INSIDE: l Supporting the spiritual rebirth of Ukraine – page 8 l ‘At the Frontline’: art from Ukraine comes to Canada – page 10 l Our community: Chicago and North Port, Fla. – page 12 The Ukrainian Weekly Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association

Vol. LXXXVIII No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 $2.00

ANALYSIS New agreements in Minsk seen as attempt Keeping up with whirlwind to legitimize Russia-backed militants in Donbas of Ukraine’s political activity by Roman Tymotsko by Bohdan Nahaylo KYIV – The most recent meeting of the Trilateral Contact KYIV – Earlier this month, President Volodymyr Group on Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in the Zelenskyy unexpectedly fired two-thirds of the Donbas was held in Minsk, Belarus, without being publicly Ukrainian government and the country’s prosecutor announced beforehand. Only after the media of militant general. groups in the occupied Donbas published news about the Both domestic and foreign observers agree that the March 11 meeting did a news release appear on the web- changes of senior officials were rash and mishandled site of the Presidential Office of Ukraine. from a PR point of view. But they remain divided on The March 11 meeting was attended by the head of the what was behind them. Do they reflect the impulsive- Presidential Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, and the dep- ness and inexperience of a political newcomer deter- uty head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian mined to achieve prompt results? Or do they signify a Federation, Dmitry Kozak. The results of the meeting capitulation to the forces from the past, a new Faustian included an agreement on additional troop withdrawals, deal with a reshuffled pack of hegemonic oligarchs? an exchange of prisoners and checkpoint openings. Public Meanwhile, other critical questions have been re- outcry was provoked by news about the establishment of opened alongside these concerning how the an advisory council, a new body that could legitimize the Zelenskyy administration is handling its approach occupational authorities of the uncontrolled areas of towards Russia and the war in the Donbas. Donetsk and Luhansk regions (known by the Ukrainian- Presidential Office of Ukraine Is the Zelenskyy administration preparing to deal based acronym ORDLO). Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office of directly with Moscow’s puppet enclaves in the The Presidential Office reported that the meeting in Ukraine. Donbas? Why has a senior official – an advisor to the Minsk resulted in four decisions – first of all, an exchange secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of detained persons. A statement on the presidential web- political subgroup after consultations with representatives Serhiy Syvokho – been allowed to call the war in the site says that the parties agreed “To submit to the TCG of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in east an internal Ukrainian conflict? Would Kyiv be pre- [Trilateral Contact Group] a list of persons subject to mutu- Europe], the French Republic and the Federal Republic of pared to trade renewing water supplies to occupied al release, taking into account the need to complete the Germany” is expected to happen on March 25 in Minsk. Crimea in return for concessions from the Kremlin, as said release as soon as possible” and “To submit to the TCG A source in the negotiation group shared the protocol of initially implied by the country’s new prime minister, definitively agreed lists of persons subject to the mutual the March 11 meeting with the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia news Denys Shmyhal? release procedure, including the results of the verification outlet. That version of the document contains decisions Last, but not least, why have the president and the carried out by the International Committee of the Red different from those published on the Presidential Office chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Razumkov, Cross, with the unconditional and unimpeded access of website. Dzerkalo Tyzhnia published the document on remained silent about a visit on March 10 to Moscow ICRC representatives to designated persons in the territo- March 13, commenting that the agreements reached in by the leader of Russia’s fifth column in Ukraine, ries of Ukraine and ORDLO.” Minsk legitimize the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk peo- Viktor Medvedchuk, at the head of a delegation of dep- The second and third decisions of the meeting related to ple’s republics and give them voting rights on the advisory uties from the Opposition Platform – For Life? “disengagement of forces and assets” and “simultaneous council. The new body is expected to include 20 members: In short, the main topic of the month has been what opening of the checkpoints in Zolote and Shchastia.” The 10 representing Ukraine and 10 representing the tempo- do President Zelenskyy’s actions mean for Ukraine’s fourth and final point of agreement – “the establishment of rary occupied territories. proclaimed course both at home and abroad? an advisory council” – is the most controversial. The deci- sion on the council’s establishment “as part of the TCG (Continued on page 19) (Continued on page 18) Organization for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna looks to the future at its 31st National Convention

by Diana Howansky Reilly val with distinct Lemko performances by the band Demaj and folk singer Julia Doszna YONKERS, N.Y. – “Lemkivshchyna may from Poland; providing materials and con- have been destroyed as a geographic entity ducting lectures for young members of the and others may have tried to stamp out the Ukrainian American Youth Organization fire of the Lemkos, but what ended up hap- about the 70th anniversary of the Akcja pening was that sparks from that fire flew - everywhere, so that Lemkos are now spread ing an electronic library to house all issues across the world and are stronger than Wisłaof Lemkivshchyna forced relocation magazine; campaign; helping develop to set ever,” said Mark Howansky after being elect- up the Yurij Kowalczyk Memorial Fund and ed unanimously to his third term as presi- direct charitable donations towards the res- dent of the Organization for the Defense of toration of Lemko churches in Poland and Lemkivshchyna (known by the Ukrainian- Ukraine; organizing Lemko Easter egg-dec- based acronym OOL) on March 7 at its 31st orating workshops and social gatherings to National Convention in Yonkers, N.Y. preserve the Lemko vernacular; and secur- During the plenary session of the day- ing a sizeable donation for the creation of a long convention, which takes place every Lemko scholarly fund, among other things. three years, Mr. Howansky summarized the “We have honest, passionate people and organization’s cultural, educational and I thank you for your persistent work and humanitarian work over the past term. With support,” Mr. Howansky said, recognizing the 50 delegates of the plenary session, he Julie Wislocki discussed: OOL’s annual Lemko Vatra festi- Delegates of the 31st OOL National Convention. (Continued on page 4) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

ANALYSIS

Geo-economics of water deficit in Crimea First coronavirus death in Ukraine announced later. The government announced on March 16 that subway oper- Ukraine on March 13 reported its first Soviet period, it reached 402,000 hectares; ations would be suspended as of March 17, by Ridvan Bari Urcosta novel coronavirus death. Authorities said before the annexation, in 2013, the area still while all rail, air and bus transportation Eurasia Daily Monitor an elderly woman died after being hospital- covered 140,000 hectares. But by 2014, it between towns and cities, as well as inter- ized a day earlier in the western region of In Russian-occupied Crimea, people are was only 17,000 hectares, which bottomed regional passenger links will be stopped on the country, prompting security officials to praying with Christian Orthodox priests for out at 10,000 in 2015. Those amounts have March 18. As of March 17, 14 coronavirus announce a border closure to foreigners rain and snow because the last six months rebounded slightly since then: 14,000 hect- cases have been registered in Ukraine, up within two days. Later, the chairman of the passed by with virtually no precipitation. ares in 2017 and 17,000 in 2018 (Rk.gov.ru, from seven the previous day. Two deaths Verkhovna Rada said authorities would be Because of the dry winter, local reservoirs December 26, 2017). Russia plans to reach have been reported. (RFE/RL) are now almost empty. Journalists forecast 20,000 hectares of irrigated land by the end shutting down all air traffic after March 16. apocalyptic drought scenarios for the pen- of 2020 (Expocrimea.com, accessed Officials were also said to be shutting down Ukraine to close border for two weeks most of Ukraine’s 200-plus border cross- insula. And in the administrative capital of February 26, 2020). Ukraine will close its borders to foreign Still, according to the Crimean Ministry ings, which could deal a blow to the 2 mil- Symferopol, the authorities have gradually nationals for two weeks in 48 hours, introduced rationing measures to conserve of Agriculture, the Crimean economy loses lion or so Ukrainians who work as migrant Secretary of the National Security and the limited water supply. 14 billion rubles ($210 million) per year labor elsewhere in Europe. Ukraine has Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said on Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, due to the lack of water (Vzglayd, August 14, announced three confirmed cases of infec- March 13, at a briefing during a break in the Kremlin initiated unprecedented infra- 2019). And Russia is spending around 200 tion by the new coronavirus. The 71-year- structure projects that have had important million rubles ($3 million) to restore irriga- old woman who died of the resulting the NSDC meeting. “Our country will close geopolitical consequences for the region. tion to the peninsula (TASS, December 16, COVID-19 illness, a resident of the town of the borders to foreign citizens in 48 hours. Inter alia, Russia is presently completing 2019). Namely, Russia is establishing a Radomyshl in the Zhytomyr region, had The Foreign Affairs Ministry will now warn three enormous projects: the Tavrida high- sophisticated system of new artesian wells, reportedly felt unwell after returning from all institutions, all countries that Ukraine’s way, the Kerch Strait Bridge and thermal but this will not solve the matter completely. Poland on March 1 but did not initially seek borders will be closed to foreign nationals power stations on the peninsula. As a Heavy use of underground water sources medical care. Ukrainian authorities said the for two weeks,” Mr. Danilov said. At the result, Moscow has managed to develop can lead to soil salinization. As another borders would be closed to foreigners for same time, he said that during this period Crimea’s energy self-sufficiency, a sophisti- solution, Crimean farmers are switching to two weeks but that Ukrainian nationals only foreigners who work at diplomatic cated system of communications and logis- new grain varieties better able to survive would be allowed back into the country. missions and international organizations in tics (natural gas, electricity, railways, air- drier conditions. State media said Ukrainian citizens who Ukraine will be able to get to Ukraine. “Only ports), and it restored the status of Crimea Although trying to revive the agricultur- have been to any country with an acute foreigners working in our diplomatic insti- as a Russian military bastion in the Black al sector is important to Moscow, its main outbreak of the virus will be allowed to tutions, relevant international organiza- Sea. Total Russian investments in Crimea concern is stabilizing the water supply for enter but must comply with special obser- tions – the U.N., UNICEF – will be able to get from 2014 to 2022 approximate $15 billion civil consumption and preventing shortag- vation procedures. The Healthy Ministry to Ukraine in 48 hours. The rest will enter (Vzglyad, January 17). es during the upcoming tourist season, said the woman who died was hospitalized our territory only after communication However, chronic water shortages which will start at the end of May. Crimean on March 12 after her COVID-19 test came with our Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Mr. remain the biggest still-unresolved prob- authorities contend that the region will back positive. Her case was the third con- Danilov explained. Ukrainians were lem that Russia inherited following the have enough reserves in the natural reser- firmed coronavirus infection in the country. advised to limit foreign travel if possible. annexation. voirs to last until June. Yet, these reservoirs (RFE/RL) “All Ukrainian citizens who stay abroad In 2013, the total water consumed by are currently only 37 percent full (Nezavisi­ today will be able to return to the country. Subway service suspended in three cities Crimea amounted to 1,553.78 million cubic maya Gazeta, January 28, 2020). The urgen- But those who stay in the countries where meters. Of this, water procured from the cy of the situation is compounded by the Ukraine’s government has suspended the coronavirus is raging today will under- recent launch of a full-fledged railway con- Dnipro River in Ukraine proper, via the the operation of subways in three major go certain observation procedures,” Mr. North Crimean Canal, made up 86.65 per- nection with mainland Russia: there are cities, Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv, as a mea- Danilov said. (Ukrinform) cent of the total water intake; local stocks huge hopes that Crimea will see a record sure to prevent the spread of the coronavi- equaled 8.7 percent; groundwater – 4.41 number of tourists this year. rus. Transport officials in Kyiv said on Oligarchs asked to help fund virus fight percent; and seawater – 0.16 percent (Meco. Moreover, the lack of water has already March 17 that the underground transporta- rk.gov.ru, December 2013). But following caused an ecological disaster in Armyansk Ukrainian President Volodymyr tion operations will be stopped later in the the peninsula’s forcible annexation by related to the largest manufacturer of titani- Zelenskyy has called on the nation’s day, but did not give an exact time. Kharkiv Russia, Kyiv cut off water supplies from the um dioxide pigment in Eastern Europe, the wealthiest businessmen to donate funds Dnipro. The resulting water shortages have Crimean Titan plant. In September 2018, Mayor Hennadiy Kernes said that subway and equipment to help fight the coronavi- most severely affected eastern Crimea, nota- because of a lack of water flowing to the operations in the city will be suspended as rus inside the country. Mr. Zelenskyy met bly such major cities as Feodosia, Kerch, facility, hazardous chemical waste produced of 8 p.m. on that day until April 3. In with the top business owners at his office Sudak, the Leninsky district, as well as, par- by the plant began to evaporate into the Dnipro, an official with the Transportation in Kyiv on March 16 as the country regis- tially, Symferopol and Sevastopol (Vestnik. atmosphere. The occupying authorities were Department at the City Council said all pub- tered its fifth case of the COVID-19 infec- vsu.ru, August 2015). This negatively affect- forced to evacuate about 4,000 children and lic transportation units are working and (Continued on page 14) ed Crimean agriculture: rice cultivation has youth from northern Crimea (Moskov­sky that any changes in operations will be had to be abandoned and other crops, pri- Komsomolets, September 4, 2018). marily corn and soybeans, had to be Russia hopes to secure full water self- reduced. Some of the most affected have sufficiency for Crimea by 2025 (Izvestia, been Crimean Tatar farmers, who are con- October 5, 2019). According to the official The Ukrainian Weekly FOUNDED 1933 centrated in the Crimean steppe zone. document “Crimean Strategy 2030,” the The severe impact of these water short- local population will grow to 2.34 million in An English-language newspaper published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., ages on local agriculture becomes clear 2030; it is currently 1.9 million (without a non-profit association, at 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054. when comparing the amount of irrigated counting the federal city of Sevastopol) Yearly subscription rate: $90; for UNA members — $80. land on the peninsula over time. During the (Crimea.gov.ru, April 24, 2018). Periodicals postage paid at Caldwell, NJ 07006 and additional mailing offices. The water crisis in Crimea has attracted (ISSN — 0273-9348) both Ukrainian and Russian attention. For example, during a meeting on the socio- The Weekly: UNA: Corrections Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 644-9510 Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 292-0900 Due to a technical error, the wrong cap- economic development of Crimea and Sevastopol last January, Russian President tion was published with a photo accompa- Postmaster, send address changes to: nying the story headlined “ ‘Art and War’ Vladimir Putin criticized local officials for their inadequate attention to solving the The Ukrainian Weekly Editor-in-chief: Roma Hadzewycz exhibition at Fresno State sheds light on water supply issue (RBC, January 10). 2200 Route 10 Editor: Matthew Dubas Russia’s war against Ukraine” (March 15). P.O. Box 280 More recently, Crimean authorities The caption should read: Yulia Gasio, artist Parsippany, NJ 07054 e-mail: [email protected] reportedly sought to buy Ukrainian water, of the “Art and War” exhibition, with her but Kyiv refused. However, some Ukrainian art history professor, Dr. Laura Meyer of politicians from President Volodymyr The Ukrainian Weekly Archive: www.ukrweekly.com Fresno State, at the Leon S. Peters Ellipse Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party The Ukrainian Weekly, March 22, 2020, No. 12, Vol. LXXXVIII Gallery. have expressed willingness to sell to Copyright © 2020 The Ukrainian Weekly Because of an editing error, a sentence in Crimea. Notably, the head of the budget Andrew Sorokowski’s column committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, “Hyphenated” was misconstrued. The sen- Yuriy Aristov, stressed that Kyiv can sell tence should read: Those who have tried to Dnipro water to the occupying regime just ADMINISTRATION OF THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY AND SVOBODA help Ukraine sometimes found that there, as Israel sells its water to neighboring bel- they were seen as clueless (and gullible) Walter Honcharyk, administrator (973) 292-9800, ext. 3040 ligerent countries (Krymr.com, January 31). and advertising manager fax: (973) 644-9510 Americans, while in America, they were not Another representative of Mr. Zelenskyy’s e-mail: [email protected] always regarded as “real” Ukrainians. party, the head of the parliamentarian Subscription Department (973) 292-9800, ext. 3040 Both corrections have been made e-mail: [email protected] online. (Continued on page 16) No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 3

