Kiev
Yulia Tymoshenko: Ukraine’s absurd two-month old trial
On 24 August 2011 Ukraine celebrated 20 years of independence. Preparations for the festivities were accompanied by a performance on the political stage, with the lead role taken by the 60-year-old. The country is revolting the lawsuit which the former prime minister and heroine of the orange revolution is facing, and which has been ‘postponed’ until October
kiev, yulia tymoshenko, orange revolution, politics, ukraine
Ukraine, Belarus, Egypt...free the online activist in you
Ukraine’s ‘Day of Wrath’ against its president on 14 May has been organised online. Belarus’ internet is the only escape from regime propaganda. The Arab world reported its transitions online. Amidst these examples, Peter Ludlow, cyber rights activist and philosophy professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, emphasies that politics can be influenced in bottom-up solutions. Interview
kiev, activism, protest, iryna vidanava, belarus, alexander lukashenko, internet
Ukraine feminists ‘Femen’: topless a political weapon
At first the 300 members of the feminist community came to the streets to protest against the expansion of sex tourism in the Ukraine. The 12, 000 active 'sex pats' are growing under the indifferent gaze of the authorities. Femen has been organising nude performances as a political weapon for three years now. After a run-in at the Italian embassy, Inna Shevechenko vents her anger
kiev, italy, sex, corruption, sexism, censorship, sex
Ukrainian students fight uncertain future
Like many other Ukrainian students, Varvara Shmygalyova hopes her country can one day integrate the European Union. The government’s recent education policies made her turn her hopeful wishes into a fight for her future, writes Delphine Reuter
A traveller reads up on the history of nationalism
'A sudden wave of satisfaction envelops J. He recognises his happiness to have been born this millennium in a peaceful Europe'. This short story, set in a Brussels train station, was runner-up of the 2009 German Youthreporter award, ‘Verliebt in Europa’ (‘In Love With Europe’)
kiev, love, europe, belgium, brussels, friendship, transport
God bless our babelblogs
From Prishtina to Kiev with our new reporters project, via Istanbul and the US along the comic soundtrack of Europe - by Groucho Marx and Tim Burton
kiev, travel, united states, blogs, balkans, eurotik, journalism
Sergii Oleksiuk: 'It's like a Yanykovich-Yushchenko soap opera'
Three years on, a 23-year-old key figure in the youth movement during the Orange Revolution considers his country's latest stalemate
kiev, orange revolution, viktor yanukovych, viktor yushchenko, politics, ukraine, central and eastern europe
Pink revolution
Over 200,000 people flooded Independence Square on 16 June to see British singer Elton John's AIDS-awareness free concert - publicising a dark aspect of Ukrainian society, with estimated adult HIV prevalence of 1.4%
kiev, music, aids, revolution, leonid kuchma, elton john, culture
Spluttering clockwork orange engine
As Ukraine faces a political crisis, Europe follows its neighbour's events with interest, conscious of the former Soviet Republic’s strategic importance for her energy supply
kiev, energy, elections, orange revolution, viktor yanukovych, viktor yushchenko, politics
