Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence: “Canada and the Ukraine Crisis”

Mémoire présenté au Comité permanent de la défense nationale de la Chambre des communes: «Le Canada et la crise en Ukraine»

Подання до Постійної комісії Палати Громад (Парламенту Канади) з питань національної оборони: “Канада та криза в Україні”

42nd Parliament, 1st Session/ 42e législature, 1re session 42-е Скликання парламенту, 1-а сесія • 16 October 2017/16 octobre 2017/16 жовтня 2017 року

Lubomyr Y Luciuk, PhD / Любомир Я. Луцюк, PhD Professor / Professeur / Професор Department of Political Science / Département de science politique / Кафедра політології The Royal Military College of Canada / Collège militaire royal du Canada Королівський військовий коледж Канади Kingston, Ontario / Кінґстон, Онтаріо K7K 7B4

Mr Stephen Fuhr, MP Chair, Standing Committee on National Defence House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Dear Mr Fuhr:

Attached please find several articles reflecting my considered opinion on Canada and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine that I trust will be of interest to members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence.

Respectfully submitted,

Lubomyr Luciuk, PhD Professor

M. Stephen Fuhr, député Président, Comité permanent de la défense nationale Chambre des communes Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Cher M. Fuhr:

Vous trouverez ci-joint plusieurs articles qui reflètent mon opinion mûrement réfléchie sur le Canada et la crise actuelle en Ukraine qui, je l’espère, intéresseront les membres du Comité permanent de la défense nationale de la Chambre des communes.

Respectueusement soumis,

Lubomyr Luciuk, PhD

Стівен Фюр, Депутат Голова Постійної комісії з питань національної оборони Палата Громад (Парламент Канади) Оттава, Онтаріо K1A 0A6

Шановний пане Фюр,

До Вашої уваги прикріплюю декілька статей, які відображають мою думку щодо Канади та поточної кризи в Україні. З власної точки зору, цей матеріал зацікавить членів Постійної комісії Палати Громад (Парламенту Канади) з питань національної оборони.

З повагою подано,

Любомир Луцюк, PhD Професор

Department of Political Science Lubomyr Y Luciuk, PhD Royal Military College of Canada Professor Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7K 7B4 [email protected] Crimean Society Remains Russified The Whig Standard, 5 August 2010

I did not expect the call of a muezzin in Simferopol. Not that Soviet Ukraine acquired Crimea in 1954 after Nikita hearing the chosen being invited to their devotions troubles Khrushchev transferred the property’s legal title from the me. I appreciate this caution against allowing the commerce Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, a gift marking of daily life to distract one from giving thanks to God. Yet 300 years of allegedly fraternal relations between these two other residents of this Crimean city find the five-times-daily distinct nations. It was a hollow gesture as Crimea remained summoning of Muslims to prayer, the adhan, worrisome. It in the USSR and no one then envisioned the Soviet em- reminds them that ownership of this peninsula is contested. pire’s collapse or an independent Ukraine. As for the Tatars, They forget one thing – it always has been. permitted to trickle back from Central Asian exile only at the end of the Soviet period, they began returning in greater Nearly the size of Belgium, Crimea historically was a bridge- numbers after 1991 when Ukraine’s government tried to head connecting the empires of the Eurasian steppes with redress the historical injustice they had endured, even though those of the Black and Meditteranean basins. Invaders have that crime was of Moscow’s making, not Kyiv’s. Still Crimean come and gone – ancient Greeks and Scythians, Rome’s le- society remains Russified, retarded by a relic Soviet mental- gions, then Goths, Huns, Khazars, Byzantines, various Turkic ity akin to what most of Ukraine’s eastern marches wallow nomads, Venetians, Genoese, Ottoman Turks and, finally, in, that ignorance fueling Ukraine’s current drift away from Tsarist Russia’s armies, conquering in 1783. Europe. So Lenin statues stand prominent in Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Yalta. Asking why I was told: “We were That gateway role is reflected in Crimea’s history. In 988 in allowed to dump Communism but had to keep Lenin.” They Chersones, now part of Sevastopol, Kyiv’s Prince Volodymyr have not really rid themselves of either. converted to Christianity, then that faith was diffused among the East Slavs. Today the region’s vistas are pleasant – vine- Making matters worse are revanchists campaigning to bag yards covering gently rolling hills and wide valleys – but this Crime for ‘Mother Russia.’ Dozens of billboards proclaim very same terrain witnessed the Ukrainian Cossacks of the Crimea’s future prosperity lies in reunification, a blatantly Zaparozhian Sich fight marauding Tatars and resist Ottoman secessionist placarding not being countered by Kyiv. The very encroachment. And Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “The Charge few posters heralding Ukrainian president Viktor Yanu- of the Light Brigade” immortalized the disaster that befell kovych as Crimea’s hope, and Ukraine’s, are in Russian only. another band of cavalry near Balaclava, in 1854. Heroically Perhaps the president’s propagandists have their countries interpreted by Errol Flynn in his 1936 film of the same name confused. this Hollywood version of that Crimean War battle left at least one young boy begging his mother to take him to their Will Crimea’s status remain uncertain? Maybe there’s an an- local public library, to read that paean in its entirety – the swer in what I found in a madras, an Islamic school, in Bakh- first time I sought out poetry. chisaray. There I saw a mullah instructing a small group of children, young boys and girls learning the Koran together. I In 1919-1920 this headland became a bastion for the an- asked in Ukrainian if I might take their photograph. When ti-Bolshevik White Army of General Denikin, a point d’appui the Turkish teacher replied that he spoke no Russian one for foreign military interventions unsuccessfully deployed of his pupils, a girl, aged 11, began translating – in perfect against Lenin’s regime. Crimea was next overrun by the Ukrainian. Aware of her Crimean Tatar heritage and Islamic Nazis, in 1942, then suffered cultural genocide in May 1944 faith she also proudly identified herself as a Ukrainian. If when the Soviets returned and deported the Tatars because more of her fellow citizens did likewise Ukraine might still of their supposed disloyalty during the German occupation. make it back to Europe. Stalin is said to have contemplated a similar treatment for Ukrainians, a deed left undone only because there were too many of them. And at Yalta eastern Europe’s postwar fate was sealed in February 1945 when Stalin, Churchill and Roos- evelt met in the Livadia Palace to carve out the ‘spheres of influence’ that shaped Europe’s geopolitics for another half century.

4 Godspeed to Ukraine’s Revolution Winnipeg Free Press, 29 January 2014

It’s -10º C today in Kingston but it feels like -21º C. My students have often asked why Ukraine is taking “so long” to return to Europe. For me an answer, and solace too, In Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, it’s -12º C but feels more like can be found in the Good Book. Reading Exodus one learns -20º C. how Moses led his people out of Egyptian bondage, into the desert, where they wandered for 40 years before reaching the I’m writing from the comfort of my study. My good friends promised land of ‘milk and honey.’ No one who began that in the Euromaidan aren’t anywhere near as snug. Yet they odyssey made it, not even Moses, who only looked down endure, not only cold but brutality because for them Ukraine from a mountain top to see that his people had arrived – always was, is, and shall forever must be, a European nation. even as all those born and raised in captivity, and burdened with the doubting, fearful, and indecisive mentality of This is not simply a question of geopolitics. It’s cultural. Most slaves – proved incapable of doing so. I fear Ukrainians will Ukrainians want to live like other Europeans, in a society yet wander in an anarchical wilderness for another decade, where civil liberties and human rights are respected, where perhaps longer, and may even be tested in the holocaust of democracy and the rule of law prevail. They have had enough a real revolution before they return to Europe. They will get of the corruption and nepotism of Viktor Yanukovych’s there, eventually. Of that I have no doubt. But I do wish regime. Ukraine had its own Moses, now.

