washington Bust at George Washington University

The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) George Washington University The Ukraine Syndrome and European Monism with Dr. Richard Sakwa, Professor of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent, England November 18, 2015 The crisis of state building and national development in Ukraine has deep roots and complex interactions, but ultimately the ‘Ukraine syndrome’ reflects the […]

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Ukraine Failing to Probe Pro-Russia Protester Deaths, Panel Says

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Choursina – November 4, 2015) Ukrainian authorities are failing to adequately investigate 48 deaths, including of 42 pro-Russian protesters, in the Black Sea port of Odessa in May 2014, according to an international panel set up by the Council of Europe. The demonstrators clashed with football fans and participants in a pro-government rally […]

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Five Questions: The Arrest Of Ukrainian Oligarch Hennadiy Korban

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(RFE/RL – Anna Shamanska – November 3, 2015) The arrest of a close associate of one of Ukraine’s most powerful oligarchs has pundits and the public wondering whether President Petro Poroshenko is finally cracking down on corruption or merely trying to silence political opponents. Hennadiy Korban, the head of the anti-Poroshenko UKROP party, was initially arrested at his home on […]

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Ukraine Probes Attack on Chief Prosecutor Amid Calls He Resign

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Daryna Krasnolutska, Kateryna Choursina – November 3, 2015) Ukrainian authorities opened a criminal investigation into a sniper attack on Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who’s under pressure to resign amid criticism he has hindered the country’s fight against graft. At about 10 p.m. Kiev time on Monday, an unknown assailant fired at a window in Shokin’s office […]

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BNE: Local elections in Ukraine pave the way for parliamentary crisis

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG: Sergei Kuznetsov in Kyiv – October 27, 2015) Local elections in Ukraine, held on October 25, predictably demonstrated a decline in public support for pro-Western political forces headed by the current president and prime minister. This outcome could trigger manoeuvring among other political players, including members of the ruling coalition, aimed at […]

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NEWSLINK Buzzfeed: Washington’s Man In Ukraine Can’t Stop His Country’s Corrupt Cronies. Ukraine’s Western allies backed Arseniy Yatsenyuk when he became prime minister and vowed to “wage a war” on graft. But as the country’s fight against corruption stalls, many in Kiev see his government as part of the problem

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Swiss federalization experience useful for Ukraine – Naryshkin

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

GENEVA. Oct 19 (Interfax) – Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin has said it would be useful for Kyiv to familiarize itself with Switzerland’s experience as a federal republic. “It seems to me that the experience of state-building in Switzerland would be useful for our Ukrainian colleagues as well. At least they could learn not to be afraid of this […]

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US-style cops win points in Ukraine’s regions while other reforms drag

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG: Sergei Kuznetsov in Lviv – October 5, 2015) After the successful launch of a new patrol force in Kyiv in July, the Ukrainian authorities have begun rolling out the initiative in the country’s regions. But while the new-look cops are receiving a cordial welcome, they are still the only visible result of […]

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Saakashvili’s personal agreement is needed to launch procedure of appointing him as Ukrainian PM – Poroshenko

Mikheil Saakashvili file photo

KYIV. Sept 24 (Interfax) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has responded to an online petition asking him to appoint the Odesa region’s Governor Mikheil Saakashvili Ukraine’s prime minister. “The candidate’s personal agreement to take on this post is a necessary condition for launching the aforementioned procedure of appointing the prime minister of Ukraine. However, Saakashvili has not offered any comments […]

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‘Team Georgia’ graftbusters open container of worms in Odesa clean-up

Mikheil Saakashvili file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Odesa – September 21, 2015) Odesa region governor Mikheil Saakashvili wants to crack down on corruption and the shadow economy in Odesa’s ports, and with the appointment to the post of regional prosecutor of Davit Sakvarelidze he now has the power to do this. After intense lobbying in Kyiv, the former […]

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NEWSWATCH Kyiv Post: Yatsenyuk fires back at Russia, oligarchs and those who thwart reform

Arseniy Yatsenyuk file photo

The Kiev Post covers Sept. 16 remarks by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk addressing multiple challenges facing Ukraine, including a goal of European integration in the face of Russian opposition. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk hardly left anyone out during a televised government meeting on Sept. 16. He charged at Russia, parliament, government coalition partners, local authorities and the customs […]

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Ukraine Lobbies Lawmakers With Debt Vote Said at Risk of Failing

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Natasha Doff, Daryna Krasnolutska – September 16, 2015) Ukraine’s government has stepped up last-minute lobbying because of growing concern that lawmakers won’t back an accord to restructure $18 billion of foreign debt. Government officials have met with ruling and opposition parties before a vote Thursday that’s supposed to give final approval to the debt deal, according […]

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The dark side of Ukraine’s constitutional reform; ‘Bloody Monday’ raised the stakes for Ukraine’s constitutional reform. The new law not only affects the state’s relationship with the east, but threatens austerity measures and infringements on human rights

