The Ukrainian Weekly, 2015
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INSIDE: Poroshenko dismisses ambassador to the U.S. – page 3 Polish president pledges support for Ukraine – page 5 Canada announces new military aid for Ukraine – page 5 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXIII No. 16 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015 $2.00 13 ethnic organizations send joint letter Rada approves historic bills to part with Soviet legacy by Zenon Zawada off, streets named after the red devils. against Yulia Tymoshenko, whom Mr. Eternal glory to those who fought for, and Yushchenko considered his nemesis. But to President Obama KYIV – Ukraine’s Parliament approved are fighting for, Ukraine’s will,” he wrote. Mr. Yushchenko never led an effort to grant NEW YORK – Following a series of several historic bills on April 9 that take Never had Ukraine’s Parliament had state recognition to the UPA as a force fight- ongoing discussions with the American unprecedentedly decisive steps to part with attempted such radical de-Sovietization, ing for Ukrainian independence. Jewish Committee (AJC), the Ukrainian the country’s Soviet legacy, which is widely which was constantly undermined by the The bill approved on April 9, “On the Congress Committee of America blamed for the inability to reform and Party of the Regions and the Communist Legal Status and Honoring the Memory of (UCCA), the representative organiza- strengthen Ukraine despite more than two Party, both aligned with Russian President Fighters for Ukrainian Independence in the tion of the over 1 million Americans of decades of independence. Vladimir Putin. The Verkhovna Rada was 20th Century,” recognizes all those who Ukrainian descent, initiated a joint let- One of the bills recognizes on fought for Ukraine’s independence ter to President Barack Obama to the state level all those who fought in armed, paramilitary, under- underscore that the risks for the for Ukrainian independence in the The bill “On the Legal Status and ground or political organizations – “United States and the wider demo- 20th century, most notably the Honoring the Memory of Fighters for as well as those who fought indi- cratic world could not be higher in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) vidually – including the UPA, the ongoing aggression by the Russian Ukrainian Independence in the 20th that was launched in 1943 to fight Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, the Federation and its proxies against both the Germans Nazis and the Century” recognizes all those who Ukrainian National Republic, gov- Ukraine’s territorial integrity.” Soviet Red Army. fought for Ukraine’s independence ernment bodies of Carpatho- The letter, which was also signed by Another bill requires the Ukraine, the Ukrainian Helsinki leaders of 11 other ethnic organiza- in armed, paramilitary, underground removal of all public Soviet sym- Union and dozens of others. The tions in the U.S., underscored the belief or political organizations. measure drew 271 votes – 45 that “the United States must prevail in bols and monuments, and the more than was necessary for the defending the rights of Ukraine and renaming of all cities, towns and bill’s passage. other nations in the region to live free villages bearing Soviet names. The largest only able to approve such measures after Adding to the poetic justice of this of unwanted outside involvement, to to be affected is Dnipropetrovsk, the city of both parties were swept out by the October moment – during which Ukrainians are yet protect their sovereignty and indepen- 993,000 residents named after Grigory 2014 elections. again waging a war for their independence dence.” Petrovsky, a leader in the Red Terror of Former President Viktor Yushchenko – was the fact that the bill’s sponsor and The letter was signed by executive 1918-1923 and the Holodomor of 1932- was the first to begin de-Sovietization author was National Deputy Yurii officers of national organizations, 1933. efforts on the national level, issuing decrees Shukhevych, the 82-year-old son of the leg- including the AJC, Armenian Assembly “From now on, children won’t ride on car- that ordered the removal of Soviet monu- endary UPA commander. of America, Belarusian-American ousels in parks named after executioners, ments from public spaces. It was Mr. “The main goal of this bill is fulfilling the Association, Czechoslovak National students won’t study in institutes named Yushchenko who granted posthumous testament of the fighters for Ukraine’s will Council of America, Estonian American after terrorists, and lovers won’t arrange Hero of Ukraine status to UPA Commander- in the 20th century regarding the Ukrainian National Committee, Georgian their dates on squares named after killers,” in-Chief Roman Shukhevych in 2007. state’s official recognition and honoring of