ABSTRACT
This chapter examines underlying regional and linguistic distinctions within Ukraine and it pays special attention to the position of the Crimea and the Donbas region before war broke out in 2014. It also examines the political system, including both formal arrangements of the constitution and the 'informal politics' that lies beneath. The chapter describes the tension between a corrupt and predatory state and a civil society that has grown in strength since 1991, resulting in the 'Orange Revolution' in 2004 and the 'Revolution of Dignity' in 2014. It focuses on Russia's subsequent annexation of Crimea and the causes and consequences of the war in the east. Regional polarisation within Ukraine was exacerbated by foreign policy battles, rather than the other way around. Ukraine has had constant disputes about language; the first attempt to solve the problem was a 'Law on Languages' passed in the Communist era in 1989. The Ukrainosphere is still small, given that Ukrainian is the state language.