Overwhelmingly, in 1991, they voted for Ukraine’s As for my colleagues in the Euromaidan, it’s evident they independence. And, in 2004, they came out in the millions represent a new generation, men and women not reared for the ‘Orange Revolution,’ protesting a fraudulent election, as Soviet vassals. Being European is the only norm they hoping democracy would take root in Ukraine. Their leaders aspire to. They have no intention of wearing the yoke of betrayed them, proving to be only somewhat less debased, subservience. They leave that for Yanukovych and his ilk. but certainly no less venal, than the man they removed, Viktor Yanukovych. When they began their demonstrations, in late November 2013, Kyiv’s protestors were shouting “Out With the He returned in 2010. Since then Yanukovych and ‘the Bandits!” Now they are calling for “Revolution!” Their Family’ surrounding him have battened off the riches of movement has spread far beyond Kyiv’s Euromaidan. the land – today Olexander, the president’s eldest son, Uprisings are taking place across Ukraine, including eastern is a multimillionaire, the “king of coal,” a remarkable Ukraine. achievement for a 40 year old dentist. Think of this as the “Golden Calf” stage in modern Ukrainian history. It won’t To understand what is coming next recall a nursery rhyme last much longer. from your childhood. Remember how ‘Humpty Dumpty’ had a great fall? The next line is “and all the King’s horses Indeed what we are witnessing now is the first step in and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty back together Ukraine’s painful return to Europe. Colour this stage a again.” That’s what’s happening in Ukraine today. Viktor has cowardly yellow, for President Yanukovych is increasingly fallen. He’s cracked. nervous about the masses occupying Ukraine’s public spaces. Since fear is a poor counsellor the Kremlin’s man in Kyiv What my friends in the Euromaidan have sparked is now has deployed thugs and snipers to do his dirty work, beating unstoppable. So I say “Godspeed” to them. journalists and murdering protestors.

It hasn’t worked. Watch the YouTube video of Mikhailo Zhyznevsky’s casket being carried through the Euromaidan. Yanukovych’s hired hands shot him off the barricades. Yet the nation was not cowed. The crowds stand firm, shouting “Heroes Never Die!” There will be more heroes before this all ends.

54 Ukraine gave up its nukes – and got broken Russia unleashes demons promises in return Winnipeg Free Press, 14 March 2014 The Globe and Mail, 3 March 2014 Let us consider the dismemberment, the cutting into pieces, yet again, in the Kremlin’s clutches. Stalin’s unfinished He was born on July 9, 1950. I was born on the same date, Given our shared birth date, I am surprised Viktor doesn’t or, better put, the mutilation of a country. cultural genocide may see its final solution under Putin. Now but in 1953. So we share an astrological sign. I’d say the stars remember what happened on 9 July 1997. I do. NATO and there’s a legacy project. worked out better for me. He may be a billionaire, whereas Ukraine officially signed an agreement that anyone, even a Yelping that Crimea’s Russian majority was under threat I certainly am not, but I am free to live as I please, whereas peripatetic ex-president, can find on NATO’s website. All five from gangs of rampaging “neo-Nazis, nationalists, and Geopolitical schemes that segregate human beings into Viktor Yanukovych, having siphoned off the riches of states party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear anti-Semites,” spewing out of Kyiv’s Euromaidan and minorities versus majorities always unchain a certain species Ukraine, is now a wanted criminal. He is hiding somewhere Weapons gave Ukraine security assurances in return for headed south, Vladimir Putin, the Russian Federation’s of genie, the kind of demon that insists states must be in the Russian Federation, having decamped from Kiev only Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. president-in-perpetuity, dispatched troops to the ‘rescue,’ so ethnically homogeneous, as close to ‘racially pure’ as possible. hours before the locals got their hands on him. Few would rendering a European state. To date the ‘fascists’ menacing Political architects favouring such discriminatory ordering have mourned if he had ended up in the Euromaidan à la That agreement was reaffirmed on August 21, 2009: Russia’s colonists in Crimea have proven phantasmagorical. of human territory always come around to demanding that Mussolini, Ceausescu or Hussein. Alas, the thief fled in the Indeed the only folks (volks?) found giving the Nazi salute whoever “the other” may be in this or that country all of night, before justice was served. “In addition to the regular consultative and cooperative there, while warming their backsides with burnt offerings them should be excised — by enervation, expulsion, or meetings set out in the Charter, the NUC [NATO Ukraine of Ukrainian and Jewish books, were the lumpenproletariat worse. Putin’s delusional dream of reconstituting a ‘Great True, some decent bankers in Switzerland, and perhaps Council] will be convened following a request from Ukraine skinheads of the “Russian unity” movement. Their peculiar Russian’ imperium outside of Europe is built upon just such elsewhere, have since frozen Viktor’s obvious assets. But it’s if Ukraine perceives a direct threat to its territorial integrity, choice of evening entertainment hasn’t been seen in Europe an atavistic spasm. Of course he still claims all he is doing is likely he hid money elsewhere. That’s just the kind of guy political independence, or security, in line with paragraph 8 since April 6, 1933, when Hitler’s Brownshirts ‘cleansed’ the protecting innocents against ‘fascists.’ His biggest problem is Viktor is. So an international effort must begin immediately of the Partnership for Peace Framework Document.” Third Reich of ‘decadent’ literature. Mr. Putin keeps curious he can’t find any, except for his own. to identify Mr. Yanukovych’s accounts, those of ‘the Family’ company. surrounding him, and of his fellow oligarchs who, in I hope Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, has While we wait for Russian Ghostbusters to locate a non- lockstep, despoiled Ukraine. Once recovered, their ill-got already made that call. But a question remains: Assuming they even existed, where Russian fascist, let’s apply Putin’s prescription for peace plunder will go a long way toward sustaining Ukraine’s did Putin’s nightmare Nazis disappear to? Did they find some in our time to the Russian Federation, just for fun. Take economic convalescence. Viktor and company won’t need Russian troops deliberately invaded Ukrainian territory, other land to bogey? Perhaps they went north to Estonia, these examples: Chechnya’s Muslim population is 95.3 per loot in the jail cells they’re destined to occupy. without just cause. There was never any threat to the where one-quarter of the population are Russians, or into cent Chechen. And Tatarstan is 53.2 per cent Tatar. Please Russian-speaking minority anywhere in Ukraine. It is now Latvia, where almost 25 per cent constitute the demographic don’t forget Kalmykia, where 57.4 per cent of the native Vamos Viktor is, unfortunately, still being a very bad boy. up to NATO, including Canada, the United States, Germany leavings of Soviet imperialism. For Moscow’s men these population are Buddhists. Shouldn’t these distinct nations Ever the dutiful minion, he pretends he’s Ukraine’s president, and the United Kingdom, to honour its treaty obligations minority exclaves must appear much more vulnerable than (and there are many others inside the Russian Federation) yet is curiously complacent about the Russian invasion and help Ukraine defend itself against Russian imperialism. their counterparts in Crimea. Will Russian troops next have a democratic say over whether or not they want to of Crimea. Ignoring the indigenous Tatar community’s Lest we forget, Western Europe’s failure to support invade the Baltic states? Probably not, most respond, as remain in Russia? Or does Putin only believe in allowing expressed desire to remain in Ukraine, he has barely Czechoslovakia against Nazi aggression neither saved that they are in NATO, their political independence, territorial referenda when the results are made certain by Russian whimpered about the illegal occupation of a region he once country from dismemberment, nor did appeasement prevent integrity, and sovereignty guaranteed by the Alliance. Really? bayonets and bullyboys? Since the Russian Federation is not said was part of his country. I suppose this is understandable the Second World War. Ask Ukrainians today what their treaties with NATO indivisible — and if Ukraine must suffer amputation — why given his subservience to the puppet-master, Vladimir proved to be worth. My guess is people in Tallinn and Riga not “Mother Russia” too? Allow me to add: ‘ladies first.’ Putin. So instead of championing Ukraine’s sovereignty, as Thinking about Viktor, out wandering in the steppes, I are having bad dreams right now, not alarmed by fantasies one might expect a real president would, Viktor has been recall what I wrote just before Ukraine re-emerged as an featuring reanimated hordes of Hitlerites tramping their Crimea was, and is, a distinct society, and no Ukrainian blubbering about those who ousted him, branding them independent state in Europe, when the USSR disintegrated, way, but instead having night sweats about the Russian bear I ever met there, or anywhere else, would say anything fascists and bandits from western Ukraine. This, of course, is in 1991. My views appeared in this very newspaper, Nov. coming out of hibernation. different. Crimea’s Tatars have already demonstrated they are very trite, and predictable Soviet-style slander. It’s particularly 15, 1991, “Moderation and Neutrality – but hang on patriots, championing Ukraine’s national unity in the face odd, however, coming from the fellow whose Berkut to the nuclear arms.” I argued Ukraine’s independence The Kremlin’s carvers have set others on edge, too. Stranded of a Russian military occupation. No staged referendum will stormtroopers until recently had a Facebook page festooned would be compromised, perhaps fatally, if Kiev gave up its in their only homeland, now occupied by racist Russians, ever change that. And while Ukraine remains in the throes with anti-Semitic, homophobic, and anti-Western bile. There nuclear arsenal, unless the West guaranteed the country’s Crimea’s Tatars are under real threat, particularly if, as seems of revolution, the vast majority of its citizenry — whether of were fascists in Ukraine but they were the ones with body independence and territorial integrity. The West gave exactly likely, Ukrainians they have lived with in peace for decades Ukrainian, Russian, Jewish, Crimean Tatar or other origins armour, high-powered sniper rifles and armoured personnel that guarantee. So did the Russian Federation. Ukraine then are forced to decamp, retiring to regroup into whatever — are united by a good dream. They hope to awaken in a carriers, surrounding Kiev’s Euromaidan, not inside it. They disarmed, the only country in the world to have ever given remains of Ukraine. To use politically correct Canadian Ukraine within Europe. Their only nightmare is that they were the perpetrators of Bloody Thursday, which is why up its nuclear weapons, even as other states scrambled to terminology the Crimean Tatars are a “first nations” people. will instead arise to find themselves abandoned by the West, Viktor is now wanted for mass murder. Like one of the pigs acquire them. They have nowhere else to go. And they well remember the left in limbo, in a satrapy enslaved within a resuscitated Orwell caricatured in Animal Farm, Viktor as Napoleon took ruthless deportation of their nation at Stalin’s command, in Russian empire. So expect Ukrainians to fight for their orphaned puppies and made them into loyal attack dogs, Today we know Moscow’s promises are valueless. We shall May 1944, when some 200,000 men, women and children freedom. If Putin doesn’t wake up to that fact, and soon, his unleashed to murder the democratic opposition. His hounds soon learn what NATO’s guarantees are worth. I’m afraid I were exiled, and many murdered. Now they find themselves, nightmares will have only just begun. are now bunkered down in Crimea. That’s no coincidence. was prescient.

