With Ukrainians set to go to the polls this weekend to elect a new national parliament against a backdrop of conflict and division, RFE/RL invited close observers of Ukraine to join us for a look at how the vote might affect the many security, economic, and political challenges facing Ukraine.
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Brian Whitmore, author of RFE/RL's "Power Vertical" blog, moderated the live panel discussion with guests:
Taras Kuzio is a leading international expert on contemporary Ukrainian and postcommunist politics, nationalism, and European integration who serves as a research associate at the University of Alberta and nonresident fellow at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. His most recent article is "Ukraine’s new parliament will be more pro-European but will it be more reformist?"
Natalya Sedletska hosts "Schemes: Corruption in Detail," a television program jointly produced by RFE/RL and satellite channel "First Ukraine." Sedletska, a former Vaclav Havel Journalism Fellow with RFE/RL who previously worked as an investigative TV journalist based in Kyiv, was one of the creators of the award-winning YanukovychLeaks website that recovered and published hundreds of documents from the former Ukrainian president's residence at Mezhihirya.
Iryna Shvets is a board member of the Civil Network OPORA, a watchdog group that has carried out election monitoring campaigns for three national and eight local elections in Ukraine since 2007. Shvets, a longtime activist with OPORA's Lviv office, has helped plan, conduct, and promote observation campaigns at the regional and national levels.