The Ukrainian Weekly, 2015

INSIDE: NEWS ANALYSIS: “A grenade thrown at Ukraine” – page 3 Andrew Tkach’s new ﬁ lm, “Generation Maidan” – page 11 Communities mark Ukraine’s Independence Day – pages 14-15 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXIII No. 36 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015 $2.00 Deadly violence erupts aft er vote to amend Constitution by Zenon Zawada KYIV – Ukraine endured on August 31 its most serious domestic political conflict since the Euro-Maidan when violent protests erupted on August 31 over the decision of the Verkhovna Rada to approve the first reading of constitutional amendments to shift certain state authority to local governments. The vote prompted simple bombs and explosives to fly towards Parliament from the crowd of hundreds of pro- testers, the majority being Svoboda party nationalists. The attacks were capped off by a military grenade that killed three National Guardsmen (one immediately) and hospi- talized more than 90, news reports said. The conflict drove a wedge in Ukraine’s pro-Western forces, pitting the business-oriented, establishment parties against the populist, nationalist forces, who insisted the amendments betray national interests. Oleh Lyashko’s Radical Party announced the next day it was abandoning the ruling coalition in the Verkhovna Rada. “Pay attention to who voted for the constitutional amendments – former members of the Party of Regions voted in a single impulse along with the pro-presidential majority,” said Sergei Gaiday, a veteran Kyiv political con- sultant. “The nightmare of a broad coalition is now practi- cally fulfilled and the first signs are apparent: the radicals have already announced their exit from the pro-European coalition. We are currently seeing a standard step in coun- Presidential Administration of Ukraine A military farewell ceremony for the three National Guardsmen killed in the August 31 violence near the (Continued on page 4) Verkhovna Rada. The deceased are: Ihor Debrin, 24, Oleksandr Kostyna, 20, and Dmytro Slastnikov, 21. U.S. and EU widen A blue-and-yellow flashmob in Times Square sanctions on Russia RFE/RL The United States and the European Union are wid- ening sanctions against dozens of Russians and Ukrainian individuals and entities with connections to Crimea’s annexation and the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine. In an announcement published in the U.S. Federal Register on September 2, the U.S. administration said it was adding 29 people to its sanctions list. Some of those added have ties to Kremlin-linked insiders and companies who were previously sanc- tioned, including Gennady Timchenko, a wealthy oil trader believed to be close to President Vladimir Putin. A total of 33 companies or other entities were cited, including subsidiaries of state-owned oil giant Rosneft, headed by Putin ally Igor Sechin, and the company that manufactures Kalashnikov assault rifles. Crimea’s top ferry operator and several ports on the Black Sea peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in March 2014, were also blacklisted. Among other things, the sanctions, imposed by the Stefan Slutsky Commerce Department, make it more difficult for the NEW YORK – Ukrainian Americans, representatives of several waves of immigration from Ukraine and their companies and individuals to get export licenses for progeny, filled New York’s Times Square with the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine’s national flag and beauti- goods and materials from the United States. ful Ukrainian embroidery in celebration of the 24th anniversary of the renewal of Ukraine’s independence. They The European Union, meanwhile, said it would came together as a flashmob on the evening of August 23, carrying Ukrainian flags and banners, singing Ukrainian extend the freezing of assets and visa bans for 150 songs and the national anthem of Ukraine, and greeting each other with the words “Glory to Ukraine – glory to the Russians and Ukrainian separatists, along with 37 heroes.” Among those demonstrating their Ukrainian pride was Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy companies and entities either located in Crimea or Sergeyev, attending in an unofficial capacity. (Continued on page 8) (For photos and information about more community celebrations of Ukrainian Independence Day, see pages 14-15.) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015 No. 36 ANALYSIS Kyiv violence steps up pressure U.S. on women political prisoners in Ukraine for threatening to take more territory and hold their own elections. Mr. WASHINGTON – The United States has Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Petro launched a campaign to highlight cases of to reject ultranationalists Poroshenko by phone on August 28. The women who Washington says have been White House said the vice-president its bandits are trying and failing to destroy “unjustly imprisoned” by governments by Robert Coalson offered U.S. support for constitutional the Ukrainian state on the eastern front, around the world. Under the initiative RFE/RL amendments Mr. Poroshenko has proposed the so-called pro-Ukrainian