CRS – Ukraine: Current Issues and U.S. Policy, Steven Woehrel, Specialist in European Affairs. March 24, 2014

“Ukraine, comparable in size and population to France, is a large, important, European state. The fact that it occupies the sensitive position between Russia and NATO member states Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania adds to its geostrategic significance. Many Russian politicians, as well as ordinary citizens, have never been fully reconciled to Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and feel that the country belongs in Russia’s political and economic orbit.  The U.S. and European view (particularly in Central and Eastern Europe) is that a strong, independent Ukraine is an important part of building a Europe whole, free, and at peace. From the mid-1990s until 2004, Ukraine’s political scene was dominated by President Leonid Kuchma and oligarchic “clans” (groups of powerful politicians and businessmen, mainly based in eastern and southern Ukraine) that supported him. His rule was characterized by fitful economic reform, widespread corruption, and a deteriorating human rights record. For Ukraine’s 2004 presidential elections, the oligarchs chose Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as their candidate to succeed Kuchma. The chief opposition candidate, former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, was a pro-reform, pro-Western figure. Ukraine’s Central Election Commission proclaimed Yanukovych the winner. Yushchenko’s supporters charged that massive fraud had been committed. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets, in what came to be known as the “Orange Revolution,” after Yushchenko’s chosen campaign color. They blockaded government offices in Kyiv and appealed to the Ukrainian Supreme Court to invalidate the vote. The court did so and Yushchenko won the December 26 re-vote…Ukraine’s new government faces other serious political and economic challenges. The most urgent issue is Russia’s invasion and seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Starting on February 27, heavily armed Russian-speaking troops poured into Crimea, seizing airports and other key installations throughout the peninsula. The troops did not wear insignia of the Russian armed forces, leading them to be referred to ironically in the Ukrainian press as the “little green men,” from the color of their uniforms…”