No. 38, September 20, 2020
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INSIDE: l News and Views: UNWLA’s cultural diplomacy – page 6 l Community Chronicle: Southwest Florida, Cleveland – page 13 l Sports Update: Bilodid’s quest for Olympic gold – page 14 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXXVIII No. 38 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 $2.00 NEWS ANALYSIS Thousand-year-old St. Sophia Cathedral Ukraine and the new Belarusian factor is focus of new preservation efforts by Bohdan Nahaylo this implies for Ukraine, still facing Russian aggression in the Donbas, will be seriously KYIV – The unexpected peaceful but dra- aggravated. Not exactly what Ukraine needs matic revolution in Belarus against the when it is at war with Russia and seeking to Lukashenka dictatorship is about to enter recover the occupied territories in the its seventh week. It has not only become a Donbas and in Crimea. turning point in the country’s history and On the other hand, if the Belarusian peo- profoundly changed Belarus, but is also ple continue to display the unity, resilience, impacting in different ways on its diverse heroism and creativity they have demon- neighbors, including Ukraine in the south. strated in the face of the shocking brutality For Ukraine, the new and evolving situa- and disregard for the law and human rights tion, rife with uncertainty as to the direction on the part of the Lukashenka regime, and it will take and the eventual outcome, is if their struggle for regime change is suc- replete with challenges, threats and dangers, cessful, this could be a gamechanger in the but also potential new opportunities and region and for Europe as a whole. And possible significant changes for the better. while many Belarusians may feel a special The challenges and dangers are obvious affinity with their Lithuanian or Polish enough: a brutal dictatorship next door on neighbors, there is much that also links a long shared border which is no longer dis- Ukrainians with their northern neighbors, guising its hostility to a democratic and pro- culturally and historically. Western Ukraine and what it represents; an The Belarusian revolt against dictator- embattled despot, rejected by his people ship has so far tactfully not proclaimed Zagoriy Foundation and desperate to secure Vladimir Putin’s itself to be either pro-Western or pro-Eur- Speaking at the presentation of the new technology installed in the St. Sophia support at any cost, including becoming a asian in the sense of the hitherto existing Cathedral complex in Kyiv to preserve the 11th century landmark is Kateryna vassal of Moscow, or as Alyaksandr Luka- close economic and political bonds with Zagoriy, co-founder of the Zagoriy Foundation, which co-sponsored the preservation shenka now puts it, having reverted this Russia and its other partners among the project. week to the servile language expected of former Soviet states. But its rejection of the non-Russians during the Soviet era – despotism and the Eurasian notion of rul- by Roman Tymotsko cent monasteries of excessive moisture, the Russian “elder brother.” ers remaining in power for life implicitly thus saving them for future generations. If, in desperation to cling to the sem- identifies the revolt with the democratic KYIV – The administration of the The process is to be implemented with blance of power, Mr. Lukashenka scrambles European model. And Ukraine, where National Sanctuary Complex “Sophia of innovative Swiss equipment, called the to bring Belarus “closer” to Russia, condon- (regardless of the flaws in its democratic Kyiv,” together with patrons of the historic BioDry system, that is used for natural res- ing, in effect, the merger of the two states – system) regular elections have been demo- preserve’s renovation, on September 16 toration of a proper level of humidity. The or, rather, Belarus’s absorption – then the presented a project to drain the foundations political, military and economic threats that (Continued on page 5) and walls of St. Sophia Cathedral and adja- (Continued on page 3) Derkach among ‘Russia-linked’ individuals blacklisted over interference in U.S. election RFE/RL November elections through social media, is facing criminal charges in the United States fake news and other means. for stealing American identities. The United States says it has imposed In the same statement, the Treasury The United States had previously sanc- sanctions on a Ukrainian lawmaker behind Department announced it had also sanc- tioned the IRA and owner Yevgeny leaked telephone records of Democratic tioned three Russian nationals working on Prigozhin, a Kremlin insider known as presidential hopeful Joe Biden, as well as behalf of the Internet Research Agency “Putin’s chef,” for its interference in the three other “Russia-linked” individuals (IRA), the so-called troll factory based in St. 2016 U.S. presidential election. accused of attempting to influence the U.S. Petersburg that was involved in the Biden tapes electoral process. Kremlin’s attempt to interfere in the 2016 The