Celebrating the 30th anniversary STATEMENT BY UWC of Lithuania’s restored independence Russia must be held accountable for war crimes in Ukraine The following media release was issued by the leaders of Russia-controlled terrorist organizations Ukrainian World Congress on March 14. DNR and LNR would legitimize the Russian occupation in the region. Furthermore, it will have irreversible con- On March 11, 2020, the Trilateral Contact Group sequences for Ukraine’s sovereignty and ability to main- comprised of Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for tain international sanctions on Russia. Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) signed a Such arrangements, if confirmed on March 25, would proposal to create a Consultation Council. According to undermine Ukraine’s national interests and relieve that decision, Russia will be replaced as the counterpar- Russia from any responsibility for the ongoing war in ty in the peace negotiations with the representatives of the Donbas and for the crimes committed against the separate districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions Ukrainian people. Ukraine needs peace, but not at all (known by the Ukrainian acronym ORDLO) – in fact cost. Ukraine must continue to demand that Russia ends with Russia-controlled terrorist organizations of the so- its war and de-occupies Donetsk and Luhansk regions, called Luhansk and Donetsk “people’s republics” (DNR as well as Crimea. and LNR). “The UWC represents the concerns of the global The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) calls on the Ukrainian community and maintains a clear and president of Ukraine and the Parliament to reject this unequivocal position that there can be no direct negoti- proposal. Agreeing to these terms would legitimize the ations with the leaders of Russia-controlled terrorist Russian narrative of “internal conflict in Ukraine” and organizations DNR and LNR. Russia as an aggressor turn Russia from an aggressor into an “observer,” then state bears full responsibility for the war in the Donbas, possibly even to a “peacemaker.” Despite the “advisory” restoring the region destroyed by the war and for de- status of the Consultation Council, this will be a step occupying the sovereign Ukrainian territory of the towards legitimizing Russian occupation forces in the Donbas and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. We Ukrainian legal system and with the international com- call on the president of Ukraine and the Parliament to munity. This is similar to the strategy deployed by reject the implementation of the proposal of Trilateral Russia in other frozen conflict zones worldwide. Contact Group as detrimental to the interests of Ukraine Ukraine’s consent to direct negotiations with the and its people,” stated UWC President Paul Grod. WASHINGTON – At a reception held at the Library of Congress on March 11 to commemorate the 30th anniversa- ry of Lithuania’s restored independence, Volodymyr STATEMENT BY THE UCC Yelchenko (right), Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, and Michael Sawkiw Jr. (left), executive vice-presi- dent of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, are seen with Rolandas Kriščiūnas, Lithuania’s ambassador to There can be no negotiations with terrorist organizations the United States. At the event, Ambassador Kriščiūnas pre- sented a gift to Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), co-chair of the The Ukrainian Canadian Congress on March 14 issued The UCC joins the Ukrainian World Congress and all House Baltic Caucus, and Anthea M. Hartig, the director of the following statement in response to the news that patriotic citizens of Ukraine in declaring the Zelenskyy Ukraine plans to enter into direct negotiations with so- administration’s decision to negotiate with “representa- the National Museum of American History, of a nanocopy of called “representatives” of the Russian occupying forces in tives” of terrorist organizations as unacceptable as this the U.S. Capitol building, which is 600,000 times smaller Donetsk and Luhansk. will have the effect of relieving Russia of any responsi- than its actual size. A nanocopy of the Statue of Freedom, bility for the war. the crowning feature of the Dome of the Capitol, is 10 times The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, representing 1.4 The UCC calls on the government of Canada to con- smaller than a human cell. The nanocopy of the U.S. Capitol million Ukrainian Canadians, is alarmed by the March tinue its leadership among its Euro-Atlantic allies in was created by Femtika, a Lithuanian company that is a 13 announcement by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s supporting Ukraine and in compelling Russia to with- spin-off from the Vilnius University Laser Research Center. Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak that Ukraine will officially draw its armies from occupied Donetsk, Luhansk and enter into direct negotiations with Russian proxies. Crimea, including the following: In six years of war, Russia and its proxies have pur- 1. Significantly increase sanctions on Russia includ- posely targeted civilians with artillery and rockets, sys- ing banning Russia from the SWIFT international pay- Quotable notes tematically tortured prisoners of war and shot down an ments system; international airliner, murdering 298 innocent people. 2. Recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism “Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protests Ukraine’s agreement to create a “Consultation and recognize the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk peo- against a new wave of illegal searches and detentions of Council” in which so-called “representatives” of the self- ple’s republics as terrorist organizations, as has been Crimean Tatars today, by Russia’s occupation administra- proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk peoples’ republics are requested by Ukraine’s Parliament; tion in the Bakhchysarai district of the Autonomous participants in the negotiation is directly contrary to the 3. Apply pressure to allies France and Germany to Republic of Crimea. Ukrainian Parliament’s declaration of the so-called peo- hold Russia accountable, and not facilitate Russia’s “As of now, at least four Ukrainian citizens – Amet ple’s republics as terrorist organizations and attempts to escape responsibility for the war which Suleimanov, Seitumer Seitumerov, Osman Seitumerov and Parliament’s declaration of Russia as the aggressor state. Russia wages against Ukraine. Rustem Seitumerov – are reported to have been detained. “By neglecting its duties as an occupying power under international law, Russia continues to treat the indigenous STATEMENT BY THE AFUO Crimean Tatars as a threat to its ongoing occupation. It is extremely aggravating that in conducting its policy of repression, it abuses once again its anti-terrorist law by fabricating accusations of terrorism to purge Crimean Russia was and is the aggressor – Tatar activists. “Such actions contradict Moscow’s declarations urging it cannot be given the role of mediator de-escalation in bilateral relations. “Russia must observe the U.N. General Assembly The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations tions. It admonishes any fault or responsibility of Russia Resolution 68/262 of March 27, 2014, on the Territorial released the following statement on March 15. having boots on Ukrainian soil and occupying the Integrity of Ukraine and further 2016-2019 Resolutions Donbas and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. on the Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations Russia is the aggressor. It needs to be held to account Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine), as (AFUO) is alarmed at the decision of the Trilateral not given the status of an observer or mediator. This well as the International Court of Justice Order on provi- Contact Group to create a Consultation Council involv- falls totally into the Russian Federation’s plan. sional measures in the Case of Ukraine vs. the Russian ing representatives of the self-proclaimed so-called Ukraine has come too far in establishing its territorial Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, and suggest- sovereignty and independence to allow this to be eroded. Federation on the Application of the International ing further representatives of Russia, Germany and The argument that we want peace and we can then Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial France to be at the table alongside the official represen- move on is the aspiration of all, not only those who have Discrimi­nation. tatives of Ukraine. negotiated this unacceptable position. However, this “We call on our international partners to increase politi- These faux republics are in fact Russian-controlled cannot and must not be achieved by capitulating. cal, economic and sanction pressure on Russia as the terrorist organizations. The argument being run that no decisions have been aggressor to prevent it from instigating further violations The president of Ukraine has the opportunity now to made and that this is building a platform has a major flaw. of human rights in the temporarily occupied Crimea.” show leadership and refute this proposal and not cross Building a platform requires a strong foundation. In – Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement the red lines that he has agreed would not be crossed. the scheme of this proposal this platform has no place released on March 11. This proposal undermines Ukraine’s territorial sov- ereignty, giving status to the Russian terrorist organiza- (Continued on page 17) 4 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

Diana Howansky Reilly The Tsvitka dance group with Yaroslava Halyk, president of the World Federation of The folk song ensemble Na Lemkowyni. Ukrainian Lemko Associations.

transitioned smoothly into speaking Lemko Organization... to the banquet audience. Using various syn- (Continued from page 1) onyms in Lemko for the verb “to speak,” she joked how some Lemkos “khvaryly” and and paying tribute to all of OOL’s members. some “beshiduvaly,” while her family “gada- Those he thanked included, but was not ly.” limited to, Vasyl Harhaj for organizing the Ms. Halyk emphasized the two goals of Lemko Vatra for the past 19 years; Zenko preserving the Lemko culture and support- and Olena Halkowycz, Lena Howansky, ing those who had been removed from the Peter and Julia Kosciolek, and Toma Pyz for Lemko region. She asked OOL and the larger Ukrainian American community for assis- Stefan Malyniak for his fund-raising efforts; tance in promoting a law that recognizes the promotingand Marie Duplak knowledge for her of external Akcja Wisła;affairs forced deportation of Lemkos to Ukraine representation. The delegates also honored from 1944-1946, which is to be considered deceased OOL National Board Members by the Ukrainian government. Although it Petro Rusynko and Petro Lukaczyn with a might not be possible to create the compact moment of silence at the start of the plena- region of Lemkivshchyna again, Ms. Halyk ry session. At the plenary session of the 31st National Convention of the Organization for the said, she believes that Lemkos, an organized While discussing OOL’s growth, Mr. Defense of Lemkivshchyna (from left) are : Halyna Semenyak, Vasyl Harhaj, Petro people, can still carry on the culture of Howansky said, “I am pleased to say that Kosciolek, Yaroslava Halyk and Mark Howansky. Lemkivshchyna for the future. we now have resurrected branches in The concert that closed the 31st OOL Syracuse, N.Y., and Philadelphia, Pa., as well work, and how this sense of unity within and the compilation of archival books in National Convention is perhaps the best as created a new branch in New Britain the Lemko community eventually led him proof that Ms. Halyk’s belief is correct. (Connecticut).” OOL currently has 10 active to agree to take on the new leadership of names and villages of all those who were Home-grown U.S.-based groups, such as the branches and has agreed to modify the the Syracuse branch. Poland by Eugeniusz Misiło listing the- folk singing ensemble Na Lemkowyni from organization’s by-laws to accept individual Expressing gratitude to his own lar to the three volumes of the “Memory the metro New York area and the dance virtual members-at-large who might not deceased father who had been active in and forciblyBook of relocated Lemkivshchyna, during Akcja 1944-1946,Wisła – simi troupe Tsvitka from Sloatsburg, N.Y., per- live near an existing branch. introduced him to OOL, as well as to his Volumes I-III” that Ms. Halyk compiled with formed traditional Lemko songs and danc- Mr. Howansky introduced the new heads mother and wife, Mr. Howansky ended his funding by the Lemko Research Foundation, es for the banquet audience. And members of the Syracuse branch, John Hvozda Jr. comments at the 31st National Convention listing deportees from the Lemko region to of the Moloda Lemkivshchyna youth group (whose father was OOL president in 1969- by saying that he was proud of being Ukraine. from Lviv, Nataliia Kukhar, and Bohdan and 1973 and founder of the World Federation Ukrainian and proud of being Lemko, and “Now, no one can tell us that we weren’t Andriana Syvanych, invited the audience to of Lemko Ukrainian Associations); the that he wished to pass on that pride to his there!” Ms. Halyk said when she returned to sing Lemko songs with them. Inspired by Philadelphia branch – Anna Jaworska; and own children. He said he felt happy that the topic of the “Memory Book of the popular “Carpool Karaoke” videos in the New Britain branch – Mark Melnyk. All OOL’s plenary session had concluded with Lemkivshchyna” and the need to document the United States, these young Lemkos of them represent a new generation of the election of a strong and united Lemko history, during her keynote address often conduct such spontaneous sing- Lemkos in the United States who have Executive Board (see list below). at the convention banquet. alongs, called “Lemko Spivy,” and then post become active in OOL. He added that he looks forward to work- Opening the banquet were: Oksana them on the Internet for others to view. Mr. Hvozda noted how he was touched ing with OOL’s members on future actions Tomaszewsky, who served as MC; Bishop This may be an unconventional way of when Mr. Howansky and OOL Second Vice- they had discussed during the plenary ses- Paul P. Chomnycky OSBM of the Ukrainian sharing Lemko culture, but it certainly is a President Mykhaylo Chomyk came to his sion, ranging from transforming Lemkiv­ Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Conn., who modern way of expanding it beyond the father’s funeral bearing the organization’s shchyna magazine into a modern electronic led the 180 attendees in a prayer; opera Carpathian Mountains, where the Lemkos flag to pay respect to his father’s years of format and reinvigorating the Lemko singer Stefan Szkafarowsky, who sang the once lived, and across the whole world. Ukrainian Museum, to working with law- American and Ukrainian national anthems; Elected to three-year terms in the yers on a class action lawsuit and pushing and Petro Kosciolek, who served as head of Organization for the Defense of Lemkiv­ the convention presidium and publicly shchyna were: cultivating young members and inviting announced the newly elected OOL thethem Polish to take Sejm part to in recognize events like Akcja the nextWisła, con to- Executive Board. First Vice-President Vasyl Harhaj, Second ference of the World Federation of Lemko Honored guests who publicly offered Vice-President• Executive: PresidentMykhaylo MarkChomyk, Howansky, Recor­ Ukrainian Associations (known by the acro- congratulations included: Volodymyr ding Secretary Oksana Kykta, Communica­ nym SFULO) – of which OOL is a member Kravtsov, vice-consul at the Consulate tions Secretary Petro Kosciolek, Treasurer organization – in 2022 in eastern Europe. General of Ukraine in New York; Ivan Pavel Hyra; The current president of SFULO, Jaworsky from the Organization for Yaroslava Halyk, who resides in Yaremche, Defense of Four Freedoms of Ukraine; Yuriy Shmotolocha, External Affairs – Marie Ukraine, was invited as an honored guest Symczyk from the Ukrainian National Duplak,• Officers: Welfare Organizational – Stefan Kapitula, – Cultural Marika and banquet keynote speaker at the OOL’s Association; Roman Kozicky from SUMA Affairs – Andriy Khomyk, Press – Diana convention. Following a moment of silence Federal Credit Union; Michael Koziupa Howansky Reily and Julie Wislocki, Social – at the plenary session to remember Stefan from Selfreliance Federal Credit Union; Petro and Anna Harhaj, Museum Director – Helen Newmerzyckyj from Nova UA Lena Howansky; Federal Credit Union; Mr. Halkowycz on Auditing Committee: Bohdan Kykta, HładekPoland, also– the a SFULOrecently-departed member organization leader of behalf of Ukrainian National Federal Credit Toma Pyz, Lesia Kozicky; Zjednoczenie– Ms. Halyk thanked Łemków OOL (Lemko for its supportUnion) inof Union; and Marie Duplak on behalf of the Lemkos around the world, particularly in Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. Stefan Malyniak, Stefan Przybylo; Ukraine. “I don’t have anyone preceding me ArbitrationBranch Presidents: Committee: Mykhaylo John І. Chomyk,Hvozda, Current projects in Ukraine that Ms. except for Lemkos,” Ms. Halyk told the Stefan Kapitula, Vasyl Harhaj, Teodor Pyz, Mark Melnyk, head of the new New Halyk felt SFULO and OOL could partner on attendees who filled the banquet hall. Her Wolodymyr Blazejowsky, John Suchowacki, Britain, Conn., branch of the Organization include: the development of a museum and own family was deported from the Lemko for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna (known skansen on 17 hectares of land that the Jaworska, Yaroslaw Krawczyszyn; by the Ukrainian-based acronym OOL); Ukrainian government has granted for the Ukraine during the 1944-1946 period. As JohnMembers-at-large: І. Hvozda, Mark Stefan Melnyk, Kosciolek, Anna John Hvozda, new head of the OOL Lemko Vatra in Monastyrsk; the promotion villagesshe shared of Krzyzówka memories and of herRostok mother, Wielka who to Halyna Semenyak, Darek Kuzmiak; branch in Syracuse, N.Y.; and Mark of a Center of Lemko Studies, led by had constantly talked about life in the Presidents emeritus: Marie Duplak, Howansky, president of OOL. Volodymyr Kytsak from Ternopil, Ukraine; Lemko region after deportation, Ms. Halyk Zenon Halkowycz. No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 5

Young UNA’ers

Joseph Daniel Walchuk, son of Daniel and Katelyn Walchuk of Warrington, Pa., is a new member of UNA Branch 362. He was enrolled by both his parents and his Liana Helen Bielak joined her older sister, Larissa Marie Bielak, and her older brother, Alexander Stanley grandparents Luba and George Walchuk. He is the great- Bielak, as a member of UNA Branch 362. She was enrolled by her parents, Natalie and Donald Bielak of Blue grandson of the longtime secretary of Branch 362, the late Bell, Pa., and her grandparents Luba and George Walchuk. The siblings are the great-grandchildren of the Fedir Petryk. longtime secretary of Branch 362, the late Fedir Petryk.

Raena Lee Hawryluk, daughter of Steve and Lana Hawryluk of Vacaville, Calif., is a new member of UNA Branch 360. Her parents and sister, Reagan, Vitali Wolf Steinhagen, son of Marko and Dora who are UNA members, welcomed her into the UNA Andrea Kateryna Zinych, daughter of Zina and Mark Steinhagen of Philadelphia, is a new member of UNA family. Raena was enrolled by her grandparents Zinych of Yardley, Pa., is a new member of UNA Branch Branch 102. He was enrolled by his grandmother Joseph and Judith Hawryluk. 362. She was enrolled by her parents. Marusia Kvit-Flynn.

Do you have a young UNA’er, or potential young UNA’er in your family? Call the UNA Home Office, 973-292-9800, to find out how to enroll.

