From Newsweek magazine:
Petro Poroshenko: Why Ukraine Needs to Give Power to Its Regions
Ukraine's parliamentary vote on August 31 in favor of the law on amendments to the constitution on decentralization of powers showed the world that our country has many responsible politicians with a strategic and democratic vision.
However, the events outside Parliament that followed the vote were supremely painful – three servicemen fell victims to a failed attempt to destabilize the state. I feel truly disgusted that someone could use the deepest sorrows of my fellow citizens to their political advantage. And I will personally make sure that anyone involved directly in the events near the Ukrainian parliament as well as those who orchestrated their actions will be brought to justice.
For more than twenty years decentralization has been discussed in Ukraine, although no government before dared to take real action on this topic. Decentralization of powers in Ukraine is crucial for building a European state, full stop. I said it in my inauguration speech, I say it now.
The existing model of governance is excessively centralized, and has nothing to do with democracy. It is a Soviet atavism that has largely contributed to endemic corruption and widespread economic and political mismanagement in Ukraine. We are now doing what should have been done a long time ago.
An excerpt:
Most photojournalists covering the pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine work in the Donetsk area, where a small industry of fixers and drivers has developed. Images of the same people in similar scenes are frequently the result.
The Belgian photographer Thomas de Wouters took a less-traveled route last April, traveling through multiple checkpoints on damaged roads to Luhansk — a forlorn city that now bears scars of the continuing war.
Many of its buildings were destroyed, and the streets often empty of residents. Every day, Mr. de Wouters, 45, heard bombs exploding near the villages north of the city, but none of its inhabitants seemed to notice.
OSCE envoy regrets lack of progress in Ukraine talks
MINSK, Belarus (AP) -- An envoy from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has voiced regret over the intransigence of Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, who have insisted on holding local elections in defiance of the Ukrainian government.
Ambassador Martin Sajdik, the OSCE's representative at the Contact Group talks, told reporters after Tuesday's round of talks in the Belarusian capital Minsk that the rebels said they would hold the vote in October and November as they planned earlier.
The Ukrainian government dismissed the planned election as a sham and insisted that they could only be held in accordance with Ukrainian law.
February's peace agreement has helped reduce hostilities between Ukrainian government forces and the rebels, but political issues have remained unsettled and the parties have accused each other of breaching the deal.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Tuesday, September 22. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our continuing coverage.