2009: the year in review - The Ukrainian Weekly

Inside:• “2009: The Year in Review” – pages 5-35The Ukraini a n WeeklyPublished by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit associationVol. LXXVIII No.3 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010$1/$2 in UkraineOutgoing New Jersey governor createsEastern European Heritage CommissionYushchenko’s declining support:Does he really deserve the blame?TRENTON, N.J. – Outgoing New JerseyGov. Jon S. Corzine on January 11 signedan executive order creating an EasternEuropean-American Heritage Commissionin the Department of State.“New Jersey is home to over 1 millionAmericans of Eastern European ancestry,including Americans of Polish,Hungarian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Czech andLithuanian ancestry. The commission willensure there are opportunities for all ofNew Jersey to share and celebrate theirrich history,” said Gov. Corzine, who losthis bid for re-election to Republican ChrisChristie, and made his final State of theState address on January 12. (Mr. Christiewill be inaugurated on January 19.)During a campaign stop on September14, 2009, at the home of Cami Huk-Masier,where representatives of New Jersey’sEastern European communities had gathered,Gov. Corzine pledged to establish anEastern European Heritage Commission inthe state before the end of the year. And, hepledged to do so regardless who would winthe gubernatorial election. Ms. Huk-Masier,a Ukrainian American, is a member of theGovernor’s Ethnic Advisory Council andthe Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel onImmigrant Policies.The 21-member commission will coordinatean annual Eastern European MonthCelebration along with other events andactivities highlighting the rich culture andhistory of Americans of Eastern Europeanancestry. The commission will also workwith the Department of Education to continueto develop content and curriculumguides on Eastern European history forschool children, noted a press released fromthe governor’s office.The governor filed the following directappointments to the Eastern European-American Heritage Commission: Peter C.Eagler (Clifton), Thomas J. Kazalski(Union), Thomas J. Duch (Wyckoff),Michael Koziupa (Cedar Knolls), MarianneE. Balazs (Fort Lee,), Michael A. Kaufman(East Brunswick), Kaya Sawczuk(Morganville), Annajane M. Fencik(Bayonne), Louis J. Kady (Holmdel),Wieslaw “Vinnie” Krajewski (Freehold)and Roma Lisovich (Union).The Ukrainian Americans appointed tothe commission, Mr. Koziupa and Ms.Lisovich, are both executive officers of theUkrainian National Association. He is theUNA’s second vice-president, and she is the(Continued on page 39)by Zenon ZawadaKyiv Press BureauKYIV – Five years ago, hundreds ofthousands of Ukrainians risked their livesfor Viktor Yushchenko to becomeUkraine’s president. Now only about 5percent of Ukrainians fully supportPresident Yushchenko and would vote forhim in the January 17 election, accordingto an October 2009 poll by the RazumkovCenter.That raises the question: Does theUkrainian president deserve all the blamehe’s been getting?The Weekly played the role of devil’sadvocate for President Yushchenko,defending his political record against toppolitical scientists.Dr. Taras Kuzio is a professor at theInstitute of European, Russian andEurasian Studies at Carleton Universityin Ottawa. Dr. Oleh Soskin is director ofthe Kyiv-based Institute of SocietyTransformation, who studied at theEconomics Institute in Boulder, Colo.,and the Brookings Institute inWashington.Both Drs. Kuzio and Soskin are bothhighly critical of the president, despitetheir staunch support for Ukraine’s integrationinto Euro-Atlantic structures.Volodymyr Fesenko, board chairmanof the Penta Center for Applied Researchin Kyiv, offered consulting to thePresidential Secretariat occasionally duringMr. Yushchenko’s term. He’s consideredamong Ukraine’s most reliable andobjective political analysts. Mr. Fesenkostudied at Columbia University’sHarriman Institute and Queen’sUniversity in Kingston, Ontario.***Question: The constitutional changesthat took effect January 1, 2006, reducedmuch of the authority of the Ukrainianpresidency and shifted key levers ofpower to the prime minister. The onlyorgans left directly under the president’sauthority were the Defense Ministry, theForeign Affairs Ministry, the SecurityService of Ukraine, the state oblastadministrations and the ProcuratorGeneral of Ukraine. In light of this, isPresident Yushchenko receiving moreblame than he deserves?