MISSION STATEMENT The Ukrainian National Association exists: • to promote the principles of fraternalism; • to preserve the Ukrainian, Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian heritage and culture; and • to provide quality financial services and products to its members. As a fraternal insurance society, the Ukrainian National Association reinvests its earnings for the benefit of its members Mila Veselka Sumrall, daughter of Matthew and Andrea Sumrall of Sugar Land, and the Ukrainian community. Texas, is a new member of UNA Branch 83. She was enrolled by her mother. 6 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

COMMENTARY The Ukrainian Weekly Bad actors at work MH17 witness: Russian military personnel With the world in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, there are bad actors at were at Buk missile launch site work, eager to take advantage of the public’s fear and anxiety. Certainly, there are those out to make a quick buck by selling hand sanitizer and by Halya Coynash are actively attempting to disrupt efforts to similar products at outrageous prices. Phishing campaigns try to get people to click Kharkiv Human Rights Protection establish the truth behind the shooting on fake links that will ask them to reveal sensitive information. And there are count- Group down of flight MH17,” including the less other examples of those seeking to exploit the situation. According to Forbes, involvement of Russian GRU agents in Amazon said that by the end of February it had removed over 1 million products The first two days in the trial of three hacking attacks against both the Dutch falsely claiming to treat the virus. Reuters reported that United Kingdom citizens lost Russians and a Ukrainian over the downing Safety Board during its investigation of the a total of $1 million to scammers during the month of February alone. of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over MH17 downing and of the Malaysian inves- Here in the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Ukraine on July 17, 2014, have demonstrat- tigative and prosecution authorities. Nor Administration report that they “have jointly issued warning letters to seven sellers ed just how incriminating the proceedings are the Russian security services seen as of unapproved and misbranded products, claiming they can treat or prevent the will be for Russia. The latter’s track record of acting independently, with the prosecutor state-organized killings in Qatar, the United coronavirus. The companies’ products include teas, essential oils and colloidal sil- stating that there “are strong indications Kingdom, Germany, Turkey and Bulgaria ver.” FTC Chairman Joe Simons said: “What we don’t need in this situation are com- that the Russian government is very keen was cited as one of the reasons why certain to thwart this investigation, and that it is panies preying on consumers by promoting products with fraudulent prevention witnesses’ identity must be kept secret, with not averse to deploying the Russian securi- and treatment claims. … We’re prepared to take enforcement actions against compa- the need for such protection having been ty services to do so.” nies that continue to market this type of scam.” recognized by the examining magistrate. Four men are accused of involvement in Meanwhile, in China, ground zero for the novel coronavirus, authorities are using Such witnesses include the person iden- the downing by a Russian Buk missile of the cover of the pandemic to increase repression of opposition leaders. The tified as M58 who “has stated that Russian MH17, and the killing of 298 passengers and Washington Post editorialized: “It may be that Beijing sees an opportunity to dispose military personnel, whom the DPR fighters crew members. The Dutch Public of key opponents in Hong Kong while the country and the world are preoccupied said were from the FSB, were with the Buk Prosecutor asked the Russian authorities to with the epidemic.” The newspaper cited the arrests in early March of the founder of TELAR at the launch site.” Witness S24 was interview the three Russian defendants: Igor the pro-opposition newspaper Apple Daily and two well-known politicians; they said to have expressed fear of reprisals by Girkin, former FSB colonel; Sergey Dubinsky were charged with participating in an unauthorized march over six months earlier. A the Russian Federation, of being killed “so (former GRU) and Oleg Pulatov (former GRU hardline ally of President Xi Jinping was recently installed as head of the office over- as to prevent the truth from coming out.” spetsnaz). A response was only forthcoming seeing Hong Kong, and the head of a Hong Kong publishing house that produced The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) notes in early March, with Mr. Pulatov alone hav- uncensored books about Chinese leaders was sentenced to 10 years in prison. that it found evidence that the same ing turned up. The latter, however, invoked The most recent news about bad actors came on March 16 from the European Russian FSB (security service) and GRU his right to remain silent, saying that this Union, where the European External Action Service released a document that says (military intelligence) involved in state- was on the advice of his lawyers. The only pro-Kremlin media outlets “have been prominent in spreading disinformation about sponsored killings abroad “are also closely Ukrainian, Leonid Kharchenko, is in the so- the coronavirus, with the aim to aggravate the public health crisis in Western coun- involved in the armed conflict in Ukraine.” called Donetsk people’s republic (DPR), tries, specifically by undermining public trust in national health-care systems.” The Such evidence is not confined to wit- and it is unclear whether he was able to be fake news has appeared online in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French. nesses’ accounts, but is found also in inter- directly contacted. According to this internal document of the EU, that aim is “in line with the Kremlin’s cepted phone calls which, the prosecutor Certainly the only person who is react- broader strategy of attempting to subvert European societies.” Reuters reported: explains, were subjected to rigorous verifi- ing – to some extent – is Mr. Pulatov, who “The EEAS report cited riots at the end of February in Ukraine, …as an example of cation procedure. Such phone conversa- has hired two Dutch lawyers and a Russian the consequences of such disinformation. It said a fake letter purporting to be from tions reveal “various forms of involvement legal consultant. The Dutch lawyers have the Ukrainian Health Ministry falsely stated there were five coronavirus cases in the on the part of the GRU and FSB in the acknowledged that they do not know who country. Ukrainian authorities say the letter was created outside Ukraine.” armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.” There is paying them, and it frankly seems highly are also some calls in July 2014 where Cleary, in addition to hand washing, social distancing and heeding the advice of unlikely that it is Mr. Pulatov himself who is members of the armed groups discuss hav- the Centers for Disease Control, all of us need to stay vigilant in order to stay safe. funding his defense. The public prosecutor ing received “the green light from Moscow points out that they have no idea at present to execute somebody” and “an order from of Mr. Pulatov’s position, except that he Moscow to shoot someone.” denies involvement in the downing of This is constantly denied by Moscow, MH17 and that the defense has appealed March Turning the pages back... which claims that the Russians whose pres- against the magistrate judge’s agreement to ence cannot be denied are there as “volun- allow threatened witness status for several teers.” witnesses. Twenty years ago, on March 26, 2000, Vladimir Putin won the The prosecution names other “clear 26 first-round of the presidential elections in Russia. However, his indications that Russian security services (Continued on page 17) initial comments suggested that he recognized that he did not 2000 get the kind of mandate that could lead him to act without taking into account other political forces in the country. Mr. Putin noted from his campaign headquarters in Moscow that the Communist Party had done better than expected, but added that “there are many people IN THE PRESS: Who rules Ukraine in the country who are not satisfied with the state of things. People are tired, things are tough for them, and they expect better things from me. But, of course, miracles don’t occur.” “Putin’s coalition now rules Ukraine,” formed a coalition with the pro-Russian Procedurally, the election was correct. However, Mr. Putin’s remarks highlighted that by Vitaliy Portnikov, Euromaidan Press, Oppositional Platform – For Life party and the election was substantively undemocratic. His acknowledgement of the continuing March 7 (http://euromaidanpress.com/ its satellites in the Parliament. …The coali- strength of his political opponents was seen as potentially leading to a new and different 2020/03/07/portnikov-putins-coalition- tion of Zelenskyy with oligarchs [Ihor] relationship between the executive and legislative branches of the Russian government. It now-rules-ukraine/): Kolomoisky and [Viktor] Medvedchuk now confidently rules Ukraine with the tacit was hoped that this new relationship would contribute to the institutionalization of Even before the beginning of Volodymyr support of another oligarch [Rinat] democracy in Russia, as many observers expected to see the demise of communism. Zelenskyy’s term, I assumed that the Akhmetov. It is a coalition of betrayal, The election of Mr. Putin was also notable as the first genuinely democratic transfer of Kremlin was preparing a “Moldavian sce- Putin’s coalition. We should not pretend power in the history of Russia. Paul Goble, in his analysis noted three points about the nario” for our country, when at first – under that in 2019 Zelenskyy’s voters did not election. First, the resignation of Boris Yeltsin allowed Mr. Putin to exploit the powers of the pretext of fighting oligarchy and cor- vote for this coalition. incumbency and the popularity of the military campaign in Chechnya without his oppo- ruption – a coalition of pro-Western and They did vote for it. It’s just that some nents being able to rally their forces against him. Second, Mr. Putin acknowledged the gov- pro-Russian forces is created, and then pro- did it with the sincere conviction that ernment’s ability to control the still largely state-owned electronic media, from which Western forces are expelled from it and Russia should be in Ukraine, and some most Russians received their news and information, which allowed Mr. Putin to define the Vladimir Putin’s supporters begin to rule because of stupidity and short-sightedness. terms on which the election would be contested. Third, his occasional swipes at regional alone. And they would rule with the sup- Nobody has yet canceled out the “useful idi- leaders, the oligarchs and other members of the party of power made it possible for him port of the very same unprincipled corrupt ots” of the Kremlin. As a rule, it is precisely to use the powers of incumbency in ways that led to most of those individuals to back him government officials with whom they sup- largely out of a sense that they had no choice. such “useful idiots” that destroy their own posedly recently fought. states. …such “useful idiots” were enough There remained far too few competitively available political resources in the Russian …The scenario was launched with the political system for it to be called institutionalized democracy. Many outside observers for a 73 percent vote for Zelenskyy, for help of simple populist slogans that served their mono-majority in the Parliament, and and those from within Russia placed hope on Mr. Putin to build a coalition with his politi- to lure to vote for Zelenskyy and his par- cal opponents rather than ignoring and isolating them, as President Yeltsin had done. for the possibility of creating an alliance ty’s parliamentary candidates not only with pro-Russian forces. However, it was not to be. In his 20 years as either president or prime minister of outright supporters of Ukraine’s surrender Russia, Mr. Putin has proven to be a calculating and formidable autocrat for both the inter- …Now the coalition will begin to rule. and rapprochement with Moscow, not only And the new prime minister’s statement national community and the Russian Federation, who is unable to relinquish power to the indifferent and the ignorant, but also another person and is seeking to potentially extend his rule until 2036. about the possibility of supplying water to an unsophisticated fraction of Ukrainian occupied Crimea is not an accident, not an Source: “Putin victory not a mandate,” by Paul Goble (RFE/RL Newsline), The Ukrainian patriots. Weekly, April 2, 2000. And then Zelenskyy and his party (Continued on page 16) No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 7 PERSPECTIVES

by Andrew Fedynsky

Plagues, pandemics and coronavirus A historic March, 30 years ago

One of the most common Ukrainian Closer to home and closer in time, the While it might be largely forgotten now, The commission chairman, Sen. Dennis expletives is “kholiera” – in English “chol- main building at the Ukrainian Museum- March 1990 – 30 years ago – was a mile- DeConcini, and co-chairman, Rep. Steny era.” Another swear word is “zaraza” – in Archives (UMA) in Cleveland was an stone on Ukraine’s path toward indepen- Hoyer (currently the majority leader of the English pestilence/disease. Comprehensive orphanage a century ago when Ss. Peter dence. It was a pivotal month in Ukraine’s U.S. House of Representatives), issued a dictionaries of the Ukrainian language fail and Paul Ukrainian Catholic parish took in transition from a captive nation to an inde- press release criticizing the denial, with to provide the etymology of those exple- children who lost their parents to the 1918 pendent state, an important testament to Rep. Don Ritter, who was to have led the tives, although it’s not hard to figure out. Spanish flu epidemic that claimed tens of the dramatic changes that were taking delegation, stating that the denial of visas Cholera is a horrific disease: a highly millions of lives globally. place in the Soviet Union. It was also a was “incongruous with the steps being contagious bacterial infection of the small These reflections on history and lan- month during which the U.S. Congress taken with respect to democratization” and intestine that rapidly depletes bodily fluids guage, of course, are brought on by thoughts accelerated its engagement with Ukraine. asking whether this was an attempt to keep through severe diarrhea. Spreading about the coronavirus, which the World Nonetheless, it also showed the limits of the people of Ukraine isolated, as had so through contaminated water, foods, flies Health Organization has officially designat- that engagement and of Soviet liberaliza- often been the case in the past. and people-to-people contact, cholera can ed a pandemic, affecting every inhabited tion. Let me explain. Moscow also denied two other congressio- quickly reach epidemic proportions with continent. More than 100 countries are cop- Three decades ago this month, the nal delegations that were attempting to half or more of the infected dying within ing with the outbreak, including Ukraine. Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic held elec- observe the elections in the Baltic Republics – the first two days if left untreated. America, along with scores of other coun- tions to its legislature that starkly differed clearly fearing a congressional presence there According to the Encyclopedia of tries, has been shutting down as a result, from the fictional elections that had been as well. These visa denials to official congres- Ukraine, cholera was little known in Europe closing schools, museums, libraries, restau- held throughout the preceding 70 years of sional delegations illustrated that there were before 1817. Originating in Asia, it was rants; cancelling concerts, festivals, basket- Soviet rule. While far from perfect, they were limits to the closer relations that had been introduced in the wake of British coloniza- ball tournaments, NASCAR; delaying the competitive; they were real. These elections developing between the U.S. Congress and tion of India. Since then, there have been six start of the major league baseball season; helped to break the monopoly of the Moscow. Relations between Congress and the major cholera epidemics in Ukraine. The absolving faithful from attending church Communist Party. They were a genuine USSR Supreme Soviet had been warming up first was in the 1820s, followed by others services. As I write this, Wall Street has fall- expression of the Ukrainian population’s in the late 1980s, with U.S. congressional del- throughout the 19th century, the first world en more than 20 percent, airports are in quest for democracy and self-determination egations flying to Moscow and Soviet delega- war and immediate years after. Cholera chaos, elections are postponed, travel is can- – a critical step towards independence. tions coming to the United States. These was often exacerbated by military conflict. celled or restricted – you name it. The Ukrainian SSR Supreme Soviet elec- meetings were truly groundbreaking – open when soldiers living in close, unsanitary Deciding to cancel our vacation last tions were held on March 4 with runoffs on meetings discussing human rights, with the quarters would get the disease and then week, and therefore knowing we’d be home March 18. They were hotly contested, with participation of not only Soviet officials, but spread it to civilians in occupation zones or instead, my wife, Chrystia, went shopping to some 3,000 candidates running for 450 emerging civil society, including former to refugees. Untold numbers died. replenish our diminished pantry. She sent seats. A surprising two-thirds of those seats Soviet dissidents. Indeed, it was during the There have been major outbreaks of me an Instagram photo of the last can of were forced into runoffs. For the first time first such congressional visit to Moscow in cholera more recently – in Haiti in 2010 fol- beans on the shelf at our local supermarket in a long time, Ukraine experienced political November1988 that I had the privilege to lowing the earthquake. Brought to the as long lines of customers were panic buy- pluralism. Notwithstanding many irregular- meet with leading Ukrainian dissidents, island by United Nations-deployed ing. Chrystia bought the beans, of course. ities in the election process, the Democratic many of whom had only a few years earlier Nepalese troops, the epidemic infected We needed it for the big pot of chili we Opposition bloc garnered nearly 100 seats. been languishing in the Soviet gulag. nearly 800,000 Haitians and claimed planned as part of our menu for the expect- Some of the winners included prominent But going to Ukraine and the Baltic 10,000 lives. The war-fueled cholera out- ed weeks of austerity to come. former political prisoners Vyacheslav states, where the movement towards self- break in Yemen in (2016-2020) has I’m old enough to remember other epi- Chornovil, the brothers Mykhailo and determination was strongest, was a step claimed more than a million victims. demics – I had public school classmates in Bohdan Horyn, and other Rukh leaders, too far for Moscow. Cholera also perniciously factors into the 1950s and ‘60s on crutches who suc- such as Ivan Drach and Volodymyr On the bright side, a commission col- Russia’s war against Ukraine, where disin- cumbed to polio. We all took time off from Yavorivsky. The presence of these newly league and I were able to observe the sec- formation specialists in Moscow and St. school for measles, chicken pox, mumps, etc. elected democratic, pro-Ukrainian forces ond round of the elections two weeks later, Petersburg routinely manufacture claims of There have also been cures: as 8-year- provided impetus to further changes in the on March 18. We entered the Soviet Union disease outbreaks and impending nuclear olds, my classmates and I lined up in trepi- direction of national self-assertion. A mere on regular tourist passports, rather than disasters to paint Ukraine as a threat to its dation, shuddering before the mass needle four months after taking office, they were using our diplomatic passports as we neighbors and the world. Hence the allega- inoculations for the polio vaccine. We sur- able to adopt the historic July 1990 would normally do on an official visit. I tion in 2018 that cholera was found near vived, and today I thank God for the nation- Declaration on State Sovereignty in Ukraine. have no doubt the Soviet authorities knew Mariupol, the Ukrainian port on the Azov al and international effort to eliminate that I had the opportunity to become one of who we were and where we worked, but Sea, a cynical calculation that the expletive scourge. I also have a tiny scar on my left the few international observers to watch decided to let us in – perhaps due to the “kholiera” would resonate among a gullible arm from the small pox vaccination. Today, these elections – well, at least the second criticism they received for blocking our sector of the population. StopFake.org in there are also vaccines against measles, the round held on March 18. How that hap- earlier delegation. Kyiv, which monitors Russian disinforma- flu, etc. pened was not a smooth process. Not sur- These were the first of more than 30 tion, cites a World Health Organization July And now there’s the coronavirus pan- prisingly, the prospect of pluralistic elec- elections I was to observe in nine countries 2018 report debunking that lie. demic. My mentor, John Carroll University tions in Ukraine was getting considerable in the region during my Helsinki What about the expletive “zaraza” – pes- professor Dr. Michael Pap, often cited a uni- attention in the U.S. – and not only in the Commission career, many of them in tilence? That probably has a much older versal truth: “This too shall pass.” Ukrainian American community. It was also Ukraine. It was a thrill to not only observe provenance, going back to the Bubonic “Ecclesiastes” in the Bible, Shevchenko in getting attention in the U.S. Congress, Ukrainians for the first time voting freely, Plague (the Black Death), which epidemiol- “Haidamaky,” George Harrison on his 1970 which had a solid bipartisan track record but to meet and meaningfully interact with ogists believe originated in Central and/or album and countless others said the same. even back then of defending the rights of the members of the opposition Democratic East Asia in the mid-14th century, traveling I’m confident the coronavirus will be con- Ukrainians. Attempting to take advantage Bloc and leaders of Rukh – whom I consid- the Silk Road to Ukraine and then on tained and ultimately confined to history of the Soviet Union’s growing openness er the founding fathers of the modern Genoese merchant ships in Crimea, bring- books. But before that comes to pass, and liberalization, we at the Commission Ukrainian state. They were moving Ukraine ing the disease via rats and fleas to the rest there’s the reality that things will become on Security and Cooperation in Europe in a qualitatively new direction towards of Europe. Tens of millions died. In one of worse before they get better. Health-care (CSCE) a.k.a. the U.S. Helsinki Commission, freedom and independence. the grimmest of many grim poems, Taras professionals and responsible political where I worked as a policy advisor, made a As my colleague and I wrote in a Helsinki Shevchenko in “Chuma” (1848), taps into leaders have dismissed as a delusion request to observe the voting. The CSCE is a Commission public report soon after return- collective memory to describe a village Pollyannaish assertions that the pandemic U.S. government agency composed largely ing from observing: “The primary issue where people like “scared lambs” hide in will miraculously disappear with warmer of senators and representatives. appearing on the Democratic Bloc’s agenda is their houses from a plague (“chuma”) only weather. This is serious. So let’s trust the In early 1990, the commission received the question of Ukraine’s relationship to the to die, with gravediggers dragging their scientists and health-care professionals to a formal invitation from four elected rest of the Soviet Union. With the emergence bodies to an unmarked pit, only for them- intelligently and professionally cope with Ukrainian deputies of the USSR Supreme of multiple parties, it is likely that there will selves to then succumb. Coincidence that a the crisis and ultimately resolve it, hopeful- Soviet to observe the March 4 elections. be greater pressure for Ukrainian self-deter- cholera epidemic in Ukraine began in Odesa ly sooner rather than later. What followed were weeks of mixed sig- mination, leading to independence.” in 1847 a year before Shevchenko’s poem? “Kholiera” is a common Ukrainian nals and interventions from the State There were voices at the time who did History records multiple pandemics. expletive. “Dai Bozhe” is a common prayer: Department. Finally, the U.S. military plane not agree with our assessment, but that is English author Samuel Pepys is renowned “God grant.” Indeed, may we soon enjoy we were to take was cleared to enter the indeed what happened, with Ukraine at for his diary recounting the 1665 plague in health, happiness and prosperity. In the Soviet Union and land at Kyiv Boryspil air- long last gaining its independence the very London. Sixty years later, Daniel Defoe, meantime, be careful and wash your hands. port. However, in the last minute, Moscow next year. author of “Robinson Crusoe,” published “A denied visas to what would probably have Journal of the Plague Year” about the same Andrew Fedynsky’s e-mail address is afe- been the largest congressional delegation Orest Deychakiwsky may be reached at horrific event. [email protected]. to ever visit pre-independence Ukraine. [email protected]. 8 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

