INSIDE: l Canada’s World War I internment operations recalled in Kyiv – page 4 l Syracuse welcomes home native son Bishop Borys Gudziak – page 5 l Halloween weekend at Soyuzivka: fun for all ages – page 11 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXIII No. 45 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015 $2.00 Kolomoisky ally Korban is arrested New round of Western criticism by Zenon Zawada 26 local elections. Meanwhile, Mr. Vilkul of the Opposition targets Procurator-General Shokin KYIV – Ukrainian authorities on October Bloc, sponsored by Donetsk magnate Rinat 31 arrested and detained Hennadiy Akhmetov, will be competing in the runoff Korban, a longtime business associate and for Dnipropetrovsk City Council chair political confidante of Igor Kolomoisky, (mayor) against Borys Filatov, a member of Ukraine’s second-biggest oligarch. Mr. Kolomoisky’s inner circle. Arrested at his home in Dnipropetrovsk, Indeed, numerous observers concluded Mr. Korban was charged with stealing from that Mr. Korban is merely the latest target of the private Country Defense Fund, as well as the president’s selective justice, which has organizing the kidnapping of two govern- already taken aim at other political oppo- ment officials. In his defense, Mr. Korban nents such as the imprisoned Yuriy Syrotiuk, said through his lawyers that he didn’t steal the deputy head of the Svoboda party, and from the fund, which he himself had created Ihor Moisiichuk, the imprisoned national to aid the war effort. He added that he had deputy of Oleh Liashko’s Radical Party. no involvement in any kidnappings. The difference between them and Mr. Mr. Korban’s arrest sparked mixed reac- Korban is that “the brigade attacked a man tions among the public, which has been with media and organizational resources,” waiting for Ukrainian President Petro said Petro Oleshchuk, a political science Poroshenko to prosecute crimes commit- lecturer at Taras Shevchenko National ted by the oligarchs, particularly those of University in Kyiv. “And the country has Aleksandr Sinitsa/UNIAN the Yanukovych entourage. Instead, the realized that these are repressions that EU Representative to Ukraine Jan Tombinski sits alongside Procurator General of arrest of Mr. Korban, the right-hand man to have been occurring for a long time.” Ukraine Viktor Shokin at a late September press conference in Kyiv. the president’s biggest rival, Mr. Such resources are the Ukrop party, Kolomoisky, had sparked concern that sponsored by Mr. Kolomoisky, which per- by Zenon Zawada gion, gender identity and sexual orienta- selective prosecution is being pursued yet formed unusually well in the October 26 tion. again, this time by another president. local elections, finishing ahead of the KYIV – Ukrainians eagerly anticipating a That same afternoon, the EU Delegation “We were awaiting decisive reforms, not Solidarity Petro Poroshenko Bloc in cities visa-free regime with the European Union to Ukraine informed one of its Ukrainian the destruction of his opponents, and those such as Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia. were dealt two major setbacks on partners that it is refraining from financing of Oleksandr Vilkul,” Serhiy Rudenko, a vet- Mr. Kolomoisky is also the owner of the November 5 as the result of their govern- Ukraine’s attempt to create the Specialized eran political observer for the Espreso televi- 1+1 television network, among the most ment’s actions. Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, anoth- sion network, wrote on his Facebook page. widely watched in Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada failed to muster er requirement for the visa-free regime. He was referring to Mr. Poroshenko’s It became apparent in the days after his enough votes to support legislation, “The trust in the final outcome of the statement on October 21 promising arrest that Mr. Korban was expecting it to required by the EU for a visa-free regime, procedure depends on the integrity and Ukrainians “decisive steps towards the which would forbid workplace discrimina- development of our state” after the October (Continued on page 18) tion based on race, political position, reli- (Continued on page 18) Ukrainian American Veterans dedicate national monument, hold 68th convention by Bernard W. Krawczuk and Anna Osinska Krawczuk SOMERSET, N.J. – The 68th annual national convention of the Ukrainian American Veterans culminated with the solemn dedication ceremony of the UAV National Monument on October 3 at St. Andrew Memorial Church and Cemetery in South Bound Brook, N.J. Designed by renowned Ukrainian Canadian artist John Jaciw, the monument honors all American veterans of Ukrainian heritage who have honorably served in the U.S. Armed Forces, including those current- ly serving in the ongoing global war on ter- rorism. Prior to the UAV convention, the organi- zation’s National Executive Board met on October 1, giving officers an opportunity to go over the final details of the historic and unprecedented event that would follow UAV 68th National Convention delegates with (seated, from left) National and fine-tune any last minute issues related Commander Ihor W. Hron, Marian Bojsiuk, Past National Commanders Anna The UAV National Monument, which Krawczuk and Roman Rakowsky, and World War II veteran Michael Fedirko. (Continued on page 8) was dedicated on October 3. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2015 No. 45 ANALYSIS The sine qua non safeguards Top prosecutor ‘escapes assassination’ man, served briefly as head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and was credited KYIV – Ukrainian authorities have with preventing the spread of separatist for Donetsk-Luhansk elections opened a criminal investigation into an sentiment in the region. But President elections. Otherwise, holding the elections alleged sniper attack on Prosecutor-General Petro Poroshenko dismissed him in 2015, by Vladimir Socor Viktor Shokin. Deputy Procurator-General Eurasia Daily Monitor would be illegitimate and their outcome accusing him of setting up a private militia could not be recognized, the document Anatoliy Matios said an unknown assailant and trying to take over a state-affiliated oil On October 27 in the Minsk Contact argues implicitly and explicitly. Kyiv’s con- fired three rounds at a window in Mr. company. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Group, the Ukrainian delegation presented cept enumerates the security conditions, Shokin’s office late on November 2 as he Agence France-Presse and The Kyiv Post) a concept document to serve as a basis for political prerequisites, constitutional guar- held a meeting with several coworkers. Only the “law on local elections in the temporari- antees and legal safeguards that would be bulletproof windows allowed Mr. Shokin to Countering propaganda: long-term effort escape, Mr. Matios said. Mr. Shokin, who was ly occupied areas” of Ukraine’s Donetsk necessary for holding legitimate elections WASHINGTON – A State Department appointed by President Petro Poroshenko in and Luhansk oblasts (see article on page 3 in this territory (Ukrayinska Pravda, official has said U.S. efforts to counter mis- February, has been under pressure to resign of this issue). President Petro Poroshenko October 27; Ukrinform, October 29; UNIAN, information and propaganda generated by amid criticism he has blocked efforts to fight has personally authorized this concept and October 28, 30). the Kremlin will be a long-term effort that corruption. He has faced accusations of mandated Ukraine’s representative, Roman Security conditions proceed from the includes bolstering independent media in stalling high-profile corruption cases Bezsmertnyy, to present it to the Minsk fact that elections cannot legitimately be Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Benjamin Ziff, against allies of former President Viktor working group on political affairs. held “at gunpoint.” This necessitates the deputy assistant secretary of state for Yanukovych, who was toppled by pro-Euro- The Ukrainian government is widely withdrawal of “foreign” forces, disbanding European and Eurasian affairs, told a pean protests in February 2014. In publicizing this move in the domestic of “unlawful armed units” and Ukrainian or Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee September, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine media, so as to reassure public opinion, international control of the Ukraine-Russia that the Obama administration had pro- Geoffrey Pyatt publicly blamed “corrupt preempting accusations that the president border in this territory, as per the Minsk I posed a 26 percent increase – to $83 mil- actors” within the Procurator General’s and the government are conceding too and Minsk II armistice documents. The lion – in funding for the coming fiscal year Office for obstructing efforts to combat cor- much. Concessions previously granted at safety of candidates and electioneering for civil society groups and independent ruption and shielding its own employees Western insistence have triggered criticism activities, and the protection of polling sta- media “in countries most vulnerable to from graft investigations. (RFE/RL, based of President Poroshenko in Ukraine’s politi- tions and the ballot counting can only be Russian pressure.” He testified at the on reporting by the Associated Press, cal arena. ensured by the presence of Ukrainian law November 3 hearing that “The free flow of Bloomberg.com, UNIAN and Interfax) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who enforcement authorities (rather than reliable information is our best defense.” has serially demanded unilateral steps from “unlawful armed units”). Former mayoral candidate arrested Mr. Ziff added, “We view this work against Kyiv, recently acknowledged Kyiv’s predica- Political prerequisites, as listed, stipulate the Kremlin propaganda as not necessarily ment in such situations. Receiving that any elections in this “temporarily occu- KYIV – Security forces in Ukraine have a short-term effort; this is a medium- and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy pied territory” would, by definition, be a arrested Hennadiy Korban, who ran unsuc- long-term effort to make sure there is no Yatsenyuk in Berlin, Ms. Merkel said at the part of Ukraine’s electoral system. Hence, cessfully for mayor of Kyiv last month.