(Continued on page 36)2009: Requiem for the revolutionsby Brian WhitmoreRFE/RLTBILISI, Georgia – In 1989, seven months beforethe Berlin Wall came down amid jubilant celebrationsacross Europe, Ghia Marghulia joined thousandsin the center of the Georgian capital to protestSoviet rule.Now the director of a Tbilisi public school, Mr.Marghulia sits in his office and recalls the tense andheady atmosphere two decades ago when, in themidst of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika-erareforms, Georgians contemplated theunthinkable – breaking free from Moscow’s grip andwinning their independence.“We had already swallowed some freedom and itwas not possible to go back to the old limits,” Mr.Marghulia says. “We began to talk about howGeorgia needed to be a free country.”But the Kremlin had other ideas. In the smallhours of the morning on April 9, 1989, after days ofdemonstrations, Soviet troops moved in to surroundthe demonstrators, and attacked them with militarybatons and spades. Nineteen Georgians were killed,including a 16-year-old girl.Tbilisi’s bloody spring of 1989 was followed byan autumn of change in Eastern Europe, when peacefulprotests in places like Prague and East Berlin –and more violent clashes in Romania – toppledSoviet satellite regimes across Eastern Europe,brought down the Iron Curtain, and ended the ColdWar.As the world marked the 20th anniversary of thefall of the Iron Curtain last year, the different fates ofthe countries of the 1989 revolutions came sharplyinto focus. Former Soviet vassal states like Poland,Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are free,stable and prosperous democracies safely nestled inNATO and the European Union.But countries like Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova,which won their independence following the 1991Soviet collapse, have experienced a tumultuous twodecades as they struggled to fully break free fromMoscow’s grip, establish functioning democraciesand fully join the West.Mr. Marghulia notes that most countries emergingfrom Soviet rule were simply not prepared for whatcame next once they achieved independence.“We made a lot of mistakes. We all yearned forfreedom, but we did not prepare for this freedom,”Mr. Marghulia says. “We all thought that when wegot freedom, then everything else would take care ofitself. We weren’t prepared. We didn’t prepare peopleto be good ministers, good administrators. Wedidn’t have any concept about how to develop ourstate.”Leadership deficitAnalysts say these newly independent states, havingspent seven decades under direct Soviet rule, hadlargely internalized the USSR’s authoritarian politicalculture and had scant democratic traditions to(Continued on page 44)AP/Yefrem LukatskyFive years ago, during Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, supportersof Viktor Yushchenko are seen gathered outside theVerkhovna Rada building.

2THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3ANALYSISYushchenko and Yanukovychin an electoral alliance?by Taras KuzioEurasia Daily MonitorOn December 25, 2009, the UNIAN newsagency published a secret agreement “OnPolitical Reconciliation and the Developmentof Ukraine” leaked by Yaroslav Kozachok,the deputy head of the PresidentialSecretariat’s department on domestic affairsand regional development. Mr. Kozachokresigned in protest at the secret agreementbetween President Viktor Yushchenko andParty of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovychto appoint the former as prime minister in theevent of Mr. Yanukovych’s election.The Yushchenko and Yanukovych campaigns– not surprisingly – alleged that thedocument was a forgery (Ukrayinska Pravda,December 28, 2009).At the same time, its authenticity is provenby two steps undertaken by thePresidential Secretariat. Firstly, thePresidential Secretariat’s pressure on televisionchannels not to discuss the document,which led to Mr. Kozachok complainingabout the return of censorship to Ukrainianmedia. “It is obvious that ignoring (the document)has taken place on instructions from‘above,’ and the system has worked to blockthe appearance in the mass media of informationunpleasant for senior officials”(Ukrayinska Pravda, December 29, 2009).This would not be the first occasion whendirect intervention halted revelations about asecret electoral alliance between Messrs.Yushchenko and Yanukovych. In December2009 the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)was instructed by the president to investigatethe appearance of large billboards throughoutKyiv and other cities that had reproduced thefront cover of the December 4, 2009, editionof the weekly magazine Komentarii with theheadline “Yushchenko has negotiated theseat of premier.” The billboards, whichshowed Messrs. Yushchenko andYanukovych embracing in a pose reminiscentof the Soviet and East German leadersThe front cover of the December 4,2009, edition of the weekly magazineKomentarii shows Viktor Yushchenkoand Viktor Yanukovych with the headline“Yushchenko has negotiated theseat of premier.”Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker, wereordered to be taken down. The Ukrainianmedia complained of “censorship.”Secondly, if the document unveiled byMr. Kozachok was indeed a “forgery” thenwhy did the president order the procuratorgeneral to launch an investigation into thepublication of a “state secret?” Mr.Yushchenko ordered a full report within 10days on how the document was leaked, whilePresidential Secretariat Chair VeraUlianchenko initiated an internal investigationof Mr. Kozachok’s employment record(Ukrayinska Pravda, December 28, 2009).The secret agreement aims to ensure“political stability and economic development”and to end years of political in-fight-(Continued on page 41)Will Yushchenko help Yanukovychin presidential election campaign?by Pavel KordubanEurasia Daily MonitorA former employee of ViktorYushchenko’s Presidential Secretariat hasclaimed that Mr. Yushchenko agreed to backthe frontrunner, Party of Regions leaderViktor Yanukovych, in the run-up to theJanuary 17 presidential election.Both Messrs. Yushchenko andYanukovych denied this, but Prime MinisterYulia Tymoshenko, against whom the accordis allegedly directed, said she believes in itsexistence.President Yushchenko, who is running forre-election, does not miss an opportunity toblame Prime Minister Tymoshenko forCorrectionThe group photo that appeared with thestory “North Port parish celebrates 25thanniversary with week of special events”(January 10) was published with thewrong caption. The photo caption shouldhave read: At the opening of the Exhibitof Ukrainian Religious and Ethnic Art,Jim Blucher, vice-chair of the North PortCity Commission, addresses the gathering;standing is Neonillia Lechman, chairof the anniversary committee.almost everything that goes wrong inUkraine, from pervasive corruption to theeconomic crisis. He says he does this so thathe, rather than Ms. Tymoshenko, will reachthe run-off scheduled for February 7, to faceMr. Yanukovych there.Either Mr. Yushchenko has lost touchwith reality – as polls show he stands nochance of reaching the run-off stage – or heis really helping Mr. Yanukovych.On December 25, 2009, YaroslavKozachok announced his resignation as deputyhead of the Presidential Secretariat’sdepartment for regional policy. He said thiswas in protest against a secret agreementreached between Messrs. Yushchenko andYanukovych in order to beat Ms.Tymoshenko in the election. He claimed thatrapprochement between the president andMr. Yanukovych, who was defeated by Mr.Yushchenko in a highly controversial presidentialelection in 2004, started in late 2005.Mr. Kozachok said that, as a person who“believes in democratic values,” he could notstand it any longer.According to the text of the agreementoffered to the media by Mr. Kozachok, Mr.Yushchenko pledged not to criticize Mr.Yanukovych during the election campaignand back him in the runoff. In exchange, Mr.(Continued on page 45)Holodomor trial kicks off in UkraineKYIV – The Kyiv Court of Appeals onJanuary 12 launched a pre-trial hearing inthe Holodomor case opened by the SecurityService of Ukraine (SBU), officials of theProcurator General’s Office (PGO) said. TheSBU launched the Holodomor investigationin March 2009; in December the case wastransmitted to the PGO. The Ukrainianinvestigation established that genocide wascommitted by way of creating an artificialfamine using such mechanisms as isolationof Ukraine’s territory by special armed militaryunits, inscription of districts and localitiesonto so-called black lists, blockades bytroops, a ban on people’s movement outsidethe bounds of these areas, seizure of foodstuffsand seed stocks, a trade ban andrestrictions of the free movement of peasantslooking for foodstuffs. In the course ofthe investigation, Ukraine has received evidenceof Soviet crimes against humanitycommitted by top officials of the USSR.That genocide was committed in Ukraine in1932-1933 is proven by 3,685 Soviet classifieddocuments, including many with Sovietdictator Joseph Stalin’s signature, as well as933 mass burial places of genocide victims,the SBU said. Millions were murdered inthe Holodomor. (Ukrinform)Authorities indignant over expected fraudKYIV – Volodymyr Shapoval, the headof the Central Election Commission (CEC),on January 12 expressed indignation overpoliticians’ statements about allegedly inevitablefraud in the presidential election. Hesaid there are no grounds for such statements.Mr. Shapoval emphasized that a“powerful wave of hysteria” triggered bypoliticians about electoral fraud affects notonly the work of election authorities on thelocal level, but “actually affects our state,democratic fundamentals of the state itself.”According to the CEC official, “if the participantsin the election process are really concernedabout possible election fraud, letthem do their best to prevent such frauds.They have all the tools for that.”