September 16, 2008, Kyiv.

The plot is dedicated to the press conference of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education of Ukraine on the first mandatory external independent assessment.

On the video: press conference, speeches, discussion of changes in the education system; external independent assessment certificates; comments on preferential categories of applicants; lists of applicants for various faculties; applicants filling out documents for admission to a higher educational institution, queue.

Comments: President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko; Minister of Education of Ukraine Ivan Vakarchuk; Rector of Odessa National Polytechnic University Valeriy Malakhov.

Journalist — Olga Skotnikova.

Reference: External independent assessment (EIA) is a standardized system for assessing the academic achievements of graduates of general secondary education institutions, which is used to ensure objective admission to higher education institutions in Ukraine. The system was introduced in 2004–2008 with the aim of improving the quality of education, unifying assessment criteria and limiting corrupt practices during the admission campaign.

Educational reform: introduction of external independent assessment, 2008

Ukrainian Television, March 12, 1996.

Issue of the program "Actual Interview". Conversation with the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Vasyl Durdynets.

On the video: interview, conversation about the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the political and legal situation in Crimea.

Journalist — Vasyl Klymchuk.

Reference: Vasyl Durdynets is a Ukrainian statesman who, in the mid-1990s, as Deputy Prime Minister, was responsible for issues of state security and emergencies, in particular the political and legal status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within Ukraine. He participated in the formation of state policy towards Crimea in the context of post-Soviet transformation.

Conversation about Crimea: Vice Prime Minister Vasyl Durdynets

December 11, 2014, Kyiv.

A report on the parliament’s approval of the Arseniy Yatsenyuk government’s action plan. The Verkhovna Rada, session hall; present at the presidium are Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Groysman and his deputies—Andriy Parubiy and Oksana Syroid; Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk delivering a speech from the podium (regarding the presented economic reform program); Verkhovna Rada corridors; a verbal exchange between a journalist and MPs Mykhailo Poplavskyi and Serhii Poyarkov in the Verkhovna Rada cafeteria; comments from MPs; voting; scoreboard with results. 

Comments: MP Semen Semenchenko, “Samopomich” faction; Yuriy Lutsenko, leader of the “Petro Poroshenko Bloc” faction; Tetiana Bakhteyeva, “Opposition Bloc”; Minister of Social Policy Pavlo Rozenko; MP Mustafa Nayem, “Petro Poroshenko Bloc” faction.

Background: The approval of the government’s action program granted the Cabinet of Ministers a one-year immunity from dismissal. The decision was adopted in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, against the backdrop of the war in eastern Ukraine and a deep economic crisis. The program outlined key directions for reforms and the stabilization of the state during a period of political and security instability.

Approval of Arseniy Yatsenyuk's government, 2014

Video from the personal archive of Yaroslav Kendzor.

August 24, 1991, Kyiv.

In the video: rally near the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR; People's Artist of Ukraine Neonila Kryukova with a pumpkin, political inscription on the pumpkin; posters and banners with the inscriptions "Kravchuk! Your position is shameful!", "Russia won. And Ukraine?", "Let's raise our flag over the Rada!", various shots; people with blue-yellow flags, police, crowd; Vyacheslav Chornovil among the people, talking to Yaroslav Kendzor; sculpture near the Verkhovna Rada, banners "Kravchuk + Gorbachev = Red Terror", "Death to the Moscow Commune".

Rally near the Verkhovna Rada: pumpkin, police, slogans

26 March 2005, Kyiv.

A report on the official visit to Ukraine by Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia. A meeting with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the Georgian Embassy in Kyiv, a meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko, and a press conference. Comments from politicians.

Mikheil Saakashvili's visit, 2005

November 20, 2006, Kyiv.

Video of a meeting of political forces to create a united democratic coalition against the government of Viktor Yanukovych. Session hall of the Kyiv City State Administration, deputies, heads of opposition parties in the presidium, speeches, reading of the text of the declaration of cooperation of democratic forces, voting.
Presidium: head of BYuT Yulia Tymoshenko; members of the Our Ukraine Bloc faction Dmytro Andrievsky and Mykola Martynenko; head of the Pora-PRP Bloc Vitaliy Klitschko.

Reference: The Declaration of Cooperation of Democratic Forces is a political agreement between the "orange" forces after the 2006 parliamentary elections. It was signed by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Our Ukraine (Viktor Yushchenko's team), the Socialist Party, and the PORA-PRP bloc, which included Vitaliy Klitschko.
The purpose of the declaration was to create a joint coalition in the Verkhovna Rada and form a government without the participation of Viktor Yanukovych. However, due to political disagreements, the agreements were not implemented: the negotiations broke down, and instead the Anti-Crisis Coalition was formed, headed by Yanukovych.

Declaration of cooperation of democratic forces

March 27, 2006, Kyiv.

On the video: polling station, vote counting; election headquarters of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Yulia Tymoshenko's speech, conversation with journalists about creating a coalition; Viktor Yanukovych's speech at the election headquarters of the "Party of Regions", talks about winning the elections (in russian); Viktor Yushchenko on the street with his children.

Parliamentary elections 2006: election headquarters

20 April 2007, Kyiv.

The video shows a rally by the united opposition against Yanukovych’s parliament on European Square. The scene features protesters displaying national symbols and the symbols of opposition parties; Yosyp Vinskyi, a Member of Parliament from the Socialist Party, reads out the rally’s resolution, and the national anthem is played. Speeches from the stage: Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the All-Ukrainian Union ‘Fatherland’; Yuriy Lutsenko, politician.

Background: the rally was prompted by the political crisis following President Viktor Yushchenko’s decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada. Opposition leaders Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko took part in the rally, as did representatives of various opposition blocs, including ‘Our Ukraine’. The rally was part of mass demonstrations in support of early parliamentary elections and protests against Viktor Yanukovych’s government.

United opposition rally against Yanukovych's parliament

1996, Ukrainian National Television. The programme ‘Leaders' Debate’. Presenter: Boris Gryvachevsky. Guests in the studio: Member of Parliament and writer Ivan Drach, and Minister of Justice Serhiy Holovaty. 

In the video: opening credits, archive footage of the adoption of the Constitution in the Verkhovna Rada, and the programme’s guests discussing the adoption of Ukraine’s new Constitution. 

"Leaders' Discussion": Ivan Drach and Serhiy Holovaty on the Constitution

From the personal archive of Yaroslav Kendzor.

24 August 1991, Kyiv.

The video shows a speech by Stanislav Gurenko, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, in the Verkhovna Rada (on his readiness, as head of the Communist Party, to give evidence to the relevant authorities; democracy as disorder; his view on the handling of the Communist Party’s archives). Vyacheslav Chornovil asks Leonid Kravchuk a question (why he did not listen to the people’s opinion and why he did not give his assessment of the actions of the anti-state committee; why he did not allow him to attend the meeting of the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada). Leonid Kravchuk replies from the podium.

Speech by the Communist Gurenko, 24 August 1991

December 12, 2012, Kyiv.

The video shows the beginning of the work of the Verkhovna Rada of the 7th convocation. The performance of the anthem of Ukraine in the session hall, the signing of the oath of the people's deputy, receiving mandates, the oldest deputy Yefim Zvyagilsky opens the work of the new parliament, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn in the presidium.

The beginning of the work of the Verkhovna Rada of the 7th convocation

27 March 2014, Kyiv.

In the video, Yulia Tymoshenko holds a press conference one month after her release from prison. Tymoshenko leaves the building, walking with the aid of a crutch, and speaks to the media.

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