Ukraine

Europe's second largest country, Ukraine is a land of wide, fertile agricultural plains, with large pockets of heavy industry in the east. Ukraine has experienced acute political, security, and economic challenges during the past six years. An uprising against pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 ushered in a Western-leaning government, but Russia used the opportunity to seize the Crimean peninsula and arm insurgent groups to occupy parts of the industrialised east of Ukraine (BBC, 2019). Lack of trust in public institutions remains a fundamental concern for most people, and surveys reveal that many feel that corruption remains endemic – from the financial sector to health care – and that powerful oligarchs still dominate the economy (World Bank, 2020).