56 6 Russia unleashes demons Winnipeg Free Press, 14 March 2014

Let us consider the dismemberment, the cutting into pieces, yet again, in the Kremlin’s clutches. Stalin’s unfinished or, better put, the mutilation of a country. cultural genocide may see its final solution under Putin. Now there’s a legacy project. Yelping that Crimea’s Russian majority was under threat from gangs of rampaging “neo-Nazis, nationalists, and Geopolitical schemes that segregate human beings into anti-Semites,” spewing out of Kyiv’s Euromaidan and minorities versus majorities always unchain a certain species headed south, Vladimir Putin, the Russian Federation’s of genie, the kind of demon that insists states must be president-in-perpetuity, dispatched troops to the ‘rescue,’ so ethnically homogeneous, as close to ‘racially pure’ as possible. rendering a European state. To date the ‘fascists’ menacing Political architects favouring such discriminatory ordering Russia’s colonists in Crimea have proven phantasmagorical. of human territory always come around to demanding that Indeed the only folks (volks?) found giving the Nazi salute whoever “the other” may be in this or that country all of there, while warming their backsides with burnt offerings them should be excised — by enervation, expulsion, or of Ukrainian and Jewish books, were the lumpenproletariat worse. Putin’s delusional dream of reconstituting a ‘Great skinheads of the “Russian unity” movement. Their peculiar Russian’ imperium outside of Europe is built upon just such choice of evening entertainment hasn’t been seen in Europe an atavistic spasm. Of course he still claims all he is doing is since April 6, 1933, when Hitler’s Brownshirts ‘cleansed’ the protecting innocents against ‘fascists.’ His biggest problem is Third Reich of ‘decadent’ literature. Mr. Putin keeps curious he can’t find any, except for his own. company. While we wait for Russian Ghostbusters to locate a non- But a question remains: Assuming they even existed, where Russian fascist, let’s apply Putin’s prescription for peace did Putin’s nightmare Nazis disappear to? Did they find some in our time to the Russian Federation, just for fun. Take other land to bogey? Perhaps they went north to Estonia, these examples: Chechnya’s Muslim population is 95.3 per where one-quarter of the population are Russians, or into cent Chechen. And Tatarstan is 53.2 per cent Tatar. Please Latvia, where almost 25 per cent constitute the demographic don’t forget Kalmykia, where 57.4 per cent of the native leavings of Soviet imperialism. For Moscow’s men these population are Buddhists. Shouldn’t these distinct nations minority exclaves must appear much more vulnerable than (and there are many others inside the Russian Federation) their counterparts in Crimea. Will Russian troops next have a democratic say over whether or not they want to invade the Baltic states? Probably not, most respond, as remain in Russia? Or does Putin only believe in allowing they are in NATO, their political independence, territorial referenda when the results are made certain by Russian integrity, and sovereignty guaranteed by the Alliance. Really? bayonets and bullyboys? Since the Russian Federation is not Ask Ukrainians today what their treaties with NATO indivisible — and if Ukraine must suffer amputation — why proved to be worth. My guess is people in Tallinn and Riga not “Mother Russia” too? Allow me to add: ‘ladies first.’ are having bad dreams right now, not alarmed by fantasies featuring reanimated hordes of Hitlerites tramping their Crimea was, and is, a distinct society, and no Ukrainian way, but instead having night sweats about the Russian bear I ever met there, or anywhere else, would say anything coming out of hibernation. different. Crimea’s Tatars have already demonstrated they are patriots, championing Ukraine’s national unity in the face The Kremlin’s carvers have set others on edge, too. Stranded of a Russian military occupation. No staged referendum will in their only homeland, now occupied by racist Russians, ever change that. And while Ukraine remains in the throes Crimea’s Tatars are under real threat, particularly if, as seems of revolution, the vast majority of its citizenry — whether of likely, Ukrainians they have lived with in peace for decades Ukrainian, Russian, Jewish, Crimean Tatar or other origins are forced to decamp, retiring to regroup into whatever — are united by a good dream. They hope to awaken in a remains of Ukraine. To use politically correct Canadian Ukraine within Europe. Their only nightmare is that they terminology the Crimean Tatars are a “first nations” people. will instead arise to find themselves abandoned by the West, They have nowhere else to go. And they well remember the left in limbo, in a satrapy enslaved within a resuscitated ruthless deportation of their nation at Stalin’s command, in Russian empire. So expect Ukrainians to fight for their May 1944, when some 200,000 men, women and children freedom. If Putin doesn’t wake up to that fact, and soon, his were exiled, and many murdered. Now they find themselves, nightmares will have only just begun.

76 Ukraine’s Passion Kyiv Post, 1 May 2014

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cried. whom Kirill, patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Ukrainians know a similar agony. hailed as a “miracle of God.” No god I know of.

Over Easter, I thought on Ukraine’s Passion. Conspired We have seen the righteous stand and fall — most notably against by Vladimir Putin, a high priest of Russian the “Heavenly Hundred” murdered on Kiev’s Euromaidan. revanchism and zealot who believes the Soviet Union’s Ukraine’s Jews and Crimean Tatars marshalled beside them, collapse was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th in common defence of the homeland. For doing so, they are century, Ukraine’s crucifixion proceeds. targeted. Paid dissemblers, whorish Western public relations firms, and Russian agents of influence, challenge reports First Crimea, Ukraine’s garden, was captured by a braying about a leaflet recently circulated in Donetsk, obliging crowd of thugs-for-hire and Russian soldiers. Its indigenous registration of all pro-Ukrainian Jews. We’re told this was a people, Crimean Tartars, are now persecuted, and Ukrainian ruse, foisted by Ukrainian nationalists, calculated to impugn speakers harassed — their exodus to the still-free lands of a genuinely pro-Russian movement in eastern Ukraine. I Ukraine already begun. wish Ukrainians were that clever.

