AUGUST 24 – UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY ThePublished U by thekra Ukrainian Nationalin Association,ian Inc., celebrating Weekly its 125th anniversary Vol. LXXXVII No. 33 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2019 $2.00 Associated Press says: No more K-i-e-v Th e battle for Kyiv intensifi es PARSIPPANY, N.J. – The Associated ed that on October 3, 2006, the Board on as Zelenskyy seeks to oust Klitschko Press Stylebook on August 14 notified Geographic Names (BGN) unanimously users of its style and usage guide that the voted to change the BGN standard translit- name of the capital of Ukraine would eration of the name of the Ukrainian capi- now be spelled Kyiv, not Kiev. tal to Kyiv. This decision affected the whole In a tweet and a post on Facebook, the AP Stylebook wrote: “AP has changed its style for the capital of Ukraine to Kyiv, in andU.S. operationsgovernment. are The requested State Department to immedi- line with the Ukrainian government’s atelynoted begin that “allusing State the Departmentnew spelling offices ‘Kyiv’ preferred transliteration to English and in all written communication. The increasing usage. Include a reference in American diplomatic post there will stories to the former spelling of Kiev. The henceforth be called Embassy Kyiv.” food dish remains chicken Kiev.” Some historical footnotes on the Kyiv spelling: • At the daily press briefing at the thatState the Department spelling Kyiv on “is October more in19, keeping 2006, on Legal Terminology headed by the withDeputy how Spokesman the Ukrainians Tom Caseythemselves explained pro- Presidential Office of Ukraine klichko.org newly• On appointedOctober 14, 1995,justice the minister Committee of nounce the name of their capital. It is also President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Kyiv. Ukraine, Serhii Holovatyi, adopted “Kyiv” now in keeping with how a number of as the official spelling that would hence- international organizations, including by Bohdan Nahaylo and staying on until the next local elections. forth be used in all legal and official acts NATO and the U.N., are now spelling it.” Initially, Mr. Klitschko’s position of Ukraine, emphasizing that foreign-lan- KYIV – The acrimonious political contest appeared to mirror that of others against guage spellings of place names in spelling, Kyiv, to be used by the U.S. gov- for control of Kyiv between the new whom the political tide changed so deci- Ukraine should be based on the ernment,• In 2006, the whileAP noted: reporting “The onAssociated the new Ukrainian president’s team and Mayor sively in the recent presidential and politi- Ukrainian-language. Press continues to spell the name of the Vitali Klitschko and his defenders has been cal elections. In May and June, the outgoing capital Kiev.” intensified and prolonged. It has also Verkhovna Rada, dominated by former assumed an international dimension that is President Petro Poroshenko’s party and its • The U.S. Department of State report- embarrassing, if not damaging, to the coun- allies, blocked the replacement of key min- try’s image. isters proposed by President Zelenskyy Zelenskyy decree fast-tracks citizenship On the surface it would appear to be a and the adoption of several laws that he case of the victor in Ukraine’s presidential said were essential to opening the door to for persecuted Russians, defenders of Ukraine election, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose change. Servant of the People party subsequently But the standoff between the KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr captured all of the single “majority” constit- Presidential Office and Mr. Klitschko has Zelenskyy has simplified naturalization regions). uencies in the city, calling on a representa- deepened, and charges of corruption and procedures for foreigners and stateless FederationAccording in to the the Donetsk decree, theand Cabinet Luhansk of tive of a defeated political force to take mismanagement have been leveled against people who have “defended Ukraine” and Ministers of Ukraine has been charged with heed of the popular mood and to step the mayor by the Zelenskyy team and elab- for Russians facing “political persecution” submitting a draft law to the Verkhovna aside, and the latter digging his heels in. orated in the media. at home. Rada aimed at simplifying the procedure From the outset, however, there was a The moves to oust Mr. Klitschko have In a decree published on the presidential for acquiring Ukrainian citizenship by the complicating factor that restricted President been spearheaded by the head of the website on August 13, Mr. Zelenskyy above mentioned categories of persons, as Zelenskyy’s prerogative to replace the capi- Presidential Office, Andriy Bohdan. Mr. ordered the Cabinet of Ministers to well as a draft law on the procedure for tal’s chief official and provided Mr. Klitschko Bohdan told the media on July 30 that it “urgently” develop and draft a law “aimed granting asylum. with a temporary lifeline. The latter holds had become evident