ХРИСТОС НАРОДИВСЯ! CHRIST IS BORN! THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXIV-LXXXV No. 52-1 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2016 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2017 $2.00 Sviatoslav Karavansky, Report calls Russian artillery attacks against Ukraine prominent Soviet-era in 2014 ‘acts of war,’ as fi ghting in Donbas escalates political prisoner, dies by Mark Raczkiewycz KYIV – Russia extensively used cross- border artillery fire against Ukrainian mili- tary targets in July-September 2014 in what are considered “acts of war,” accord- ing to a new report by Bellingcat, a group of citizen journalists who use open-source investigation tools and techniques, that was released on December 21. Numbering in the “thousands,” the report says, the cross-border projectiles were the “first and strongest evidence of a direct Russian participation in the fighting.” Although they were already proven to have occurred by Ukrainian officials and the U.S. Ihor Dlaboha government, the new report analyzed the Sviatoslav Karavansky at the Ukrainian extent to which they were used in the sum- National Association in 1980. mer of 2014, when they largely contributed UUARC to stemming a Ukrainian counterattack to Serhiy Yermakov retake the border areas near Russia, and Wounded Ukrainians soldiers get evacuated some 800 meters from the frontline near PHILADELPHIA – Sviatoslav cut off and surround the occupied Donbas Luhanske, a village situated along what is known as the Rostov-on-Don highway, not Karavansky, a prominent Ukrainian capitals of Donetsk and Luhansk. far from occupied Debaltseve, on December 18. anti-Soviet dissident, twice impris- In total, at least 279 separate artillery oned in Soviet concentration camps attacks likely were fired inside Russia, tar- direct attribution of responsibility to the The open-source investigative group for a total of 31 years, died at the age geting 408 Ukrainian military sites in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” found that Russia’s artillery barrages “esca- of 95 on December 17 at a hospital in “entire border area of the conflict zone.” Despite mounting evidence, Moscow lated” in “magnitude” the more Ukraine’s Baltimore. He had been living in the Using recent additions of satellite imag- authorities have consistently denied direct offensive in summer 2014 succeeded to lib- U.S. since 1980, soon after being ery to Google Earth, Yandex and Bing map involvement in the Donbas war that has erate occupied territory. In spite of the released with his wife, Dr. Nina services, Bellingcat said it found evidence killed nearly 10,000 people and uprooted cross-border shelling, Russia was forced to Strokata, likewise an inmate of Soviet of Russian artillery fire in 2014 “to a much more than 1.7 million from their homes invade with ground troops and armor in prisons, who was arrested for protest- fuller extent.” It found that weapons such as since April 2014. Instead, the Kremlin has late August of that year to prevent Luhansk ing her husband’s incarceration. howitzers and multiple rocket-launcher attempted to portray the war as a civil con- and Donetsk from being encircled and cut (Continued on page 24) systems were used and, based on other flict between Ukrainian government forces open-source evidence, said that “allows for and indigenous pro-Russian separatists. (Continued on page 3) Dutch court rules Crimean treasures must be returned to Ukraine RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service objects must be returned by the Russia sees “pure theft” treaties on cultural heritage, the treasures Netherlands to the institutions from which Russian Culture Minister Vladimir have to go back to Kyiv for as long as the A Dutch court has ruled that a priceless they were on loan. Medinsky had said earlier that a decision in Crimea is occupied territory.” collection of gold artifacts from Crimea that The treasures, popularly known as favor of Kyiv would be “pure theft.” Meanwhile, the culture minister in the were on loan to a Dutch museum when Scythian gold, are in the Netherlands Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Russian-imposed government that admin- Russia occupied the peninsula must be because they were borrowed from the four welcomed the ruling in a post on his isters Crimea, Arina Novoselskaya, said on returned to Ukraine. museums in Crimea and one in Kyiv for an Facebook page. “The decision by the district December 14 that the museums will appeal The Amsterdam district court said on exhibition in early 2014 at Amsterdam’s court in Amsterdam means that not only the the court’s decision. December 14 that Crimea was not a sover- Allard Pierson Museum. Scythian gold is Ukrainian. Crimea is also The treasures are popularly known as eign country and so could not claim the “The court ruling is that the artifacts have Ukrainian, Crimea is ours, period,” he said. Scythian gold in reference to the semi- treasures as cultural heritage. to be brought back to the state of Ukraine as Kyiv had argued that the country of