The Ukrainian Weekly 2014, No.25
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www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE: l Ukrainian Cultural Festival to honor Maidan – page 8 l Book note: Serhii Plokhy’s “The Last Empire” – page 10 l Ukraine in the spotlight in New York City – centerfold THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXII No. 25 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2014 $2.00 UKRAINE’S CRISIS Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom Poroshenko’s first lesson awarded to Dzhemilev, Marynovych by Yaro Bihun WASHINGTON – Two prominent Ukrainian civil and human rights activists – Mustafa Dzhemilev and Myroslav Marynovych – were the recipients of the 2014 Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom awarded by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. As noted at the presentation cere- mony on June 11 in front of the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, Mr. Dzhemilev is a “hero- ic example of bravery throughout his Official website of Ukraine’s president life,” having spent decades defending President Petro Poroshenko at the June 16 meeting the political rights of Crimean Tatars of the National Security and Defense Council. from Soviet aggression. And now, as a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, by Oleksandr Gavrylyuk he is leading an offensive against Eurasia Daily Monitor Embassy of Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian human rights activist Myroslav Marynovych describes the effects On May 27, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister aggression and annexation of Crimea. of the aggression of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime on Ukraine Vitaliy Yarema promised journalists that the Anti- Mr. Dzhemilev, who came to and other post-Soviet countries after receiving this year’s Truman-Reagan Terrorist Operation (ATO) being conducted in the Washington back in March to discuss Medal of Freedom in front of the Victims of Communism Memorial in country’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions the Russian threat to that territory of Washington. (Donbas) would be greatly intensified shortly follow- Ukraine with U.S. officials, was unable ing Petro Poroshenko’s inauguration (Interfax- to come to Washington this time and and spent seven years in a Soviet hard- Ukrainian chapter of Amnesty Ukraine, May 27). received his Medal of Freedom in labor camp and five years in exile. He International. However, during his inauguration speech on June 7, absentia. helped organize the Ukrainian Now the vice rector of the Ukrainian Mr. Poroshenko, the fifth president of Ukraine, Mr. Marynovych has also been Helsinki Group, which monitored the Catholic University in Lviv, where he revealed a peace plan to resolve the situation in defending his countrymen’s human Soviet government’s compliance with has worked since 2000, Myroslav the Donbas region. The plan proposes the disarma- and civil rights for decades. In the those 1975 human rights accords, and ment of everyone who took up a weapon against the 1970s, he was arrested as an agitator in 1991 he founded and chaired the (Continued on page 10) central government, an amnesty for all fighters willing to give up their arms, the arrangement of a corridor for the withdrawal of Russian mercenaries, broad peaceful dialogue and early local elections in the Donbas, and a package of economic reforms for east- Kolomoisky emerges as key leader in defending Ukraine ern Ukraine (president.gov.ua, June 7) The ATO, which was launched in mid-April of this by Zenon Zawada oligarch who spent most of his time man, with whom he clashed for con- year, from the very beginning lacked everything, from abroad into a fighter for Ukraine. trol of a Dnipropetrovsk market. funding and ammunition to preparation time and for- KYIV – Never having planned for a “Kolomoisky oriented himself He even admitted to Ukrayinska ward planning. According to Mykhailo Koval, Ukraine’s Russian invasion and with its coffers quickly. He understood that it wasn’t Pravda reporter Serhii Leshchenko in acting defense minister, the national armed forces had empty, the interim Ukrainian govern- worth waiting for help from the state 2008 that he spent much of his time in suffered from extreme degeneration under former ment froze in its tracks when the first and began to form his own army,” said Switzerland, despite being Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych’s regime (5.ua, June 1). unidentified “green men” with auto- Andriy Zolotariov, an expert on poli- third richest citizen at the time, own- But – perhaps even more importantly – Ukrainian matic rifles cropped up in the Donetsk tics in Dnipropetrovsk. ing an enormous asset portfolio. He troops and law enforcement personnel were not pre- Oblast in mid-April. “He drew the right conclusions from admitted to having Israeli citizenship, pared psychologically to fight against their country- Among the first leaders to combat 2005 and, instead of hiding in despite Ukraine’s laws forbidding dual