(Ukrinform)Ukraine 68th in quality of lifeKYIV – Ukraine ranks 68th in theNEWSBRIEFSTH E UK R A I N I A N WE E K L Y FOUNDED 1933An English-language newspaper published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc.,a non-profit association, at 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054.Yearly subscription rate: $55; for UNA members — $45.Periodicals postage paid at Caldwell, NJ 07006 and additional mailing offices.(ISSN — 0273-9348)The Weekly:UNA:Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 644-9510 Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 292-0900Postmaster, send address changes to:The Ukrainian WeeklyEditor-in-chief: Roma Hadzewycz2200 Route 10 Editors: Matthew DubasP.O. Box 280Zenon Zawada (Kyiv)Parsippany, NJ 07054The Ukrainian Weekly Archive: www.ukrweekly.com; e-mail: staff@ukrweekly.comThe Ukrainian Weekly, January 17, 2010, No. 3, Vol. LXXVIIICopyright © 2010 The Ukrainian WeeklyADMINISTRATION OF THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY AND SVOBODAWalter Honcharyk, administratorMaria Oscislawski, advertising managerMariyka Pendzola, subscriptionsworld in terms of quality of life, accordingto the results of a survey carried outby the Irish-based magazine InternationalLiving. Such factors as cost of living, cultureand leisure, the economy, the environment,freedom, health, infrastructure,safety and risk, and the climate weretaken into account during the compilationof the survey, it was reported on January11. Ukraine scored 62 out of 100 points,surpassing other countries from the post-Soviet space, except the Baltic states andMoldova. Ukraine received 61 points inthe sphere of culture, 41 points in economy,and 75 points in freedom. The countryalso scored 60 points in infrastructure,71 points in safety and risk, and 78 pointsin the environment. For the fifth consecutiveyear, France was chosen the world’sbest place to live. Also making the topfive were Australia, Switzerland,Germany and New Zealand. Sudan,Yemen and Somalia were cited as theworld’s worst places to live. (Ukrinform)Saakashvili honors McCainBATUMI, Georgia – GeorgianPresident Mikheil Saakashvili has decoratedvisiting U.S. Sen. John McCainwith the Order of the National Hero ofGeorgia. At a ceremony in Georgia’sBlack Sea city of Batumi, Mr. Saakashvilipraised Mr. McCain for his strong supportof Georgia during the August 2008Russian-Georgian war. Sen. McCain, whoat the time was the Republican candidatefor the U.S. presidency, repeatedly backedGeorgia in the conflict. He told journalistsin Batumi on January 11 that Russiashould pull out of the Georgian territoryit currently occupies. Mr. McCain andtwo other Republican senators arrived onJanuary 10 in Batumi, where they metseparately with President Saakashvili andwith several Georgian opposition partyleaders. From Batumi, Sen. McCain travelledto Zugdidi, where he met withHans-Joerg Haber, the head of theEuropean Union Monitoring Mission, andwith Georgian refugees from the breakawayregion of Abkhazia. Large numbersof Russian forces have moved into(Continued on page 42)(973) 292-9800, ext. 3041e-mail: ukradmin@att.net(973) 292-9800, ext. 3040fax: (973) 644-9510e-mail: adukr@optonline.net(973) 292-9800, ext. 3042e-mail: ukrsubscr@att.net

