Kiev — Every day, the news from Ukraine’s war torn eastern regions, Lugansk and Donetsk, seems to get worse. The death toll, now well over 200, is climbing as fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian Army continues. With the appearance of “Vostok” — a well-trained and armed militant group made up largely of Russian […]
This article was written on Saturday, May 24, ahead of today’s elections. Kiev: Election observers have descended on Ukraine for the presidential elections this Sunday, May 25. Given the tumultuous situation in Ukraine’s separatist eastern regions, Luhansk and Donetsk, the elections are particularly important for legitimating Ukraine’s central government and reestablishing faith in Ukraine’s democracy […]
This is a dispatch from Kharkiv, written before the referendum vote this past weekend. – Ed. Kharkiv, Ukraine — Two of Ukraine’s eastern regions, Donetsk and Lugansk, are holding a referendum to establish an autonomous republic in their regions. In neighboring Kharkiv, pro-Russian separatists would like to see the same. Oleg — a young, well-educated, […]
Kharkiv, Ukraine — “The last few months have divided friends and families,” says Olga Filippova, a 47-year-old social scientist and long time Kharkiv resident, “I can’t even talk to my relative [who lives in Russia] about politics, because she would rather believe the news than me. We’ve agreed to only talk about family, but that […]
Kiev, Ukraine — On May 1, Ukraine’s acting president Turchynov admitted that it lost control of eastern Ukraine. The following day, on May 2, the government launched a military offensive to take back eastern cities from militants. In Slavyansk, two military helicopters were shot down, allegedly by the pro-Russian forces. In Odessa, the death toll […]
Kyiv, Ukraine — “Maidan shouldn’t be there,” said my friend as we sat in her kitchen in Kyiv. Before, when I was living there as a researcher interviewing the far right activists who would come to the center of the Ukrainian revolution, my friend’s kitchen was a reprieve from the politics of my work. We […]
