They come from advertising agencies and the military, but have scant political experience. Eastern Ukraine’s new strongmen have one thing in common: They’re all “Friends of Vladimir.”
country: Ukraine
Stay updated with comprehensive news on Ukraine from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Ukrainian politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Kyiv, Ukrainian history, and current events.
LVIV — There’s a commotion in Room 312 of Lviv’s social services department, where over 50 Crimean Tatars are crowded into the small space — families with children, older married couples, students. All of them fled Crimea in March and headed for this western Ukrainian city. They’re now in the concrete block near St. George’s […]
KOSTIANTYNIVKA — It was still early on Monday morning in the east Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka when the city administration and police station were visited by 20 weapons-bearing men wearing camouflage uniforms. Within a few minutes they had control of the seat of power in this city of 95,000 people, and it wasn’t long before […]
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The Un-United States of Ukraine
Ukrainian politicians are united on the idea of more regional autonomy, but they seem to draw a red line on the question of federalism. That, they fear, would play right into Moscow’s hands.
In Sloviansk, masked men storm homes of Roma families and agitators blame the Jews.
MOSCOW — The same picture that we saw at the end of 2013 in Kiev has now simply moved to Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Mykolaiv. Buildings stormed, barricaded streets, people in masks and flags flying. The differences, at first glance, appear insignificant. Before, there was just one center of the protests — Kiev — whereas […]
After pleas for help on social media to defend pro-Russians across the border, soldiers and would-be soldiers have left Russia to travel to Eastern Ukraine. On the ground in Donetsk.
As the risk of war hovers over the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, one local explains why he looks to Moscow rather than Kiev.
MILOVE — This town located 900 kilometers from Kiev and Moscow is unwittingly embroiled in the bitter, and at times deadly, dispute between Russia and Ukraine. The border separating the two countries divides the town of Milove in half, and Ukrainian residents in this poor region vitally need to trade with the richer Russia to […]
The Maidan protests were driven by public disgust with corruption, more than picking sides between the EU and Russia. But ousting Viktor Yanukovych has not ended the dirty business woven into the fabric of Ukrainian life.
BERLIN — Over the past week, the term “original inhabitants” has been used repeatedly to characterize Crimean Tatars, who seem to be the only inhabitants of the peninsula who don’t see a home for themselves in Russia. “The original inhabitants since the late Middle Ages were the Tatars,” a serious historian and professor of East […]
KIEV — In a widely viewed video, the head of Ukraine’s National Television channel can be seen being beaten by right-wing members of the Ukrainian Parliament for allowing the ceremony celebrating Crimea’s entrance into the Russian Federation to be broadcast live on television. Television executive Aleksander Panteleimonov was grabbed by his necktie, strangled, hit on […]
PARIS – On March 12, Mustafa Dzhemilev, a leading figure among the ethnic Crimean Tatars, had a long conversation over the phone with Vladimir Putin. No doubt, they talked about the referendum that was set to take place four days later. According to what Dzhemilev reported to the Ukrainian media, the Russian president asserted that […]
PEREVALNE — While Russian flags fly in Simferopol and people celebrate the “return home” in the main square, a few miles away in the village of Perevalne a strange calm has descended. For weeks now, the Ukrainian military regiments here have been surrounded by Russian forces, and armored vehicles have patrolled the streets. Pro-Russian activists […]
SIMFEROPOL — Crimea’s economy is built on two main engines: tourism and agriculture. The current unrest and pending secession of Crimea to become part of Russia could dissuade many would-be vacationers from both Ukraine and Western Europe. A serious drop in tourism numbers could translate into a serious hit for the peninsula’s economy, which is […]
Ethnic Tatars are deeply attached to their native Crimea, but risk again becoming the first victims of the maneuvering of greater powers.
The path of the EU and the U.S. on Ukraine is defining not only the West’s long-term interests but also the key geopolitical players involved. A Russian look at two key diplomatic players.
Tensions are running high in Simferopol, the capital of the region of Crimea. A Polish reporter tries to take the pulse of a people increasingly divided.
Whatever political and ethnic forces are at play, all sides must remember that Crimea’s finances and infrastructure are Ukrainian to the core.
