What to expect from “elections” in Donetsk and Luhansk

While defending its interests, the soviet coal industry helped the Soviet Union collapse

Could ukrainization have prevented the current occupation of the East of Ukraine?

The Ukrainian Week discussed the first results of the Joint Forces Operation in the Donbas with its commander, Lieutenant-General Serhiy Nayev.

He has been a volunteer since 2014

Russian propaganda systemically lowers the number of officially recognized casualties on the part of Russian occupation forces in eastern Ukraine's warzone

Ukraine has selected Serhey Loznitsa's Donbas, a drama centered on an ongoing military conflict in East Ukraine, for the best foreign-language film Oscar race.

The opportunity to travel to neighboring countries without hindrance has had an effect people in the regions of Ukraine most distant from Europe – despite the war, they have begun to travel actively. The Ukrainian Week talked to Stanislav Chernohor, experienced traveller and head of the Community Development Foundation in Kramatorsk.

How to solve one of the country's most difficult problems and why the state is stubbornly unwilling to do so

How to overcome Russian cultural domination

At the end of April, the Ministry of Information Policy published results of polls from Donetsk Oblast. According to organizers, they were conducted on both sides of the conflict line

French political analyst Nicolas Tenzer about the diplomatic crisis between the West and Russia, the state of Franco-Russian relations, and the prospects for reviving negotiations in the Normandy format

An update from the occupied parts of the Donbas: monuments to Russian volunteers, shutdown of mobile connection, new arrests of ministers

Important aspects of the new Deoccupation Law

Who is fighting against Ukrainian military in Donbas

Trends in Donbas given the whirlwind of socio-economic changes and the background of permanent conflict on the front

How Ukraine’s security, defence and the capability to counter hybrid aggression changed in 2017

Deputy Chief of Staff of NATO’s Military Partnerships Directorate about the role of the Ukrainian military in the Alliance’s operations, and the interest of Western military in Ukraine’s Anti-Terrorist Operation and Russia’s Zapad 2017 exercise

What kind of model is needed for the de-occupation of ORDiLO?

The new law on the reintegration of the occupied parts of the Donbas qualifies them as such and names Russia as the occupier. Yet, it does not launch the process of deoccupation or change the mechanism envisaged in the Minsk Agreement

Founded this fall, Donetsk oligarch Serhiy Taruta’s Osnova or Foundation party has already started campaigning although the next Verkhovna Rada election is two years away

How the local women of Bakhmut change their region at home and perception of it elsewhere in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Week spoke to representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the Ministry of Defence about his department's work, Russian military in Ukraine and the threats it is facing

Although there’s been a sharp reduction in trade and commercial ties with Russia and in Ukraine’s dependence on its neighbor, some key sectors still show levels of interaction that pose a threat to national security

How life has changed in three years in occupied and liberated Donbas

What might cause the “Russian Spring” to make a comeback in Ukraine and where might this happen?

What prevented Kremlin curators from realising the "Crimean scenario" in most regions of South-Eastern Ukraine?

Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine spoke to The Ukrainian Week about current priorities and obstacles faced by the SMM in its work on the ground

How trading with ORDiLO became a handy loophole from paying taxes

Where the claims in favor of continuing coal trade with the occupied parts of Donbas are misleading

The blockade of the occupied parts of the Donbas is a consequence of the irresponsible actions of the top leadership in Ukraine and their imitation war against Russia. The legal side of this confrontation could have a decisive impact

Despite the war and partial occupation of the Donbas, Rinat Akhmetov has preserved his business empire and is increasing output

Maintaining socio-economic ties to the occupied territories of Donbas is of dubious value to Ukraine, but makes life a lot easier for the terrorists running them

What the January Cabinet of Ministers' decree on the occupied territory means for Ukraine and Russia

There are a number of mechanisms for charging those responsible for the shooting down of MH17. None is ideal but, put together, they could yield results

How elections in the Donbas usually play out

Why is Russia rushing to put an end to the warlords in its self-proclaimed republics in occupied Donbas?

