Mykhailo Minakov

3 weeks ago | wilsoncenter.org | Mykhailo Minakov |Mariia Shynkarenko |Katerina Sergatskova |Izabella Tabarovsky

March 16, 2025, marked eleven years since the disputed local referendum that Russia organized in 2014 to legitimize the annexation of Crimea. The outcome of the referendum was not recognized by the international community. The occupation of Crimea was followed by the outbreak of armed conflict in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in April 2014 and paved the way to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Nov 13, 2024 | wilsoncenter.org | Mykhailo Minakov

The Russo-Ukrainian war demands that Ukraine and all nations that support it concentrate all available resources and put forth maximum effort to fight and win the conflict. An important part of this effort is a crackdown on corruption in the public sector. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this “strategic” side of corruption has become especially threatening for the efficacy of Ukraine’s government.

Oct 4, 2024 | wilsoncenter.org | Mykhailo Minakov

The Ukrainian court system has a long history of reforms intended to make justice accessible to citizens within a reasonable time. One indicator of the courts’ efficacy is how fast a court makes a decision. Despite all the efforts in prewar times, procedural length was constantly increasing, and it has continued to increase since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One might have expected that a more durable process would provide a judge with more time for understanding the case.

Aug 16, 2024 | wilsoncenter.org | Mykhailo Minakov

On August 24, 2024, Ukrainians marked their thirty-third Independence Day.

Jul 23, 2024 | wilsoncenter.org | Mykhailo Minakov

On the surface, Ukrainian politics has mostly been on hold since February 2022. With President Zelensky’s declaration of martial law on February 24, 2022, many constitutional freedoms were limited, the mass media came under strong government control, and political competition was restricted. National unity and solidarity of the power elites were the answer to the existential threat posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.