political forces announced September 1 by Samantha to decentralize power and hold local elec- The bloodshed during violent clashes are trying to open another front in the Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United tions while maintaining a unitary federal between security forces and radical heart of the country,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said. Nations, the U.S. State Department will pro- government in Kyiv. Mr. Biden “welcomed Ukrainian nationalists on August 31 has Both pledged to prosecute the perpetra- file 20 cases of women deemed by the news of an agreement among several pro- cast a stark light on a long-standing prob- tors to the full extent of the law, and 18 United States to be “political prisoners” or reform political forces to run a common lem confronting the government in Kyiv. people, including the alleged grenade “prisoners of concern.” The campaign will No longer can the post-Maidan govern- thrower, have been arrested. But that, crit- profile Ukrainian military pilot and slate of candidates in Ukraine’s local elec- ment of President Petro Poroshenko deny ics say, will not be enough to respond to Parliament member Nadiya Savchenko, tions this October,” the White House said. it has a problem with a small but danger- the ultranationalist threat. jailed in Russia on charges of participating But the vice-president “strongly criticized ous ultranationalist contingent that has statements by separatist leaders indicating Fork in the road in the murder of Russian journalists cover- served as a useful ally in the past, but that ing the Ukraine conflict, as well as Leyla their intention to take additional territory also has repeatedly shown a willingness to It’s a systemic challenge, says National Yunus and Khadija Ismayilova, critics of the and hold local elections outside of the use violence to push its own agenda. Deputy Serhiy Leshchenko of the Petro Azerbaijani government imprisoned on Ukrainian legal framework, in direct con- Three National Guardsmen were killed Poroshenko Bloc, the president’s party. charges widely considered to be politically travention of the Minsk agreements,” it and more than 90 injured by a grenade “The radicalization of society is inevitable motivated. Others include Uzbek rights said. (RFE/RL, with reporting by the that was thrown during a violent protest in a climate of corrupt government and a activist Matluba Kamilova, who Human Associated Press and Interfax) by ultranational- lack of decisive Rights Watch says has been imprisoned for Washington on constitutional changes ists led by the “Those who threw reforms,” he said on exercising free speech, and Iranian student Svoboda party September 1. “Our activist Bahareh Hedayat, who was jailed KYIV – The U.S. on September 1 hailed outside the coun- this grenade and radicalization is amid a 2009 crackdown after street pro- the Verkhovna Rada’s approval of constitu- try’s Parliament. injured people are intensified by our tests over a contentious presidential elec- tional amendments on decentralization. Svoboda was pro- total militarization.” tion. “In naming these women, we are National Security Council spokesperson testing legislation terrorists. No matter Mr. Leshchenko sending a message to their governments Ned Price stated: “The United States wel- that would grant what they did yester- recalled a litany of and others like them: If you want to comes the Ukrainian Parliament’s vote on more autonomy incidents tied to empower women, don’t imprison them on constitutional amendments on decentral- for separatist-held day, today they are ultranationalists the basis of their views or on the basis of ization. This action represents an impor- territory in the terrorists.” that have gone the rights that they’re fighting for,” tant step toward comprehensive reform of east in accord with unpunished, from a Ambassador Power told reporters in Ukraine’s governance and the empower- the Minsk agree- – Blogger Oleksiy grenade attack on a Washington. “Free these 20 women and ment of regional and local authorities. In ments on regulat- gay-pride event in free the countless women and girls like addition, this vote shows that Ukraine is ing the conflict Bratushchak, writing on June to a grenade- them behind bars,” Power added. The State steadfastly upholding its commitments with the Russia- the Ukrayinska Pravda launcher attack in Department has dubbed the initiative the under the Minsk agreements to adapt gov- backed rebels. July in the western #FreeThe20 campaign. It will profile one ernance structures in certain parts of Even as the website. Zakarpattia Oblast case per day in the run-up to the 20th anni- Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.” In addition, wounded were to the beating last versary this month of a United Nations ini- the spokesman said, “The United States being taken away, an unrepentant spokes- year of the head of the UT-1 state television tiative to empower women “in all spheres condemns the clashes in Kyiv that left at man for the radical Right Sector (Pravyi channel by Svoboda party lawmakers.

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