www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE: l Sen. Robert Menendez meets with Ruslana – page 3 l Former U.S. envoy to Ukraine tapped for Moscow – page 4 l Photos of Soyuzivka’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival – centerfold THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXII No. 29 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2014 $2.00 Thousands enjoy 8th annual Ukrainian Cultural Festival at Soyuzivka Christine Syzonenko Christine Syzonenko Anna Shpook The headliners of the 2014 Ukrainian Cultural Festival: (from left) Vasyl Popadiuk, Ruslana and Oleh Skrypka. by Roma Hadzewycz In keeping with the 2014 festival theme, Ruslana asserted that she would not Papa Duke band. They were later joined on “Spirit of the Maidan,” the dynamic allow Vladimir Putin to take Ukraine, stage by Mr. Skrypka, who sang and played KERHONKSON, N.Y. – The eighth annual Ruslana, a leading figure of the revolution- underscored that “We are for peace in alternately on guitar, horn and bayan (a Ukrainian Cultural Festival at the Soyuzivka ary Euro-Maidan in Kyiv, created a mini- Ukraine,” and exhorted festival-goers to type of accordion). A founder of the legend- Heritage Center was the place to be during Maidan on the Soyuzivka grounds. She pledge to save Ukraine. As she spoke, a ary rock band Vopli Vidopliasova, Mr. the weekend of July 11-13 – and especially appeared with four of her equally dynamic huge Ukrainian flag was carried through Skrypka gifted the audience his special on Saturday, July 12, for the grand stage dancers in a high-energy performance that the throngs sitting on the hill overlooking brand of Ukrainian ethno-rock music that program that featured an array of top stars harkened back to her first performance at the festival stage. She had the audience had fans dancing on the festival grounds. – Ruslana, Oleh Skrypka, Vasyl Popadiuk – Soyuzivka’s festival in 2009. She’s made members chanting “Heroyam slava” (Glory The performance was a unique collabora- and more. several appearances at the heritage center to the heroes), waving blue-and-yellow tion prepared especially for the Soyuzivka More than 5,000 guests traveled that since then, a fact she noted when she said flags and otherwise expressing their patri- festival. weekend to Soyuzivka, located here in the that Soyuzivka had become “something otic emotions. Also on the bill was a festival favorite, scenic Shawangunk Mountains, or as Mr. very dear,” that coming here was “like going Mr. Popadiuk performed his energetic Skrypka put it, in the “stateside Karpaty.” to grandmother’s village.” “Gypsy World Fusion” music along with the (Continued on page 10) Diaspora at the front lines in offering aid to Ukrainian fighters by Zenon Zawada diers, Dr. Suprun said. government dispatched its soldiers to the Ostrovsky of Vice News in its Dispatch 46, “The conditions they’re in aren’t the occupied territories of the Donetsk and “Delivering Bulletproof Vests to the Russian KYIV – Diaspora Ukrainians are at the best, but they’re certainly doing what they Luhansk oblasts. Army.” front lines of helping Ukrainian soldiers can to make them better, as are the volun- Soldiers and fighters lacked the basic Mr. Kasyanov personally delivers sup- and fighters defend their land. That’s liter- teers who are supplying them with what necessities for fighting a war such as night- plies bought with the donations, which are ally in the case of Ulana Suprun. they need that the government isn’t doing,” vision scopes, bulletproof vests, helmets to handled through its Facebook page, As director of humanitarian missions at she said. protect against shrapnel, tents, sleeping Ukrainian Army S.O.S. the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), the “Not only are the soldiers patriotic, but bags, tents, shovels, flashlights, boots and “If these funds are given to the Ukrainian Ukrainian American physician spent this so are the volunteers helping. This has real- even camouflage clothing. “Let alone first government, they won’t be very effective week coordinating combat medical training ly brought Ukraine together for keeping aid kits or paramedic packs, which are con- because it’s acting slowly,” said Mr. at a Ukrainian fighter base in the Ukraine whole and free,” Dr. Suprun added. sidered far down on the list,” Dr. Suprun Kasyanov, a retired soldier who served for Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, near the border with With the Ukrainian government bank- said. 16 years. “It would be better if the the Donetsk Oblast, as part of the Patriot rupt after the corruption of the administra- Therefore, they haven’t been shy about Ukrainian diaspora or rich Americans who Defence program, which she also directs. tion of former President Viktor requesting help from average Ukrainians, care about our problems made donations The program provides Ukrainian sol- Yanukovych, Ukraine’s Armed Forces were largely because they don’t trust Ukraine’s to our funds