Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine

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Often controversial but never stuffy, she takes her reader at the same time on a tour of Ukraine, relating past events to a modern context . The post is absolutely absorbing, especially if you would like to learn something about Ukraine and its history as well as the ongoing events. I was really interested to find out more about the history of Ukraine, and thought that this could be a good book to start with.

Opposition observers were attacked at polling stations and Donetsk and Luhansk showed an alleged voter’s turnout of 96 per cent (Donetsk) and 90 per cent (Luhansk). Also, on the same year, when the referendum asked: “Do you support the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?I am wondering whether there is not also a parallel there that some on the left today are so used to criticise the US and the West generally that they do not want their views to be challenged and see the war crimes currently committed by the Russian Federation. Reid covers events from the coming of the Vikings, to Stalin's purges and beyond to the independence celebrations of 19991. If you have already read several histories of Ukraine, chances are slim you will find much new here. I said at the beginning that I thought that this chapter was not that convincing in the link between the city and the specific part of history it is focussing on. That is the same argument Putin uses to justify his invasion into Ukraine and it fits with the impression one gets if one listens to excerpts from Russian state TV which equates all signs of Ukrainian culture, state and language with “Neo-Nazis”.

As I see it, A good history of Ukraine aknowledges the following 3 things that Ukraine is, 3 things that Ukraine is not and 3 things as not important. On 25 May 2014 there were new presidential elections in Ukraine and Petro Poroshenko, “an oligarch best known for his ownership of the large confectionary company” won. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.This was evident in the treatment of the prisoners of war through the Germans who were either killed or beaten and starved and the introduction of forced labour for civilians. The same could be seen in other memorials, including the one in Babiy Yar near Kyiv where in September 1941 33,771 Jews were killed within two days. Many had dreamed of independence, but none had expected it, none had prepared for it“ and she refers to “Ukraine’s fuzzy sense of national identity”. In his acceptance speeches, he regularly said that they should really be for the Ukrainian people and not for him and that he accepts them on their behalf.