NewsFinale
  • Home
  • News
  • Local News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Celeb Lifestyle
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Advertise Here
Gleammour AquaFresh
NewsFinale
  • Home
  • News
  • Local News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Celeb Lifestyle
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Advertise Here
Home Local News Voices from Ukraine’s Independence Era Highlight Russia’s Decades-Long Grip on Control

Voices from Ukraine’s Independence Era Highlight Russia’s Decades-Long Grip on Control

Ukraine’s independence-era voices say Russia's effort to keep control has lasted decades
Up next
Heart Age Matters: Protect Yourself from Heart Attack and Stroke
The Importance of Heart Age: Safeguard Against Heart Attacks and Strokes
Published on 24 August 2025
Author
NewsFinale Journal
Share and Follow
FacebookXRedditPinterestWhatsApp


KYIV – Oleksandr Donii was one of the leaders of student-led protests for sovereignty and political reform in 1990 that preceded Ukraine’s declaration of independence. He remembers thinking the fight for autonomy would take decades.

Instead, it came much sooner than he ever imagined. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine quickly declared independence in 1991 and later conducted a referendum backed by more than 90% of voters.

”I was preparing myself for prisons and labor camps, and I thought the struggle would last about 20–30 years,” Donii told The Associated Press.

Moscow’s grip endured after independence

As the country marks 34 years since that monumental event Sunday, Donii and others from Ukraine’s first generation of lawmakers and activists describe how despite separation from the Soviet Union, Moscow’s grip endured. Russia used political pressure, social division and the sidelining of pro-Western voices. That eventually paved the way for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three decades later and Ukraine’s current fight for independence and identity in the face of its aggressive neighbor.

Back in 1990, Donii and other student leaders of a hunger strike were calling not only for breaking away from Moscow but also for renewing the political system at home.

Their first proposal was to conduct snap elections for Ukraine’s Parliament, which Donii saw as essential for clearing out the Soviet-era lawmakers still in office. The idea, however, failed to gain broad support even among pro-independence forces.

“Ukraine, having won independence, did not win the removal of the Communist ruling class,” he said.

In his view, opportunities that were within reach in the early 1990s slipped away, leaving Ukraine to pay a high price today as it presses toward the European Union and NATO not as distant aspirations but as urgent necessities for safeguarding sovereignty and securing an independent path.

Oleksandr Nechyporenko, a lawmaker from the first Ukrainian Parliament, remembers how fragmented society was on the verge of independence.

“A very large part was neutral, it included people who wavered, who didn’t have enough information,” he recalled. “There was also a big and powerful core that was categorically in favor of preserving the Soviet Union, communist rule, ties with Russia, and so on.” Nechyporenko says the “passionate change-makers” were a minority.

‘We should have been more firm’

In his view, Ukraine’s tolerance toward agents of Russian influence since the early days of its independence was a major mistake. “We should have been more firm, more radical,” he said.

That sense of missed resolve is not limited to politics alone. Decisions made in the early years of independence continue to weigh heavily as Ukraine now fights for survival against Russia. One of the most consequential was the choice to surrender the vast nuclear arsenal left on Ukrainian soil after the Soviet collapse.

“The path we were supposed to take with the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal — about five thousand nuclear warheads — that path should have given us the opportunity to effectively use this potential for integration with the West,” said Yurii Kostenko, a scholar and politician who led negotiations on Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament in the early 1990s.

He says that while leading the negotiation process, his vision of nuclear disarmament included the U.S. assisting Ukraine financially and technologically to turn nuclear warheads into fuel for nuclear power plants. Accession to NATO would have been Ukraine’s guarantee of security. The American side was ready to make it happen, Kostenko says.

A deal to give Russia its nuclear warheads

But instead of cooperation with the U.S., Kostenko recalls Ukraine being eventually pressured into surrendering its warheads to Russia, receiving almost nothing in return. He said to achieve that, then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin demanded Kostenko’s dismissal as leader of the negotiations by Ukraine’s then-President Leonid Kravchuk. That demand was granted.

No longer led by Kostenko, Ukraine’s delegation dropped the initial plan codesigned with the U.S. and chose to cooperate with Russia instead. Kostenko says that in exchange for its nukes, Ukraine received $1.5 billion in nuclear fuel and natural gas from Russia, which, he says, was worth around 1% of what Ukraine gave up.

Instead of NATO accession, Ukraine received the Budapest Memorandum, an agreement in which Ukraine was granted assurances of sovereignty and territorial integrity from the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia. For many Ukrainians, it has become a symbol of promises that carried no weight. Moscow shredded the agreement first with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and then with the full-scale invasion in 2022. Three decades later, as Ukraine once again negotiates its future with Western partners under the shadow of Russian aggression, the choices and compromises of the 1990s still loom large, shaping its search for lasting security.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Share and Follow
FacebookXRedditPinterestWhatsApp
You May Also Like
Trump established two new holidays: When is the next one?
  • Local News

Trump established two new holidays: When is the next one?

Video above: Trump designates Thursday May 8 as ‘Victory Day’ for US…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Man arrested following hours-long standoff after allegedly breaking into Teutopolis apartment
  • Local News

Driver Airlifted from I-57 After Rollover Crash in Shelby County

SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — A person was airlifted to a regional…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025

‘SNL’ cast shakeup coming in about a week: Lorne Michaels

(NewsNation) — “Saturday Night Live” head honcho Lorne Michaels has confirmed there…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Non-profit teams with brewery to fundraise for cancer research
  • Local News

Local Brewery Partners with Non-Profit to Raise Funds for Cancer Research

AUGUSTA, Ga () – A local non-profit teaming up with local businesses…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Community Voices: Tybee Post Theater celebrates a decade of arts and culture
  • Local News

Community Spotlight: Celebrating 10 Years of Arts and Culture at Tybee Post Theater

SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Evan Goetz, executive director of Tybee Post Theater…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Hitchcock brothers sentenced to life in prison for murder of father
  • Local News

Brothers Hitchcock Receive Life Sentence for Father’s Murder

CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Joshua and Jacob Hitchcock, the brothers who…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Motorcyclist killed in Ocala crash, police say
  • Local News

Tragic Accident Claims Life of Motorcyclist in Ocala, According to Police Reports

OCALA, Fla. – A 35-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash with…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 23, 2025
As firefly sightings decline, here's how to create a certified habitat
  • Local News

As Firefly Sightings Decrease, Learn How to Establish a Protected Habitat

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Research suggests firefly populations are declining, prompting calls…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025

Small Plane Lands in East Tennessee Field Due to Fuel Shortage Emergency

NEW MARKET, Tenn. (WATE) — A small engine airplane ran out of…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Missing Georgia Girl Found Inside Registered Sex Offender’s Car
  • Crime

Missing Georgia Girl Found Inside Registered Sex Offender’s Car

An Idaho-registered sex offender is behind bars after police found a missing…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Man arrested in connection to fatal April shooting in Jacksonville
  • US

Suspect Apprehended for Deadly Shooting in Jacksonville Last April

Police say Brandon Engeloff, 32, is facing second-degree murder, accessory after the…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
Matt Rife defends Sydney Sweeney after American Eagle ad backlash
  • US

Matt Rife Supports Sydney Sweeney Amid Backlash Over American Eagle Ad

Matt Rife is team Sydney Sweeney. The 29-year-old comedian defended the 27-year-old…
  • NewsFinale Journal
  • August 24, 2025
NewsFinale Journal
  • Home
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Sitemap
  • DMCA
  • Advertise Here
  • Donate