The 90s were especially devastating for Ukraine. Remember Leonid Kutschma, the second Ukraine prime minister and later the second president? He was controlled by the Ukrainian mafia and even hat a Kryscha, if I remember right. Not only were Russia ruled by bandits, Ukraine had it much worse. The population suffered a lot and was robbed of it's ressources. Now the US also wants a nice share of this ressources, while Russia is happy about the ressources in the east.
Speaking about criminal syndicates. Ukrainian Mafia is of course not that happy that they lost control about a big chunk of territory and also the blockade of Odessa. Leading it all to the point that the ties to the russian mafia are now weakened. But of course there is still a way to make businesses, by smuggling weapons or helping young men to leave the country.
But at least a Lenin statue was replaced with Darth Vader