Yet Ukraine was not undone by the philistine Putin alone. So who crafted this protocol? Would any Russian be so There was a Judas, Viktor Yanukovych. His betrayal vulgar or foolish to issue a blatantly anti-Jewish tract? Say complete, his “30 pieces of silver” palmed, this Iscariot fled “Da.” Don’t forget that Russian “poet” swaggering just into the wilderness of Rostov-on-Don. Of no further use to outside the Donetsk synagogue, spewing on about “drowning Moscow — no state long harbours a traitor — he could soon all the kikes in Russian blood.” And what of the burning of be swinging off a scaffold in the steppes. He won’t be missed, Jewish and Ukrainian books by Russian goons in Crimea, nor mourned. on Jan. 7? No similar holocaust has soiled Europe since May 10, 1933, when Putin’s brown-shirted Nazi predecessors Yanukovych’s treachery was not companionless. Many premiered this particular barbarity. And what about anti- western European deceivers prostituted themselves for the Jewish graffiti smeared on synagogues in Simferopol and oozing lucre of the oligarchs, warming on Siberian gas while Sevastopol after the Russian takeover? Or the April 23 servicing Ivans, feigning obliviousness to the troubling defacement of a Holocaust memorial in Sevastopol? shadows cast down from Ukraine-now-become-Golgotha. Thus we bear witness to perfidious Albion, the city’s temples Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. bloated with moneylenders, hearing not the cock that crows, valuing only gold. And America — God save it — parades Just before the end, our Lord said: “It is done.” Ukraine may the Pilate of our age, a president washing his hands of soon be. Still I won’t despair. I know Christ’s cry signalled responsibility, intoning fine words while doing nothing to not defeat but victory. Even if Ukraine is entombed, there stop a slaughter he could have prevented. Even now, Ukraine is, in my faith, the promise of Resurrection. So I believe is being scourged by forces sent forth by the Kremlin’s Cain. Ukraine will be again. And I know Mr. Putin, his Moscow So Ukrainian flesh, the meat of Abel, is rendered. The blood minions, and his Western apologists, all these latter-day of innocent Ukrainians will stain Putin and his children’s Pharisees and Sadducees, will eventually be recognized for children forevermore — they will bear this century’s mark of who they are and denounced for what they do. They are fated Cain. to fail. Amen.

Do not think what happens far away matters little here. As Russian imperialists mutilate Ukraine, so, too, they butcher Europe’s hope. Which nation hereafter can trust any other — having seen how allies are misled, how they turn a blind eye to the massacre of the lamb when it is more profitable to mollycoddle the bear. Wise counsel to those who hear: arm yourselves, trust no one, anticipate betrayal — for that is the legacy of Putin, the KGB man now president-in-perpetuity,

78 Ukraine’s Passion Send Canadian Forces to Ukraine Kyiv Post, 1 May 2014 The Whig Standard, 9 September 2014

Deeds matter. truth is that Ukraine has been sold out, betrayed, abandoned, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cried. whom Kirill, patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, and surrendered by the West. A time for atonement will Ukrainians know a similar agony. hailed as a “miracle of God.” No god I know of. Ukraine was invaded by Russia and has been dismembered. surely come. What happened was not an intervention or an incursion. The Over Easter, I thought on Ukraine’s Passion. Conspired We have seen the righteous stand and fall — most notably Kremlin’s black deeds were not a “stealth war,” nor a Cold Countries like North Korea and Iran, Israel and Japan, to against by Vladimir Putin, a high priest of Russian the “Heavenly Hundred” murdered on Kiev’s Euromaidan. War. It was bloodthirsty hot. name a few, should be wary of other states speaking soft- revanchism and zealot who believes the Soviet Union’s Ukraine’s Jews and Crimean Tatars marshalled beside them, ly while promising to be good. That never works out. It’s collapse was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th in common defence of the homeland. For doing so, they are Ukraine’s Crimea has been under Russian military occupa- always better to carry your own big stick. Putin knows this. century, Ukraine’s crucifixion proceeds. targeted. Paid dissemblers, whorish Western public relations tion since March. Heavy weapons fired from inside the Rus- The Russian Federation is armed to the teeth. Would that sian Federation have killed Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Ukraine had been. firms, and Russian agents of influence, challenge reports More recently, Russian armour and aircraft attacked defend- First Crimea, Ukraine’s garden, was captured by a braying about a leaflet recently circulated in Donetsk, obliging ing Ukrainian units. Tellingly, POWs were exchanged. To date Russian aggression against Ukraine hasn’t cost Putin crowd of thugs-for-hire and Russian soldiers. Its indigenous registration of all pro-Ukrainian Jews. We’re told this was a Ukraine still faces an (ex)-KGB man turned president-in-per- and his Kremlin cronies much. Targeted sanctions haven’t people, Crimean Tartars, are now persecuted, and Ukrainian ruse, foisted by Ukrainian nationalists, calculated to impugn petuity who barks on how Kyiv ‘s government is “Nazi” even worked because most Russians have felt no pain. Want to speakers harassed — their exodus to the still-free lands of a genuinely pro-Russian movement in eastern Ukraine. I as he parades about cobbling together an ethnic Russian pinch Putin? Freeze financial transactions between all citizens Ukraine already begun. wish Ukrainians were that clever. empire. Is “Putler,” as some Ukrainians have labelled him, of the Russian Federation and the West and stop all cultural, demented? Even Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, won- sporting, and academic exchanges until Russian forces and Yet Ukraine was not undone by the philistine Putin alone. So who crafted this protocol? Would any Russian be so dered aloud about that, confiding in President Obama that local turncoats leave Ukrainian soil, permanently. Cleansing There was a Judas, Viktor Yanukovych. His betrayal vulgar or foolish to issue a blatantly anti-Jewish tract? Say his Russian counterpart is “living in another world.” Right Paris and London, Berlin and Rome, of those boorish “ugly complete, his “30 pieces of silver” palmed, this Iscariot fled “Da.” Don’t forget that Russian “poet” swaggering just on – this latter-day Mussolini-from-Moscow is nuts. Russians” loitering all about would be a value-added bonus. into the wilderness of Rostov-on-Don. Of no further use to outside the Donetsk synagogue, spewing on about “drowning Post-Wall Europe is done for. Putin’s Russians should pay for Moscow — no state long harbours a traitor — he could soon all the kikes in Russian blood.” And what of the burning of We all know Ukraine is not a member of NATO. But hasn’t a murdering the European dream. be swinging off a scaffold in the steppes. He won’t be missed, Jewish and Ukrainian books by Russian goons in Crimea, democratic Ukraine earned the right to expect help in its hour nor mourned. on Jan. 7? No similar holocaust has soiled Europe since May of need? After all, Ukraine sent troops to help us when we were What Ukraine needs immediately are not just more sanctions 10, 1933, when Putin’s brown-shirted Nazi predecessors fighting in Afghanistan. Did Russia? No. Instead Putin’s Russia and sanctimonious platitudes but Western military inter- Yanukovych’s treachery was not companionless. Many premiered this particular barbarity. And what about anti- ‘helped out’ by empowering the murderous Assad regime in vention. If Canada and the USA can deploy special forces as western European deceivers prostituted themselves for the Jewish graffiti smeared on synagogues in Simferopol and Syria. And Moscow’s men have the blood of 298 innocents, “observers” into Iraq, the future of which won’t make a fig of difference to anyone in the West, than helping save Ukraine oozing lucre of the oligarchs, warming on Siberian gas while Sevastopol after the Russian takeover? Or the April 23 mostly Europeans (plus one Canadian) on their hands, for his stooges blew Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17 out of the sky. from Russian imperialism while rescuing Europe from its servicing Ivans, feigning obliviousness to the troubling defacement of a Holocaust memorial in Sevastopol? Want a reference about Russia as a neighbour? Go ask Georgia, own myopia should surely have a higher priority. Alas, Amer- shadows cast down from Ukraine-now-become-Golgotha. which suffered mutilation-by-Moscow in 2008. No wonder ica’s president seems to have abandoned America’s ideals. Thus we bear witness to perfidious Albion, the city’s temples Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are frightened. They’re bloated with moneylenders, hearing not the cock that crows, next. But Canada can still punch above its weight internationally. valuing only gold. And America — God save it — parades Just before the end, our Lord said: “It is done.” Ukraine may Whether ours is a nation of warriors or peacekeepers doesn’t the Pilate of our age, a president washing his hands of soon be. Still I won’t despair. I know Christ’s cry signalled NATO’s first secretary general, Lord Ismay, famously said the much matter. Let’s put Canadian troops on the ground, to responsibility, intoning fine words while doing nothing to not defeat but victory. Even if Ukraine is entombed, there alliance’s purpose was to keep the Americans in, the Russians monitor the cease-fire and secure the international border stop a slaughter he could have prevented. Even now, Ukraine is, in my faith, the promise of Resurrection. So I believe out, and the Germans down. An admirable sentiment. Now between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, allowing the is being scourged by forces sent forth by the Kremlin’s Cain. Ukraine will be again. And I know Mr. Putin, his Moscow we have a Europe with the Russians battering in, the Amer- warring parties to seek a peaceful resolution of their differ- So Ukrainian flesh, the meat of Abel, is rendered. The blood minions, and his Western apologists, all these latter-day icans chickening out, and the Germans prancing about, a ences. The colour of our soldiers’ helmets shouldn’t matter. of innocent Ukrainians will stain Putin and his children’s Pharisees and Sadducees, will eventually be recognized for disaster for Ukraine given Deutschland’s addiction to sucking According to a recently released Nanos survey, over 75% of children forevermore — they will bear this century’s mark of who they are and denounced for what they do. They are fated the Russian bear’s gaseous teats, ‘Great Russian’ nostalgia for Canadians support our government’s stalwart position in Cain. to fail. Amen. resuscitating a neo-Stalinist imperium, and America’s retreat support of Ukraine, even if doing so means jeopardizing from the world stage, save in the Middle East, where Wash- trade with Mr Putin’s Russia. I celebrate the fact that Canada Do not think what happens far away matters little here. As ington’s partiality has consistently proven counterproductive. is a nation that stands on principle. Russian imperialists mutilate Ukraine, so, too, they butcher Meanwhile, Ukraine’s purblind decision to give up its nuclear Europe’s hope. Which nation hereafter can trust any other weapons and downsize its military, in return for American, Surely Mr Putin can’t object to such a generous Canadian British, not to mention, Russian, guarantees of its political gesture? He has long-claimed his army was never in Ukraine, — having seen how allies are misled, how they turn a blind sovereignty and territorial integrity, have underscored a na- that the fighting was all between regional separatists and eye to the massacre of the lamb when it is more profitable to tional weakness – Ukrainians prefer fairy tales to confronting Kyiv. Of course, Putin is a liar but let’s pretend otherwise, mollycoddle the bear. Wise counsel to those who hear: arm geopolitical realities. They have paid the butcher’s bill for for the sake of peace. So let’s have Canadian soldiers – peace- yourselves, trust no one, anticipate betrayal — for that is the that naïveté and for their stupidity in not pursuing NATO makers if you like – secure it. That would be a good deed. legacy of Putin, the KGB man now president-in-perpetuity, membership, years ago. Much worse is yet to come. The And good deeds are always repaid.