NEWS AND VIEWS The spiritual rebirth of Ukraine

by Nadia Nynka in the field of theology, and graduates can- tors of church choirs. Its principle of work- The Ukrainian National Women’s League ing with students combines tradition and of America (UNWLA), which is celebrating modernity. “Because passions, sins and its 95th anniversary this year, has worked temptations remain the same, the ways of through the decades to answer some of overcoming them have been passed down Ukraine’s challenges brought about by from the Fathers of the Church. On the events in the tumultuous 20th and 21st other hand, the academy is open to modern centuries. Today, one of the great challeng- technologies,” says Father Vakin. es for Ukraine is the current fighting in the Several years ago, a fiber-optic based east. The war in the Donbas has killed thou- Internet connection was installed, provid- sands and injured many more. These inju- ing high-quality access to worldwide data. ries are not only physical, but leave emo- - tional and spiritual scars as well. ma screen, enabling videoconferencing and Since the war in eastern Ukraine began, variousЕach classroom visualization in the programs.academy has Through a plas the UNWLA has supported both the physi- the efforts of the UNWLA, the academy has cally wounded through its War Victims’ been equipped with computers. He states Fund established in 2015 and the psycho- that, “although we are ready for higher edu- The Rev. Volodymyr Vakin logically war-traumatized through the cation, the financial base is lagging.” Prostir Nadii project. The latter is part of Father Vakin discussed the relationship the leaders of Volnovakha city and district soldiers with the necessary assistance to the Mental Health Institute of the Ukrainian between VOTA and the Ukrainian Greek- traveled to VOTA. According to Father adapt to this change,” said Father Zhuk. He Catholic University established in 2016. Catholic Church and its scientific and edu- Vakin, their views are increasingly pro- went on to say: “Therefore, the Church has Last year, the UNWLA launched its newest cational institutions. VOTA is working in Ukrainian. He explained that achieving partly undertaken this mission. There are project, the Spiritual Rebirth of Ukraine, cooperation with the Ukrainian Catholic such a turnaround is a painstaking job that tremendous opportunities, because the aimed at restoring the spiritual health of University (UCU) on several joint projects. requires understanding, patience and love. Church is almost everywhere, and the net- the individual. VOTA is also cooperating with the Institute One of the most important contempo- work for church assistance is better orga- At the initiative of Marianna Zajac, the of Ecumenical Studies at UCU. rary challenges for the Ukrainian communi- nized than state social services.” president of the UNWLA, the Spiritual Regarding the spiritual and educational ty is the psychological rehabilitation of sol- His seminarians visit a military hospital Rebirth of Ukraine Fund was established, work of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, diers returning from the war in the Donbas. in Kyiv every Saturday. They visit every sol- specifically supporting two religious aca- especially in the eastern regions of Ukraine, Father Vakin explained that the Orthodox dier in the ward. For some patients, there is demic institutions: the Kyiv Three Saints he explained that many Orthodox priests Church of Ukraine is doing a great job a need to just talk, sometimes to pray and Theological Seminary (KTSTS) of the have become chaplains in the army and are working with volunteers and psychologists sometimes to help, because the soldier is Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church and the doing double pastoral work. Besides caring on the mental rehabilitation of soldiers. brought directly from the war zone having Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy for the spiritual well-being of soldiers, the This requires a team approach that no personal belongings with him. “Our (VOTA) of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. priests are also working with the local pop- includes a priest, a psychologist and a psy- seminarians sacrifice their day off so that In the context of a hybrid war with Russia, ulation. chiatrist. The priest explains the situation the wounded don’t feel left behind and to the spiritual mission of these institutions is “We can’t even imagine the way of think- in terms of spiritual values. The psycholo- show appreciation for their sacrifice for extremely important, as it is a struggle for ing of the local population,” noted Father gist provides advice when there is emotion- Ukraine,” noted Father Zhuk. the spiritual revival of that part of Ukraine Vakin. They associate their salvation with al weakness. The psychiatrist prescribes The discussion with the two rectors most affected by the cruel policies of tsarist territory, not with Jesus Christ. They medication if necessary. Previously, there ended with Father Vakin thanking the Russia, the Soviet Union and Vladimir believe that only through “Russian peace” were no chaplains in the Ukrainian army. UNWLA for not being indifferent, and Putin’s Russia. will they be saved. When you ask about the “In our master’s program, much attention is expressing his gratitude: “We are grateful Recently, Orysia Soroka, member of Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the answer is paid to chaplaincy,” said Father Vakin. for your sincerity, compassion and humani- UNWLA Branch 137, had an opportunity to “America is to blame for everything, Father Zhuk, rector of KTSTS, explained ty. It is really inspiring when, for the love of speak with the rectors of these two institu- because it wants to destroy the Russian that the seminary is designed to educate Ukraine, distances and other conditions do tions, Father Volodymyr Vakin of VOTA and Church, which stands for truth.” According priests for the Kyiv Archdeparchy which not matter. You make us feel that we are not Father Petro Zhuk of KTSTS, to better to Father Vakin, “Because the people truly includes the five central regions of Ukraine alone in our aspirations and endeavors.” understand the work of these institutions believe such nonsense, the mission for (Kyiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Father Zhuk also gave a heartfelt thank in the spiritual revival of Ukraine. The rec- enlightenment is extremely important.” Vinnytsia), as well as Kharkiv, Donetsk, you to the UNWLA and to all who under- tors spoke broadly about the mission of Father Vakin gave an example related to Odesa, the Lutsk exarchates and Crimea. stand and support the education of future their respective Churches but also specifi- the Orthodox Church in Volnovakha, The mission of the seminary is very unique, priests. He ended by saying: “It is possible cally about the work of their particular Donetsk region. There, Father Macarius, a because it not only educates priests for to assist a parish, or a priest, or even some academies. Below is a summary of that dis- graduate of VOTA, is beloved by the people. eastern and central Ukraine, but it trains social structure, but to help a seminary cussion. In 2014 the Ukrainian community was them to be community leaders for these means to help not only a priest, but the Regarding VOTA, Father Vakin explains small, but now includes a cultural center areas. overall social, military and patriotic that it is one of the few Ukrainian state- near the church. The community plays a Father Zhuk explained that there is a spheres as well.” licensed religious educational institutions significant role in the life of the city. Lutsk lack of nationally patriotic educated people According to Ms. Zajac, “The interview that offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees and Volnovakha are twin cities. Recently who could be drivers in their communities. with the two rectors underscores the Therefore, in addition to performing reli- importance of the UNWLA’s Spiritual gious duties, the priest very often must act Rebirth of Ukraine project. By donating to as a catalyst for cultural, spiritual and patri- this fund you are helping to educate new otic upbringing. For example, he must teach priests for central and eastern Ukraine. You the community how to organize their town are helping to create a new environment or village, make grants, write projects and for people who will change the face of east- organize efforts such as cleaning up the ern Ukraine. All donations go toward semi- garbage. narians’ tuition as well as for classroom Father Zhuk added that in the east there needs and equipment and are equally is no tradition of attending church services divided between the two academies.” as there is in western Ukraine. Very often, Please help support this endeavor. the road to God for these local people does Checks should be made out to “UNWLA” not begin with a spiritual need, which is with the notation “Spiritual Rebirth of very shallow or non-existent, but rather Ukraine” and sent to: UNWLA, 203 Second through a socio-cultural-patriotic path. Ave., New York, NY 10003. More informa- Father Zhuk explained that the problem tion can be found on the UNWLA’s associated with returning soldiers from the Facebook page as well as on the UNWLA war zone is very acute and urgent, because website at www.unwla.org. in the current state of the hybrid war, a por- tion of Ukrainian territory is experiencing The article above is based on two sepa- fighting and dying, while most of Ukraine rate interviews conducted by Orysia Soroka. lives a normal life. The greatest difficulty for The Ukrainian-language interviews were soldiers when they return home is seeing published in the December 2019 and this dichotomy – despite the war, people February 2020 issues of Our Life magazine, back home sit in restaurants and have fun. which is published by the Ukrainian National The Rev. Petro Zhuk “The state is not yet ready to provide the Women’s League of America. No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 9

On studying at the UCU School of Ukrainian Language and Culture

by Antonina Chundak Russian is heard more often. Ukrainian Catholic University Tell us about your studies at the school. LVIV – Eugene Walden and his daughter traveled to Lviv When I came to the school, I had basic knowledge. My from the U.S.A. He has taken part twice – during the sum- professor, Mariana [the school’s academic director] went mers of 2018 and 2019 – in the School of Ukrainian to the University of Michigan on the Fulbright program. Language and Culture of the Ukrainian Catholic University With her I studied vocabulary and grammar, which was and does not plan on stopping his studies. In a conversation very helpful in improving my language level. Every day the last fall with this writer, he shared details about what other students and I spoke only in Ukrainian. Every eve- inspires him in this endeavor and what impressions remain ning we did our homework, which was not difficult and after his time spent at UCU. required about an hour of our time. In addition, there were many excursions. What motivated you to study the Ukrainian lan- At the first school there were more participants of my guage? age, with whom I spent time. Together we visited Lviv cul- My mother was born in Ukraine and I in a town near tural and recreational institutions. Last year, the program Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. When I was little, I knew some had 45 students, mostly young people, so my daughter was Ukrainian. I learned it from Mama, who spoke it with her better able to spend time with her peers. All that was left parents. Later I entered the University of Michigan, which for me was grammar. I feel that I still don’t speak well has a special Ukrainian language program, and met noted enough. I want some language immersion. BUR [Building Oleksandr Urban Eugene Walden, an IT specialist from the U.S. who has professor Assya Humesky, and there also I returned to the Ukrainian Together] was an option for us: after summer school, my daughter and I traveled to Chernivtsi. studied Ukrainian language at the Ukrainian Catholic language. I finished university very long ago, 30 years, and University in Lviv. had no opportunities to practice my skills further. What during the school was most helpful to you in Today I’m the father of two daughters. The older loves studying the language? was sad when she returned home and had no opportunity to sing, like me, because in childhood my grandpa taught We had many exercises during lessons, in particular to practice the language. In the U.S.A., she is additionally me patriotic Kozak songs. By the way, in Detroit there’s the games that turned out to be very effective. It was difficult studying Spanish, but very much wants to continue famous Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, which moved to for me to study Ukrainian grammar and, inasmuch as I Ukrainian. She is now in her last year at school and would America after the second world war – I consider them very think analytically, I also often thought long about cases or like to enter a university which offers courses in Ukrainian. talented singers. In addition, I like our professional church correct pronunciation. Younger students didn’t have these choir. Would you recommend this school to others? problems. I am most grateful to Ihor, my tutor, who also As for my younger daughter, Julia, five years ago she got shared techniques for language learning. All the professors The UCU School of Ukrainian Language and Culture has interested in my Ukrainian roots, of which I am very were very experienced and have much patience, which is a unique spirit which, in my opinion, can be applied to proud! When she was 16, I became acquainted with a pro- very important. many various things. I recently met colleagues from fessor at the University of California, Berkeley, Marika Two years ago I met a student from Oxford, Ainslie Katz, America who opened an office in Zaporizhia. My colleague Kuzma, director of the chamber choir, who introduced me a very bright girl. At the end of her studies, she had raised is married to a Ukrainian woman. Ten years ago they to her brother, Alex, who works with UCU. I also found out her level to advanced. At the final presentation, Ainslie moved to San Francisco, but he doesn’t speak Ukrainian. I about this university and its School of Ukrainian Language shared her methods for learning Ukrainian; in particular, told a friend of his about UCU and he was very interested and Culture. When I suggested to my daughter that we she explained how modern music helped her. She got me in the school, and in the university in general. I already rec- travel together to Ukraine, she happily agreed. And so, two very interested. I also started reading “Harry Potter” in ommend UCU to all my Ukrainian friends in America who years ago we took part in the school for the first time, moti- Ukrainian, which I’m still doing; I’m now on the third book, have children – perhaps they’ll come here to study. vated by Ukrainian roots and a love for Ukrainian song. which I read with a translation app, which really helps in What is your connection with Ukraine today? Tell us about your first experience participating in learning words. It’s interesting to me that language has I have a software firm in California. A year and a half the School of Ukrainian Language and Culture. various areas: I practice my reading skills and I’m gradual- ly starting to read faster, but this is not always enough, ago, I decided to open an office in Ukraine, and last year I My first time in Ukraine was in 1989, that is, Soviet because I should regularly practice conversational lan- encountered a startup-company in Ternopil, got acquaint- times. My aunt and I went to visit relatives. Of course, what guage. ed with their specialists, got advice from them and, finally, I saw then and what I see today are very different started a business in Lviv. We now have a small office here, Ukraines. When I took a taxi from the airport to the UCU How did Lviv help you learn the language? with four workers, and I travel here a few times a year. I campus, I immediately felt the positive energy here. My In my opinion, any city in western Ukraine will help you like Lviv very much – it’s a great city! daughter and I weren’t sure what to expect from the pro- study Ukrainian. But this will be more difficult in central or * * * gram, and Ukraine in general, because we had traveled lit- eastern areas. Lviv, of course, is attractive, close to Europe Each year an average of 50 people from the United tle before that. And we were very surprised with how con- and it’s easy to get around. States take part in the UCU School of Ukrainian Language temporary the university turned out to be. Even the dormi- and Culture [https://studyukrainian.org.ua/]. Among tory was excellent, comfortable, with large, beautiful How will you continue to improve your Ukrainian? them are those who take summer, spring and fall pro- rooms. At home, I continue to work with the “Yabluko” text- grams, and individual lessons and online courses. A unique The participants, with whom we got acquainted the book. I read texts, do exercises and carry a dictionary. I also characteristic of the summer program is a visit to the next day, were from various different countries and intel- use mobile apps; in particular, I recently downloaded Carpathians that allows students to immerse themselves in lectual backgrounds. Some also had Ukrainian roots. I had LingQ, which helps with listening exercises. The speaker in the daily lives of residents of small cities and villages, to friendly relations with many and still keep in contact and the program has a good western Ukrainian accent, which is interact with local people and in this way find out more correspond. UCU invites all who want to study the very helpful. about the life of Ukrainians in a mountainous area. In 2019 Ukrainian language. Among them are people like Kate the school’s program had 153 participants from various What impressions did your daughter have of the Davenport, a British diplomat who works in Kyiv. We met countries, about 65 percent were diaspora Ukrainians. school? two years ago and last summer visited her in the capital. Every year the number of those interested in studying Kate learned the language beautifully but is sad that in Kyiv She really liked studying and acquiring knowledge. She Ukrainian language and culture increases.

Subscribe to PRINT EDITION for $90 ($80 if you are a UNA member) ONLINE EDITION for $40 PRINT AND ONLINE for $95 ($85 for UNA’ers).

Please contact our Subscription Department at [email protected] or 973-292-9800 ext. 3040.

