INSIDE: l Human rights activist Raisa Rudenko dies at 80 – page 3 l Our community: Alberta and Illinois – pages 11 and 14 l Sports: gymnastics, futsal, volleyball and more – page 16 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXXVIII No. 41 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY,OCTOBER 11, 2020 $2.00 NEWS ANALYSIS Ukraine battles massive fires In Ukraine: Heading for a fall? in Luhansk region the Parliament, nor guarantee satisfactory by Bohdan Nahaylo returns in the upcoming local elections. In Ukrainian politics, a sluggish season The disturbing feature here is that pro-Rus- has given way to another, but one that sian forces have been profiting from this promises reinvigoration, though not neces- and gaining relatively more strength than sarily of the healthy sort. others. In Ukraine there has been no noticeable One of the telling features of real democ- change in the lackadaisical approach to pol- racy in Ukraine – unlike in neighboring itics and reform, and in the general situa- Russia, or Belarus, or Kyrgyzstan – elec- tion as such. It has been largely a case of tions are genuinely free and the results are business as usual as per the lethargic respected, and independent opinion and Ukrainian variant that we have become exit polls are accurate and can be trusted. used to. The only sphere where there has The latest polling been more dynamism is in the external one, Cabinet of Ministers with two important and productive In mid-September, the Kyiv International A firefighter works on extinguishing a fire in one of the 146 hotspots in Ukraine’s east. European visits having just been undertak- Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted a en by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. poll in which 31.8 percent of respondents by Roman Tymotsko area covered by the fire is more than In recent weeks – apart from the peren- who had already made up their minds how 11,000 hectares,” Mr. Yarovyy said on nial concern about keeping the economy they would vote said they would support KYIV – At the end of September, forest October 1. The police have opened 11 crim- afloat with Western support, preoccupation the incumbent president if presidential fires broke out in many parts of the inal proceedings, and 30 operational inves- with the ever-growing challenges posed by elections were held soon, 18.9 percent Luhansk region. By October 1, a total of 146 tigation groups have been set up to inspect the coronavirus pandemic and keeping would vote for former President Petro fires were discovered by the State all damaged objects, including about 250 Russia at bay in the ongoing war in the Poroshenko, and 13.3 percent for the lead- Emergency Service. In the week since the buildings. Donbas – there have been more scandals er of the pro-Russian Opposition Bloc Party, fires broke out, the disaster took 11 lives, The Stanytsia Luhanska raion adminis- connected with corruption, especially with- Yuriy Boyko. injured 19 people and caused the evacua- tration, citing information provided by local in the president’s ruling party, Servant of Compared to Mr. Zelenskyy’s rating in tion of 150 people. Thirty-two settlements residents, reported that Russian forces in the People, as well as surprise and unease April, his approval fell by 10.8 percentage were endangered. the Donbas had carried out shelling of the concerning the potential ramifications from points (from 42.6 percent to 31.8 percent), More than 2,000 personnel and over 200 forest, possibly causing the blazes. the Belarusian democratic revolution in the while that of Mr. Poroshenko rose by 4 per- units of equipment were involved in the The head of the State Emergency north. centage points (from 14.9 percent to 18.9 firefighting, according to the First Deputy Service, Mykola Chechotkin, stated that the The attention of political forces has been percent). The survey conducted on August Minister of Internal Affairs Serhii Yarovyy. SES’s primary efforts are now focused on increasingly focused on the approaching 29-September 3 showed 44 percent of “On September 30, a difficult situation work in the settlements: “As a result of the local elections, scheduled for October 25. respondents trusted President Zelenskyy, arose in the Luhansk region due to the difficult situation, 32 settlements fell into President Zelenskyy’s party, with its popu- while 51 percent distrusted him. spread of fires. The State Emergency Service the affected area yesterday. The fire’s rapid larity, or rather credibility, declining rapidly, and the State Forest Resources Agency are is hoping to hold its own. For some reason, (Continued on page 4) working at 30 spots of the blaze. The total (Continued on page 14) however, it can hardly claim to have been pro-active. Its diverse political opponents, from the parties represented in the