7 9 Foreign Affairs minister has nothing to be ashamed of The Whig Standard, 17 March 2017

I’ve heard it all before. It was fake news then and still is. portraying the nationalists as “war criminals” and “agents of Allegations about “Nazis in Canada” -- the most recent Western imperialism.” Moscow’s men still spout the same regurgitation targeting Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia disinformation, apparently sharing Hitler’s view that if you Freeland -- have circulated for decades. keep repeating the big lie, people will believe it.

Understandably, just after the war’s end, Jewish Canadians What is shocking about this recent effort, however, is were alarmed at the prospect of “Ukrainian Nazis” escaping the “blood libel” argument the Russians have deployed. justice by posing as displaced persons. In response, the Certainly, Freeland made herself a target of their yellow Liberal government initiated high-level inquiries, ensuring journalism by taking a principled position supporting no such villains resettled here. Yet claims about “thousands Ukraine against Russian imperialism. But should she be of Nazi war criminals hiding in Canada” resurfaced in judged because of the supposed sins of her grandfather? the early 1980s, resulting in a Conservative government establishing the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals, Thankfully, her political opponents in Parliament recognize headed by Justice Jules Deschênes. Tellingly, its 1987 report Moscow’s muck-racking for what it is. That said, let’s not rebuked those who had spread “increasingly large and grossly forget that Vladimir Putin’s grandfather was Stalin’s loyal exaggerated” figures about “Nazi war criminals.” servant, his father an NKVD man, and that he carried on the family tradition as a KGB officer, even if he did better I drafted the Ukrainian Canadian community’s response than all previous Putins, becoming a billionaire on his secret to this hysteria. We recommended anyone accused of war policeman’s pension while securing the sinecure of president- crimes, regardless of ethnic, religious or racial origins, be in-perpetuity of the so-called Russian Federation. Now there’s brought to trial in a criminal court, knowing the stringent a family tree demanding scrutiny. rules of evidence followed in such a venue would ensure justice. Ottawa adopted that “made in Canada” position. By way of full disclosure, my paternal grandfather was a Not a single person was ever convicted of being a “Nazi” in a veteran of the Austro-Hungarian army during the Great War, Canadian criminal court. then a POW in Siberia, returning years after the war’s end a traumatized man. And my maternal grandfather, a forester Unfortunately, no effort was made to investigate whether and Ukrainian nationalist, joined the struggle for Ukraine’s Soviet war criminals got into Canada pretending to be independence against the Polish, Nazi and Soviet occupations refugees. The commission’s report may explain this partiality. before he was betrayed, imprisoned and murdered by the Listed on page 857 is the name of a man who published Communists. I never met either man but am proud of both an English-language book in 1981 admitting he served in because they fought for Ukraine’s freedom, just as Chrystia the Judenrat under Nazi rule and was later an officer in the Freeland’s grandfather did. NKVD, the notoriously murderous Soviet political police. That record made him legally inadmissible. Yet he got in and So she has nothing to be ashamed of and is the right person was possessed of the chutzpah to offer a self-serving spin on to be Foreign Affairs minister as Justin Trudeau’s government history, although I doubt he gifted Justice Deschênes a copy condemns Russia’s subversion of Europe’s peace, just as did of his book. When the Deschênes Commission’s history is Stephen Harper’s government did before it. finally written, its peculiar bias should be addressed.

Today, Minister Freeland is being pilloried over the unproven wartime misconduct of her grandfather, an editor at Krakivski Visti (Krakow News). Years ago, another journalist told me the paper’s editors had no affinity for Nazi aims but used their positions to sustain the Ukrainian resistance. Of course, from the Kremlin’s point of view, Ukrainian nationalism represented a threat, one they expended considerable resources on eradicating, well into the 1950s. There followed a concerted Soviet defamation campaign,

