The Ukrainian Weekly, 2019
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Part 2 of THE YEAR IN REVIEW pages 7-13 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXVII No. 3 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 2019 $2.00 Crimean Tatars see Budapest Memorandum as key Experts: Presidential race still ‘wide open’ before March 31 vote to the recovery of their homeland Stanislav Yurchenko, RFE/RL Mustafa Dzhemilev Presidential Administration of Ukraine tymoshenko.ua Komanda Zelenskoho/Facebook Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko Two-time ex-Prime Minister Yulia Actor-comedian Volodymyr Zelensky is a by Paul Goble hasn’t announced his candidacy for the Tymoshenko has said she will run for a front runner for the March 31 presiden- March 31 presidential election, but has third time for president, having failed in tial election. Mustafa Dzhemilev, the leader of advertised patriotic messages on bill- two previous campaigns in 2010 and 2014. January 6 and Russia’s attack on Ukrainian the Crimean Tatars, said that the goal boards using slogans like “Army! naval ships in late November 2018, he of his nation is “the establishment of a Language! Faith!” a clear path to the country’s highest politi- added that these events could change “the platform for the return of Crimea on cal seat. None of the three approaches 20 dynamic” and could have a “tremendous the basis of the Budapest by Mark Raczkiewycz percent popularity among voters in the effect” and likely “move these undecided Memorandum,” the 1994 accord under first round that requires a simple majority KYIV – The March 31 presidential elec- to ensure inauguration. numbers,” according to a report by the U.S.- which Russia and the West agreed to tion is “wide open” and “unpredictable” This, coupled with the fact that one-fifth Ukraine Foundation. guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integri- Ukraine experts and analysts have noted, as of voters are still undecided – mostly Among the subsample of likely voters, ty in exchange for its surrender of findings from fresh public opinion polls women who reside in central and western Ms. Tymoshenko leads with 19 percent of nuclear weapons. were released in the last two months Ukraine, makes it difficult to foresee who support, followed by Mr. Poroshenko (13.5 The United States, Great Britain, before the New Year. the two final candidates will be for the like- percent) and Mr. Zelensky (12.7 percent), Canada and other countries following Current national lawmaker and two- ly runoff vote in April. according to an average of five recent sur- the 2014 Crimean annexation declared time Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is It’s “a wide-open race,” said Stephen Nix veys released by January 4, according to that Moscow was in violation of the the front runner, followed by incumbent of the International Republican Institute Wooden Horse Strategies, a political con- memorandum, but Vladimir Putin President Petro Poroshenko and newcomer (IRI) on January 4 during a video confer- sultancy based in Kyiv. replied that, in fact, the Western powers Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a showman and per- ence held by the Transatlantic Task Force Three surveys released in November- were in breach by fomenting the haps the country’s most popular comedian. on Elections and Civil Society in Ukraine. December 2018 using a nationwide sample Maidan in Ukraine, thereby sparking a However, no potential victor – the top Citing the IRI poll published before of registered voters show that Ms. revolution and creating a new state three so far have not officially registered Ukraine was granted a decree to establish Moscow was not committed to support. their candidacies as of January 15 – enjoys an independent Orthodox Church on (Continued on page 18) For the past four years, there the matter has stood; but Mr. Dzhemilev’s declaration, made to Ukrinform in Ankara suggests that the Crimean Tatars may now be ready to launch a New study on Holodomor presented in fi ve Canadian cities new campaign to focus international attention on the 1994 accord, and that CIUS the West might now be ready to do more to compel compliance with the EDMONTON-TORONTO – The publication in 2018 of memorandum (ukrinform.ru/rubric- “The Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine: An Anatomy of crimea/2611494-mustafa-dzemilev- the Holodomor” (CIUS Press) by Stanislav Kulchytsky lider-krymskih-tatar.html). was an important milestone in the work of the The Crimean Tatar leader lobbied Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) for the passage of the U.N. resolution on at the University of Alberta’s Canadian Institute of the demilitarization of occupied Crimea Ukrainian Studies (CIUS). An updated translation into on December 17 in large part because English of his “Ukraïnskyi Holodomor v Konteksti “there for the first time was a reference Polityky Kremlia Pochatku 1930-ykh