A Difficult Return

To regain its status as a natural part of Europe, Ukraine needs to break free from Russian and Soviet colonial heritage

Compromise or Capitulation?

Ukrainian-European or the Soviet-Russian civilizational model will win out: with the former, Ukraine will quickly catch up with its Western neighbours. With the latter, it will likely cease to exist

The Army and Independence

Why the Baltic States succeeded in defending their states in 1917-20 while Ukraine failed

Smile: The Jolly Roger Is Here

Surges in maritime piracy were always a downside of economic growth, increasing trade and weakly structures societies

The Light of Education

How education became secular, universal and accessible to the public at large

Liberated, Only to Be Sent into Battle

Battles for Ukraine went hand in hand with the irresponsible and merciless exploitation of the local population in the offensive operations of the Red Army

The Great Flood

Catastrophic floods during the last large-scale melting of glaciers shaped the contours of present-day Europe and created natural-climactic preconditions for the territory of modern Ukraine to become populated

The Press as a Mirror of National Consciousness

The Ukrainian press of the early 20th century survived only thanks to a handful of subscribers and funding from selfless donors

The Right to Criticise

Since its inception, the press has performed an important social mission and undergone a long evolutionary process along the path to freedom of expression

Freedom Without Liberation

For a large part of the Ukrainian population, Stalin’s “liberation from the Germans” was a mirror image of Hitler’s “liberation of Ukraine from the Bolsheviks” in 1941

Bitter Legacy

Philippe de Lara: “Totalitarian regimes are dead, but they continue to exert a strong influence on many countries and their cultures”

Kyivan Rus' as an Ancient Ukrainian State

From the viewpoint of contemporary European ethnology, the people who inhabited Southern Rus' in the 10th through the 13th century A.D. and were governed by the principalities of Kyiv, Pereiaslav and Halych had proto-Ukrainian ethnolinguistic traits

To Marry or not to Marry

The evolution of marriage from forced to voluntary, from church to civil, and from convenience to love

The Battle of Batih Won Independence for Cossack Ukraine in 1652

The union between Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the Tatars, signed in early 1648, was intended to secure significant military successes, but relationships between the parties were far from straitforward

Cossack Battle of Cannae

The formidable talent of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the helplessness of the Polish troops at the time led to an outstanding Cossack victory in the Battle of Batih

Turning a Blind Eye

Some renowned Western intellectuals thought of the Famine as a justified step to the Soviet Union’s radiant future

Terra Sudorum

At one time scattered between the Neman and Western Bug Rivers, the Yotvingians contributed to the development of several Eastern European nations

The Courageous

The peaceful and military roles women played in the UPA

Intellectual Resistance

Despite its image as an entrenched military-political entity, the UPA included a number of intellectuals and talented artists who remain little known today

A Collective Portrait of UPA Fighters

4 myths about UPA Fighters

An Alien Invasion

The sovietization of Western Ukraine in 1939-41 was a triumph of Bolshevik barbarity over the more cultured “liberated” population

Freeing Ukraine from Spiritual Dependence

The creation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) 20 years ago was as resolute a step as proclaiming the independence of the Ukrainian state

The Life of the Rebels

The absence of elementary living conditions and a regular supply system in the UPA was offset by active assistance from the local population

A Sweet Lure

Monopolization, dictated by the imperial economic model, already hurt Ukraine back in the 19th century as clearly evidenced by sugar production, one of its most developed industries at that time

Europe in Communism's Crosshairs

The activity of communist parties in Europe was not only part of the Kremlin’s foreign policy tactics but also an additional polarising factor in European society

Urbanization According to Plan

Most flaws of modern Ukrainian cities stem from the soviet construction boom of the 1950s-1970s