810 Not sure why folks in Toronto staged a ‘Victory Day’ Hill Times, 1 May 2017

Some folks in Toronto want to stage a “Victory Day” rally on The approved “celebration schedule” for all this communist Sunday, April 23. I am not sure why. Making merry on the carousing in Toronto includes additional jubilations. On date in 1945 when the Red Army’s soldiers broke into Berlin May 7, the public is invited to “Immortal Regiment” day, and raped at least 100,000 women seems rather gauche. But followed by a “Victory Day” event at City Hall on May 8, then some of those staging this fete describe themselves as with a “gala evening” on May 9. Our veterans might well Soviet veterans -- perhaps they think they were just making wonder about this. V-E Day (Victory in Europe) always whoopee? After all, Stalin didn’t question why “a soldier occurs on May 8. Since Canada was never (thankfully) part who has crossed thousands of kilometres through blood and of the Soviet empire, we don’t use the term “Victory Day.” fire and death has fun with a woman or takes some trifle.” And even in Mother Russia no one joined an “Immortal According to historian Antony Beevor, however, this was “the Regiment” parade until 2007, when the Putin regime greatest phenomenon of mass rape in history.” Why anyone fabricated this “holiday” as a propaganda tool, a means for in Canada would be comfortable hosting “a do” celebrating mustering support for his imperial project of restoring a “a don’t” I leave for these party-throwers to answer. neo-Russian empire. A photograph shows Putin marching in Moscow with his father’s photograph -- the proud KGB Or maybe I got the wrong year? Perhaps these Toronto man honouring his dear old Dad, an NKVD officer. Hardly tovarisches are commemorating April 23, 1938, the day a charming family tree. on which “Uncle Joe” Stalin first called himself a vozhd or, to use Nazi terminology, a fuehrer? That makes more No fair-minded person denies the Soviet Union eventually sense, I suppose, for the Soviet Union allied itself with Nazi played a major role in helping defeat the Nazis. Millions of Germany on Aug. 23, 1939, following which the Black Soviet citizens and soldiers died (most civilian losses occurred and Red dictators carved up eastern Europe, Hitler starting in Ukraine and Belarus). Those victims deserve to be the slicing by invading Poland on Sept. 1. That is when the hallowed. That said, the Soviet Union was not our ally when Second World War began. the war began. Originally, Stalin stood with Hitler against us. No Canadian should ever forget that. That is why we honour Or did it? Not for those who say “the Great Patriotic War” those who went to war from its start and fought to its finish, dates only from June 21, 1941, after Hitler’s legions invaded rather than those who first fuelled it and joined us only when Stalin’s domains. Proponents of this alternate Soviet version the fire they helped ignite began to burn their houses down. of history prefer that we forget how, by then, France was overrun, the Battle of Britain joined and the doors to hell In Canada, V-E Day honours those who fought for freedom. had opened at Auschwitz. Stalin was never one of them.

But for many Canadians, the war was very personal well before the summer of 1941. Among the men who volunteered from Kingston were Queen’s University graduate and Royal Air Force Pilot Officer George Bishop, who died March 12, 1940, possibly the first Canadian killed in action. And there was the Royal Canadian Navy seaman William Lower, a graduate of KCVI, killed Nov. 28, 1940. And Warrant Officer William Caldwell of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, lost April 30, 1941, leaving behind his wife, Alice, and his parents, Thomas and Isabella. Or Sgt. Walter Brown, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, killed May 24, 1941, a graduate of my high school, Regiopolis. As these Canadians fought and died, the Soviets were supplying Hitler with the materiel that helped kill them. Not exactly a cause for rejoicing.

911 Training goes both ways in Ukrainian deployment Edmonton, Journal, 1 August 2017

Looking out and down from the inside of a Ukrainian Armed realm remains his fundamental goal, no matter how many of Forces Mil Mi-8 helicopter, I surveyed Ukraine as I have his soldiers’ lives are squandered paying the butcher’s bill. never done before -- marvelling at that country’s measureless tracts of sunflowers and wheat fields nourished by the fertility I was able to visit with our troops at the Demining Centre of its chornozem soil -- understanding by seeing it from this and the IPSC in a day, the mobility of a Mi-8 and the height why this land, known from ancient Greek times as the courteousness of Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk, commander of the “breadbasket of Europe,” has again and again been made a Canadian Army, and his accommodating staff, facilitating ravin by the depredations of rapacious invaders. this sally. I learned more during this one summer’s day than I do in most weeks. Let me also establish how it was agreed, Since February 2014 the trespassers have been the Russians, well before we left, that I could write as I please, prohibited whose army seized Crimea then attacked in eastern Ukraine, only from photographing individual soldiers or otherwise occupying much of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts identifying them, a reasonable condition. I also travelled at (provinces). To this day they despoil there and so threaten the my expense. And when I took leave of the general’s party, peace of Europe. it was clear that if I went further, up to the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, I would be doing so privately and entirely But the Russians are encountering resistance, and an at my own risk. I did. Before I departed, however, my aim increasingly dogged one at that. From the very start of their was to find out whether this Canadian mission was beneficial unprovoked invasion of Ukrainian territory, they found only in one direction -- presumably our side teaching as themselves impeded by volunteers who rushed forward Ukrainians do all the learning -- or if there was more to it from all parts of their homeland to thwart the aggressor. than just a paternalistic, one-way relationship. The bravery and sacrifices of what we might well describe as Ukrainian “minutemen” helped blunt and then contain I got my answer at the Demining Centre. Quite by chance Moscow’s imperialistic designs. And, since November 2014, I overheard a conversation between the general and a Canada, stalwartly determined to help Ukraine remain Canadian officer who, when asked if he had learned from sovereign, stable and secure, has been assisting in the Ukraine’s sappers, responded with an emphatic “Absolutely!” enhancement of Ukraine’s defensive capabilities. As part of a and then went on to describe how the “lessons learned” multinational joint commission, including the United States by Ukrainians engaged in the euphemistically named anti- and United Kingdom, about 200 Canadian Forces specialists, terrorist operations (ATO) zone of Ukraine were being currently drawn largely from the 3rd Canadian Division incorporated into the advanced training offered to military and deployed on six-month rotations, have been training students. Canadian, British and American soldiers’ lives will Ukrainian troopers at the International Peacekeeping and be saved in future because Ukrainian troops are bringing Security Centre (IPSC) located near the hamlet of Starychi in hard-won intelligence, paid for with their flesh and blood on Lviv oblast. Other Canadians are teaching at the Ukrainian the battlefield, and sharing it with their western friends. Ministry of Defence’s Demining Centre in Kamyanets- Podilsky. Later in the day I would, time and again, get positive responses from Canadian soldiers, including two graduates The IPSC is found within the Yavorivsky military polyhon, of the Royal Military College of Canada, whenever I asked a 40,000-square-kilometre training area, the largest in all if they were benefiting from this deployment. Indeed, most of Europe, created by the razing of 29 western Ukrainian said they would like to stay longer, to learn even more. As for villages at Stalin’s command. My maternal grandmother’s was the Ukrainians, they have welcomed our troops as comrades one of them; her home once stood no more than a few dozen in arms and, to a soldier, stressed how grateful they are to metres inside this restricted zone’s front gates. Canada for standing with them as they fight what has truly become Ukraine’s war of independence. The Ukrainians, by As of July 1, the CF Joint Task Force-Ukraine had trained the way, believe they will win it. From what I saw of their some 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Canada has pledged its professionalism and pluck, not only in western Ukraine but support for Operation Unifier until at least March 2019. We on the eastern front, I think they’re right. For do remember may need to stay longer for Vladimir Putin, the KGB man what Putin seems to have forgotten -- this is not the first time in the Kremlin and “president-in-perpetuity” of the Russian in their history that Ukrainians have fended off a foe. They Federation, certainly knows Russia can never be an empire remain unbowed. without dominating Ukraine. Restoring an imperial Russian 1210 Training goes both ways in Ukrainian deployment A war of words, and a war of independence Edmonton, Journal, 1 August 2017 The Whig Standard, 9 August 2017

