Steppes: a Ukrainian Journey” by Anne Ehrhart Then Opened to Reveal Mr
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INSIDE: • NATO’s new chief outlines his priorities – page 3. • Inaugural literary translation prize awarded in Canada – page 11. • Voloshky, Popadiuk team up in “Steppes” performance – page 13. THEPublished U byKRAINIAN the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW associationEEKLY Vol. LXXVII No.32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2009 $1/$2 in Ukraine NEWS ANALYSIS: Moscow patriarch Kyiv cites subversive activities concludes 10-day visit to Ukraine of Russian diplomats in Ukraine by Danylo Peleschuk this anymore.” Special to The Ukrainian Weekly Mr. Lysenko left Ukraine on July 28 and declined to comment on why he was KYIV – The Ukrainian government expelled. However, Mr. Grachev was took measures to defend against alleged allowed to remain at his post, Ukrainian subversive activities of Russian diplomats Consulate officials in Moscow said, with- in Crimea and Odesa, dismissing two out disclosing why. officials in what observers described as a They sent a formal citation to Moscow long-awaited crackdown and sparking a warning them of Mr. Grachev’s behavior diplomatic tit-for-tat. and stating even though he is allowed to Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said stay, the question of his subversive on July 23 it will expel Vladimir Lysenko, actions still stands. a consul at the Russian Federation’s Russian officials denounced Mr. Embassy in Kyiv who oversees the Black Lysenko’s expulsion as “baseless” and Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, and Aleksandr “pure provocation,” in turn on July 31 Grachev of the Russian Consulate expelling Ihor Berezkin, a consul at the General in Odesa, for “actions unbecom- Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow who ing of a diplomat.” heads the political department of Russia- “Ukrainian officials have documented Ukraine relations and oversees Black Sea proof that their actions directly harm the Fleet affairs. national interests of our country,” the “Diplomacy is a mutual art, and there- Official Website of Ukraine’s President Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a July 30 fore such measures cannot go without a Patriarch Kirill with President Viktor Yushchenko during his visit to Ukraine. press release, adding that it raised con- response,” said Russian Foreign Affairs cerns about the diplomats’ conduct to the Minister Sergei Lavrov. by Danylo Peleschuk Ukraine’s largest Church with an estimated Russian government numerous times. Initial reports said Russia would expel Though squabbles between Russia and Special to The Ukrainian Weekly 11,444 parishes, according to the Religious a second Ukrainian diplomat posted in St. Information Service of Ukraine (RISU). Ukraine are common, typically punctuat- Petersburg, but that has yet to happen. KYIV – Patriarch Kirill of the Russian That’s more than twice as many parishes as ed by statements, this row marks the first Ukrainian authorities are tight-lipped Orthodox Church (ROC) fulfilled expecta- the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv time in recent memory in which they about the specific deeds that led to Mr. tions that his 10-day visit to Ukraine would Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and the Ukrainian mutually expelled diplomats, said Taras Lysenko’s expulsion. be a politically charged affair, despite his Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) Kuzio, senior research fellow at the Chair However, twice in the past month – on insistence that he restricted himself to the combined (a total of 5,276). of Ukrainian Studies at the University of July 8 and July 21 – authorities stopped spiritual realm. “In Ukraine, there are more registered in Toronto. Russian Black Sea Fleet vehicles illegally Invoking the bond of the Russian, the ROC than in Russia,” said Taras “It’s part of an increased level of transporting naval missiles over land Ukrainian and Belarusian people under Antoshevskyi, the director of the Lviv-based attention to what official Russia has been through Sevastopol, a stark violation of “Holy Rus’,” his statements crossed into the RISU. doing in Odesa and the Crimea, and it’s Russia’s rental agreement with the political and economic spheres, igniting pro- An unexpected 14,000 worshippers par- the right thing to do,” said Ivan Lozowy, Ukrainian government. tests in cities like Kyiv and Rivne amidst ticipated in the August 4 divine liturgy led president of the Institute of Statehood and Russian officials, allegedly among concern the trip was a Kremlin-backed exer- Democracy in Kyiv. “They’ve decided tion of Moscow’s authority in Ukraine. (Continued on page 3) they’re not going to turn a blind eye to (Continued on page 19) For example, Patriarch Kirill urged Ukraine to forge closer economic ties with Moscow to resolve their mutual problems during his July 30 visit to the Donbas town Activists mark 50th anniversary of Captive Nations Week of Horlivka. “We should associate with each other and Ukrainian National Information Service support each other, in particular during the WASHINGTON – The yearly commem- economic crisis,” he said. “I believe that oration of Captive Nations Week began 50 hand in hand, like brothers, we will be able years ago with the passage of Public Law to overcome these economic hardships.” 