Mykola Riabchuk

Mykola Riabchuk is a senior research fellow at the Ukrainian Center for Cultural Studies, in Kyiv, and co-founder and member of the editorial board of Krytyka, a leading Ukrainian intellectual magazine.

Playing with ambiguities: Ukraine’s language law

Ukrainian, Russian…and 18 others? The debate over Ukraine’s official languages enters a new chapter – but who are the real beneficiaries of a proposed new law?

By Mykola Riabchuk

/ 28 Jun 2012

Like fathers, like sons: Ukraine’s untouchables

The brutal rape and murder of Oksana Makar, apparently committed by well-connected children, has forced Ukrainians to reflect on power, elite privilege and impunity, writes Mykola Riabchuk

By Mykola Riabchuk

/ 12 Apr 2012

Russian politics: the burden of national myths

National myths have always played an important part in Russian politics, from 15th-century ‘Moscow as the 3rd Rome’ to Soviet, and now Russian, views of USSR/Russia’s role in the region. The power of the myths is such that a putative opposition government could well end up as no more than a clone

By Mykola Riabchuk

/ 13 Mar 2012

The Tymoshenko trial: a farce to end the farce

A flexing of European trade muscle means the Yulia Tymoshenko showtrial is likely coming to an end, writes Mykola Riabchuk. The only problem remains how to bring that end about in a more or less convincing — if not necessarily decent — way.

By Mykola Riabchuk

/ 26 Sep 2011

Ukraine: blackmail and bluff

Under the direction of the new Polish presidency, the EU has dangled a huge integration carrot in front of Ukraine’s misbehaving political elite. The rationale, no doubt, is to win out in an us-or-Russia scenario. But Mykola Ryabchuk remains unconvinced the Yanukovych clan needs persuading which w

By Mykola Riabchuk

/ 18 Jul 2011

Viktor Yanukovych, Pandora’s Box and the Moscow Orchestra

It is clear Viktor Yanukovych's recent moves against his predecessor Leonid Kuchma were driven by not by justice, but a mixture of revenge, intimidation and diversion. The Ukrainian President may well discover that his ulterior strategies are flawed, and that he is simply playing into the hands of

By Mykola Riabchuk

/ 16 Apr 2011

What's left of Orange Ukraine?

Though political infighting continues to hinder reform, Ukraine’s new president is equally unlikely to drop the European rhetoric and defer to Moscow, writes Mykola Riabchuk. For the time being at least, Ukraine's leadership will continue to "muddle through"

By Mykola Riabchuk

/ 22 Apr 2010