Looking out and down from the inside of a Ukrainian Armed realm remains his fundamental goal, no matter how many of Enemies call each other names. They also tell fibs about the shuffling along with the soldier, heads bowed. Jokingly, the Forces Mil Mi-8 helicopter, I surveyed Ukraine as I have his soldiers’ lives are squandered paying the butcher’s bill. foe. I was recently reminded of this as I moved along the veteran proclaimed every volunteer at the front was gifted never done before -- marvelling at that country’s measureless frontlines in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. These two Russian rabs (slaves), like those straggling behind him, tracts of sunflowers and wheat fields nourished by the fertility I was able to visit with our troops at the Demining Centre territories were invaded by the Russians in February 2014. as a reward for having served - provoking an outcry as some of its chornozem soil -- understanding by seeing it from this and the IPSC in a day, the mobility of a Mi-8 and the A war, euphemistically described by Kyiv’s politicians as an gullible folk began complaining their returned sons hadn’t height why this land, known from ancient Greek times as the courteousness of Lt.-Gen. Paul Wynnyk, commander of the ‘Anti-Terrorist Operation,’ is still being fought there, daily. received their prizes. This, they exclaimed excitedly, was proof “breadbasket of Europe,” has again and again been made a Canadian Army, and his accommodating staff, facilitating of official corruption as officers were “obviously” cheating ravin by the depredations of rapacious invaders. this sally. I learned more during this one summer’s day than Vulgarities aside, many Ukrainian soldiers have taken to enlisted men by taking more than their “fair share” of two I do in most weeks. Let me also establish how it was agreed, mocking the so-called “separatists” by calling them vatniks, prisoners each. In fact, while many a Russian trooper has Since February 2014 the trespassers have been the Russians, well before we left, that I could write as I please, prohibited the name used for the padded winter jackets worn by the been captured by the Ukrainians -- Moscow’s insistence whose army seized Crimea then attacked in eastern Ukraine, only from photographing individual soldiers or otherwise Russian military, in this context meaning their opponents that there are no Russian soldiers on Ukrainian territory occupying much of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts identifying them, a reasonable condition. I also travelled at are nothing more than a dull-witted bunch of drunks and is nothing but a lie -- most of the latter are exchanged for (provinces). To this day they despoil there and so threaten the my expense. And when I took leave of the general’s party, criminals. For their part the “separatists” and their Russian Ukrainian POWs. It is deemed better to secure the release peace of Europe. it was clear that if I went further, up to the frontlines in backers have tried to retaliate, ridiculing Ukrainians by of one’s own people rather than holding onto ‘guests’ no one eastern Ukraine, I would be doing so privately and entirely referring to them as ukrop, the word for dill, which many wants on Ukrainian soil. But the Russians are encountering resistance, and an at my own risk. I did. Before I departed, however, my aim Ukrainians admittedly do enjoy with just about anything increasingly dogged one at that. From the very start of their was to find out whether this Canadian mission was beneficial they may be eating, from boiled potatoes to borsch. Instead Travelling in this war-devastated region I couldn’t help but unprovoked invasion of Ukrainian territory, they found only in one direction -- presumably our side teaching as of taking offence, however, Ukraine’s soldiers and even the recall the old children’s rhyme: “Sticks and stones may break themselves impeded by volunteers who rushed forward Ukrainians do all the learning -- or if there was more to it public have embraced this once-derogatory term for their my bones but names will never hurt me.” From having from all parts of their homeland to thwart the aggressor. than just a paternalistic, one-way relationship. nation, so robbing it of offensiveness. You can buy a T-shirt observed the patriotism and pluck of Ukraine’s fighting men The bravery and sacrifices of what we might well describe declaring yourself an ukrop from many stalls found along and women I know they won’t be beaten by the mere smears as Ukrainian “minutemen” helped blunt and then contain I got my answer at the Demining Centre. Quite by chance the roadway descending from St Andrew’s Church in Kyiv’s and jeers of their enemies. But, however courageous they are, Moscow’s imperialistic designs. And, since November 2014, I overheard a conversation between the general and a upper town to the historically commercial neighbourhood of these 21st century Cossacks do need the West’s help, not just Canada, stalwartly determined to help Ukraine remain Canadian officer who, when asked if he had learned from Podil. I did. ritual condemnations of Russian imperialism and selective sovereign, stable and secure, has been assisting in the Ukraine’s sappers, responded with an emphatic “Absolutely!” economic sanctions, but the delivery of defensive weaponry enhancement of Ukraine’s defensive capabilities. As part of a and then went on to describe how the “lessons learned” The Russians also circulated some rather odd rumours, to match what the Russian Federation has deployed against multinational joint commission, including the United States by Ukrainians engaged in the euphemistically named anti- insisting, for example, that Ukrainian troops were killing them. If so provisioned they say they will win their just war and United Kingdom, about 200 Canadian Forces specialists, terrorist operations (ATO) zone of Ukraine were being Eurasian bullfinches because their white-blue-red colouration because they are fighting for an independent Ukraine’s return currently drawn largely from the 3rd Canadian Division incorporated into the advanced training offered to military was reminiscent of the Russian tricolour, a nefarious plan to its rightful place in Europe. and deployed on six-month rotations, have been training students. Canadian, British and American soldiers’ lives will apparently intended to also secure more territory for a local Ukrainian troopers at the International Peacekeeping and be saved in future because Ukrainian troops are bringing species of titmouse, a bird whose blue and yellow plumage Security Centre (IPSC) located near the hamlet of Starychi in hard-won intelligence, paid for with their flesh and blood on evokes Ukraine’s national flag. I saw both types of bird flying Lviv oblast. Other Canadians are teaching at the Ukrainian the battlefield, and sharing it with their western friends. about -- ornithologists need not worry. Ministry of Defence’s Demining Centre in Kamyanets- Podilsky. Later in the day I would, time and again, get positive Another apocryphal claim the Russians spread was that responses from Canadian soldiers, including two graduates Ukrainian troops were chowing down on local infants; with The IPSC is found within the Yavorivsky military polyhon, of the Royal Military College of Canada, whenever I asked black humour the Ukrainians admitted to the ‘truth’ of this a 40,000-square-kilometre training area, the largest in all if they were benefiting from this deployment. Indeed, most fairytale while advising those spreading the story that they of Europe, created by the razing of 29 western Ukrainian said they would like to stay longer, to learn even more. As for too would relish eating babies if only they knew how to villages at Stalin’s command. My maternal grandmother’s was the Ukrainians, they have welcomed our troops as comrades one of them; her home once stood no more than a few dozen in arms and, to a soldier, stressed how grateful they are to properly prepare them as a food dish -- perhaps by adding a metres inside this restricted zone’s front gates. Canada for standing with them as they fight what has truly dash or two of ukrop? become Ukraine’s war of independence. The Ukrainians, by As of July 1, the CF Joint Task Force-Ukraine had trained the way, believe they will win it. From what I saw of their Now, in fairness, some Ukrainians also have rather strange some 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Canada has pledged its professionalism and pluck, not only in western Ukraine but ideas about this war. Two friends of a soldier on leave in the support for Operation Unifier until at least March 2019. We on the eastern front, I think they’re right. For do remember western Ukrainian region of Bukovyna heavily overindulged may need to stay longer for Vladimir Putin, the KGB man what Putin seems to have forgotten -- this is not the first time while celebrating his homecoming. The next day, when the in the Kremlin and “president-in-perpetuity” of the Russian in their history that Ukrainians have fended off a foe. They three lads went to a local market, the two merrymakers from Federation, certainly knows Russia can never be an empire remain unbowed. the previous evening were looking rather worse for wear, without dominating Ukraine. Restoring an imperial Russian 10 1311 Young man rests in peace having sacrificed himself in a just war The Whig Standard, 1 September 2017