Ukrainian Parliament, to the local mavericks seeking popular endorsement, are hoping to A change of command for Operation UNIFIER burst the bubble of success achieved by the Canadian Armed Forces in Ukraine Servant of the People party in 2019 and to reconfigure the political landscape. STARYCHI, Ukraine – Lt. Col. Ryan What do the latest polls tell us? They Stimpson transferred command of confirm that Servant of the People, and the Operation UNIFIER to Lt. Col. Sarah Heer president himself, are continuing to lose on October 5 at the International popular support at a rather alarming rate; Peacekeeping and Security Center (IPSC) in that the Ukrainian political scene that Starychi, Ukraine. emerged after the presidential and parlia- The change of command ceremony mentary elections in 2019 has changed observed the transition between Rotations drastically. 9 and 10 and the appointment of Joint Task Just as the mono-party majority of the Force-Ukraine’s first female commanding Servant of the People faction has de facto officer, Lt. Col. Heer. ceased to exist in the Verkhovna Rada, the The change of command was held at the president himself no longer enjoys the over- IPSC Conference Center’s Flower Room. whelming popular support that marginal- The ceremony saw the incoming and out- ized his political opponents. Those oppo- going commanders’ sign Transfer of nents are still not in a position to overtake Command Authority documents in accor- him, but the playing field is becoming more dance with all government of Canada and more even with each passing month. Canadian Armed Forces in Ukraine COVID-19 Force Protection guidelines. The After barely a year in power, the Outgoing commander, Lt. Col. Ryan Stimpson (left) signs Transfer of Command bulk of the ceremony was held outdoors. Zelenskyy administration can no longer Authority documents alongside incoming commander Lt. Col. Sarah Heer, Joint Task Guests of honor included Canada’s confidently proclaim a “turbo” regime pro- Force – Ukraine’s first female commanding officer, and Col. Robert Foster (center) on moting change via its majority faction in October 5. (Continued on page 3) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2020 No. 41 ANALYSIS Post-Lukashenka Belarus: Close ties Number of COVID cases up to 239,337 but have recovered. (RFE/RL, with report- ing by AFP) Ukraine has registered 4,753 new coro- to Moscow, improved relationship with West? navirus cases in past 24 hours, bringing the WHO prediction for Ukraine’s COVID cases total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases Union’s sanctions imposed on Minsk do not by Grigory Ioffe to 239,337, it was reported by Ukrinform. “In the coming months, we expect the elicit a serious reaction. About 40 Eurasia Daily Monitor “We registered a record number of recover- number of cases to exceed 5,000 and reach Belarusian officials and security service ies over the past day: 2,569 patients. At the 7,000 to 9,000 a day. In the same context, Arriving at some clarity regarding the authorities – but not Mr. Lukashenka him- same time, we have a record number of new we also see an increasing number of cases situation in Belarus has become harder self – are now personae non gratae in the coronavirus cases as a total of 4,753 people, in Europe,” the head of the WHO Country than ever before. An unstable equilibrium EU (BBC News – Russian service, October including 219 children and 251 medical Office in Ukraine, Dr. Jarno Habicht, said in begets a cacophony of opinions that do not 1). The reputable Minsk-based analyst workers, have been tested positive over the an interview with Suspilne TV channel on lend themselves to generalization or to Artyom Shraibman describes Western past 24 hours,” Minister of Health of October 1. He noted that an increase has teasing out a common idea. sanctions as pro forma a demonstration of Ukraine Maksym Stepanov said at a briefing been observed in all countries as the dis- Alexander Klaskovsky of Belapan writes, Europe’s self-respect but thoroughly impo- on October 7. Seventy-seven deaths and 730 ease has not yet been eradicated. “In “[Presidents Alyaksandr] Lukashenka [of tent in terms of exerting any influence. Yet hospitalizations have been recorded in Ukraine, virus transmission in communities Belarus] and [Vladimir] Putin [of Russia] he suggests that a miniature Marshall Plan Ukraine in past 24 hours. In all, 4,597 coro- is still observed. We have not narrowed the are sitting in the same anti-Western trench” for Belarus could eventually begin to mat- transmission to cluster distribution (Naviny, September 29). ter in the eyes of the Belarusian nomenkla- navirus patients have died and 105,970 patients have recovered in Ukraine since the [through social ties: family, school grade, Arseny Sivitsky of the Minsk-based tura, if Moscow does not depose Mr.