from discussions with at simplifying the procedure for acquiring In addition, the government is commis- two positions that, in practice, have been Mr. Klitschko that “He has lost control over citizenship.” sioned to check, with the assistance of the combined. Mr. Klitschko was elected mayor the situation in the city,” and that he himself Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the com- in May 2014 by the city’s citizens and the acknowledged that “he did not control the eigners and stateless persons who have pliance with the requirements of legislation following month was appointed head of City Council.” participatedThe decree in(No. the 594/2019) implementation covers “for- of on citizenship affairs by the State Migration Kyiv City State Administration by President Mr. Bohdan went on to claim that there national security and defense measures, Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dip- Petro Poroshenko. His current term as are “two-three minders” among the Kyiv and citizens of the Russian Federation who lomatic missions and consular offices of mayor ends in October. City Council controlling the voting of the have been persecuted for political reasons.” Ukraine when deciding on the acquisition According to Article 118 of the groups of deputies, and that the mayor is a The document exempts persons who are of Ukrainian citizenship. Constitution of Ukraine, the heads of state hostage to these corrupt forces. citizens of the Russian Federation persecut- The president’s move comes less than a administrations are appointed and dis- Furthermore, Mr. Bohdan alleged that a ed because of political convictions in the month after Russia announced a decree to missed by the president with the approval bribe of $20 million had been offered to country of their citizenship and who apply fast-track the granting of citizenship to all of the Cabinet of Ministers. Thus, on July him by a lawyer of one of these “minders” for Ukrainian citizenship from the require- residents of the Ukrainian regions of 24, President Zelenskyy asked the Cabinet to allow Mr. Klitschko to remain. ment of submitting an obligation to termi- to approve his request that the president’s Mayor Klitschko promptly denied this nate foreign citizenship. backed militants have been fighting a war “appointee” in the capital be replaced. and dismissed Mr. Bohdan’s statements as The same concerns persons serving in againstDonetsk Ukrainian and Luhansk, troops. where Russian- “This appeal to the Cabinet is, in fact, a “gossip and manipulative speculation.” Mr. the Armed Forces of Ukraine, having out- Ukraine and the West decried the move formality as, according to the law, all heads Klitschko asked the National Anti- standing merits to Ukraine, or whose natu- as an attempt to undermine Ukrainian sov- of local administrations are dismissed after Corruption Bureau (NABU) to investigate ralization is of national interest (who were ereignty and was seen as an effort to pro- the election of a new president,” the the allegation against him and on August or are involved in the implementation of voke Mr. Zelenskyy and undermine his Presidential Office explained to Ukrayinska 14 provided testimony, saying that Mr. national security and defense measures, Pravda at the time. Bohdan’s statements are defamation. measures on rebuffing or curbing the Ukrainian Service, Presidential Office of But, as an elected mayor, Mr. Klitschko armed aggression of the Russian Ukraine.electoral win in April. Sources: RFE/RL’s had the option of ignoring the president (Continued on page 11) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2019 No. 33 ANALYSIS The Russia-Ukraine tanker incident New Rada to be sworn in August 29 to demand fair municipal elections. More Ukraine’s new Parliament will be sworn and signs of a looming Black Sea crisis than 250 people were detained by police. investment bank wrote in a note to inves- Ukrainian is Europe’s youngest diving champ Similarly, Russian military expert Oleg (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service) by Ihor Kabanenko tors,in on citingAugust the 29, national Kyiv-based legislature’s Dragon Capital web- Zheltonozhko believes that “The situation Thirteen-year-old Ukrainian Oleksiy Eurasia Daily Monitor site. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is between the two countries may escalate Sereda became the youngest European expected to deliver his first state of the A Russian commercial tanker named into a reciprocal seizure of vessels” aquatics diving champion on August 11 by Nika Spirit entered the Ukrainian port of nation speech to the 424 elected lawmakers winning the 10-meter platform event in the Izmayil on July 24. However, using the It should be noted that, long before the that day. As required by law, the president EQUASIS international information system, (Moskovsky Komsomolets, July 25). addresses Parliament after it appoints the Kyiv. He won by a nearly 14-point margin Ukraine identified the cargo ship as the Neyma, Moscow had announced that a speaker and two deputy speakers.