Ukrainians remain deeply cynical about the post-Maidan reform process but local success stories offer an opportunity to produce practical results and challenge an institutionalized culture of corruption

Evidence has emerged directly implicating senior Russian figures in a plot to stage-manage unrest across eastern and southern Ukraine in early 2014 as a prelude to a full-scale military invasion and Crimean-style occupation of half the country. If authenticated, these leaked telephone conversations would shatter two-and-a-half years of Russian denials and could form part of an international war crimes case against the Kremlin