Russophile Ukrainians Persecute Ethnically Conscious Ukrainians
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ïêàëíéë êéÑàÇëü! CHRIST IS BORN! THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal Wnon-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXIX No. 1 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2011 $1/$2 in Ukraine Russophile Ukrainians persecute Government targets Lutsenko and ethnically conscious Ukrainians other Tymoshenko allies with arrests by Zenon Zawada Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox by Zenon Zawada Kyiv Press Bureau Church (ROC), who calls for creating a Kyiv Press Bureau “Russian world” that includes Ukraine in KYIV – Persecution of patriotic which the Russian language and culture are KYIV – Former Internal Ukrainians, committed by Russophile promoted. Affairs Minister Yurii Ukrainians, has re-ignited in the nation’s On December 8, 2010, the Ukrainian Lutsenko became the latest eastern and southern regions with the emer- Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC- target of the persecution gence of a Russocentric government under KP) accused its rival of raiding a church it campaign being waged the administration of President Viktor spent 10 years renovating in the village of against the opposition by the Yanukovych. Kamianka in the Donetsk Oblast. The Ukrainian government, A Kharkiv monument to Ukrainian Church raised more than $12,500, while which arrested him on Catholic Major Archbishop Josyf Slipyj was parishioners contributed pipes, bricks, mor- December 26, 2010, and shattered. State workers who support a tar and other building supplies. imprisoned him the next day Ukrainian view of history are losing jobs. “The community conducted a solid reno- under three criminal charg- Orthodox followers of the Moscow vation recently and returned the church to es. Patriarchate have launched a new campaign proper condition,” Archbishop Serhii His prosecution is revenge to take Ukrainian churches in the Donbas Horobtsiov of the Donetsk Eparchy of the for having arrested current region. UOC-KP told The Weekly. minister Borys Kolesnikov in Persecution of ethnically conscious “Once we did everything, the Moscow April 2005 when he served Ukrainians typically increases when the pro- Patriarchate suddenly emerged, even though as police chief, some observ- Russian Party of Regions takes power, it was offered the church in the 1990s. It cal- ers said. Others said his observers said. Patriotic Ukrainians were culated the cost of investing in a church in a arrest is a warning to all attacked in Odesa, Kharkiv and Luhansk rural village and decided against it. We Ukrainians who dare chal- when Mr. Yanukovych served as prime min- didn’t make any calculations of whether the lenge the authoritarian gov- ister between August 2006 and December church would cover costs. We placed our ernment of President Viktor 2007. faith in God.” Yanukovych. “People with an anti-Ukrainian disposi- The residents of Kamianka observed on “This case isn’t about tion have taken their cue from the December 8, 2010, that lights were erected Lutsenko – it’s a precedent Yanukovych government to persecute around the Ascension of the Lord Church to and example that if society Ukrainian patriots and promote an anti- monitor nighttime activity and that a lock gives up Lutsenko, then Ukrainian agenda,” said Ivan Lozowy, presi- was placed on its door, the archbishop similar methods will be used dent of the Institute of Statehood and Vitalii Kokhan reported. against other opposition Democracy in Kyiv. “They’re not just Former Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko The parish removed the lock in the pres- leaders and later all citizens Communists, but Russian sympathizers and sits in a holding cell opposite his wife, Iryna, during ence of police, filed a complaint, and initiat- of Ukraine,” said Oles a December 27, 2010, court hearing. former ‘red’ directors who’ve become bar- ed a round-the-clock duty to defend their ons of industry.” Doniy, a member of the church, even barricading themselves inside. defunct People’s Self-Defense party that People’s Self-Defense party, which was Donetsk Wealthy Donetsk businessmen, whose was led by Mr. Lutsenko. formed in 2007 but has since dissolved. parents live in Kamianka, financed the effort, At least 13 high-ranking officials who He was among the most loyal allies of They’re also Christians who belong to the he said. Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow served in the government of former Ms. Tymoshenko, having come to her Patriarchate (UOC-MP), which is led by (Continued on page 12) Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko have public defense ever since she returned as been arrested or face criminal charges, prime minister in December 2007 and which observes called a persecution cam- battled with former President Viktor paign intended on decimating the leading Yushchenko. opposition force, the Batkivschyna party. At that time, he returned to his position Seven of them are imprisoned. as internal affairs minister – leader of “The main goal is to gain control over Ukraine’s 200,000-plus national police political opponents,” said Ivan Lozowy, force – which he left after Mr. president of the Institute of Statehood and Yanukovych became prime minister in Democracy in Kyiv. “They’re doing it August 2006. using illegitimate force – demoralizing Law enforcement authorities, consist- them, breaking them up, and physically ing of 11 Alpha special forces of the hampering what they’re doing.” Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Most other leading political parties are two prosecutors, arrested Mr. Lutsenko as satellites loyal to the Party of Regions of he was walking his dog outside his apart- Ukraine, including Strong Ukraine led by ment high-rise on December 26, 2010. Sergey Tigipko and Single Center led by The Procurator General of Ukraine Viktor Baloha. The leaders of these par- summoned him at least four times in the ties serve in the Cabinet of Ministers led prior weeks to allow him to read a crimi- by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. nal case filed in early November 2010 Other parties claiming to be the oppo- that accused Mr. Lutsenko of misappro- sition – such as the Front of Change led priating state property when allegedly by Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the Svoboda hiring his driver in violation of require- nationalist party led by Oleh Tiahnybok – ments and giving him an apartment and Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate are also widely suspected of having pension payments. The Moscow Patriarchate attempted a December 8 raid on this rural Donetsk ties to the Party of Regions, though no On December 13, 2010, he and the Oblast church, the Lord’s Ascension, that the Kyiv Patriarchate spent eight years evidence has been made public. renewing, claimed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate. Mr. Lutsenko was the chair of the (Continued on page 13) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2011 No. 1 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFS Ukraine can’t combine Putinism New EU states on Communist crimes worth $3.1 billion), according to Forbes magazine. He was on this year’s Time and European integration VILNIUS, Lithuania – Six ex-Commu- 100, the magazine’s list of the world’s nist states that are now members of the most influential people. (New York Post, by Taras Kuzio Yanukovych was elected president – no European Union on December 14, 2010, The Daily Telegraph ) RFE/RL court trial or criminal investigation could be urged Brussels to push for a bloc-wide ban fair and in accordance with the rule of law. on denial of the crimes of their region’s CVU comments on next elections Opposition leader and former Prime Ukraine’s judicial system became even old regimes, saying the victims had been Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been placed more corrupt during Mr. Yushchenko’s pres- forgotten by Western countries. “The prin- KYIV – There is a possibility that the under de facto house arrest and is threatened idency than it was previously. The indepen- ciple of justice should assure a just treat- next parliamentary elections in Ukraine by a prison term of up to five years, as dence of the judicial system under Mr. ment of the victims of every totalitarian will be held in 2011, because the next ses- leaked to the newspaper “Segodnya” on Yanukovych has ended. regime,” the foreign affairs ministers of sion of the Verkhovna Rada for various December 22, 2010. Prosecutor-General Viktor Pshonka Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, reasons might fail to muster 300 votes to She was briefly imprisoned in February admitted on Inter television that he was a Latvia, Lithuania and Romania said in a amend the Constitution of Ukraine, which 2001. The persecution of Ms. Tymoshenko member of Mr. Yanukovych’s team, not an letter obtained by Agence France-Presse would make it possible to hold parliamen- is clearly aimed at removing her from poli- independent body. Mr. Pshonka has been (AFP). In the letter to Viviane Reding, the tary elections in 2012. This opinion was tics ahead of the September 2012 parlia- allied to Mr. Yanukovych since he was EU’s justice commissioner, they said expressed by chairman of the Committee mentary elections and the January 2015 Donetsk governor, and the Ukrainian media “public condoning, denial and gross trivi- of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) Oleksander presidential contest. have covered their close family ties. alization of totalitarian crimes” should be Chernenko, it was reported on December The attack on Ms. Tymoshenko and her criminalized whatever the regime respon- 20, 2010. If such elections were to be held Singling Out Tymoshenko political bloc, Batkivshchyna (Fatherland), sible. Holocaust denial is already banned in 2011, they would have the same draw- is politically motivated and also reveals a It should also be noted that the authorities in many EU nations, but the six states backs that existed during the local elec- desire for revenge that has become personal. are not targeting the opposition as a whole, want such legislation to also cover those tions in October 2010: reduction of the President Viktor Yanukovych has admitted but only its most popular force – Ms.