Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security Oct. 2014 | Page 28

UKRAINE

POPULATION

45.49 MILLION (WORLD BANK 2014A)
=10.000.000

ETHNIC GROUPS
77.8%
17.3%
0.6%
0.5%
0.5%
0.5%
0.4%,
0.3%
2.6%

Ukrainian
Russian
Belarusian
Moldovan
Crimean
Tatar
Bulgarian
Hungarian
Other

(2001 CENSUS, GLOBAL EDGE)

The State
and Human
Security in
Ukraine

GLOBAL PEACE
INDEX 2014

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
INDEX 2013

83
187

141
162
(IEP 2014A)

(UNDP 2014)

Alexander Bogomolov | Iryna Brunova-Kalisteska | Victor Pushkar | Serge Danylov | Association of Middle East Studies (AMES)

Interviews with residents of Kyiv and Simferopol in late 2013 revealed widespread mistrust of the
police and lack of protection from state authorities, leading many Ukrainians to rely on personal
connections or themselves for security. Public outcry through the media and advocacy were seen
as main sources to influence government authorities. The lack of accountability and transparency
of the authorities, particularly among the police, were some of the chronic issues that fuelled the
mass Euromaidan protests in late 2013. These events have since been overtaken by the ousting
of President Yanukovych, the Russian annexation of Crimea, and a pro-Russian armed insurgency
in eastern Ukraine. While this conflict has brought human security concerns to another level, this
chapter points to underlying structural issues which are important for Ukraine's domestic agenda.

” ensions related to identity politics highlighted
T
in the interviews were visible and had been
known long before the conflict broke out, with
material conditions exacerbating inter-group
and state-citizen relations.”
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