During EuroMaidan, Yaroslav Hrytsak, one of Ukraine's most prominent public intellectuals, stated that the weight of the Ukrainian state after Maidan must shift. Long balanced between Lviv to the west and Kyiv in the centre, the state must 'go east': Ukrainian citizens, Hrytsak contended, will succeed in fundamental change only with three points of leverage. And at that moment, Dnipropetrovsk – Dnipro – was considered the most suitable candidate for the eastern outpost of this rebalancing project.
Maidan has since been replaced by even greater upsets: the annexation of Crimea and war in the east. The south east is now a frontline. Although Russian involvement in fostering conflict in the Donbas is clear to the entire world, this involvement played on genuine, albeit passive, feelings of resentment in southern and eastern cities.
Will President Poroshenko's recent appointment of Mikheil Saakasvhili, former president of Georgia, as the new governor of Odessa region address this resentment, and thus kickstart the twin projects of fighting corruption and decentralisation? And how will Dnipropetrovsk respond?