U.S. Treasury Department said in a presidential election. Between May and July, Mr. Derkach statement on September 10 that it had “Russia uses a variety of proxies to attempt released edited audio tapes from 2016 of blacklisted Andriy Derkach, who has been to sow discord between political parties and Mr. Biden’s conversations with then-Ukraini- helping President Donald Trump’s personal drive internal divisions to influence voters as an President Petro Poroshenko. lawyer Rudy Giuliani find compromising part of Moscow’s broader efforts to under- Vice-President Biden served as the information on Mr. Biden. mine democratic countries and institutions,” Obama administration’s point man to Kyiv The Treasury Department said Mr. the Treasury Department said. following the 2014 revolution that ousted Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian The three Russian nationals – Artem corrupt pro-Russian President Viktor Parliament who studied at the KGB school Verkhovna Rada Lifshits, Anton Andreyev and Darya Aslanova Yanukovych, and he regularly spoke with in Moscow, has been “an active Russian National Deputy Andriy Derkach. – were sanctioned because they had “sup- President Poroshenko. agent” for over a decade. ported the IRA’s cryptocurrency accounts.” On the tapes, Mr. Biden appears to tell Mr. “Derkach has directly or indirectly Russian malign influence campaigns and The IRA “uses cryptocurrency to fund Poroshenko that the United States will pro- engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or other- protecting our upcoming elections from activities in furtherance of their ongoing vide a $1 billion loan guarantee to Ukraine wise been complicit in foreign interference foreign interference,” the statement said. malign influence operations around the once Kyiv replaces its top prosecutor. in an attempt to undermine the upcoming The move comes amid growing concern world,” the Treasury Department said. The West tied loans and other forms of 2020 U.S. presidential election. Today’s des- in Washington about attempts by Russia Separately, the Justice Department ignation of Derkach is focused on exposing and other foreign nations to interfere in the announced on September 10 that Mr. Lifshits (Continued on page 13) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 No. 38 ANALYSIS Belarusian protests via emotional Sanctions upheld on Russian energy firms ment of the EU’s efforts to bring a solution to the crisis in Ukraine that respects its territo- The European Union’s top court has rial integrity, sovereignty, and indepen- upheld restrictive measures adopted by the versus analytical lenses dence.” (RFE/RL) 27-nation bloc against Russian oil and gas by Grigory Ioffe opposition body, created to negotiate the companies in connection with Moscow’s Russian court sentences Crimean Tatars Eurasia Daily Monitor putative transfer of power in Minsk, has actions in Ukraine. The Luxembourg-based been trying to connect with the Kremlin A court in Russia has sentenced seven Court of Justice announced on September Crimean Tatars to lengthy prison terms on Narratives devoted to the ongoing politi- (Lenta.ru, September 7). This same out- 17 that it had upheld a judgment by a lower cal turmoil in Belarus fall into two basic cat- come is de facto recognized in the West: charges of being members of a banned EU court dismissing an action against the Islamic group. On September 16, the egories: emotional and analytical. Attempts notably, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen sanctions slapped on companies that are to mix both genres do not succeed. “Even if Biegun recently conducted detailed Southern Military Regional court in the city part of state oil giant Rosneft, saying the of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Marlen Asanov, the Belarusian revolution ends in defeat, it Belarus-related negotiations in Moscow. measures “have been duly justified and are will still go down in history and will have a Most revealingly, Moscow’s key role was Memet Belyalov, Timur Ibragimov, Seyran suitable for putting pressure on Russia Saliyev, Server Mustafayev, Server Zekirya- huge impact on the further development of confirmed by Mr. Lukashenka himself, because of its role” in the Ukraine crisis. the country,” wrote Valer Karbalevich of whose two-hour-long interview to Russian yev and Edem Smailov to prison terms of Beginning in July 2014, the European between 13 and 19 years. All were found Radio Liberty, only to be rebuked by multi- journalists on September 9 contained one Council adopted restrictive measures on the ple comment posts to the effect that “by no primary message: “The West seeks to carry guilty of being members of the Hizb ut-Tah- Russian bank and energy sectors in Russia rir Islamic group, which is labeled as means will the revolution be defeated” out a color revolution in Belarus solely in in response to its annexation of the Crimean (Svaboda.org, September 10). order to prepare a springboard for the extremist and banned in Russia but is legal peninsula and its support for militants fight- in Ukraine.