Rokiv” (2014), this to the Budapest Memorandum.” It is latest work, supported by HREC, can be considered a dis- “very important,” he noted, that the tillation of 30 years of study of the topic by one of United Nations specified that Russia’s Ukraine’s leading historians. militarization of Crimea is “a violation For the occasion of the book’s publication in the 85th of the Budapest memorandum.” anniversary year of the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, and “Our next goal,” Mr. Dzhemilev said, to honor Prof. Kulchytsky for his decades-long scholar- “is the creation of a platform for the ship on the Famine, HREC invited the author to Canada in Halyna Klid November 2018 for a series of book presentations. Stanislav Kulchytsky (left) and Bohdan Klid at the book launch of “The (Continued on page 15) Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine: An Anatomy of the Holodomor” in (Continued on page 18) Edmonton, Alberta. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 2019 No. 3 ANALYSIS Crimean Tatar activist who brought aid Russian court extends sailors’ detention Ukrainian crew captured near the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018. “Canada is A Moscow court has prolonged the pre- deeply concerned with Russia’s decision to to Ukraine POWs is viciously attacked trial detention of 24 Ukrainian sailors extend the detention of Ukrainian crew detained by Russian forces who attacked captured during recent events near the three Ukrainian Navy vessels in the Black Kerch Strait and calls for their immediate Sea in November. On January 16, the release. Canada continues to condemn Lefortovo district court ruled that four of unlawful Russian actions,” the Embassy of the sailors will remain in jail until April 24, Canada in Ukraine wrote on Twitter on pending further investigation and possible January 16. On the morning of November trial. The pretrial detention period can be 25, 2018, Russia had blocked passage to extended again by court order. A day earli- the Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian tugboat er, in a series of rulings, the court granted Yany Kapu and two armored naval boats requests by the Russian Investigative Berdyansk and Nikopol, which were on a Committee to keep commander Denys scheduled re-deployment from the Black Hrytsenko, Security Service (SBU) officer Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Andriy Drach and 15 sailors in jail until Mariupol. The Ukraine Navy Command April 24. The court ruled that three sailors noted that the Russian side had been will stay in pretrial custody until April 26. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group informed of the plans to re-deploy the ves- On January 15, as Russian security officers sels in advance in accordance with interna- Risa Asanov (second from left), Nariman Dzhelyal (second from right) and two other escorted some of the sailors from the Crimean Tatars with the help they brought to Moscow for the 24 Ukrainian POWs. tional standards to ensure the safety of courtroom during a break in the proceed- navigation. The Russian coast guard ship ings for lunch, some spectators chanted, Crimea, and one of the guests looked at him Don rammed the Ukrainian tugboat, dam- by Halya Coynash “Glory to Ukraine!” All 24 servicemen say and asked: “And so what are you doing here aging the Ukrainian vessel. As the Kharkiv Human Rights they consider themselves prisoners of war. then?” Ukrainian boats were heading back in the Protection Group Russia has held the Ukrainian sailors since Mr. Asanov says that he was in a terrible direction of Odesa after being rejected pas- its forces fired on, boarded and then seized Risa Asanov, one of the Crimean Tatar state for the next day, and then told his wife sage via the Kerch Strait, the Russian coast their vessels near the Kerch Strait, which activists who recently carried aid to to get ready. Within 24 hours, he says, they guard opened aimed fire. All 24 crew mem- links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, on Moscow for the 24 Ukrainian POWs seized were standing at the administrative border bers on board were captured and later November 25, 2018. Moscow claims the by Russia, was viciously attacked on between Kherson Oblast in mainland remanded in custody for two months, being Ukrainian vessels illegally entered Russian January 2. The two assailants waited for Ukraine and occupied Crimea. The Russian charged with “illegal border crossing.” him to regain consciousness to say that this border guards initially didn’t want to let territorial waters near Crimea, the Three crewmen were wounded in the was his “last warning” and that he would him in, admitting him finally as a “foreign Ukrainian peninsula that Russia occupied attack. Russian-controlled “courts” in occu- not live through the next attack. national.” Soon afterwards he sorted that and took over in 2014. The sailors have pied Crimea ruled that all 24 detainees Mr.