Sergii Leshchenko - openDemocracy

Ahead of next year’s presidential elections, Ukraine is being handed a false choice

Working in tandem, Ukraine’s ruling groups are creating an election cycle that will only benefit themselves. RU

/ 28 Nov 2018

Defending Ukraine’s revolution against Ukraine’s leaders

As Ukraine’s oligarchic status quo re-asserts its power, the country’s international partners need to step up their support for democracy. RU

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 13 Nov 2017

Ukraine’s corrupt counter-revolution

In Ukraine, revolution and reform has given way to reaction, with vested interests entrenching themselves even further. Русский

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 30 Dec 2016

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada: an oligarchs’ club or a real parliament?

A year ago, Ukraine’s president promised to break the oligarchs’ stronghold on power. While this is yet to happen, a new generation of deputies is changing the political atmosphere. Русский

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 2 Jun 2016

Sweet talking in Ukraine

President Petro Poroshenko is not an ideal Western-type politician, and certainly not the answer to Maidan's dreams. But could he be the answer to Ukraine’s many problems? на русском языке

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 25 Jun 2014

A way out for Ukraine

As the standoff between the government and the protesters continues in Kyiv, Sergii Leshchenko suggests what might be done to break the impasse.

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 4 Dec 2013

Each September sees a meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES), founded by oligarch Viktor Pinchuk to promote closer ties between Ukraine and the EU. With the deadline for an Association Agreement two months away, this year’s meeting was crucial, but as Sergii Leshchenko reports, they might ju

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 3 Oct 2013

In Ukraine, it grows on trees ...

Ever since becoming Ukraine’s president in 2010, Viktor Yanukovych has been preparing for his next election in 2015 – and this time he intends to win without the support of the oligarchs. But he needs cash, lots of it, and this, as Sergii Leshchenko reports, is where "self-made" Serhiy Kurchenko c

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 20 Aug 2013

If only it were fiction ...

In a few months, the EU will decide whether to sign an Association Agreement with Ukraine. President Viktor Yanukovych is, however, focused on a different agenda - how to win a second term in 2015. He's ready to go to any lengths to bring that about, reports Sergii Leshchenko.

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 18 Apr 2013

The two worlds of Viktor Yanukovych’s Ukraine

Ukraine’s President Yanukovych has completed his takeover of his country’s TV channels, and is making inroads into the internet. As Ukraine faces a choice of whether to align itself with Europe or Eurasia, Sergii Leshchenko wonders if there is a way back.

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 14 Mar 2013

Ukraine: Yanukovych's 'Family' spreads its tentacles

Last October, Ukraine’s ruling Party of the Regions won only a slim election victory, but President Viktor Yanukovych has taken the opportunity to pack his new government with members of his ‘Family’ – and to level new and grave charges at jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. Sergii Leshchen

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 29 Jan 2013

The not-very-convincing victory of Mr. Yanukovych

By means fair and foul, the ruling Party of the Regions came out top in Ukraine’s recent parliamentary election. President Yanukovych is far from home and dry, however: to control parliament he needs a majority, and the necessary concessions to other parties will certainly cost him dear, says Serg

By Sergii Leshchenko

/ 19 Nov 2012