86-90 which noted that “the enslavement of The ROC provides Russia with an ave- a substantial part of the world’s population nue for meddling from abroad, and Patriarch by Communist imperialism makes a mock- Kirill’s visit was the latest front for ery of the idea of peaceful co-existence Moscow’s interference in Ukraine’s internal between nations and constitutes a detriment affairs, said Sergiy Taran, director of the to the natural bonds of understanding International Democracy Institute in Kyiv. between the people of the United States and “Religion is one of the few institutions other peoples.” that offer Russia the possibility to intervene Such phrases, expressed yearly by each in Ukrainian domestic affairs,” he said. “It’s U.S. president in his executive proclama- in Russia’s best interests to make this visit tion, instilled hope among the Captive political. From its perspective, what’s the Nations yearning for freedom. best way to make Ukrainians loyal to To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Moscow? You raise the religious question.” the original 1959 legislation, the National Patriarch Kirill visited cathedrals and Captive Nations Committee (NCNC) spon- monasteries throughout Ukraine, particular- sored a daylong event dedicated to those ly the Donbas, Crimea in the east and the countries that have freed themselves from Volyn and Ternopil regions in the west. communism, as well as to those still suffer- The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – ing under dictatorship. On Wednesday, July Peter Alunans Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which is Participants at the Captive Nations Week commemoration at the Victims of under the ROC led by Patriarch Kirill, is (Continued on page 20) Communism Memorial. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2009 No. 32 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFS Ukraine-U.S. relations: new prospects Experts examining skull fragments ment made by his Russian counterpart, Grigoriy Karasin. “In order to make sure in the wake of Joe Biden’s visit KYIV – Ukrainian forensic experts have that Ukraine is not the most active arms started examining the fragments of a skull supplier to Georgia, it is necessary to look that might belong to murdered Ukrainian by Vladimir Socor come the “Ukraine-fatigue” that had at the U.N. free data available on the web- journalist Heorhii Gongadze. The afflicted U.S. and (even more so) site of this organization,” Mr. Kostenko Eurasia Daily Monitor Procurator General’s Office said on July 29 European policies toward a dysfunctional stressed. He added that Ukraine is guided that experts would analyze the DNA of the U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden held out post-Orange Ukraine. The U.S. vice-pres- by United Nations Security Council resolu- fragments and check whether these frag- prospects for a revitalized and expanded ident visited a country that does not have tions on the arms trade and it also strongly ments match with the bones of Gongadze. relationship with Ukraine during his July adheres to the rules set by international ministers of foreign affairs, defense, Gongadze went missing on September 16, 20-22 visit to Kyiv (and Georgia on the export control regimes. “This fully concerns finance and transport – and since 2005 it 2000. Later, a headless body was found in next leg). A prompt follow-up to President military-technical cooperation with has experienced a crisis in its political Tarascha woods nearby Kyiv and experts Barack Obama’s July 6-7 Moscow visit, Georgia,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s and legal institutions. determined the body was the journalist’s. the vice-president’s trip was designed to military-technical cooperation with foreign With Ukraine scheduled to hold a pres- Prosecutors also said that the newly found demonstrate U.S. intentions to revert to states is not directed against any third coun- idential election in January 2010, Mr. skull fragments might be subject to other strategic engagement in Europe’s East. try, including Russia. (Ukrinform) Biden’s Kyiv agenda included talks in tests. Valentyna Telychenko, the lawyer for Mr. Biden’s two public speeches in Kyiv with presidential hopefuls Viktor the journalist’s widow, Myroslava Is ex-MP Lozynskyi in Israel? Ukraine offered strong reassurances that Yanukovych and Arseniy Yatseniuk (lead- Washington would not sacrifice Ukraine’s Gongadze, said earlier that they would trust ers, respectively, of the Party of Regions the results of tests conducted only by for- KYIV – The Israeli Embassy in Kyiv (or any other countries’) interests while and Front for Change) in addition to his told the 1+1 television channel on August 5 seeking Moscow’s support for U.S. inter- eign experts. An investigative group found meetings with the weakened President skull fragmens that might belong to that Israel knows nothing about the where- ests in other theaters.