Event Description

When Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels off the Crimean Peninsula in late November last year the continuing tensions between the two countries was thrust into the spotlight. Indeed, relations have deteriorated dramatically since Moscow’s seizure of Crimea in March 2014 and its subsequent support for separatists battling Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine. The conflict there has killed more than 10,000 people since early 2014. And now, Ukrainians are about to head to the polls to elect a new President and Canada is sending hundreds of election observers to the country to help prevent Russian meddling. With events in motion, Dr. Yekelchyk will discuss the history of Ukraine’s emergence as a sovereign nation, the after-effects of communism, the Orange Revolution, the EuroMaidan, the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, the war in the Donbas, the West’s attempts at peace making and where, in the context of the wider stand-off between the West and Russia, what lies in future for Ukraine.

Speaker’s Biography:

Dr. Serhy Yekelchyk received his BA from Kyiv University and an MA from the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Following a research fellowship in Australia in 1993–94, he came to Canada in 1995 to pursue a Ph.D. in Russian and Eastern European History at the University of Alberta. Serhy’s more recent research interests have focused on the formation of a modern Ukrainian nation from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. His recent books include Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation (Oxford University Press, 2007) and The Conflict in Ukraine (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Questions

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