What did 28 September 2019 bring for Ukraine's public life?
A look back at a day shaped by a diplomatic resignation in Washington's Ukraine policy and a discovery in the Kherson region.
What was Ukraine's public life dealing with on 28 September 2019? Two very different stories framed the moment: one in diplomacy, the other in archaeology.
The day before, on 27 September 2019, Kurt Volker, United States special envoy to Ukraine, resigned. His departure came one day after the release of a whistleblower report concerning a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. The episode formed part of the 2019 Trump–Ukraine scandal and the impeachment inquiry into Trump, and it left the question of Washington's Ukraine envoy open as the controversy unfolded.
On 28 September 2019 itself, a quieter piece of news emerged from southern Ukraine. Near the village of Republikanets in the Kherson region, a fortress that had until recently been unknown was uncovered. It had been built at the turn of the millennium.
The two reports had little in common, yet together they showed the range of Ukraine's public agenda at the end of that September: international political attention on one side, and the rediscovery of the country's own past on the other.