The Ukrainian Weekly, founded in 1933, is published by the Ukrainian National Association. 10 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

Roman Minin, “Plan of Escape from the Donetsk Region” (digital print on sin- tra, 2011). Yevgen Nikiforov, “On the Republic’s Monuments” (photograph, 2015-2018). At the Frontline: Contemporary Ukrainian art in Canada

John Young, director and CEO of the Canadian Human Rights Museum, and his wife, Heather Young, with Svitlana Biedarieva and Hanna Deikun, exhibition curators. The curators’ tour at the opening of the exhibition.

by Svitlana Biedarieva civil protests of the Maidan and the war the president of Oseredok, Don Puhach, and February 2020, together with this exhibi- and Hanna Deikun with Russia, and how the situation encour- the director, Yulia Zmerzlaya, giving the tion, the curators have organized documen- ages art production at the frontline. introductory words about the exhibition. tary screenings and debates, giving the WINNIPEG, Manitoba – “At the Front The exhibition is on view at Oseredok The curators, Svitlana Biedarieva and word to international artists, filmmakers Line. Ukrainian Art, 2013-2019” explores Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Center Hanna Deikun, then gave a guided tour, and historians at three important cultural how visual artists interpret and conceptu- until April 29. The participants of the exhi- speaking of the political and social context venues in Mexico City: The National alize the turbulent political and cultural sit- bition include leading Ukrainian artists, of the creation of the works in the exhibition Museum of Cultures of the World, The uation in Ukraine of the last six years: from such as Yevgen Nikiforov, Piotr Armia­ and the ways they address the topics of the Museum of Memory and Tolerance, and the the civil protests in Kyiv (2013-2014) to the novski, Olia Mykhailiuk, Roman Minin, war, violence and displacement. National Cineteca. annexation of the Crimean peninsula and Yevgenia Belorusets, Kristina Norman, Lada This is the first research-led exhibition This project is realized with the gener- the military conflict with Russia in the east Nakonechna, Mykola Ridnyi, Yuri Koval, that embarks on these topics presented in ous support of the Canadian Institute of of the country (2014-today). Anton Popernyak, Roman Mikhailov, Canada. Plans are currently being con- Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta. The project aims to talk about Ukraine Svitlana Biedarieva, and the documentation firmed to create an itinerant exhibition that Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and using the visual language of the artistic of works from the Platform “Izolyatsia” would visit various Canadian cities. Educational Center is located at 184 works and to discuss the significance and (Daniel Buren, Pascale Marthine Tayou and This project began in Mexico City as the Alexander Ave, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0L6; possibilities of art and artists in the context Leandro Erlich). first large-scale presentation of the contem- telephone, 204-942-0218; Facebook page, of the war. It will help fuel an international The opening on February 26 gathered porary Ukrainian art scene in Latin https://www.facebook.com/lalineadelfr- dialogue about how the artists reflect on the Ukrainian community in Winnipeg, with America. Between September 2019 and ente2019/. , ATTENTION Debutante Ball Organizers! April 5. In keeping with our tradition, The Ukrainian Weekly will publish a special section devoted to the Ukrainian community’s debutantes. The 2019 debutante ball section will be published March on 30.

The deadline for submission(with captions of all and materials photo credits) –[email protected] stories – isand photos Please e-mail materials to: No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 11

Taras Shevchenko grasps his pardon letter while in solitary confinement. Shevchenko on the boat home. FILM REVIEW: Aleksandr Denysenko’s new Shevchenko

Finale at the officers’ party as Shevchenko gives himself up. Shevchenko on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

by Adrian Bryttan Empress as “a twitching, dried-up mush- Mangyshlak Peninsula in Kazakhstan, bor- the complex persona of Shevchenko – to room on spindly stork legs.” (This was the dering the Caspian Sea. Despite the tsar’s make the viewer identify with and really It seems that every Ukrainian creates his last straw for Tsar Nicholas, who exiled personal directive forbidding Shevchenko care for the protagonist. Rather, the final or her own image of Taras Shevchenko. Shevchenko as a private to army garrisons to write or paint, the poet secretes a note- impression is somewhat neutral, of a man Worldwide, nearly 1,100 memorials have in Asia, where Russia was embroiled with book for his verses, and paints over 100 buffeted by external forces. (As one exam- portrayed the Ukrainian poet-artist as vari- England in “The Great Game” of conquering accurate renderings of landscapes for geo- ple, when confronted with both Agatha’s ously young or old, in folk attire or imperi- new territories.) logical expeditions, as well as many evoca- and Katya’s expressions of love, the film’s ally slim, with furrowed brow or distant Offering a more nuanced approach, this tive portraits. protagonist remains oddly stone-faced.) gaze. But eccentric? Humorous? Romantic? 1964 film dramatized events surrounding He also awaits the letter of pardon – Shevchenko’s discerning remark to an offi- Yet this was precisely the way director Shevchenko’s entrance to the Art Academy, which arrives, but is suppressed by an cer in this movie – “The prisoner is you, not Aleksandr Denysenko intended to “human- and introduced childhood flashbacks to dis- antagonistic officer. Shevchenko is defend- me” – might have well served as a pivotal ize” the bard of Ukraine in his 2019 film close his precocious talent and love for his ed, however, by the Novopetrovsk fort com- leitmotif, but unfortunately was not devel- “Taras: The Return,” which was screened at enslaved homeland. Yet, this film suffered mander Uskov, his wife, Agatha, and their oped further. the Ukrainian Institute of America in New cuts by censors, and was weakened by arti- daughter. Having learned to speak Kazakh, In real life, Shevchenko chronicled his York on Sunday, February 16. To accommo- ficial, melodramatic scenes, and jarring he is also befriended by “Katya,” the plucky visits to bordellos, as well as his frequent date viewer interest, an additional showing technical details (like the studio soundtrack daughter of a local chieftain. Without giving loves. His high spirits and songs while was added. chorus pasted to the image of a sweating anything away, the film’s finale races under arrest were marveled at by observ- group of field laborers). towards its climax in the best tradition of ers. Contemporaries even noted his delight Previous films about Shevchenko Both 1951 and 1964 films can be viewed Indiana Jones. in helping locals set a successful tiger trap. The life of Shevchenko has been the sub- in their entirety on YouTube. Mr. Denysenko’s earnest screenplay hits Mr. Denysenko’s film has added new ject of barely a handful of art films. Following all the intended points. The director interesting aspects to our understanding of 2019: A “humanized” Shevchenko an early 1926 silent movie, 1951 saw the explained to The Ukrainian Weekly that his the great poet. But in many respects, we all premiere of director Ihor Savchenko’s film According to director Aleksandr research included Shevchenko’s own dia- still need to come to grips with the totality “Taras Shevchenko,” with Sergey Denysenko (son of Volodymyr Denysenko), ries, poems and paintings, contemporary and integrity of Taras Shevchenko. Bondarchuk in the leading role. While visual- his 2019 movie would fashion a realistic memoirs and state documents. He depicted (For non-Ukrainian viewers, there will ly striking, this film was hobbled by its Shevchenko, unlike Bondaruk’s monumen- the hopeless infatuation of both Agatha and be a lack of context to grasp exactly why heavy-handed Soviet propaganda style, and tal, heaven-storming prophet. Mr. Katya with his protagonist. He created inci- Shevchenko had so alarmed the highest lev- presented a glorified, hectoring hero. Denysenko wanted to create a non-biopic dents to portray Shevchenko’s whimsical els of the Russian empire.) Thirteen years later, Volodymyr adventure story of what might have hap- humor and charm while at a brutal military Cinematography Denysenko’s “The Dream” was released, pened to Shevchenko during the final outpost. In this respect, Mr. Denysenko’s starring Ivan Mykolaichuk. The title referred months of his seven-year exile: “a first attempt to strip away layers of idealized Oleksandr Kryshtalovych’s poetic cine- to Shevchenko’s poem that exposed the Ukrainian film about the first political pris- tradition was successful. matography is superb. His widescreen pan- ruthless regime of tsarism and harshly sati- oner of the Russian Gulag.” Yet, what the film needs is a vibrant, cen- rized the imperial court, caricaturing the “Taras: The Return” is set in 1857 on the tral dramatic arc and more exploration of (Continued on page 12)

The final shot of the film: Commander Uskov and his family watch as Shevchenko The garrison barracks at Novopetrovsk fort. departs for home. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

COMMUNITY CHRONICLE UIMA hosts young Ukrainian musicians

by Michael Holian CHICAGO – On a sunny and warm Sunday, February 16, attendees at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art basked in the warmth of the beautiful sounds emanating from over- achieving minors, each blessed with copious musical talent. To say they were thrilled by the performance of the six very gifted young Ukrainian musicians would be an understatement. In a program developed by Michael Holian, chair of the Music Committee at the Institute, and Andriy Chuiko, six outstanding young musicians, ranging in age from 10 to 17, were selected. Each of the performers is known in the Ukrainian community from previous performances on spe- cial holidays and commemorative events. All of them have also demonstrated their hard work and ambition by win- ning either first- or second-place honors in regional, national or international competitions. Opening the program was Kyiv-born pianist Myroslav Mykhailenko, 15, one of the more mature musicians, who won first place at the French Concours International de Piano Ville do Gagny, among others. For his impressive per- Ulyana Dmytriv formance of Johannes Brahms “Variations on a Hungarian At the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (from left) are: Olga Salamakha, Iryna Petryk, Evanhelina But, Theme,” Mikhail Glinka’s “The Lark” and Lev Revutsky’s Christian Tsikhun and Julia Perekhozhuk. “Song,” Op. 17, he was showered with extended applause. Violinist Julia Perekhozhuk, at age 10 the youngest per- sive, near-perfect intonation. Kakhovka, first and third prizes (2013) and first and sec- former, was equally impressive, playing Franz Joseph Fifth on the program was violinist Olga Sofia Salamakha, ond prizes in 2016; the Yevhen Stankovych Kyiv, second Haydn’s Violin Concerto in G Major accompanied by her who chose the well-known one-movement concerto by prize (2015) and Grand Prix (2019); and second prize at mother, Oksana Pidruchna, a known music professional in Jean-Baptiste Accolay. This work is very often given stu- the Horowitz Competition in Kyiv in 2016. Ms. But has per- Chicago. The audience was so taken by her playing that dents to perform when they reach a certain level of musical formed solo concerts in Kyiv as well as two in the U. S. Her applause persisted even after she left the stage. maturity and can handle the technical requirements. performance of Frédéric Chopin’s Ballade No. 2 and In a change from the usual piano and string players, Fifteen-year-old Ms. Salamakha, accompanied by Ms. Myroslav Skoryk’s “Burleska” left no doubt in anyone’s 11-year old Christian Tsikhun performed on a flute, and in Pidruchna, was up to the challenge. mind that this young performer will continue to garner a seemingly effortless way delivered Georg Philipp The last to perform was pianist Evanhelina But, at 17 recognition in her musical pursuits. Telemann’s Sonata for Flute and Piano accompanied by the oldest and, having played piano from age 3, the most This concert of young talents shows the Ukrainian com- Maryana Lahanyak. The audience loved it, just as they did mature musician. In 2014 she entered the Kyiv Specialized munity in Chicago has much to be proud of because it has another Baroque piece by the great Johann Sebastian Bach, Secondary Music School named after Mykola Lysenko. She nurtured its young generation to achieve greatness. We, as his Prelude from Cello Suite No. 2, played by 16-year-old is also the winner of numerous international competitions a community, need to always support these young musi- Iryna Petryk, a student of Oksana Danylyk, with focused in Ukraine, Russia and Estonia. Among her successes are: cians with our presence at their performances and with concentration, knowledgeable interpretation and impres- first prize in Pervotsvit debut in Kherson (2011); Nova our applause.

Aleksandr Denysenko’s... UNWLA branch demonstrates Ukrainian crafts (Continued from page 11)

oramas of sea coasts, deserts and bleached cliffs vividly convey the vast, otherworldly landscapes of Kazakhstan. Tasteful post-production adjustments to color and soft focus replicate Shevchenko’s sepia paintings of shafts of light streaming through hot barracks, and his drawings of Kazakh yurts (tents). One memorable CGI effect was the mirage scene of flickering flames and a fort across the sea. The film was shot on location in Kazakhstan, and in Odesa and Kyiv. Portraying a non-traditional, low-key Shevchenko, Borys Orlov was believable, though not charismatic. Yurii Shulhan as the fort commander and Roman Lutzkiy as Shevchenko’s Polish friend Maciej offered solid supporting performances. In her first film role, attractive Kazakh actress Akniet Oryntai was engaging and spirited as Katya. Funding for Ukrainian cinema Securing financial support and distribution for Ukrainian cinema remains difficult. According to the online journal New Ukrainian Kino, “Taras: The Return” suffered a two-year delay because it was “sabotaged” by producers insisting Shevchenko themes were not interest- ing to Ukrainian viewers. Indeed, Mr. Denysenko disclosed to this author that an official even argued that Ukrainian language is more suited Bohdana Puzyk to comedies rather than serious films. (Soon to be released Irene Copie demonstrates techniques for making pysanky and traditional Ukrainian regional embroideries to is an action “buddy-western” titled “Taras Shevchenko: The members of the Sarasota Embroidery Guild. First Samurai.” Predictably, such a fantasy-film received 80 percent of its funding from the government.) by Pat Zalisko traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs, or pysanky, while explaining the meaning of their various colors and symbols. * * * NORTH PORT, Fla. – Irene Copie and Bohdana Puzyk, Although the guild was most focused on traditional “Taras: The Return” is a Ukrainian co-production with members of Ukrainian National Women’s League of Ukrainian embroidery and methods, Mss. Copie and Kazakhstan. Leading roles: Borys Orlov (Shevchenko), America Branch 56 in North Port, Fla., conducted a demon- Puzyk’s demonstration and talk got the attendees out of Yurii Shulhan (Commander Uskov), Bohdan Beniuk (Old stration of Ukrainian crafts and a discussion of Ukrainian their seats for a better view. Man), Roman Lutzkiy (Polish officer Maciej), Anna Topchii culture and traditions at the Sarasota Embroidery Guild in The UNWLA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to (Agatha Uskova), Akniet Oryntai (Katya the Kazakh). nearby Sarasota on February 24. educating others about Ukrainian culture and heritage, and The art director was Ihor Filippov. Music was composed Both women shared family stories, discussed the Ukrainian supporting charitable and educational causes in Ukraine by Myroslav Skoryk, with vocal soundtrack by Katya Chilly. language and heritage, and demonstrated the art of making and elsewhere. The Ukrainian general release is scheduled for April 2. No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 13 14 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

