Commentary

When President Trump froze hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine in July of 2019, Oleksandr Markiv was in a trench defending his country’s eastern front line against Russia-backed separatist militias. Two months later, Markiv, 38, was dead, killed by shrapnel during a mortar attack on his battalion’s position in a notoriously dangerous defense point known as the Svitlodarsk Bulge. Markiv was one of 25 Ukrainian fatalities on the front line since July 18, the day Trump quietly put on hold a $391-million military aid package appropriated by Congress for Ukraine last year. Democrats accuse Trump of holding Ukraine’s allotted military aid hostage in exchange for promises from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the dealings of Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden...

The fight over President Donald Trump’s potential impeachment has divided the United States along party lines, Democrats versus Republicans, with Ukraine being talked about as the scene of a crime. Many Ukrainians, however, feel their country is the victim in all this – not just because of the way Mr. Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the now-infamous July 25 phone call, but also because of the way their country’s name and reputation has been dragged through the middle of the United States’ political conflict. Government officials worry about the effect that the scandal, and the incessant headlines connecting "Ukraine” and “corruption,” will have on their attempts to promote the country as a safe place to invest...

Believe it or not, the ongoing impeachment drama in the United States wasn’t the biggest news story this week in Ukraine. Rather, Ukrainians are focused on news much closer to home—the prospect of rejuvenated peace talks with Moscow to end the war in Ukraine’s embattled eastern Donbas region that has lasted five and a half years. The news broke on Tuesday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced his decision to accept the so-called Steinmeier Formula—a controversial measure to hold elections in the two so-called separatist territories in eastern Ukraine...

Volodymyr Viatrovych’s work the last five years as head of the Institute has included an updated map of Ukraine, the poppy remembrance symbol, the complete openness of the KGB archives, the recognition of fighters for independence, the beginning of the rehabilitation of victims of repression, the Maidan Museum and refuting many myths on Ukrainian history. On September 18, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dismissed Volodymyr Viatrovych from the position of Head of the Institute of National Remembrance, a position he held since March 2014. Viatrovych conducted various reforms of the Institute, which became a leading authority in Ukraine working according to European practices...

A picture is worth a thousand elections. On September 10, the photograph of a meeting held between President Volodymyr Zelensky and notorious oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi was posted online and cast a chill across Ukraine. To many, it confirmed the fear that another one of their presidents was in the pocket of an oligarch. Then on September 21, an article was published which included a photograph showing Kolomoyskyi watching a basketball game with unsavory businessmen...

Autumn 2019 will see the official launch of Lifeline Ukraine, the country’s first professional suicide prevention and mental health support hotline. Recruitment of counsellors has focused on Ukraine’s pool of approximately 400,000 combat veterans from the country’s undeclared but ongoing war with Russia. After completing training with international specialists in veteran mental health issues, they will begin working around the clock at the Lifeline Ukraine offices in Kyiv’s Podil district. The launch of Lifeline Ukraine cannot come too soon. Mental health problems among former military personnel are a major social issue, and one that the country remains ill equipped to address. Prior to the...

The twentieth floor offers a spectacular, panoramic view of Kyiv. There’s limitless coffee, yellow cushions, plenty of space to stretch out, and fast, free WiFi. A small, fluffy puppy of Hero’s Companion waits on one side of the floor to greet those who pass by. One could be forgiven for mistaking the Veteran Hub for a coworking space, but it’s far more. “The space is constructed so that people have complete freedom,” Ivona Kostyna, the co-founder of Veteran Hub, told me in April. Opened in November 2018, the hub is home to twelve organizations that provide free services from legal advice to psychotherapy to Ukraine’s 361,000 veterans who have fought Russia to a stalemate in the Donbas. Housed in the Kyiv Telecenter, it should be a must-visit place for foreign diplomats, aid workers, and journalists to understand just how...

Ukraine’s celebration on Saturday, August 24 of its Independence Day marks 28 years since the country split from the Soviet Union. But freedom hasn’t come easy for Ukraine. And the country’s freedom struggle isn’t over. For more than five years, Ukrainian troops have been bogged down in a war in the country’s eastern Donbas region, where they face a combined force of Russian regulars, pro-Russian separatists, and foreign mercenaries. “Our state and independence exist because of you,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, speaking at an event honoring military veterans. “What you have done for Ukraine, for its independence, for the protection of our sovereignty, is simply invaluable.”...

While 7 September was certainly a day for rejoicing at the return to Ukraine of 35 Ukrainian political prisoners (including 24 PoWs), there was also huge sadness for the families who are still waiting the release of their fathers or sons. The fact that at least 87 Ukrainian political prisoners are still imprisoned in occupied Crimea or Russia, as well as a minimum of 227 hostages in occupied Donbas makes the upbeat noises in western media about a new page in Ukrainian-Russian relations seem at very least premature. Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly saw the need to organize an exchange of prisoners at this time, with a key reason probably the capture by Ukraine on 27 June of Volodymyr Tsemakh, a Donbas militant commander who can provide critically important information about the downing with a Russian BUK missile of Malaysian airliner MH17. Putin is probably also hoping for an improvement in relations with western countries in return for releasing Oleg Sentsov, Roman Sushchenko and other prominent political prisoners. This will only happen if we fail to ensure that the West knows the names of all Russia’s Crimean Tatar and other Ukrainian victims of repression and to draw attention to the mounting scale of persecution, especially of civic activists and journalists in occupied Crimea...

On September 7, Ukraine and Russia exchanged 35 prisoners in a long-awaited swap. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the move “the first step to end the war.” The exchange was praised widely by European leaders. We asked UkraineAlert contributors the following questions: Who got the better deal? What might this signal about Russia’s willingness to finally negotiate and end the war? What does this mean for Zelenskyy? In what ways does the Kremlin benefit? What impact will this have on upcoming Normandy Format dialogue? How will the rest of the international community view this? Concession or negotiation? Willem Aldershoff, former head of unit in the European Commission and international affairs analyst: It would be very difficult for any Ukrainian leader not to agree to this deal. So many important Ukrainian prisoners returning will play out very positively for Zelenskyy domestically and also benefit him internationally...