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 20103CANDIDATE PROFILE:Viktor YushchenkoCompiled by Zenon ZawadaName: Vi k t o r A n d r i y o v y c hYushchenko.Born: February 23, 1954.Birthplace: Village of Khoruzhivka,Sumy Oblast.Highest academic degree: Candidateof sciences degree in economics in 1975,earned from the Ternopil Financial-Economic Institute. Dissertation: “TheDevelopment of Money Supply andDemand in Ukraine.”Career: Mr. Yushchenko served in theSoviet army for two years on the Turkishborder. Upon returning, he served as thechair of the Soviet state bank in the Sumyrural town of Ulianivka for 10 years.AgroPromBank Chair Vadym Hetmanrecruited Mr. Yushchenko in 1988, promotinghim to deputy chair in December1989. Upon Ukraine’s independence, thisstructure became the Ukrayina joint-stockcommercial agro-industrial bank, and Mr.Hetman tapped Mr. Yushchenko as hisfirst assistant in April 1992. When thebank eventually collapsed in 2001, Mr.Yushchenko’s opponents accused him ofembezzling tens of millions of dollarsthrough Bank Ukrayina.In January 1993 Mr. Hetman resignedas National Bank of Ukraine chair, suggestingthe 39-year-old Yushchenko ashis replacement. Upon his appointment,Mr. Yushchenko tapped VolodymyrStelmakh as his first deputy chair. Mr.Yushchenko helped lead the Ukrainianeconomy to stability and played an instrumentalrole in introducing independentUkraine’s first currency, the hryvnia, inSeptember 1996. The next year, Mr.Yushchenko was named among theworld’s top bankers, and the followingyear, the National Bank of Ukraine wasconsidered among the world’s best.In December 1999 the 45-year-oldYushchenko was approved as Ukraine’syoungest prime minister, serving untilApril 2001. Former President LeonidKuchma dismissed him out of concern forhis rising popularity and influence. Heled the Our Ukraine bloc in gaining themost votes in the 2002 parliamentaryelections, but failed to form the coalitiongovernment. Mr. Yushchenko was allegedlypoisoned in September 2004 duringhis presidential bid. He led the OrangeRevolution protesting the falsified electionresults in November 2004.Negotiations to peacefully resolve theconflict led to constitutional changes thatreduced the president’s authority. Mr.Yushchenko was inaugurated as Ukraine’sthird president on January 23, 2005.Government service: 17 years.Time spent in publicly elected office:Eight years.Party: Our Ukraine.Advisors: Longtime confidante andPresidential Secretariat Chair ViraUlianchenko, State Affairs AdministrationHead and presidential campaign chairIhor Tarasiuk, Kyiv advertising guruSergey Gaiday, Gaiday.com project directorKseniya Utrobyna, National Instituteof Strategic Research Director YuriiRuban, Presidential Secretariat DeputyChair Maryna Stavniychuk, PresidentialSecretariat Deputy Chair Ihor Popov, OurUkraine Central Executive CommitteeChair Roman Bezsmertnyi, PresidentialSecretariat Deputy Chair VolodymyrOhryzko, For Ukraine! Party ChairViacheslav Kyrylenko.President: January 2005-present.Prime minister: December 1999-April2001.Officially declared assets: 1 millionhrv ($130,000) gross income in 2008,492,000 hrv ($61,500) salary as presi-Zenon ZawadaPresident Viktor Yushchenkodent, 3 million hrv ($377,000) in savings,4,004-square-foot apartment. 7,069-square-foot home, 32 acres of land, 1942Harley Davidson, Zaporozhets ZAZ-965A.First lady’s declared assets: 456,000hrv ($69,000) gross income in 2008, 2.4million hrv ($300,000) in savings,3,229-square-foot apartment, 17,588square feet of land.Confirmed undeclared assets: Mr.Yushchenko began building his NoviBezradychi multi-million-dollar estate,including a new mansion and museumcomplex, after becoming president in2005. He declared a gross income of288,000 hrv ($58,000) that year. Furtherevidence of the Yushchenkos’ wealth surfacedin early 2005, when son Andrii wasspotted cruising around downtown Kyivin a $200,000 BMW M6. First LadyKateryna Yushchenko was spotted wearinga Cartier watch worth $40,000, whilePresident Yushchenko owns a $15,000Zilli trench coat. The Yushchenkos have amansion in the Carpathian town ofYaremche. President Yushchenko is atwo-digit millionaire at minimum, observerssaid.Governing approach: Unlike his mainpolitical rivals, who prefer a commandstyleof micromanagement, Mr.Yushchenko is laissez-faire to the extreme,for which he has been widely criticized asincompetent and irresponsible. Most notoriously,he took a vacation immediatelyafter Our Ukraine won the 2002 elections,allowing former President Kuchma to formthe coalition government in the interimperiod. The 2006 coalition negotiationsdragged for months without Mr.Yushchenko’s involvement, ending withSocialist Party of Ukraine ChairOleksander Moroz ditching the Orangeforces to unite with pro-Russian forces.During the 2007 coalition talks, PresidentYushchenko was criticized for skiing inthe Carpathian Mountains instead of gettinginvolved. In fact, Mr. Yushchenko hasa reputation for abandoning challengingpolitical situations throughout his career,leaving the dirty work for his underlings.He notoriously fled Kyiv for Vinnytsia inDecember 2001, without informing anyone,before a critical parliamentary vote todismiss his rival, First Vice-ChairmanViktor Medvedchuk. The effort failed. “Indifficult situations, Yushchenko tries toflee from problems in a literal sense,” stateda psychological portrait published byUkrayinska Pravda in October 2008.