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More than three years have passed since Ukraines Euromaidan Revolution, in which protestors took to the streets and ousted their corrupt leader Viktor Yanukovych. But reform has been slow in coming. To be fair, President Petro Poroshenko faces a Herculean task: protecting Ukraine from Russias ongoing aggression in the east while reforming the country in a way that is in keeping with the idealsdemocracy, transparency, and rule of lawthat united Ukrainians during Euromaidan. So far, however, Poroshenko has not handled this dilemma very well. He has used a heavy hand in cracking down on anything Russian and seems, ironically, increasingly determined to adopt Moscows authoritarian methods even as he speaks the language of Brussels in advocating for democratic change.

Of course, Russias aggression toward Ukraine is not limited to the fighting at their borders. Russian propaganda plays an even greater role in influencing Ukrainian politics than it does in Western countries. One false report that has been recently circulating, for example, claims that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) is using drug addicts as spies in the countrys east. Another alleges that Ukraines newest public holiday, known as Volunteers Day, glorifies the killing of separatists in the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Poroshenkos approach to countering Russian propaganda, however, has been blunt and ineffective. Rather than demonstrate to disillusioned Ukrainians, especially in the east, that the postrevolutionary state represents their interests, he has sought to censor any content associated with Russia under the guise of national security.

Last month, Poroshenko issued a decree banning a number of Russian sites, including the social networking platform Vkontakte and search engine Yandexthe Russian equivalents of Facebook and Google. It also banned the mail service Mail.ru. All three were among Ukraines most widely used websites on the eve of the ban. In 2016, Vkontakte, for instance, was used by 70 percent of Ukrainian Internet users. The ban followed a similar measure implemented in January when

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Ukraine's Stalled Revolution - Foreign Affairs