For Ukrainians, democracy must go on – even in wartime. Or more accurately, especially in wartime.
Large protests erupted in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, and Dnipro this week after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a new law restricting the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. The law, stealthily passed by parliament, puts these independent agencies under direct government control.
The protests are the latest indication that domestic politics are returning to Ukraine after more than three years of war. And they also illustrate that amidst a war to defend a democratic state’s existence, Ukrainian civil society intends to insist that democratic practices be honored.
Democracy in a war to defend democracy is the theme of this week’s Power Vertical Podcast, in which host Brian Whitmore speaks with Volodymyr Kulyk, a professor of political science at Kyiv School of Economics, Dylan Combellik, author of the Ukraine Update newsletter on Medium and on Substack, and Michael Carpenter, who served in the administration of former President Joe Biden as the National Security Council’s Senior Director for Europe as well as the US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Enjoy…
Please follow Brian Whitmore and The Power Vertical on Bluesky @powervertical.bsky.social
SHOW NOTES
Recent publications by Michael Carpenter can be accessed here, here, and here.
Dylan Combellik’s Ukraine Update newsletter can be accessed here and here.
Volodymyr Kulyk’s published works can be accessed here and here.
The Power Vertical Newsletter on Substack can be accessed here. Recently published work by Brian Whitmore can be accessed here, here, here, and here. Please follow Brian Whitmore and The Power Vertical on Bluesky@powervertical.bsky.social