the turbulent 1990s in a process that many national deputies from the Servant of the amid the global coronavirus pandemic. The NEWSBRIEFS citizens consider to have been unfair. They People and the pro-Russian Opposition nation’s currency, the hryvnia, has dipped (Continued from page 2) are among a group of businessmen, known Platform for Life voted to remove Ruslan by 5 percent since early March, and the as oligarchs, that control a massive swath of Ryaboshapka as prosecutor general. The central bank last week spent more than $1 tion. The president said he told the tycoons the Ukrainian economy. Several other head of the Servant of the People faction, billion from a $26 billion fund as part of an that the country needed 500 ambulances wealthy businessmen have purchasing David Arakhamia, stated at the time that intervention to prevent devaluation. Mr. and as much as 13 billion hrv ($490 million used ventilation devices in the United Mr. Ryaboshapka was being removed Petrashko most recently was the deputy U.S.) for medicine. “Business should be States for delivery to Ukraine. Jack Ma, the because of his unwillingness to sign an CEO of UkrLandFarming, Ukraine’s largest socially responsible during difficult times billionaire founder of the Alibaba Group, order of suspicion against the fifth presi- egg producer and operator of one of the for the government. Ukrainians should feel one of China’s largest technology compa- dent of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. most expansive farmland holdings owned protected when they go to state hospitals. nies, financed the purchase of 1 million (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily by oligarch Oleh Bakhmatyuk. Mr. And I insist that you help now,” Mr. coronavirus testing kits for Ukraine at a Briefing) Bakhmatyuk is currently residing abroad Zelenskyy told the businessmen. Ukraine is cost of $80 million, Mr. Zelenskyy said. The amid debt problems and investigations into Venediktova had clashed with activists one of Europe’s poorest countries with an testing kits will arrive on March 21 from his business dealings, including a bank he outdated and underfunded health-care sys- China, he added. (RFE/RL, with reporting Iryna Venediktova, 41, who was owned that is suspected of embezzling tem that could be quickly overwhelmed if by AFP and Kyiv Post) approved by the Verkhovna Rada on March nearly $50 million before its license was revoked in 2015. Mr. Petrashko was educat- coronavirus cases spike inside the country. Rada approves prosecutor general 17 as Ukraine’s new prosecutor general, is The attendees at the meeting with the pres- the first woman to head Ukraine’s top pros- ed at Lviv National Polytechnical University ident included Rinat Akhmetov, the nation’s Ukraine’s Parliament on arc 17 ecutorial office. She’s currently the acting and also studied abroad at the Tennessee- wealthiest man, and Ihor Kolomoisky, a bil- approved President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s director of the State Bureau of Investiga­ based Vanderbilt University, graduating in lionaire who has business ties with Mr. appointment of Iryna Venediktova as pros- tions (DBR), a corruption-fighting agency 2001 with a business administration Zelenskyy and was seen by many as being ecutor general. Ms. Venediktova previously that lawmakers voted to revamp in degree. He returned to Lviv to earn a law one of his main backers during his presi- was acting head of the State Bureau of December 2019 after the bureau’s then- degree in 2002. He went on to work with dential campaign last year. Mr. Akhmetov Investigations (SBI), before which she was director was forced out amid questions of Enron Energy Services and GlobalSpec, donated four artificial lung-ventilation a member of Parliament from Mr. conflict of interest. Earlier this month, Ms. both U.S.-based companies. In 2004, Mr. devices to the Health Ministry, as well as Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People parlia- Venediktova sued the newspaper Petrashko joined the Moscow office of audi- hazmat suits, thermometers and face mentary faction. As acting head of the SBI, Ukrayinska Pravda for republishing an arti- tor Ernst & Young and then joined the masks. Viktor Pinchuk, the billionaire Ms. Venediktova appointed Oleksandr cle by the Anti-Corruption Action Center, firm’s Kyiv office in less than a year. Three owner of a pipe company, has donated 10 Babikov as her first deputy. Oleksandr that alleged her husband was influencing years later, he started working for the lung-ventilation devices to hospitals in Kyiv Babikov is a former lawyer for former personnel policy at the DBR. She also sued Ukrainian unit of Russian investment bank and other regions of Ukraine. Messrs. President Viktor Yanukovych. Mr. Babikov the action center, a non-governmental orga- Troika Dialog as managing director. Akhmetov, Kolomoisky, and Pinchuk made now becomes acting head of the SBI, which nization that has been at the heart of efforts Between 2012 and 2013, Mr. Petrashko their initial wealth by scooping up is responsible for investigating many of the to root out the country’s notorious graft worked for Russian state-owned Sberbank Ukrainian state assets on the cheap during Maidan cases. On March 5, a majority of problem. Ms. Venediktova replaces Ruslan in Ukraine, heading its corporate business Ryaboshapka, who had been nominated as department. In April 2013, he was hired as prosecutor general by Mr. Zelenskyy. Mr. deputy CEO of UkrLandFarming. (RFE/RL’s Ryaboshapka was well-regarded by anti- Ukrainian Service) corruption activists for his efforts to streamline and professionalize the scandal- EU slams Russia regarding Crimea TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL WALTER HONCHARYK (973) 292-9800 x3040 ridden Prosecutor General’s Office. He was The European Union has slammed or e-mail [email protected] forced out in a no-confidence vote on March Russia for its increasing militarization of 5. Ms. Venediktova reportedly clashed with Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and human Mr. Ryaboshapka over an investigation the rights transgressions six years after its ille- SERVICES PROFESSIONALS DBR was conducting into President gal annexation. The bloc said in a statement Zelenskyy’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko. on March 16 that its 27 members remain Olena Halushka, director of international committed to “fully implementing” a non- relations with the Anti-Corruption Action recognition policy, including through the Center, said Ms. Venediktova’s new position use of sanctions, until Ukraine’s sovereign- raised doubts about the reform efforts that ty and territorial integrity are restored. Mr. Ryaboshapka had undertaken. Ms. “The European Union reiterates that it does Halushka said the new prosecutor general not recognize and continues to condemn does not have a background in criminal law, this violation of international law,” said the and had made several controversial statement, which was issued on the sixth appointments during her brief tenure as anniversary of a referendum on Crimea’s head of the DBR. “Given her background status that many consider staged. “It and previous activities, as well as the con- remains a direct challenge to international text in which Ryaboshapka was dismissed security, with grave implications for the and she [was] appointed, there are doubts HELP WANTED international legal order that protects the she will be an independent and efficient territorial integrity, unity, and sovereignty prosecutor-general,” she told RFE/RL. Mr. of all states,” it added. Moscow sent its forc- Zelenskyy’s shake-up of the government, es to the Black Sea peninsula, secured con- House cleaning, $18/hr, which included firing his prime minister, trol of key buildings and conducted a refer- English to communicate worried not only civil society activists, but endum considered illegitimate by at least also Western financial backers. Kyiv has 100 countries. The statement said that, in and vehicle required. been negotiating a long-delayed $5.5 billion violation of international humanitarian law, Text 708-599-7000 loan program with the International Russian citizenship and conscription in the OPPORTUNITIES Monetary Fund, which is seen as crucial to armed forces of the Russian Federation are economic stability and investor confidence. being imposed on Crimean residents. It Public trust in Mr. Zelenskyy has slid sharp- also condemned the construction of the EARN EXTRA INCOME! ly since his landslide election in April 2019. WANT IMPACT? Kerch Bridge without Ukraine’s consent His trust ratings dropped to around 50 per- The Ukrainian Weekly is looking and the recent opening of a railway section, Run your advertisement here, cent last month from 80 percent in for advertising sales agents. calling them “further steps towards a For additional information contact September, according to the Kyiv-based in The Ukrainian Weekly’s forced integration of the illegally annexed Walter Honcharyk, Advertising Manager, Razumkov Center. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian CLASSIFIEDS section. peninsula with Russia, and a further viola- The Ukrainian Weekly, 973-292-9800, ext 3040. Service) tion of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial Agricultural exec is now economy minister integrity.” The EU also said: “Furthermore, Russian Federation should stop changing The Verkhovna Rada has approved the demographic structure of the popula- 44-year-old agricultural executive Ihor tion by transferring its own civilian popula- Petrashko as economy minister. A stable tion to the peninsula. Russia must also take majority of 243 lawmakers voted for Prime measures to improve the environmental Minister Denys Shmyhal’s appointee on situation, which has considerably wors- March 17, the last day before the legislature ened since the illegal annexation.” The EU’s went on quarantine amid a snowballing sanctions list, which now consists of 175 coronavirus outbreak. Mr. Petrashko’s man- individuals and 44 entities, was established agement career has been in large-scale after the Russian move and has grown over farming, investment banking and consult- the following years as Moscow has contin- ing. As minister of the economy, trade and ued to back militants in eastern Ukraine. agriculture, the politically untested Mr. (RFE/RL) Petrashko takes control over an economy bracing for a potential economic fallout (Continued on page 15) No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 15

BOOK REVIEW Will the zeal of the converts be the hope of the Church?

by Andrew Sorokowski Church too. One of the individuals dis- rejection of the faith is actually based on cussed in this book, who was attracted to personal obstacles. Like Mr. Alli-Smith, Dr. “Strangers in a Strange Church? New Orthodoxy, was impressed that the Bastien appreciates the apophatic under- Faces of Ukrainian Catholicism in Ukrainian priest did not claim a “monopoly standing of God, characteristic of the Canada,” by Christopher Guly. Toronto: on truth or on God’s providence” (p. 29). Eastern tradition, as a mystery beyond Novalis, 2019. 96 pp. ISBN 978-2-89688- For a stranger, joining the Ukrainian human understanding. 747-7. Greco-Catholic Church is not simple or The third “door” in Mr. Butcher’s scheme straightforward. Dr. Brian Butcher, a prodi- is choosing a particular Eastern Catholic How do others see us? We rarely have gious scholar who speaks seven languages Church, which means living with its ethnic an opportunity to find out. It may happen and reads 11, says one must pass through identity. True, the cultural specificities of through the indiscretion of a third party. three doors to enter an Eastern Catholic the Ukrainian Church can be daunting. But We may be disappointed or simply shocked Church. The first is the liturgy and spiritu- Mr. Butcher points out that “sacramental by what even our closest friends think of ality of the Byzantine or other Eastern rite. belonging” to a Ukrainian church does not us. And yet sometimes, we are pleasantly The second is Catholic teaching. Passing mean accepting Ukrainian cultural identity. surprised. We may discover that we pos- through the third door involves choosing a It is not necessary to learn the Ukrainian sess attractive traits of which we had not particular Eastern Catholic Church – there language. You can still be yourself – Mr. been aware. are nearly two dozen – with its sometimes Butcher is of East Indian and American The same is true of our Churches. Latin- challenging ethnic and linguistic specifici- parentage and was brought up by Baptist rite Roman Catholics praise the Ukrainian ties. missionaries from Canada, while his wife is Greco-Catholic Church for its history of The beauty of Byzantine liturgy and of Korean descent. English-language litur- martyrdom and its fidelity to tradition. spirituality are often what first draws peo- gies help make that possible. Others are not so complimentary. What is ple of other backgrounds to the Ukrainian In fact, as Mr. Butcher argues, Eastern most revealing, perhaps, are the impres- Church. Convert Andrew Bennett is not Catholicism comprises several traditions, sions of outsiders who decide to join us. alone in stressing the importance of aes- Catholic Church is Catholic teaching. He and even the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom They see us in a way that we cannot. thetics, especially in liturgy. “The Byzantine says the reason he became Eastern Catholic is shared by different languages and cul- This becomes vividly apparent in Christian world view is so shaped by beau- is that he fell in love with Orthodox liturgy tures. This exemplifies the “unity in diversi- Canadian journalist Christopher Guly’s ty, so shaped by the importance of matter,” and spirituality, but at the same time was ty” of the Catholic Church. In the words of “Strangers in a Strange Church,” an account he says. “Matter matters, where the unseen convinced of the truth of the moral teach- Mr. Bennett, who has served as Canada’s of eight cases of conversion to Ukrainian God becomes human” (p. 65). ing and ecclesiology of Catholicism. Like ambassador for religious freedom, “We are Catholicism, including one couple. None of Musician Landon Coleman, who comes most converts, he wholeheartedly accepts the church of the Irish and Scottish, of these nine individuals is of Ukrainian ori- from a Baptist family, initially perceived the the Church’s positions on difficult issues French Canadians, and Koreans and the gin. All joined the Ukrainian Church in east- Ukrainian liturgy at Father Galadza’s such as sexual morality, including contra- Dutch” (p. 64). “I want Ukrainians to know ern Ontario. But as the Rev. Peter Galadza Eastern Catholic Chaplaincy as strange: ception, marriage and divorce, as well as that what they have is beautiful and should points out in his introduction, there are “This was an organized strangeness that I end-of-life issues. But Catholicism is much be shared,” points out musician Mr. many others. had never encountered before. It seemed more than a set of rules or an abstract sys- Coleman, “and that there has to be a bal- The title, a reference to Exodus 23:9 and like it didn’t belong in the modern world” tem, as popular opinion would have it. This ance struck between preserving the tradi- Leviticus 19:34, suggests the importance of (p. 91). While critical of the emotivism so is particularly true of the Byzantine tradi- tions and looking outward to try to make it hospitality to strangers. Indeed, one of the common among Evangelicals, he says that tion. easy for people to enter if they want to” (p. motivating factors for these conversions at St. John the Baptist Shrine, “It didn’t mat- One of the more philosophical of the 96). was the open friendliness of the parishio- ter how you felt: there was this beautiful, group, Generation Z member Joshua Alli- Contemporary society, however, does ners of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian true stuff…” (p. 92). To be sure, this truth Smith, sees faith as “something a-rational, not make that entrance easy. Mr. Coleman Catholic Shrine in Ottawa. But the word and beauty can only be communicated by a and that revels in antinomy in its catholici- remarks that “Ottawa is a tough town, and “strange” as applied to the Church can priest who, as Mr. Coleman puts it with ty.” “Faith is concerned with things that are there aren’t a lot of people my age who are mean both “foreign” and “bizarre” – hence, regard to the Rev. Galadza, “means every by no means ‘certain,’ and that our intellect church-goers, so I sometimes feel like a perhaps, the question mark in the title of word of the liturgy that he says and takes cannot adequately divulge, but that reason weirdo” (p. 95). In his introduction, Father the book. To an outsider, the Ukrainian all of the traditions seriously” (p. 95). can provide the groundwork for in necessi- Galadza acknowledges that the ascetical, Church, with its long liturgies and seeming- The Kyivan Byzantine tradition goes tating…” In his view, faith allows “the possi- demanding and challenging Eastern tradi- ly impenetrable rite, can seem strange beyond liturgy, however. Lisa Gilbert points bility of Truth beyond my idea of truth and tion is counter-cultural, seemingly “imprac- indeed. to the Church’s calendar, its fasts and its … the God beyond my idea of god” (p. 85). tical” even to cradle Ukrainian Catholics. It Conversion, of course, is a delicate mat- feasts, which serve as a “constant reminder Mr. Alli-Smith finds this far superior to is thus particularly difficult for teenagers ter. In his introduction, Father Galadza of the need to cultivate an ascetic life in the “the nihilism or moral relativism so often and youth to accept. The key to overcoming firmly disavows proselytism. While his midst of a chaotic secular environment” (p. packaged with a fashionable atheism” (p. this problem, in his view, is love of God. Church welcomes converts, it respects peo- 75). A physician, she experiences the faith 86). Father Galadza appears here as the cata- ple’s choices. After all, conversion does not as much-needed spiritual healing: “We are Similarly, Pascal Bastien, a medical doc- lyst for several of these conversions. always last, and serial converts are not all ill in many ways” (p. 77). tor, finds that the “science vs. religion” Another factor seems to have been the uncommon. But as Father Galadza points The second “door” in Mr. Butcher’s objections to the Catholic faith are weak out, many cradle Catholics leave their scheme of entry into the Ukrainian Greco- and superficial. He finds that most people’s (Continued on page 19)

holding any talks regarding possible right-wing activists disrupted a presenta- logue with collaborators who invited the NEWSBRIEFS exchange, he said. “I should say that Russia tion in Kyiv regarding a possible political enemy” to eastern Ukraine. Mr. Tamarin (Continued from page 14) categorically opposes the release of settlement in the war in eastern Ukraine. also accused Mr. Syvokho of describing the Crimean Tatars. Secondly, we have rather Some were members of National Corps, a conflict as a civil war and criticized him for Crimean Tatars may not participate in exchange idea-driven people there. If they find out nationalist group founded by Andriy not mentioning Russia’s alleged role in it. that they would be exchanged for bandits, Biletsky, who established the controversial “We are ready to jointly develop a work- The Crimean Tatars, who are being kept they may even refuse,” Mr. Dzhemilev said. Azov volunteer battalion at the start of the able policy of reintegration for the in Russian prisons, may refuse to partici- In February, Ukraine’s then Foreign Affairs conflict with Russia-backed separatists in Donbas,” Mr. Syvokho said before a dozen pate in a prisoner exchange between Minister Vadym Prystaiko said prepara- 2014. They are being investigated for hoo- National Corps activists pushed him from Ukraine and Russia if they find out that tions were under way for the next exchange liganism and face a maximum prison sen- the podium. Footage taken by RFE/RL they would be exchanged for “bandits,” the of detainees. “We are now preparing the tence of four years if found guilty. The show one activist pushing Mr. Syvokho to leader of the Crimean Tatar people and a next exchange. We still believe in the possi- event, National Platform for Reconciliation the floor as he was being shoved from the member of the European Solidarity faction bility of completing the “all for all” and Unity, was led by Serhiy Syvokho, a hall. Mr. Syvokho later blamed the incident in the Verkhovna Rada, Mustafa Dzhemilev, exchange in the near future. And this will former stand-up comedian who is an on those who profit from the war and said said on the air of the Hromadske Radio on be a very large and massive exchange, in adviser to the secretary of the National he would continue efforts aimed at a politi- March 10. “The Security Service of Ukraine cal settlement. “Some people don’t need which, we hope, there will be a place for Security and Defense Council. Its goal is to (SBU) has passed us the list [of prisoners to end the six-year war, which has killed more peace,” Mr. Syvokho said on Facebook. Crimean Tatars in the overwhelming be exchanged] for approval. They are plan- than 13,000 people, and bring back the “They want war, because war is business majority, whom we managed to swap in ning to exchange people soon at whatever parts of easternmost Donetsk and Luhansk that brings big money. They derailed our small amounts latterly,” the minister said. cost. However, we have determined our pri- regions that Kyiv doesn’t control back into presentation, but they won’t stop our steps (Interfax-Ukraine) orities: those who have the longest terms in its fold. When Mr. Syvokho stopped speak- toward peace.” The National Corps later prison, for example 17-18 years, and those Protests at presentation on Donbas peace ing, Serhiy Tamarin, a war veteran and said it had reported Mr. Syvokho to the who have poor health,” Mr. Dzhemilev said. National Corps member, accused the secu- Security Service of Ukraine for “treason.” Despite the fact that the lists have been Ukrainian police said 15 people were rity adviser of betraying Ukraine’s national (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with report- formed, the Russian side is currently not arrested on March 12, after a group of interests and of wishing to engage in “dia- ing by AP) 16 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

patriots with their irritating speeches and and general economic indicators tended any discussion in the committees and voted Who rules... desire to resist are a problem any longer. … rather to fluctuate than to rise, the govern- for the whole Cabinet at once without any (Continued from page 6) ment at least had no obvious links to oli- consideration of each particular candi- “Ukraine’s new government: more garchs. date’s merits. That was a formal approval of error and not amateurism. This is what oligarchic, more pro-Russian,” by Bohdan Six months is not enough fully evaluate a Zelenskyy’s will by the monopoly majority they really want. Only they are afraid to act Ben, Euromaidan Press, March 6 (http:// government’s work. According to the law, rather than real voting. yet. euromaidanpress.com/2020/03/06/ the government has a one-year immunity Third, how the Cabinet was formed and They are afraid of resistance. But when ukraines-new-government-more-oligarchic- from dismissal by the Parliament. If by whom raises questions. In principle, the prime minister should form his govern- they see that there is no resistance, they will more-pro-russian/): Honcharuk wanted, he could start playing his own game and become a true politician ment and the Parliament should vote on his begin to act. We should not pretend that From his first days in office, Ukrainian instead of performing Zelenskyy’s wishes. proposals. In reality, nobody knows who such a Parliament cannot elect Medvedchuk President Zelenskyy showed his disregard It wasn’t hard – the law was on his side. He selected the ministers and how. Reportedly, as its speaker, and [Yuriy] Boyko as the for the rule of law by dissolving Parliament just had to say that the government will until the last moment, some candidates prime minister. It can, if Zelenskyy orders it. and ignoring the law of lustration while continue working throughout the whole were refusing offers of working in the new And then Zelenskyy will urgently go on tour making appointments. However, events in year to finish some reforms. Why he, government. Four positions are still vacant, and Medvedchuk will become the country’s Ukraine’s Rada on March 4, 2020, show a instead, submitted his resignation to those of the ministers of education, energy, president. And he’ll do so without any elec- new level of the Parliament’s servitude to Zelenskyy is perplexing. culture and vice-prime minister for eco- tions. Why do we need elections if the peo- the president, having no will of its own, Second, Parliament also proved it is not nomic development. ple want peace with Russia and pensions? even when the law requires it. independent but rather a presidential The ex-minister of education Hanna Medvedchuk will provide us with peace, First, the very fact that [Oleksiy] machine for voting. According to the law, Novosad commented that she does not pensions and Russia. Honcharuk’s government was dissolved is the government in Ukraine is appointed by understand the reasons for the old govern- This is the Russian plan that can suit the disturbing. Having made both reforms and the Parliament. This requires that all candi- ment’s resignation. She also has questions Ukrainian oligarchs. Zelenskyy’s task is mistakes during its six months of work, the dates for ministerial positions be first inter- regarding the next prime minister’s reforms simply to clear the way for Medvedchuk. It government was definitely not one of the viewed in parliamentary committees. Then, agenda. Therefore, she declined to enter the is needed because Ukraine will not defeat worst. Among its most positive sides was voting should be conducted regarding each new government. A similar comment was Russia, but the oligarchs need to earn an attempt to reorganize some markets and candidate. This is a relatively long proce- offered by the ex-minister of economic money. And how can they earn it if there is state enterprises, continuing reforms intro- dure that requires several days at least. affairs, Tymofiy Mylovanov, who rejected no stability and the damned West hangs duced by the previous government. However, deputies were handed the list the proposal to work in the new govern- over your head? But this way neither the Although some reforms, like the land mar- of the candidates just a few hours before ment because of the new minister’s unclear West, nor the Russian threat, nor the crazy ket reform, were disputable in their details, the vote. Moreover, they did not conduct position regarding market reforms. …

