· October, 2009

Stories about Ukraine from October, 2009

Ukraine: Swine Flu (and Some Election Politics)

  31 October 2009

On Oct. 30, after a few days of alarming reports on an outbreak of respiratory illness in western Ukraine, the first swine flu-related death was confirmed, and PM Tymoshenko ordered Ukraine's schools closed and public gatherings banned for at least three weeks.

Ukraine: Charity

  29 October 2009

Scenes From the Sidewalk writes about an encounter with one of Kyiv's many homeless children – and posts photos from actress Olga Kurilenko's visit to a CrossRoads Foundation/ChildRescue's rehabilitation center. Wild World of Sean's Blog reports on a charity visit to a Kyiv hospital for children affected by the Chernobyl...

Ukraine: Interview With A Drug Addict

  29 October 2009

David Sasaki shares thoughts on “engaging, not exoticizing human rights” and posts a video interview with Pavel Kutsev, a self-described “average drug addict” and “the co-founder of Drop-In Center, a Ukrainian organization which advocates for the rights of the injection drug user communication and for better national policy related to...

Featured Editor: Veronica Khokhlova

  27 October 2009

Veronica Khokhlova has been Global Voices' Central and Eastern Europe Editor since January 2006 when she first published an "Introduction to the Ukrainian Blogosphere". She splits her time between Kyiv, Moscow, and Istanbul.

Ukraine: Child Rape and Politics

  21 October 2009

Ukrainiana reports on a controversial child molestation case, the details of which were leaked right before the official start of the presidential election campaign: “How much of this accounts for a smear campaign and how much portrays a shocking case of sexual child abuse remains to be seen.”

Ukraine: Art Website Shut Down; Gallery Set on Fire

  12 October 2009

IZO reports that “Anatoli Ulyanov's Ukrainian art website Proza (http://proza.com.ua) has been shut down by its US host for displaying ‘child pornography'” – and that “Pavel Gudimov's Ya Gallery in Kiev has been set fire to after the presentation and discussion there of a gay literary anthology.”

Ukraine: “What Worries Ukes”

  11 October 2009

Foreign Notes cites the results of a Ukrainian survey, according to which “63% of those questioned were most worried about inflation, over 54% worry about low pay and pensions, over 42% were worried about unemployment, and almost 40% were concerned by political instability in the country. Relations with Russia? Less...

Ukraine: Broken Promises and the Presidential Election

  2 October 2009

Ukraine's presidential election is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2010, and there's no shortage of posts on pre-election politics on Ukrainian blogs. Bloggers who exhibit genuine trust in the nation's politicians are somewhat hard to find, however. Instead, there is plenty of cynicism.