men or even Russian mercenaries. There remained, them was Igor Kolomoisky, 51, who Switzerland, he demonstrated initiative. citizenship. according to National Security and Defense Council had been appointed to lead the He took under control a key region and Yet Mr. Kolomoisky has performed (NSDC) Secretary Andriy Parubiy, a lot of people in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. is actively implementing his policies not a radical image makeover in the last both the army and the police, who were sure that First he helped form the Dnipro only there, but all over the country.” few months. Mr. Zolotariov described Russia was not Ukraine’s enemy and therefore would battalion, even reportedly consulting Mr. Kolomoisky had a lackluster him as “a more influential figure than never attack it (radiosvoboda.org, May 30). However, a with nationalist paramilitary leader image for most of his career as a bil- the top presidential contenders.” series of particularly bloody assaults by the secession- Dmytro Yarosh. lionaire oligarch. Criminal charges Experts have cited the critical role ists (for example the May 21 attack in which 17 sol- Being a banker, his next approach were filed against him in 2005 for his of Western sanctions and Ukrainian diers were shot dead in an ambush in Volnovakha, came naturally. He declared a $10,000 alleged role in the attempted murder law enforcement and army in prevent- Donetsk Oblast, then the deadliest day for Ukraine’s reward for each captured Russian of a Dnipropetrovsk lawyer. The charg- ing a Crimea-style Russian invasion military), hardened many Ukrainians into a more res- fighter, $2,000 per grenade launcher es were dropped within three weeks and election sabotage in May. Yet few olute fighting stance. and $1,500 per machine gun. Within while he took refuge in Switzerland. leaders have earned as much praise as Having modified their tactics toward greater use of two days, on April 19, a $40,000 pay- Mr. Kolomoisky is also suspected Mr. Kolomoisky, who took over as the air support, the ATO forces struck back heavily against ment was made to a group of soldiers. by political experts, but was never state oblast administration chair, or (Continued on page 10) And thus Mr. Kolomoisky trans- charged, in playing a possible role in formed his image as a gangster-style the 2007 killing of a Russian business- (Continued on page 22) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2014 No. 25 ANALYSIS Russian ultra-nationalists Ukraine observes day of mourning guished. A sign carried by protesters in the crowd declared “Russia is a killer.” (RFE/RL, KYIV – June 15 was a day of mourning in with reporting by Reuters and ITAR-TASS) involved in Donbas conflict Ukraine for the 49 soldiers killed when pro- Russian separatists shot down a military Poroshenko promises unilateral ceasefire prospect of working with other elements – transport plane. President Petro by Richard Arnold KYIV – President Petro Poroshenko has Eurasia Daily Monitor especially the Chechens – in the fight for Poroshenko declared the day of mourning eastern Ukraine. On DPNI leader Mr. and has vowed a firm response against announced plans for a unilateral ceasefire in Several cities in the Donbas, the eastern Belov’s Facebook page, for instance, there those who shot down the aircraft early on eastern Ukraine, where government forces portion of Ukraine comprising the regions of were comments, presumably from other June 14 as it approached the airport in are fighting pro-Russian separatists. Mr. Donetsk and Luhansk, have been embroiled neo-Nazis, deriding the involvement of the Luhansk. “Ukraine is in sorrow, but we Poroshenko told reporters in Kyiv on June 18 that he would soon order a “very brief” in Russian-sponsored secessionist violence Chechens. Indeed, Mr. Belov himself posted strongly continue the struggle for peace,” unilateral ceasefire as part of a broader plan against Ukrainian authorities since early commentary on the DPNI website com- Mr. Poroshenko said. In Washington, the to end the 10-week-long separatist insur- April. And while Russia has no officially iden- plaining that Chechens were in Donbas White House condemned the shooting gency. The Kremlin earlier said that tified uniformed troops in the region, there “with [Chechen leader Ramzan] Kadyrov’s down of the plane, saying that it is a “fact” President Poroshenko and Russian are claims that it has been involved in the blessing and for money” and not out of rea- that pro-Russian separatists in eastern President Vladimir Putin had discussed a fighting through the deployment of irregu- sons of patriotism or ethnic belonging Ukraine have received heavy weapons from possible ceasefire in eastern Ukraine in a lars, like the Chechen Vostok battalion (see (http://www.dpni.org/articles/novostna- Russia, including tanks and rocket launch- telephone conversation on June 17. Eurasia Daily Monitor, May 30). Other ya/39200/). This was despite the denials ers. Meanwhile, NATO has released satellite According to the Kremlin, Messrs. irregular forces have also been involved, from Mr.