Verkhovna Rada File Photo

(opendemocracy.net – Vitaly Dudin – September 16, 2015) Vitaly Dudin is a legal analyst at Ukraine’s Center for Social and Labor Research, which was created in 2013 as an independent not-for-profit institution dedicated to the analysis of socio-economic problems, collective protests, labour relations and conflicts. 265 votes ‘for’. Three people dead. This is how most of us will remember Ukraine’s […]

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BNE: Ukraine reform guru urges more powers for Saakashvili after 100 days in office

Mikheil Saakashvili file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Odesa – September 10, 2015) 47-year-old Sasha Borovik is one of the most colourful and controversial of Ukraine’s new team of radical reformers parachuted in to revamp the country’s corrupt and dysfunctional institutions. In early 2015 he broke off a high-flying career abroad as an IT lawyer with Microsoft and other […]

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Handing Over Crimea and Donbas to Russia No Solution for Ukraine or the World

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 2, 2015) Many people, horrified by the actions of pro-Moscow forces in Crimea and the Donbas or unwilling to continue to resist Russian aggression, have concluded that the rest of Ukraine would be better off without those two regions and could move forward by sacrificing them to Vladimir Putin. “If only […]

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The Radical Menace to Ukraine

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – August 31, 2015) A police officer was killed during a protest in Kiev on Monday. It was the first such fatality since Ukraine’s “Revolution of Dignity” last year. Radical nationalists, some with weapons, gathered to protest a constitutional amendment proposed by President Petro Poroshenko that would make it possible to reintegrate separatist areas […]

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Moscow Won’t Succeed in Using Ukrainian Radicals to Destabilize Kyiv, Portnikov Says

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 1, 2015) Having failed to find the number of backers for the Russian world in Ukraine it expected, Moscow in the opinion of many in Kyiv is seeking to use Ukrainian radicals in the pursuit of its goal of destabilizing Kyiv to the point that Ukraine will fall back into Russia’s […]

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Ukrainian premier Yatsenyuk’s party drops out of elections

Arseniy Yatsenyuk file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – August 28, 2015) The People’s Front party founded by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and allies has effectively thrown in the towel, annnouncing that it will not participate in local elections on October 25, 2015. The move follows a catastrophic drop in ratings to under 3%. “People’s Front party will not […]

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Ukraine’s wartime privatisation

International Monetary Fund Logo Over Ukraine Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Sergei Kuznetsov in Kyiv – August 28, 2015) Desperate to raise money, the Ukrainian government is determined to start a massive privatisation campaign before the end of this year. A total of 345 companies are on the list, including some of the state’s most attractive assets. But will there be any buyers? The economy […]

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Ukrainians Mark Independence Day United by Patriotism and Hope, Sociologist Says

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Paul Goble – Windows on Eurasia – Staunton, August 24, 2015) Today is Ukraine’s Independence Day, and compared to the years before Vladimir Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea and the Russian invasion of the Donbas, Ukrainians are now far more united by patriotism and by their hopes for the future, according to Irina Bekeshkina, a sociologist at the Kyiv Institute of […]

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Exiled Ukraine Premier Seeks to Regain Power, Though Not Crimea

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Irina Reznik, Stepan Kravchenko – August 19, 2015) Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who’s formed a government-in-exile to try to regain power, said his country is ripe for more regime change. Amid economic crisis and conflict in the country’s east, Ukrainians are disillusioned with the pro-European policies of President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy […]

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Interfax: Committee for the Salvation of Ukraine believes there will be no peace in Ukraine with its current political administration

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) – Mykola Azarov, the head of the Committee for the Salvation of Ukraine and former prime minister of Ukraine, believes peace and accord cannot be established in Ukraine without changing its political administration. “The Committee for the Salvation of Ukraine believes that it is impossible to establish peace, accord, development and provide people with minimal social […]

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Ukraine elites face reshuffle as Tymoshenko regains popularity

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG: Sergei Kuznetsov in Kyiv – July 30, 2015) When Batkivshchyna (Fatherland), the party headed by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, barely scraped over the 5% barrier required to secure representation in Ukraine’s parliament during snap elections in late October, many experts declared that Tymoshenko’s political shelf-life had expired. Society wanted to see […]

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Mokrushyna podcast [re: Ukraine]

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

Subject: Mokrushyna podcast Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2015 17:25:19 -0400 From: Pietro Shakarian <pashakarian@gmail.com> Here is the link to my latest Reconsidering Russia podcast: https://soundcloud.com/pashakarian/reconsidering-russia-podcast-04-an-interview-with-halyna-mokrushyna Guest: Halyna Mokrushyna on democracy in Ukraine today. Dr. Mokrushyna holds a PhD in linguistics and an MA in communication. She is also currently enrolled in the PhD program in sociology at the University of […]

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