ПЛЕМ’Я ПЛАСТУНОК „ПЕРШІ СТЕЖІ“ Geo-economics... влаштовує (Continued from page 2) majority, Davyd Arakhamia, proposed „ДЕННИЙ ТАБІР ПТАШАТ ПРИ ПЛАСТІ“ resuming the water supply to Crimea in для дітей від 4 до 6 років, які володіють exchange for certain concessions from Russia regarding the occupied Donbas (розуміють і розмовляють) українською мовою (Kommersant, February 13). Additionally, some Crimean Tatars in Ukraine propose • Дитина мусить мати закінчених 4 роки життя до 31 серпня 2020 р. Вийнятків немає. providing water to Crimean Tatar political • Дитина мусить мати усі приписані щеплення. prisoners incarcerated on the peninsula • Дитина, яка склала Заяву Вступу до новацтва, не може брати участи в таборaх для Пташат. (QHA.com.ua, February 10). [Editor’s note: Since then, as reported in Табір відбудеться на Союзівці last week’s issue of The Ukrainian Weekly, the newly appointed prime minister of від неділі, 28 червня, до суботи, 4 липня 2020 р. Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, mentioned the У справі кімнат просимо порозуміватися безпосередньо з Адміністрацією Союзівки: possibility of renewing the water supply SOYUZIVKA, P. O. Box 529, 216 Foordmore Road, Kerhonkson, NY 12446 from mainland Ukraine to Crimea. He later adjusted his position, saying, “We would like (845) 626-5641; www. Soyuzivka.com; Fax: 845-626-4638 to supply water to our citizens in Crimea, but we do not have the technical ability until • Tаборова оплата: $150.00 ($20.00 незворотні) Crimea’s de-occupation.” Newly appointed • Зголошення і таборову оплату (чек виписаний на Plast – Pershi Stezhi) надсилати до: Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba stated: “Ukraine is not considering resump- Chrystya Silecky, 312 Kerry Ct, Cranberry Twsp, PA 16066 • Tel.: 636-219-3358 tion of the supply of Dnipro water to occu- pied Crimea. I want all speculation, suspi- • Реченець зголошень: 15 травня 2020 р. • Після реченця зголошень не приймаємо. cion and conjecture on this subject to stop.”] • Лікарську посвідку НЕ пересилати з анкетою зголошення. Просимо передати при For the Crimean Tatar Mejlis (the реєстрації. nationality’s executive body), however, the only real solution to the Crimean water cri- sis can come following de-occupation (Krymr.com, February 3). КАРТА ЗГОЛОШЕННЯ НА ТАБІР ПТАШАТ-2019 Over the long term, Russia has a mega- project planned to deliver water from the Ім’я і прізвище дитини ...... Kuban River, across the Kerch Strait to по-українськи і по-англійськи Crimea (C-O-K.ru, November 2018). The Дата народження ...... peninsula may ultimately be able to survive Адреса ...... without water from Ukraine, but it will be impossible to restore its agrarian sector to Телефон ...... E-mail ...... pre-2014 levels, and the local tourism industry will continue to face huge chal- Просимо залучити посвідку дати народження дитини, яку вперше вписуєтe lenges in the meantime. Additionally, the на табір, що відбудеться від 28 червня до 4 липня 2020 р. water issue may take on a military aspect if Russia is not able to find a solution inside Розмір таборової сорочинки дитини: ☐ 6-8, ☐10-12, ☐14-16. the Crimean peninsula. It is worth noting ☐ Залучую чек на суму $...... ☐ Резервую кімнату на Союзівці that the Security Service of Ukraine recent- ly found a cache of weapons and explosives near the North Crimean Canal, which used ...... to supply most of the water for Crimea’s ім’я і прізвище матері (подати дівоче прізвище) use (0552.ua, February 18). Thus, the water problem can be expected to continue Завваги ...... to raise security concerns and instability ...... for the foreseeable future...... The article above is reprinted from ...... Підпис батька або матері Eurasia Daily Monitor with permission from its publisher, the Jamestown Foundation, www.jamestown.org. No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 17

games). Whether it be starting or coming Things were looking up in Atlanta and off the bench, he had a career-high 33 for Len at the start of the 2019-2020 sea- Len a free-agency bargain for Hawks and Kings points late in the season in an April game son until the NBA trade deadline. Atlanta It was a most challenging first five years Len was not only a beneficiary of coach against the Milwaukee Bucks. abruptly decided to make a change and Len in the NBA for Alex Len. Drafted by Phoenix Lloyd Pierce’s three-point happy offense, The first year in Atlanta was mostly is now onto his third team in six seasons as the fifth overall pick in 2013, the but also the team’s ball movement. Len was solid, yet did have some hiccups. Len has following a trade to the Sacramento Kings, Ukrainian’s career did not pan out the way worked into great looks. always had issues with fouling over his a deal that sent him and Jabari Parker from most may have expected. The successful strategy with the ball career and was limited by more foul trou- Atlanta in exchange for Dewayne Dedmon After signing a qualifying offer with works both ways – Len’s ability to shoot the ble this past season. Occasionally, his hands and draft picks. Len averaged 8.7 points, 5.8 Phoenix in 2017, Len opted for unrestricted three at a decent percentage really helps let him down near the rim, especially in the rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 40 free agency in 2018, electing to sign a two- the Hawks in their offense by opening up beginning of the 2018-2019 campaign. games for the Hawks. He began the season year deal with Atlanta. The Hawks viewed the floor and allowing one-on-one isola- Point guard Trae Young was left frustrated as a starter before moving back into a Len as a part of their present and future. tions. Atlanta loves to stretch the floor and at times when his pinpoint passes were bench role. Immediately prior to the He’s only 25 years old with lots of upside, throw up threes – almost everyone on the sometimes dropped or mishandled by Len. February 6 trade he had missed the previ- capable of providing rim protection on team can take and make threes, adding to Young would lose an assist, Len and the ous six games with a hip injury. defense and a big body to set screens to get the offense’s versatility with no limitations. Hawks an easy two points. In his first five games with Sacramento, the skill guys open looks on offense. What was the main key to Len’s new- For the most part, Len enjoyed a strong Len averaged 8.6 rebounds in just under 20 Most experts did not expect much from found success? “Repetitions,” said Len dur- season in Atlanta where he finally estab- minutes per game, including a 13-rebound, Len in his new environment and with a ing the Hawks’ exit interviews (courtesy of lished himself in the NBA after five mostly five-block effort on March 1 against Detroit new team, but he proceeded to pleasantly Peachtreehoops.com). “Being in the gym, mediocre seasons in Phoenix, and he did it with a 106-100 Kings win. He was initially surprise by enjoying his best season so far just shooting. The more I shot, the more with a smile on his face. viewed as little more than an expiring con- with the Hawks. He averaged a career-high comfortable I got. As soon as I started mak- “This season was great, probably the tract in the deal. Most of the discussion was 11 points per game on 49 percent shooting ing them in the game, my confidence kept most fun I’ve had in a while,” said Len in his that the Kings would use the opportunity to from the field and 36 percent from three- growing and growing, and I got more com- exit interview. “I know we didn’t win a lot look at Jabari Parker, whom the Kings have point territory. His minutes per game fortable with it.” of games, but we definitely proved a lot of chased in years past. remained the same as in his final season in The shot from the perimeter together people wrong. I think ESPN had us for like Due to injuries to Marvin Bagley and Phoenix (20.2 with Suns, 20.1 with Hawks). with Len’s inside game equaled a most 17 or 18 wins before the season and we Richaun Holmes, the Kings have struggled The most noticeable development in Len’s effective combination and was a specific had almost 30. We have a great future to match up with opponents down low. game was his ability to shoot from three- part of his game he intentionally worked on ahead of us and a good young core, so we Len’s size is critical, as his big body allows point distance. throughout the season – the inside-out just have to put in a good summer and then him to match the physicality of opponents’ In five seasons with Phoenix, Len tried game. go out and god things are going to happen.” big men. His size and solid defensive 25 threes. He totally smashed that number The practice routines were varied – “one Formerly viewed as a defensive liability, instincts can deter the opposition from by attempting 204 threes in 2018-2019, day with the big man coach, next day I’ll go Len worked his big body into better posi- attacking the paint. hitting on 74 of them. The reason for the shoot with Nate [Babcock] and the guards,” tions to both contest shots and gobble up He will not be a star for the Kings, but high FG percentage and respectable 3-point said Len. “Helping with Trae [Young] and rebounds. Much of his success can be should prove to be a valuable bench con- percentage was that he was the beneficiary Kevin [Huerter], shoot with them. Hop back attributed to coach Lloyd Pierce, along with tributor as Sacramento chases a playoff of great looks on most of his attempts. In and forth, I don’t want to do the same rou- the rest of the Hawks’ growth. Pierce was a berth. Len provides the Kings with a solid year five with Phoenix, the frequency of tine over and over, you have to switch it up.” defensive guru during his time as an assis- backup center who plays within himself Len’s shots that were open/wide open was In 2018-2019 he mostly came off the tant with Philadelphia and has already and within the team. just 20.6 percent. In Atlanta, 27.9 percent of bench (46 games), but due to injuries and instilled much of his prowess into this his shots qualified as being wide open, 42 resting other big men, he also got into the young Hawks team, which seems eager to Ihor Stelmach may be reached at iman@ percent were rated as open. starting line-up quite a few times (31 learn. sfgsports.com.

being with the Buk TELAR at the launch site. firmed or refuted. If confirmed, then the end of it. “ MH17 witness... During the second day of hearings, Bellingcat is surely justified in asking why A letter from the Dutch government to (Continued from page 6) March 10, the Public Prosecution Service Russia should have submitted “a formal Parliament in 2019 had stated that “we must spoke of various allegations from the defense statement to the European Court of be prepared for disinformation aimed at Given the hard-hitting words about Russian Federation of supposed manipula- Human Rights without the most basic of due adversely affecting the criminal proceedings Russia’s efforts to prevent the truth from tion of material, many of which contradicted diligence into its validity and into the probi- and undermining trust in the independent being revealed in this case and the lengths each other. It also mentioned a new accusa- ty of its arguments.” judiciary.” The Public Prosecutor notes that to which it seems willing to go, it is hard to tion of manipulation included in the Russian These first two days of hearings were the warning proved to be justified and gives a imagine that a court of appeal would reject Federation’s written statement of December essentially about explaining the case, pro- detailed account of new attempts to discredit the need to protect witnesses. 31, 2019, in proceedings before the cedure, etc. Appropriately enough, given the investigation, based on leaks which it The Public Prosecutor points out that, European Court of Human Rights brought the extensive efforts to obstruct its search believes may be linked to the earlier attempts although Mr. Girkin is not present and has by relatives of MH17 victims. Russia chal- for the truth, the Public Prosecution Service by the Russian GRU to hack the Malaysian made his unwillingness to participate in lenged the authenticity of a video recording ends with a discussion about the disinfor- police and attorney general’s office. the trial clear, he is evidently following pro- of the BUK Telar, made on July 17, 2014, mation campaign around MH17 which, it “The cynical disinformation campaign ceedings. They therefore ask for an answer near the presumed launch site at Snizhne. says, began as soon as it became clear that regarding the fate of Flight MH17, which to one question. It seems that in February This is one of the pieces of evidence show- it was a passenger airliner that had been has gone on for more than five years now, 2015 Mr. Girkin made a witness statement ing the movement of the Buk TELAR convoy downed – not the Ukrainian military plane places a heavy strain on many of the next of to the Russian authorities in which he from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade initially reported on the Russian LifeNews kin. As we already stressed in our opening reported being informed that “the air in Kursk, western Russia. Russia argues that and other propaganda channels. statement, the next of kin of victims of seri- defense” had hit a Ukrainian aircraft. This the video cannot be authentic since the “The Russian narrative is aimed solely at ous offenses deserve to receive clarity complies with the original reports from the metadata of the video shows its creation sowing doubt about the evidence pointing about what happened and who is responsi- militants immediately broadcast on date to be July 16, 2014, i.e., the day before to a Russian Buk missile and at disqualify- ble, at the earliest possible moment. Russian television, but not with the facts, the plane was downed. ing the JIT’s investigation… ,” the prosecu- Especially if government authorities are since only one aircraft was hit that after- The Dutch Public Prosecutor answered tion says. “The fate of flight MH17 has involved,” the Dutch Public Prosecutor noon – not the Ukrainian military plane only that it had other evidence also of the become known as a textbook example of a underscored. reported, but the MH17 passenger airliner. convoy moving through Snizhne specifical- disinformation campaign by the Russian The next hearing of the MH17 case is Thus, the prosecution invites Mr. Girkin to ly on July 17, 2014. The prosecution says it government. It is clear we have not yet seen scheduled for March 24. provide an explanation. wonders why a video that the Russian Mr. Girkin is also believed to have been Federation is claiming was created by the responsible for extrajudicial executions and Joint Investigation Team for propaganda The AFUO supports the statement made other war crimes in the Donbas, yet remains should have been made on a day that con- Russia was... by the Ukrainian World Congress that this perfectly free in Russia. During numerous tradicted this alleged propaganda aim, but (Continued from page 3) decision is unacceptable and plays into interviews, he has repeatedly denied that the that “expert knowledge is needed to Russia’s playbook, and relieves Russia, the militants downed MH17, with many specu- respond to the substance of this point con- and is weak. aggressor, of any responsibility for the war. lating as to whether he was not in fact only cerning the encoded date.” In the real world of politics and survival, France and Germany must also stand denying militant culpability and therefore Within hours, Bellingcat had issued a having principles, values and standing up for their ground and not cross these identifi- openly holding back from denying that oth- report about why there was a discrepancy in what is right, fighting what is evil must be at able red lines – that Russia is the aggressor ers, probably the Russian military, might have the metadata that the Russian Federation the forefront on which platforms can be built. and must be held accountable. launched the missile. Such speculation would has tried to use as proof of manipulation. Such terms as it’s all the same or sup- In these challenging times, where all eyes seem to have backing in the testimony of wit- Bellingcat’s statement that this was “a glitch port for this model is necessary and achiev- are focused on containing the coronavirus, ness M58, who spoke of Russian military per- in an open-source video format conversion able, only diminish national responsibilities the international community must not sonnel, identified by the DPR fighters as FSB, algorithm used by Google” is easily con- and are the signs of national weakness. allow this proposal to see the light of day. 18 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

