Latest Articles about Ukraine

REGIONS OF UKRAINE COMES BACK, TAKES UP LANGUAGE ISSUE

Though defeated in the Orange Revolution, regional elites scored a strong performance in Ukraine's March 26 general election, strengthening the position of their main party -- the Party of Regions (PRU) of former presidential contender Viktor Yanukovych. President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc emerged very... MORE

KYIV ALSO GLANCING AT EXIT FROM CIS

While Tbilisi seems prepared to leave the Commonwealth of Independent States altogether (see EDM, May 11), Kyiv is reducing its own participation in the organization to almost nil, while maximizing its criticism of it. Even the meager membership dues of "nearly $1 million" that Ukraine... MORE

TYMOSHENKO SET TO OUST NEW MAYOR OF KYIV

Banker Leonid Chernovetsky has managed to secure the legitimacy of his election as Kyiv mayor. On April 10, the Shevchenkivsky district court in Kyiv ruled that there was no proof of vote buying by Chernovetsky. Outgoing mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko had accused Chernovetsky of buying votes... MORE

ORANGE REVOLUTION LEADERS DECIDE TO RE-UNITE

After weeks of difficult consultations, the Our Ukraine bloc of President Viktor Yushchenko, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Socialist Party have decided to re-establish their alliance. On April 10, they launched talks on the shape of a cabinet coalition. Our Ukraine rejected coalition proposals... MORE

MAVERICK BANKER WINS MAYORAL ELECTION IN KYIV

The mayoral election in Kyiv, which was held simultaneously with the national parliamentary elections on March 26, produced a sensation. Leonid Chernovetsky, a maverick nouveau riche whose bid for city hall was hardly taken seriously in the beginning, came out ahead. While the two favorites... MORE

UKRAINE BREAKING RANKS WITH EUROPE AND MOLDOVA ON TRANSNISTRIA

Ukraine's March 3 decision to cooperate with the European Union and Moldova on Transnistria is proving short-lived. On that day, at the EU's insistence, Ukraine began enforcing a new border and customs regime agreed with Moldova on the Transnistrian sector of the Ukraine-Moldova border, thus... MORE

KYIV REOPENING THE DOOR TO ROSUKRENERGO

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and some government authorities seem again to endorse the deeply damaging gas deals signed on January 4 and February 2 with Gazprom's shadowy offshoot RosUkrEnergo. Yushchenko had ignored widespread criticism of those agreements, until unpublicized U.S. and EU intercessions persuaded him... MORE

ROSUKRENERGO SNEAKING BACK INTO UKRAINE

Pending the March 26 parliamentary elections, official Kyiv has shelved the deeply damaging gas deals it signed on January 4 and February 2 with Gazprom and its offshoot RosUkrEnergo. President Viktor Yushchenko and those close associates who confused him into advocating for these deals seemed... MORE

UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES CAMPAIGN FOR RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

The Russian language issue has been employed in the run-up to the March 26 Ukrainian parliamentary election probably more actively than in any past poll. Unlike in previous elections, where marginal groups and low-key candidates played the Russian-language card, now such heavyweights as the frontrunner... MORE