Around Uzhgorod in the Carpathian Mountains, one may encounter the Rusyn people. One of the Rusyn clans, the Hutsuls, have their own traditional clothing. In Kyiv’s National Historical Museum, one display showcased a folkloric Hutsul vest. In Uzhgorod, I went to the ethnographic museum for a peek into rural life. […]
Uzhgorod, a small town lying twelve hours from Kyiv by train, has an offbeat history. At one point, the city formed part of the old Austro-Hungarian empire as evidenced by the statue to Maria Theresa. After World War I, Uzhgorod was incorporated into Czechoslovakia and near the town center there’s […]
From a cultural perspective, Lviv is considered to be one of the strongest centers of Ukrainian nationalism. To the outside observer, such local expressions of nationalism seem to range from the benign and folksy to the somewhat jarring. Embroidered dresses can be found for sale in the tourist center of […]
The western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which was formerly known as Lemberg when it formed part of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, feels more akin visually to central Europe. Lviv prides itself on its cosmopolitan coffee shops and chocolate. Art deco or art nouveau buildings peek out here and there.
How will people ever become aware of the political legacy of Nestor Makhno, an anarchist leader during the Ukrainian Civil War? Not by visiting Kyiv’s Museum of the Ukrainian Revolution, that’s for sure. As an attendant explained to me, the museum’s intention was to simply showcase the Ukrainian Republic as […]
One thing’s for sure, Ukrainian magnate Viktor Pinchuk never fails to disappoint. Hosted once again in the grand Kyiv Arsenal Museum, this year’s Yalta European Strategy (or YES) meeting featured the usual defense hawks and conservative commentators (for a rundown of last year’s YES conference, featuring my extensive commentary on […]
For some time, I’ve been slightly ambivalent toward graffiti though the idealist in me has always believed that in the long-run, reclaiming the urban environment might encourage the rise of a more radical political consciousness. As cities embrace gentrification and homogenization at an increasingly breakneck pace, the need to carve […]
To what extent will the festering matter of Crimea inflame east-west tensions and further contribute to a “new Cold War”? Late last year, I was invited to the Yalta European Strategy meeting (or YES), an annual Kyiv gathering of policymakers, experts and others. Ever since Russia militarily occupied Crimea in […]
Recently, in the process of reading about the Trump-Russia affair, the U.S. public also learned a bit about the inner politics of Ukraine’s power elite. As part of the larger investigation into foreign money streaming to Trump and his associates in advance of the 2016 election, special counsel Robert Mueller […]
One can scarcely read the news these days without coming across references to the threat of an imminent “new Cold War.” Gravely, experts warn of escalating tensions being ratcheted up as a result of western sanctions against the Kremlin, ongoing friction in Ukraine in addition to any number of other […]