The position of Prosecutor General was trade-offs and shifting alliances of conve- and the goal of integrating into Euro- Keeping up... filled on March 17 by Iryna Venediktova, nience remain a necessity of political life. Atlantic structures. He has been, and (Continued from page 1) 41, a legal specialist from Kharkiv, who Thus, internal adjustments and political remains, firmer with Russia and its aggres- recently had a short spell heading the State reconfiguration are only to be expected. sion than all had expected. Mr. Zelenskyy himself says that he made Bureau of Investig­ation. She became the Some also worry that pro-Russian forces Mr. Zelenskyy’s tactics, and lack of tact, the changes to ensure a more credible per- first woman to head this key law-enforce- are gaining the upper hand. Here the ques- deservedly invite questioning, as do some formance from his team – concrete results, ment institution. In her address to the tion of the objectives and impact of Mr. of his latest appointments. But it would be not just talk and gearing up. Some adjust- Ukrainian Parliament she promised hones- Zelenskyy’s new right-hand man Andriy premature to question his commitment to ments were probably called for, especially ty and no-nonsense. There is no political Yermak, who is suspected of being pro-Rus- his proclaimed goals and longer-term strat- replacing enthusiasm with experience. persecution in Ukraine, she declared, and sian, will be important to monitor carefully. It egy. The jury is still out, at least for a while But the changes have raised doubts, thieves should be behind bars. Since she might yet turn out to be a case of better the longer. Meanwhile, the need to take emer- rather than hopes. has been a key figure in the Servant of the devil you knew – Mr. Zelenskyy’s former gency measures against the coronavirus The new prime minister, 44-year-old Mr. People party, concern has been voiced unpopular main adviser Andriy Bohdan – and its devastating financial consequences Shmyhal, was a former governor of the about her political engagement. than the one you don’t know, his slicker and has gravely complicated matters and dra- Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and also worked for But why were the changes done in such possibly more devious successor, Mr. Yermak. matically increased the challenges facing a time for oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. an abrupt way that undermined the coun- And there is even noticeable disarray Ukraine and its government. The new minister of finance, Ihor try’s top managerial team which the presi- within Mr. Zelenskyy’s ruling party – Usmansky, replaced the respected Oksana dent himself had appointed? Mr. Zelenskyy Servant of the People – itself. Over 50 law- Makarova. A former deputy minister, he has demonstrated that he is impatient and makers within it have condemned the has been accused of being involved in cor- indicated that he wants more tangible signs administration and its chief of staff, Mr. ruption, including helping the Yanukovych of accelerated movement forward. Yermak, for having agreed to create a so- family and having been a favorite of former Some of the ministerial changes do sug- called advisory council that would include president Petro Poroshenko’s shady associ- gest improvement. For example, in the criti- representatives of both Ukraine and the ate Ihor Kononenko. cal defense sector, at a time of war, a profes- Russian-led militants occupying parts of the And this week Ihor Petrashko was appoint- sional with a military background, Andriy Donbas region. And some are now reported ed minister of economic development, trade Taran, has replaced a civilian. A retired lieu- to be forming a group called Democratic and agriculture. He previously worked for a tenant-general, he headed the presidential Platform to support Mr. Zelenskyy’s reform- Russian state-owned bank and more recent- campaign of Ihor Smeshko. Similarly, in the ist course but block the interference of Mr. ly as deputy CEO of an agro-industrial com- health sector, Illia Yemets, a cardiologist Kolomoisky and other external factors. plex belonging to a fugitive oligarch accused with international experience who has Will what has happened change of embezzlement, Oleg Bakhmatyuk. already been a minister in this sphere, has Ukraine’s trajectories at home and abroad? The controversial minister of internal been brought back. The signs suggest neither a volte face, nor a affairs, Arsen Avakov, was among the minis- Nevertheless, Mr. Zelenskyy’s critics sus- calamitous tumble into the abyss. ters who were retained, indicating his pow- pect that, for all his talk of a new start, he Mr. Zelenskyy himself has been saying erful influence and role as a perceived guar- has caved in to the oligarchs. Either to Ihor that the latest changes are meant to reinforce antor of protection for the Zelenskyy Kolomoisky, who is fighting to maintain his the movement forward. He and his new administration. Significantly, his protege financial and political clout, or the more prime minister have stressed their undeviat- Vladyslav Kryklii was also kept on as minis- discreet but in fact pre-eminent oligarch ing commitment to reform and cooperation ter of infrastructure. Rinat Akhmetov. Some also worry that pro- on this regard with Ukraine’s allies and credi- In the foreign policy sphere, the previous Russian forces are gaining the upper hand. tors. They have signaled their resolve to meet minister, Vadym Prystaiko, was redeployed Given the enduring realities inherited the International Monetary Fund’s condi- as vice prime minister for European and from the Yanukovych and the Poroshenko tions in order for Ukraine to receive a vital Euro-Atlantic integration and was replaced eras, it is naive to think that a new reform- new tranche of financial support that has as foreign affairs minister by the articulate ist president can simply extricate himself been on hold for a lengthy period. Dmytro Kuleba, who has been an equally from the restrictive political and economic Observers say there is no reason to sus- capable representative of Ukraine’s inter- system engendered by his predecessors pect that Mr. Zelenskyy is shifting away ests in Euro-Atlantic structures. and the oligarchic setup. Behind-the-scenes from the country’s pro-European course No. 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 19

March 26-29 Catskill Pysanka Workshop, Soyuzivka Heritage Center, April 4 Ukrainian Easter Bazaar, St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Kerhonkson, NY www.soyuzivka.com or 845-626-5641 Ottawa Catholic Shrine, 613-723-1673 or www.st-john-baptist-shrine.ca

March 28 Pysanka workshop, Syracuse Ukrainian National Home, April 5 Easter Bazaar – pre-ordered pick-up only, Ukrainian Syracuse, NY [email protected] Lehighton, PA Homestead, www.ukrhomestead.com or 610-377-4621

March 28 Needle felted Easter eggs workshop, Vimy Brewing April 5 Pierogi for Peace Fund-Raiser, Holy Trinity Ukrainian Ottawa Company, [email protected] or 613-884-0580 Cheektowaga, NY Orthodox Church, 716-847-1281

March 28 Presentation by Oleksandr Mykhed, “Servant of the April 5 17th annual Easter Egg Hunt, Ukrainian National New York People Volodymyr Zelensky: Between TV Shows and New Haven, CT Association Branch 414, St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Show Politics,” Shevchenko Scientific Society, Church, 203-269-5909 212-254-5130 April 11 Ukrainian Easter Market, Assumption of the Blessed March 29 Pysanka Workshop, Ukrainian National Women’s Ottawa Virgin Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral hall, New Haven, CT League of America, Connecticut Ukrainian American 613-728-0856 or www.ukrainianorthodox.info Historical Society, St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church, 203-269-5909 Entries in “Out and About” are listed free of charge. Priority is given to events advertised in The Ukrainian Weekly. However, we also welcome submissions April 4 Genealogy Conference Online, “Nashi Predky – Our from all our readers. Items will be published at the discretion of the editors Online Ancestors,” 732-356-0132 or [email protected] and as space allows. Please send e-mail to [email protected].

“The question now is: Will Germany and Donetsk and Luhansk regions. That, in turn, mercenaries fired on a disengagement site New agreement... France contradict it? I dare say no. For them will lead to questions about the sanctions from a hand-held anti-tank grenade (Continued from page 1) it is only useful that we take the problem of imposed on Russia for its acts of aggression launcher and using small arms, according the Donbas upon ourselves, and they have and will not in any way resolve the security to the press center of the Joint Forces Later, Mr. Yermak tried to explain that gotten room for maneuver to talk to the situation in the Donbas. Operation (JFO) headquarters. “Armed the occupational authorities would not Russian Federation. Does this mean that Addressing President Zelensky, the groups of the Russian Federation deliber- have half of the votes on this consultative everything will now go exclusively accord- national deputies cited “the antagonistic ately carried out armed provocations in the body, but only five. The other five would be ing to the Russian scenario? This question is public reaction to the recent Minsk initia- area of disengagement. So, today, on March chosen from internally displaced persons the key and depends on Volodymyr tives” and called on him to issue orders “to 13, the Russian invaders once again fired at (IDPs) who fled from the Donetsk and Zelenskyy. Arrangements are one thing, and Ukrainian officials in the Trilateral Contact the disengagement area of Bohdanivka- Luhansk regions after the start of Russian their implementation is another.” Group and all Ukrainian negotiators to Petrivske,” the JFO staff said on March 14. war. However, even if the choice of advisory When the topic of the advisory council return to the framework of Ukrainian legis- The Ukrainian military emphasized that council members were to be made this way, achieved high visibility among the lation and prevent implementation of the such provocative actions by Russian illegal the leaked version of the protocol says the Ukrainian public, Mr. Yermak tried to published decisions regarding the creation armed formations in the specified area “are council’s decisions are made by a three- explain the details – at least why this time of the advisory council… which runs coun- quite obviously aimed at forcing the units quarters vote of its members. This formula he personally came to the meeting and did ter to current legislation of the state and its of the JFO to open fire and to further accuse makes it easy for the militants to block not leave the negotiations to Leonid national interests,” the deputies stated. our defenders of disrupting the Minsk decisions. Though the advisory council is to Kuchma. During Savik Shuster’s “Freedom Meanwhile in the Donbas, Russia-led agreements.” serve merely in a consultative capacity to of Speech” program on Ukrainian TV, the the Trilateral Contact Group, its opinion head of the Presidential Office emphasized could be used by the Russian side to contin- that he had decided to attend the meeting Smith, for example, has an English Catholic ue sabotaging the peace process. of the Trilateral Contact Group because Will the zeal... father and a Guyanese Lutheran mother of Ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo over three months many of the agreements (Continued from page 15) Muslim ancestry), it is significant that all Klimkin commented about the leaked pro- reached by the presidents during the Paris had a solid prior Christian formation, in tocol on his Facebook page. “First, it is a summit [in December 2019] had not been proximity in Ottawa of the Metropolitan most cases Protestant. While Dr. Bastien huge step towards Russia and its wishes. implemented. “So I decided to come per- Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern was raised as a Roman Catholic, he notes The text is written in such a way that there sonally and check what is going on there,” Christian Studies, Holy Spirit Seminary, and that his Presbyterian wife has taught him is no formal legal recognition there, but in Mr. Yermak explained. However, after Mr. a number of colleges and universities. many things about faith and the Christian fact, it is recognition of the occupation Yermak’s appearance on TV, the public still Today, with the removal of the Sheptytsky life: knowledge of Scripture, evangelical administrations. This is exactly what Russia had more questions than answers. Institute (with Father Galadza) to Toronto zeal and how to raise children. These con- is now speeding up, but, more importantly, Some national deputies of the Servant of and of the seminary to Edmonton, Alberta, verts’ familiarity with the Bible no doubt this is the way many in the West perceive it, the People parliamentary faction are that happy juncture has vanished. But the helps them to understand the Byzantine lit- Mr. Klimkin posted. He added that Ukraine demanding a halt to the advisory council’s principle of a synergetic constellation of urgy, especially its Old Testament sources, had always based on the legal principle that launch. The text of their appeal published people and institutions – clergy, laity, par- more deeply than most Ukrainians. They “the only legitimate authority in those terri- on Facebook reads: “It is alarming that the ishes, schools and perhaps monasteries – is also exhibit a more conscious and actively tories was and remained the one that was advisory council that is being created will one to keep in mind. And the future of the affirmative kind of religiosity. Moreover, elected in 2010.” comprise representatives of Ukraine and Church may depend on a clergy that is not they experience the Ukrainian Byzantine “Secondly, there is also the problem of certain areas of the Luhansk and Donetsk merely “open to the world” in the spirit of tradition with a freshness and depth, born establishing ‘rules’ and clear ‘procedures’ regions uncontrolled by Ukraine as parties Vatican II, but goes out and seeks disciples, of fasting, prayer, study and service, that for the functioning of this ‘council,’ to which to the consultations with equal rights.” The miserando atque eligendo (taking pity and elude many Ukrainians, attached as they we have never agreed, even for the TCG in national deputies said that talks with the choosing), as Pope Francis’s coat of arms are to what Father Galadza describes as a Minsk. That is, this ‘council’ becomes a de so-called people’s republics and the tempo- proclaims. For if Ukrainian “cradle merely folkloric religiosity. facto formal body,” Mr. Klimkin continued. rarily occupied areas of the Luhansk and Catholics” find a multitude of excuses to Ukrainian religiosity, however, has “Third, it creates and strengthens the logic Donetsk regions (ORDLO) cannot be con- shun the Church, their pastors must go out evolved. The somewhat ritualistic and emo- of an ‘internal conflict’ in Ukraine, and ducted in any form. “to the streets and lanes” and “highways tional pre-modern “village faith” has gradu- Russia assumes the role of mediator, the “All talks on ensuring the rights and and hedges” and find others to take their ally given way to the more complacent, pri- same as Germany and France. By the way, interests of the citizens of Ukraine, and also places at the Lord’s table (Luke 14:15-24). vate religious affiliation of the Western did anyone think how this would affect our on the termination of military aggression, Certainly these converts are a major bourgeois, seemingly typical of the Third cases in international courts?” need to be conducted only with the Russian benefit to the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Wave of Ukrainian immigration to North “And fourthly, who will prevent Russia Federation and its officials. The legitimacy Church, and not only, as Father Galadza America. Both this, and the post-Soviet reli- from destroying the TCG and leaving only of representatives of the so-called ORDLO points out, in terms of additional numbers. giosity of the Fourth Wave, merit study. Can this ‘council’ as functioning? The answer is can only be recognized if they were Like many outsiders, for example immi- they survive in American society? Will they obvious. And most importantly, tell me, appointed by lawful Ukrainian officials or grants, they are catalysts for the spiritual succumb to secularization? Or will they what is the added value for Ukraine of cre- lawful bodies of the authority of our state,” revival of their communities. Dr. Bastien’s give way to a more vigorous kind of religi- ating this structure? For Russia, it is obvi- the statement said. The national deputies Ukrainian-Canadian colleagues who had osity – evangelizing, intellectually sophisti- ous. What can this structure do better than said they are convinced that the practical left their Church because of a linguistic and cated and prepared to withstand the pres- the previous one? That’s right – nothing but implementation of the provision on the cultural gap and become Roman Catholic sures of a post-Christian society? In the lat- direct negotiations, well, let’s call them con- advisory council will become a foundation were surprised that he had moved in the ter case, it may well be due to converts like sultations,” wrote the ex-minister. for doubting the legislatively stated posi- opposite direction. those featured in this book. Mr. Klimkin continued his post by offer- tion of Ukraine on Russia’s responsibility While the nine converts discussed in this ing an opinion on how this will affect the for the occupation of Crimea and its mili- book vary greatly in their ethnic, religious A Ukrainian version of this review international perception of the conflict. tary aggression on the territory of the and social origins (Japanese-born Mr. Alli- appears in Patriyarkhat No. 2, 2020. 20 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 No. 12

PREVIEW OF EVENTS

Saturday, March 28 tonic shifts in the country’s political life. NEW YORK: The Shevchenko Scientific The actor, who played the people’s presi- Society invites all to a lecture, “Servant of dent, became the real president who came the People Volodymyr Zelensky: Between to power with sensational ratings. Based TV Shows and Show Politics,” by Dr. on an analysis of examples from the Oleksandr Mykhed, a Ukrainian literary series, the election campaign and the cur- scholar, curator and writer. Currently a rent government leadership, the phenom- research fellow at the Taras Shevchenko enon of the series and the Servant of the Institute of Literature, Dr. Mykhed’s major People party will be discussed in the glob- academic interests include contemporary al context of populism and the influence of THE UNA ANNOUNCES literature, media studies and Donbas the media. The lecture will take place at studies. The influence of media on every- the society’s building, 63 Fourth Ave. day life in Ukraine will be shown here (between Ninth and 10th streets) at 5 SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS with the example of the popular TV series p.m. For additional information call 212- “Servant of the People,” which led to tec- 254-5130. FOR STUDENTS ATTENDING COLLEGE IN THE 2020-2021 ACADEMIC YEAR. PREVIEW OF EVENTS GUIDELINES Students wishing to apply for a UNA scholarship or award must meet Preview of Events is a listing of Ukrainian community events open to the public. It is a the following criteria: service provided at minimal cost ($20 per listing) by The Ukrainian Weekly to the Ukrainian community.  Have been an active, premium-paying UNA member for at least To have an event listed in Preview of Events please send information, in English, written two years by June 1st of 2020; in Preview format, i.e., in a brief paragraph of several sentences that includes the date,  Have had a life insurance policy or an annuity, valued at a minimum place, type of event, sponsor, admission, full names of persons and/or organizations of $5,000 during the last two years (term policies excluded); involved, and a phone number and/or e-mail address to be published for readers who may require additional information. Items must be no more than 100 words long.  Be enrolled in an accredited college or university in USA or Canada. Preview items must be received no later than one week before the desired date of The application for a UNA scholarship or award must be postmarked no publication (i.e., they must be received by 9 am Monday morning). Please include pay- later than June 1, 2020. ment for each time the item is to appear and indicate date(s) of issue(s) in which the item is to be published. Also, senders are asked to include the phone number of a per- For complete details and applications, please call the UNA Home Office son who may be contacted by The Weekly during daytime hours, as well as their com- or visit the Our Benefits page on the UNA website at: plete mailing address. www.UNAInc.org Information should be sent to [email protected]. When e-mailing, please do not send items as attachments – simply type the text into the body of the e-mail mes- sage. Preview items and payments may be mailed to: Preview of Events, The Ukrainian Ukrainian National Acossiation, Inc. Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054. 2200 Route 10, Parsippany, NJ 07054 800-253-9862 ext. 3035 Visit our archive online: www.ukrweekly.com