I’m not as good a runner as I used to be. This revelation Donetsk oblast or a few hours away in Kharkiv. Ukrainian came somewhere between the ninth and first floors of a spetsnaz groups have infiltrated the occupied territories right murky, bomb-ravaged building located at the edge of no up to and, rumour has it, beyond the Russian Federation’s man’s land in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. I began border. Their enemies do the same in the opposite direction. scrambling downstairs after our sentinel, positioned nearby, The Ukrainians know their foes have no scruples when yelled “Run!” I did not ask why, nor linger to consider how it comes to murdering women and children to further only minutes before we had inched up these very same stairs, Moscow’s ongoing campaign to destabilize Ukraine. stepping carefully in each others’ footsteps to avoid setting off any booby-traps secreted to maim, mutilate or murder As I questioned these troopers, I learned many have been anyone scouting this abandoned edifice. Children’s toys, full fighting since the Russians invaded in February 2014. For bottles of alcohol and other seemingly innocuous household them, this is not a civil war or an Anti-Terrorist Operation, items can be the disguised agents of your destruction, even if Kyiv’s politicians pretend otherwise. Instead they see something I learned a few days earlier at the Ukrainian themselves as soldiers in a war of independence, struggling to Armed Forces Demining Centre in Kamyanets-Podilsky. secure Ukraine’s proper place in Europe rather than allowing No matter. I ran for my life. It was only after I got outside their homeland to be swallowed by a resuscitated Russian and turned a corner into the comparative safety of shadows empire, as prescribed by Vladimir Putin, the KGB criminal behind the building that I was told a Russian tank had in the Kremlin. emerged from the distant rubble, manoeuvring to take a shot. We didn’t offer the enemy a chance for target practice. Since Ukraine’s soldiers understand what they are fighting for, their morale remains excellent. A Ukrainian spetsnaz What surprised me was that I experienced no fear. Instead officer in Luhansk oblast told me: “In early 2014 I just I was quite resigned to whatever might happen. Indeed the wanted to stay alive. By 2015-2016 I was fighting to recover strongest emotion I had was a kind of desperate hope that I occupied Ukrainian lands. Today I think of myself as a wolf. didn’t do anything to endanger my companions, members of I know the boundaries of my territory. I do not want anyone an elite Ukrainian military intelligence unit. So I was pleased else’s. I know how to kill. And I believe every Ukrainian when I got out of that ruin without failing my friends, even woman, whether a child, a mother, a wife, or a grandmother, though I was quite winded and my big toes bruised badly is a woman I must protect. And so I will pursue the enemy despite the protection of combat boots. Like I said, I’m not a until every one of them is killed or goes back where he came runner anymore. from. Not one of them will be allowed to occupy even a metre of Ukrainian land, except for those whose bodies will We moved to a nearby firing position, heavily sandbagged, rot in our chornozem soil, fertilizing it as the corpses of all from where my companions opened up at the enemy’s front of the past invaders of Ukraine have done. There can be no line. Crouching, I snapped a few photographs, including one quarter. We did not invade their country. They attacked ours. of Okun, the squad machine-gunner. His pseudonym means Now we will make them pay for it.” “Perch.” This troop regularly penetrates the enemy’s front lines to gather intelligence and sow fear in the hearts and That credo comes with a price. A Russian sniper killed minds of the Russian invaders and their local collaborators. Okun the next day. He was 20, a volunteer who joined up The latter are dismissively called vatniks, after the padded in December 2015, an only son. When the news came, I jackets worn by the Russian military, considered little more realized I had forever captured his last photograph. I made than a dull-witted breed of drunks and criminals, certainly sure his mother got it. Her son, Maxim — for that was his no match for the professional Ukrainian soldiers who name — died bravely in battle. Although I could not attend routinely best them on the battlefield. Even so, Ukrainian his funeral, I believe this good young man rests in peace special forces soldiers usually do not give their names or like having sacrificed himself in a just war, defending Ukraine. to be photographed, to lessen the chance of the Russians There is a glory in that. targeting their loved ones, many of whom live close by in the

1214 Young man rests in peace having sacrificed himself in a just war The Whig Standard, 1 September 2017 Biographical Note – Professor Lubomyr Luciuk I’m not as good a runner as I used to be. This revelation Donetsk oblast or a few hours away in Kharkiv. Ukrainian came somewhere between the ninth and first floors of a spetsnaz groups have infiltrated the occupied territories right murky, bomb-ravaged building located at the edge of no up to and, rumour has it, beyond the Russian Federation’s man’s land in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. I began border. Their enemies do the same in the opposite direction. scrambling downstairs after our sentinel, positioned nearby, The Ukrainians know their foes have no scruples when yelled “Run!” I did not ask why, nor linger to consider how it comes to murdering women and children to further Born in Kingston, Ontario, 9 July 1953, the son of only minutes before we had inched up these very same stairs, Moscow’s ongoing campaign to destabilize Ukraine. Ukrainian political refugees, Lubomyr earned two stepping carefully in each others’ footsteps to avoid setting degrees from Queen’s University (Honours BSc, off any booby-traps secreted to maim, mutilate or murder As I questioned these troopers, I learned many have been 1976 & MA, 1979) then a PhD from the University anyone scouting this abandoned edifice. Children’s toys, full fighting since the Russians invaded in February 2014. For of Alberta (1984). The author, editor, or co-editor bottles of alcohol and other seemingly innocuous household them, this is not a civil war or an Anti-Terrorist Operation, On the front lines in Donetsk, of 30 monographs, Dr Luciuk is frequently cited items can be the disguised agents of your destruction, even if Kyiv’s politicians pretend otherwise. Instead they see 18 July 2017 by other scholars, has published over 300 opinion- something I learned a few days earlier at the Ukrainian themselves as soldiers in a war of independence, struggling to editorials in all of Canada’s leading newspapers and has made numerous public appearances Armed Forces Demining Centre in Kamyanets-Podilsky. secure Ukraine’s proper place in Europe rather than allowing on TV, radio and in person across North America and abroad. He is a long-standing No matter. I ran for my life. It was only after I got outside their homeland to be swallowed by a resuscitated Russian member of the Writers Union of Canada. and turned a corner into the comparative safety of shadows empire, as prescribed by Vladimir Putin, the KGB criminal behind the building that I was told a Russian tank had in the Kremlin. Dr Luciuk has served as a Member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada emerged from the distant rubble, manoeuvring to take a (1996-1998) and as a part-time Member of the Parole Board of Canada (2013-2016). As a shot. We didn’t offer the enemy a chance for target practice. Since Ukraine’s soldiers understand what they are fighting former member of the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment for, their morale remains excellent. A Ukrainian spetsnaz Recognition Fund, the Ukrainian Canadian Veterans Fund, Director of Research for What surprised me was that I experienced no fear. Instead officer in Luhansk oblast told me: “In early 2014 I just the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association and, most recently, chairman of the I was quite resigned to whatever might happen. Indeed the wanted to stay alive. By 2015-2016 I was fighting to recover Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, he is widely known in the Ukrainian strongest emotion I had was a kind of desperate hope that I occupied Ukrainian lands. Today I think of myself as a wolf. Canadian community, particularly for his work on Canada’s first national internment didn’t do anything to endanger my companions, members of I know the boundaries of my territory. I do not want anyone operations, the genocidal Great Famine of 1932-33 in Soviet Ukraine (Holodomor) and the an elite Ukrainian military intelligence unit. So I was pleased else’s. I know how to kill. And I believe every Ukrainian political history and geography of Ukraine in the 20th and 21st centuries. when I got out of that ruin without failing my friends, even woman, whether a child, a mother, a wife, or a grandmother, though I was quite winded and my big toes bruised badly is a woman I must protect. And so I will pursue the enemy Dr Luciuk has been the recipient of a number of prestigious academic awards and despite the protection of combat boots. Like I said, I’m not a until every one of them is killed or goes back where he came distinctions, including several doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships and a large number of runner anymore. from. Not one of them will be allowed to occupy even a research grants. He has been a professor of political geography at The Royal Military College metre of Ukrainian land, except for those whose bodies will of Canada since 1990 and has also taught at the University of British Columbia (Department We moved to a nearby firing position, heavily sandbagged, rot in our chornozem soil, fertilizing it as the corpses of all of History), the University of Toronto (Department of Geography), Queen’s University from where my companions opened up at the enemy’s front of the past invaders of Ukraine have done. There can be no (Department of Geography) and overseas at Boğaziçi University, in Istanbul (Department line. Crouching, I snapped a few photographs, including one quarter. We did not invade their country. They attacked ours. of International Relations) and at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, of Okun, the squad machine-gunner. His pseudonym means Now we will make them pay for it.” (Department of Environmental Studies and Geography). He is a Fellow of the Chair of “Perch.” This troop regularly penetrates the enemy’s front Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. lines to gather intelligence and sow fear in the hearts and That credo comes with a price. A Russian sniper killed minds of the Russian invaders and their local collaborators. Okun the next day. He was 20, a volunteer who joined up His community service was recognized with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Shevchenko The latter are dismissively called vatniks, after the padded in December 2015, an only son. When the news came, I Medal (2010) and a 50-year Ontario Volunteer Service Award pin (2015). Professor Luciuk jackets worn by the Russian military, considered little more realized I had forever captured his last photograph. I made is a member in good standing of the Royal Canadian Military Institute (Toronto) and of the than a dull-witted breed of drunks and criminals, certainly sure his mother got it. Her son, Maxim — for that was his Fort Frontenac Officers’ Mess (Kingston). no match for the professional Ukrainian soldiers who name — died bravely in battle. Although I could not attend routinely best them on the battlefield. Even so, Ukrainian his funeral, I believe this good young man rests in peace special forces soldiers usually do not give their names or like having sacrificed himself in a just war, defending Ukraine. to be photographed, to lessen the chance of the Russians There is a glory in that. targeting their loved ones, many of whom live close by in the

12 The last photograph of Okun, front lines in Donetsk, 18 July 2017