SEVASTOPOL — Tension is running high around the Ukrainian navy base in Sevastopol and around Belbek airport, with several spontaneous demonstrations breaking out. Meanwhile on the outskirts of the nearby city of Simferopol, says Vladislav Celeznevon, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman, military trucks without license plates are blocking in the perimeter of concrete military bases. […]
The competing sides, both globally and regionally, will never see Ukraine’s reality the same way, so deep are the historical and cultural divides. Analysis from Kiev.
The West has woken up to the gravity of the situation. But what real options are on the table?
From Poland to Western Europe and beyond, Ukrainian democracy needs cash to flourish. There may not be a third chance.
In the capital of Ukraine’s Crimea region, where ethnic Russians and otherwise pro-Russian citizens hold sway, dissenters are holding a countermovement to the pro-EU Maiden protests.
-OpEd- MUNICH — When the Winter Olympics ended Sunday evening, the second part of the Ukrainian revolution began. Now the country’s cohesion and its chances of economic survival will be decided. After a dramatic week in Kiev, a civil war was avoided when the Ukraine Parliament removed the president from power. And now even Ukrainians […]
In Eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, the scene – and sentiments – and not exactly like those in Kiev.
-Analysis- PARIS — Is this 1989 all over again? One generation after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the protests in Ukraine instinctively bring to mind the revolutions that swept away the dying communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. The images of crowds, initially peaceful and festive in Kiev’s Independence Square, are similar to […]
-OpEd- The Western world felt safe in the illusion that nothing would happen in Ukraine until the end of the Sochi Olympic Games. But it woke up on Wednesday to terrifying images of the bloody battlefield of central Kiev, literally ablaze. After a three-month-long face-off between a pro-European opposition, which hasn’t weakened despite the cold […]
To understand the Maidan protesters in Kiev, just go to Prague, Warsaw and beyond. While other post-Soviet bloc economies have emerged, Ukrainians know too well that their leaders have failed them.
And Igor Luzenko is the lucky one. The other activist with whom he was abducted, beaten and interrogated didn’t make it home alive.
-OpEd- MUNICH — During these past years of economic crisis, we Europeans learned that our fate was inextricably linked to that of the banks. We’re accustomed to the idea that numbers will decide how the continent fares. A good European, then, is a thrifty European. And now the pictures from Kiev come crashing in. They […]
KIEV — “Dude, are you drunk? Get out of here!” says Evgeni Dudchenko, a pro-EU protester who works security for the so-called Euromaidan movement, named for the square where the dissidents gather. He checks out everyone who wants to enter the demonstration area. “If someone is drunk, he’s out of here. Alcohol is forbidden here, […]
As overnight clashes in Kiev leave at least two dead, the Russian daily reports that the violence is being fed by nationalist groups that advocate open revolution.
The former boxing champion has been plucked by the Western media as the new face of Ukraine’s opposition. The situation is more complicated than that, even as risks for all rise.
Europe represents the freedom from political dictatorship. But at what cost?
KIEV — So Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is still a prisoner — and Ukraine’s future as part of the European Union hangs in the balance. The Ukrainian Parliament balked Wednesday night on any decision to release the opposition leader, who has been jailed since 2011. Meanwhile, the EU has sent Kiev a clear […]
UKRAINE PROTESTS: UPDATE U.S. CONGRESS CLOSING IN ON BUDGET DEAL Republican and Democrat negotiators have agreed on a federal budget for the next two years, brushing aside fears of a new government shutdown in January, The Washington Post reports. If passed by the House and the Senate, the deal will translate into spending cuts and […]
Kiev doesn’t want to risk its ties with Moscow, but can’t afford to pass up economic opportunities in Europe. And where does that leave jailed opposition chief Yulia Tymoshenko?
Friday, August 8, 2014 OBAMA AUTHORIZES IRAQ AIRSTRIKES Marking the most significant intervention in Iraq since American troops were withdrawn in 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against Islamist extremists there and aid to desperate civilians a day after the country’s largest Christian town was seized, forcing thousands to flee. “Earlier this week, one […]
GAZA WAR ENTERS THIRD WEEK Israel’s assault on Gaza and Hamas rocket fire into Israel show no sign of abating. Gaza’s Health Ministry officials reports 604 Palestinians killed in 15 days, with more than 3,700 injured. Most of the victims are civilians. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed yesterday, taking the total to 27 since the […]