18th August 2010
Ever wondered what the button looked like which would signal armageddon? Now you can find out. Before 1991, Ukraine contained, on one estimate, enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world three times over. By the end of the 1990s, every single nuclear missile and every silo on Ukrainian territory had been destroyed. Except for two […]
9th August 2010
I blogged last December about the urgent need to tackle corruption in Ukraine, which had slid to place 146 (out of 180) in Transparency International’s corruption index for 2009. Since the election of President Yanukovych, the new Ukrainian government has announced several anti-corruption measures, including welcome steps to deregulate business. That in turn could help […]
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26th July 2010
There’s sometimes an inverse relationship between the quality of an experience you’re undergoing and your ability to photograph it. Especially when the experience involves scrambling up a ladder inside the arm of a giant statue; squeezing through a trapdoor; then sticking your head out of the top of a stainless steel shield far above the […]
7th July 2010
Is there a risk of an upsurge in censorship in Ukraine? If there is, what can Ukrainians do about it? And what if anything should outsiders such as foreign governments and diplomats be doing? These are all questions which come up when I host a lunch at the Residence for Ukrainian journalists and media activists. […]
9th June 2010
What’s the toughest thing you can do to a Ukrainian student sitting an important English oral exam? How about bringing in the British ambassador to watch your conversational efforts, together with the head of the training institute and a photographer? That’s what happens when I visit the Kharkiv Aviation University and am shown round the […]
24th February 2010
It’s a fine winter’s day in Kyiv and I’m sitting down for a meeting with a couple of prominent business people on the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Yanukovych. The business folk explain the immense economic potential of Ukraine as an energy and mineral producer, transit country, agricultural powerhouse and home to millions of […]
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18th February 2010
A guest blog by Svitlana Yavorska, Head of Projects Section, British Embassy Kyiv Breaking racial and ethnic stereotyping is vital in every country. So it was good to attend a press conference this week to mark the completion of a project funded by the Embassy to help Ukraine’s police forces, or militia, reach European best […]
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12th February 2010
I wrote a couple of blogs last week anticipating the Ukrainian presidential election. The first, Ukrainian election: best and worst outcomes noted that the best possible outcome of the election would be that: “the elections are recognised by the OSCE/ODIHR observer mission as being to a good standard; both sides accept the outcome; and the […]
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5th February 2010
As Ukraine moves closer to the decisive second round of the presidential election on 7 February the words of the European Commission after the first round might seem a distant memory. In a statement on 18 January, the Commission welcomed the fact that the first round of the elections on 17 January “took place in […]
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4th February 2010
What are the best and the worst possible outcomes of the Feb. 7 Ukrainian presidential election? The best is pretty clear. This is that the elections are recognized by the OSCE/ODIHR observer mission as being to a good standard; both sides accept the outcome; and the winner takes over as president. Countries around the world […]
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