directly or send us things like diers and fighters with Improved First Aid in catastrophic shape when they found military bureaucracy, where officials are bulletproof vests as gifts.” Kits (IFAK) and Combat Lifesaver training themselves unprepared for a Russian mili- often incompetent, inefficient or thieving. Indeed, Ukrainian diaspora leaders have that the Ukrainian military doesn’t provide. tary invasion in March. Yuri Kasyanov, the founder of Armyia responded to Mr. Kasyanov’s call for help. They’ve raised $250,000 so far and saved The depths of the catastrophe became S.O.S., made a direct plea to the diaspora for the lives of at least four dozen injured sol- apparent for the world to see when the support when interviewed by Simon (Continued on page 13) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2014 No. 29 ANALYSIS Putin’s “smart defense”: Wars, Malaysian airliner down in Ukraine resentatives to join the investigation efforts. We are confident that those respon- KYIV – A Malaysia Airlines flight with 280 sible for this tragedy will be brought to jus- rumors of war, and generations of wars passengers and 15 crew was downed in tice.” (Official website of Ukraine’s Ukraine, some 35 miles from the border President) by Jacob W. Kipp was so successful that these phrases with Russia, on July 17. The Boeing 777 was passed into both media and analytical cov- and Roger N. McDermott flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. A Downed plane claim on social media Eurasia Daily Monitor erage of the crisis (RIA Novosti, May 16). Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry adviser, But their appearance and use in the crisis Anton Herashchenko, claimed the plane had KYIV – Shortly before reports surfaced PART I marked elements of the underlying shift in been shot down by a ground-to-air missile. on July 17 that a Malaysian Airlines Boeing Since Vladimir Putin was elected to the Russian defense and security thinking, Andrei Purgin, the self-styled first vice-pre- 777 had crashed in eastern Ukraine, a social Russian presidency in May 2012, he has which blurred the distinction between war mier of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s media site purported to belong to a separat- promised to place “smart defense” at the and peace, combining an array of policy Republic, told Interfax the separatists do not ist leader claimed that insurgents had shot heart of Russia’s security strategy (http:// tools to achieve strategic objectives. have weapons that could shoot down a down an aircraft. In a post on VKontakte, www.rg.ru/2012/02/20/putin-armiya.html), Consequently, it is not surprising to find plane flying at an altitude of 10,000 Russia’s largest social media site, which has testing new concepts and approaches to that among the first individuals decorated meters. Both Ukrainian and Russian author- since been taken down, separatist leader Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, wrote: “In the the use of the armed forces featured in the by the Kremlin following the Crimea opera- ities denied shooting down the Malaysian vicinity of Torez, we just downed a plane, an operational-strategic exercise Zapad 2013. tion were Russian journalists who were at passenger aircraft. President Petro AN-26. It is lying somewhere in the These were further refined in the numer- the forefront of Moscow’s 21st century Poroshenko of Ukraine said he had called Progress Mine. We have issued warnings ous snap inspections of combat readiness information operations (un1.tv, May 6). By Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the late May, Der Spiegel acknowledged the not to fly in our airspace. We have video introduced by Defense Minister Sergei Netherlands to express his condolences and depth of Moscow’s success in its informa- confirming. The bird fell on a waste heap. Shoigu and were displayed to ruthless invite Dutch experts to assist in the investi- tion campaign (http://www.spiegel.de/ Residential areas were not hit. Civilians effect in the operation in Crimea. gation. “I would like to note that we are call- international/world/russia-uses-state-tele- were not injured.” The AN-26 is a Soviet- Yet, the expert and policy-making com- ing this not an incident, not a catastrophe, vision-to-sway-opinion-at-home-and- built twin-engine transport plane used by munities among members of the North but a terrorist act,” Mr. Poroshenko said. abroad-a-971971.html). the Ukrainian military. Torez is a small city Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have (Agence France-Presse, The New York Russian military deployments and exer- of 80,000 located some 40 kilometers east been slow to identify potential break- Times, RFE/RL) cises along the northern, eastern and of Donetsk. Included in the post were two throughs in Russian military thinking and southern borders of Ukraine kept interna- Poroshenko orders investigation videos that showed a rising plume of black their application of military art.