Head of the ICRC mission to Ukraine on how to look for the missing and how their families can deal with obstacles in the process

In the past two years, crime rates have grown in Ukraine. Factors contributing to the general criminalization of society include economic decline and war

Founder of rehabilitation program for the military on forgiveness, understanding the war, and ways to learn to cope with this all

In addition to separatism with its referenda and Russian humanitarian convoys, the war in Ukraine begot a stratum of criminals consisting of war veterans, both real and fake

The intensity of clashes in the ATO zone is increasing with each day of summer. The terrorists openly use heavy artillery

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks on the human rights situation in Donbas and Crimea, and his further plan regarding these territories

Elections in the occupied parts of Donbas will boost the strength of the Opposition Bloc in Ukrainian politics. Its strategic goal is to return Ukraine into Russia’s orbit

How Ukrainian politicians see the likelihood of elections in the occupied parts of Donbas

Election in the occupied Donbas is nothing more than a slogan used at the Minsk negotiations. There are no real tools available today to make it happen

After two very hard years, Ukrainians may be able to breathe more easily this coming summer

In mid-week, Ukraine’s media was rocked by yet another scandal. Myrotvorets or Peacemaker, a site known for publishing information about those who have collaborated with terrorists, published a list of journalists who have been accredited by the “Donetsk People’s Republic”

Patriots from Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts strive to become an influential force

Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia on the decision-making process on provision of arms to Ukraine, reset policies between the US and Russia, and the need for reforms in Ukraine

After using leftist populist slogans to heat up the situation in the Donbas in the spring of 2014, Russia’s proxies have brought rapacious, feudal bolshevism to the region instead

How books turned war into reality

Presidential envoy for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbas and member of the humanitarian subgroup in the Minsk Negotiating Team talks to The Ukrainian Week about prisoner exchange, the amnesty for militants and Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia

Foreign policy objectives and challenges for 2016

Ukrainians tend to get their stereotypes about the "DPR" primarily from distorted media reports and have not been to Donetsk or other currently "republican" cities since they were seized. Some had a little experience of life in "Novorossia" and left, still believing that nothing has changed there since summer 2014.

To achieve successful democratic development, the Ukrainian citizens need our moral, financial and practical support

Analysis of elections in Eastern Ukraine: old and new parties

The Ukrainian Week polls the military, officials and politicians about the prospects for a longterm ceasefire

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Spokesperson on its mandate and tasks in Ukraine

Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs on Ukraine’s cooperation with Western partners and international organizations, the consequences of the Minsk agreement and the upcoming local elections

Proposed decentralization raises concern over the quality of human resources available to run the regions

The interests and prejudices of officials and diplomats from the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and other international agencies sometimes affect policy decisions more than they should

Initially, local civilians and the military had been quite critical of the OSCE monitors. This has changed recently

Ukrainian victories in the East

Believers in Eastern Ukraine faced brutal intolerance, repression and murder

The Donbas master's current clout in politics, economy and war

Ex-US Ambassador to Russia on the “reset policy”, Russia’s “resource curse”, and main threats of Putin’s policy for the West and Ukraine

Colonel Serhiy Halushko, Deputy Head of Information Technology Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, on practical aspects of the mobilization campaign

The initiative to invite peacekeepers to Donbas seems like a desperate move in the situation when traditional means of deterring Russia's creeping expansion have failed

Why an international strategy to return Crimea is necessary and what implications the militarization of the peninsula will have for the Black Sea and Mediterranean region

The annexation of Crimea from December 2, 2013, through April 4, 2014

President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in exile, Akhmed Zakayev, talks to The Ukrainian Week about what Kadyrovites want in the Donbas, the December clashes in Grozny and Makhachkali as an extension of the Russo-Chechen war that has gone on with varying intensity for nearly 25 years now, the illusory friendship of Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and the coming of ISIL to the Northern Caucasus.

Ukrainian media tend to portray the enemy as semi-barbaric gangs of terrorists, good for nothing without Russian volunteers, the Chechen spetsnaz and the regular army of the Russian Federation. This distorted view of the enemy leads to underestimation and arrogance, which represent a factor of defeat.

Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is part of a broader, and more dangerous, confrontation with the West

François Heisbourg and Judy Dempsey comment on the leadership of the USA and Germany in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, delivery of weapons to Ukraine and the new world order

Donetsk separatism only truly became a noticeable problem in 2014. Until then, almost no one believed that it existed.

Key legal aspects of the emergency situation imposed in Eastern Ukraine

For four days, the Russian "brothers" made preparations to shoot down Ukrainian troops near Ilovaysk

Donetsk-born MP Yegor Firsov on his home region: In contrast to most regular citizens, who saw the riots from outside, I knew the process from inside. From the very first days, I clearly understood that there was a guided, controlled rebellion, in which everyone skilfully played the roles designated to them

Some experts feel that the war in the Donbas was started to distract attention from the annexation of Crimea and force its recognition. If this is the case, the goal has almost been achieved. Indeed, when the military and civilians are dying, who can be bothered with Crimea where everything seems to be relatively quiet? However, that quietness is deceptive.

Widely perceived as the economic and political tandem of the Donbas, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts have actually never been equal partners

The Ukrainian Week spoke to the former deputy chief of the Security Service of Ukraine and current MP about Ukrainian partisans in the Donbas, sabotage in Russia, reforms in the SBU and who it worked for prior to the Maidan.

Even progressive and pro-Ukrainian people from this region are often pessimistic about the Donbas and its population, saying that most locals are completely hopeless, it’s impossible to get through to their brains or souls, and it’s unrealistic to change the socio-political landscape of their territory; it’s like a black hole on the map of Ukraine, a kind of huge demographic and psychological well, the bottom of a mine, from which it is impossible to claw a way out to the surface.

The echoes of the Famine in today's separatism in South-Eastern Ukraine

Ukrainian war veterans return from the Donbas. And face a new war

Unhappy, poorly dressed people, mostly elderly, trudged to the polls to cast their votes for one of the richest people in the Donetsk region

The election in Donbas followed the traditional scenario for this region. Unfortunately, its residents learned nothing from the bloody lessons of 2014

Ruslan Petrenko (not his real name) from a small town near Donetsk was a pro-Ukrainian activist. This got him in trouble: he was taken hostage by the “DNR” terrorists and spent more than a month in captivity

The “special status” of the Donbas within Ukraine can turn it into an impoverished criminal reservation. This will help Moscow conceal its occupation of part of the neighbour’s territory and legitimize its presence in the region

In his interview for The Ukrainian Week, sociologist Yevhen Holovakha discusses ways used to install Soviet values, explains why nostalgia about the USSR and argues that one efficient way to de-Sovietize society is to dispel the myth about the high standard of social care under the Bolsheviks

Donwplayed and obscured for half a century, the Donbas appears as Ukraine’s historical and natural terra incognita

How the war has changed the perception of independence in Eastern Ukraine

Trying to figure out what on earth happened with Donbas over the recent decades one cannot ignore the peculiar partnership between the masses and the rulers of the region

Sovietism is deeply rooted in the Donetsk prairies. Unless it is liquidated, the region will see no progress or solution to the current situation

The Ukrainian Week speaks to Ms. Mikheyeva about the humanitarian future of her native region

The advance of Russians in the Donbas has halted the movement of the Ukrainian army eastward and intensified the panic in our rear. However, the shock will soon pass, and society may have no option but to prepare for a cold winter and a lengthy military confrontation

How the war in Eastern Ukraine is affecting national economy

Rinat Akhmetov, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych continue to weave plots for Eastern Ukraine, making the rebels with black-and-orange ribbons think that they are dying for a New Russia, not for oligarchic interests

Volunteers who raise funds for the Ukrainian military share their motivations, worries and bank details for those who are willing to donate

Terrorists attack Ukrainian anti-terrorist operation forces with tanks, mines and anti-tank guided missiles near the villages of Marynivka, Tarany and Stepanivka in Donetsk Oblast, the National Guard’s press service reports