Association in the United States, National Deputy Yuriy Lutsenko, head of the He gave the same status in early 2010 to all fighters for Ukraine’s independence,” Hungarian American Coalition, Joint Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary fac- Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists according to the bill’s explanatory note Baltic American National Committee, tion, wrote on his Facebook page. (OUN) leader Stepan Bandera, in what was authored by Mr. Shukhevych, a member of Lithuanian American Community, Inc., “Goodbye Lenin, USSR and the widely acknowledged as a cynical gambit to Oleh Liashko’s Radical Party. Communist Party of the Soviet Union. So boost voter turnout for Viktor Yanukovych, (Continued on page 18) long, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad. Die then running in the presidential election (Continued on page 18) At U.N., Ukrainian women speak about consequences of Russia’s aggression by Irene Jarosewich and Marta Kebalo economic destabilization from the Russian Federation, the WFUWO made a concerted effort this spring to ensure that UNITED NATIONS – The annual U.N. Commission on the Ukraine’s representatives be given ample opportunities to Status of Women (CSW), this year organized under the present at this international event at the United Nations theme Beijing+20, was held March 9-20 in New York City headquarters. WFUWO worked to ensure a visible and focused on progress made worldwide towards meeting Ukrainian presence at the CSW, and to provide Ukraine’s goals identified at the landmark Fourth World Women’s women forums to speak openly and bluntly about the vio- Conference in 1995 in Beijing. lation of their rights to peace and security, as well as about For Ukrainian women, the 1995 Beijing Conference holds their deteriorating conditions under the strain of Ukraine’s a unique place of significance. This event was the first time defensive military response. that women from Ukraine’s diaspora, who were being rep- The WFUWO, a network of diaspora women’s organiza- resented by the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s tions from 18 countries, has purposefully deepened organi- Organizations (WFUWO), had an opportunity to work zational connections with women’s organizations in alongside women from a newly independent Ukraine. It was Ukraine during the past year, supporting Ukraine’s women an uplifting and memorable experience. Together they in their fight for personal and national survival. began to address issues important to Ukraine’s women, The opening event of this year’s CSW, organized by U.N. such as maternal and child health 10 years after the Women, fell on March 8, International Women’s Day. Chornobyl disaster and the nascent challenge of trafficking Levchenko/Kyiv WFUWO President Orysia Sushko along with the WFWUO’s of Ukraine’s women. At the March 10 panel on “Women in Ukraine: The Right U.N. representatives and a large delegation of women from Now in 2015, 20 years later, with Ukraine facing aggres- to Peace and Security and Sustainable Development for Ukraine’s NGOs, joined in a march of several thousand sive violation of its territorial integrity, profound threats to All” (from left) are: Melanne Verveer, Kateryna national and cultural identity and purposeful political and Levchenko, Serhiy Kyslytsia and Olena Suslova. (Continued on page 4) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2015 No. 16 ANALYSIS Pro-Russia instigations Ministers agree on weapons withdrawal Six Ukrainian soldiers killed in attacks BERLIN – Foreign affairs ministers from KYIV – Ukrainian military spokesman in Odesa Oblast defused Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine have Andriy Lysenko said on April 14 that six agreed to push ahead with the withdrawal soldiers had been killed and 12 injured as by Vladimir Socor Russians, Ukrainians), that also is included of weapons from the front line in eastern fighting has flared in eastern Ukraine in the as a part of Bessarabia. As the choice of the Eurasia Daily Monitor Ukraine. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Laurent past 24 hours, despite a ceasefire. Col. term “Bessarabia” implies, the “BPR” seems Fabius, Sergei Lavrov and Pavlo Klimkin Lysenko said that the casualties were the President Petro Poroshenko recently designed to promote a centrifugal agenda met for about five hours in Berlin late on result of “serious provocations” by Russian- instructed the Security Service of Ukraine against Kyiv and Chisinau, respectively, on supported separatists. He said the situation (SBU) to “nip any separatist organizations either side of the border in southern April 13 for talks to assess the implementa- in eastern Ukraine was “unstable” with in the bud […] so that Ukraine should not Bessarabia. These territories are the most tion of a ceasefire. Speaking to reporters attacks “by the