ori- nomadic tribes who lived in the region in The ruling drew a swift and angry reac- they form a part of the cultural heritage of gin is Ukraine, not Russia. ancient times. tion from Russia and praise from Ukraine, the state of Ukraine,” Illya Bilderbeek, a “Crimea is part of Ukraine [and] it is only The four Crimean museums have previ- whose president said it means that “Crimea spokesman for the Amsterdam district our national authorities that can decide to ously described the treasures as belonging is ours, period.” court, said. which museum [the artifacts] should to the people of Crimea. Kyiv and four museums in Crimea have Shortly after the court issued its ruling, return,” Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Andrei Malgin, director of the Tavrida been wrangling over the fate of the archeo- the Russian Culture Ministry said the deci- Culture Svitlana Fomenko told reporters at Central Museum, told Dutch television on logical treasures, which range from pots to a sion “violates the principles of international the courthouse on December 14. December 12 that “this is the cultural heri- Scythian helmet dating back more than exchanges between museums and the right “As you know, Crimea is occupied by tage of local tribes and peoples.” 2,000 years, ever since Russia seized control of the people of the Crimea to have access Russian Federation and we have no access The almost 600 artifacts, including pots, of the Ukrainian peninsula in March 2014. to their own cultural heritage.” to Crimea,” Ms. Fomenko said. “We cannot gold leaf and other objects, date back more The Ukrainian government claimed that, The ministry called the ruling an protect our cultural heritage in Crimea.” than 2,000 years. as state property, they could not be “extremely negative precedent” and said it In testimony on December 12, the law- Among the most valuable objects are a returned to territory outside its control, contradicted “the norms of international yer acting for Ukraine, Maarten Sanders, while the Crimean museums argued the law on the protection of cultural values.” told the court that “in terms of UNESCO (Continued on page 19) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2016 - SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2017 No. 52-1 EU lauds nationalization of Ukraine’s largest bank U.N. calls Russia ‘occupying power’ “realistic” and said it was needed to give momentum to economic reform. The bud- RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service was agreed upon with Mr. Kolomoyskiy and UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. General PrivatBank’s other main owner, Hennadiy Assembly has passed a resolution that rec- get projects economic growth of 3 percent next year, up from 1 percent in 2016. The KYIV – The European Union has praised Boholyubov, who control assets in a broad ognizes Crimea as “temporarily occupied” IMF said last month that to secure more Ukraine’s leadership for its decision to range of sectors, including media, oil, and by Russia and condemns the “abuses” and loans, Ukraine needed to pass a suitable nationalize the country’s biggest bank, call- chemicals. “discrimination” against Crimean Tatars, budget and step up efforts to fight corrup- ing it a “bold and courageous” move and a But Mr. Kolomoyskiy took to Facebook to ethnic Ukrainians, and other groups on the tion – including by jailing crooked officials. key component of broader reforms that the lash out at the government following the peninsula. The General Assembly vote on (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters West is pressing Kyiv to carry out. statement. “This is not a nationalization. It’s December 19 was 70 in favor and 26 and TASS) EU foreign-policy chief Federica a classic illegal takeover,” he wrote. against the resolution, with 77 countries Mogherini spoke on December 19, a day He added that clients should not panic, abstaining. The resolution also calls on NATO, Moscow still at odds over Ukraine after President Petro Poroshenko’s Cabinet and that “everything would be fine” with Russia, as an “occupying power,” to end all said it would nationalize PrivatBank in an their money. “Only the shareholders have abuses against people living in Crimea, BRUSSELS – NATO and Russia still “have profound disagreements on the crisis” in effort to avoid a financial collapse in the suffered. And the investment climate in the including arbitrary detentions, torture and Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens former Soviet republic. country. Which, by the way, doesn’t exist other “cruel, inhumane, or degrading treat- Stoltenberg said after the NATO-Russia “Let me use this occasion to commend... anymore,” Mr. Kolomoyskiy wrote, promis- ment.” Serhiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s vice min- Council, their main forum for dialogue. The the prime minister’s, the president’s, the ing that there would be more details later ister of foreign affairs, said in a statement council held more than three hours of talks government’s efforts in these hours to on December 19.