In this episode Myra Junyk reviews Serhy Yekelchyk’s Ukraine – What Everyone Needs to Know (2nd Edition), a comprehensive analysis of Ukraine’s development as an independent state and the challenges it has faced since 1991. The book updates Yekelchyk’s earlier work The Conflict in Ukraine and focuses on national identity, corruption, Russian aggression, and Ukraine’s international relationships.
Myra outlines the book’s seven chapters, which address Ukraine’s strategic importance, its land and people, the post‑communist transition, the Orange Revolution and EuroMaidan, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbas, the 2022 full‑scale invasion, and Ukraine’s role in global security. Yekelchyk highlights the failure of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to protect Ukraine and examines how American policymakers came to understand Ukraine’s significance in countering Russian ambitions.
The episode also notes the author’s treatment of controversial topics, including historical myths, Ukrainian nationalism, systemic corruption, and the early period of Zelensky’s presidency. Yekelchyk provides readers with tools for further study, including a chronology, map, notes on sources, and an extensive reading list.
Ukraine – What Everyone Needs to Know is available at Chapters/Indigo and Amazon (affiliate link).