(Continued on page 37)Yushchenko: “I will never sayI failed during these five years”by Inna Kuznetsova,Halyna TereshchukRFE/RLLVIV – Ukrainian President ViktorYushchenko survived a near-fatal poisoningand massive election fraud to becomeUkraine’s first truly pro-Western leader.Five years later, however, he is trailingbadly in the polls as his country preparesto vote in the first presidential electionsince the 2004 revolution.Mr. Yushchenko has been criticized forpresiding over a half-decade of politicalchaos and drawing Ukraine into unwelcomeconflict with Moscow. But in aninterview with RFE/RL’s UkrainianService, he was unrepentant.“As the president, I will never bow myhead and say that I failed in some way duringthese five years. I brought this nationwhat it needs,” Mr. Yushchenko said. “If itcan understand this, that will be its salvation.If it can’t, then we will have to spendanother 15-20 years with Yanukovychesand Tymoshenkos, under a Kremlin project,like during Kuchma’s time. There’s aprice to this.”The two candidates expected to farebest in the January 17 contest are Mr.Yushchenko’s worst rival and his closestally from the Orange Revolution – ViktorYanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko,respectively.Both have seen their popularity soar onplatforms that diverge from Mr.Yushchenko’s openly pro-Western stance,which has caused Kyiv’s ties to Moscowto grow increasingly hostile during thepast five years.Mr. Yanukovych, who is supported bymany Russian-speaking Ukrainians in thecountry’s east, said in an interview onJanuary 7 that he will keep the country outof NATO if he wins.But Mr. Yushchenko, who made NATOmembership a priority of his presidency,said it would be a blow to Ukrainian interestsfor the country to turn its back on themilitary alliance.“If Ukraine does not repeat the responseof the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians,Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians [to joinNATO] – who else did I miss, theRomanians, Hungarians – if we don’t give[a positive] answer [to the question ofNATO membership] as a nation, then wewill not have independence. We will loseour democracy,” Mr. Yushchenko said.Oil, gas and politicsBoth Mr. Yanukovych and Ms.Tymoshenko have said they would use avictory to improve relations with Moscow,which grew increasingly hostile asPresident Yushchenko pursued a pro-Westernagenda.Ties hit a low this time last year, whenMoscow cut off gas supplies to Ukraineamid a pricing dispute that Mr. Yushchenkosaid was politically motivated. The cutoffcaused severe energy shortages inEuropean Union countries dependent ongas shipments through Ukraine.A similar dispute is currently playingout in Belarus, which is accusing Moscowof imposing an unfair pricing structure onshipments of crude oil that Belarus refinesand profitably exports to the West.Mr. Yushchenko told RFE/RL theBelarus dispute is no different thanUkraine’s gas crisis last year. “This ispressure. It’s obvious. Oil and gas are notonly hydrocarbons – unfortunately,they’re also the stuff of politics,” Mr.Yushchenko said. “We’re talking not onlyabout oil and gas, and not only about economicrelations, but also about the bigchallenge of dependency, including politicaldependency.”Still, energy security and political stabilityare likely to override the concernsamong many Ukrainian voters about theperils of dependency.Mr. Yushchenko’s presidency wasmarked by near-constant political infightingthat brought parliamentary proceduresto a frequent standstill. He is also seen asfailing to reel in rampant corruption, andhas faced allegations by his rivals of financialprofiteering in shady gas deals.Mr. Yushchenko today said he continuesto oppose a proposal by Mr. Yanukovychto create a gas transport consortiumbetween Ukraine, Russia and the EuropeanUnion. In an interview published onJanuary 7, Mr. Yanukovych said, “Ukraineshould become a reliable partner in gasrelations with Russia and the EuropeanUnion.”Such a move, Mr. Yushchenko says,would grant Russia unwelcome leverageover Ukraine’s valuable gas-transportationsystem – and, by extension, its politicalindependence.“Why is Ukraine proposing a gas consortium?Why isn’t Russia proposing agas-exploration consortium with Ukrainianparticipation? Why aren’t our Europeancolleagues suggesting a consortium withUkrainian participation?” Mr. Yushchenkoasked. “We have a national company thatcan brilliantly manage, let’s say, gas transit.Are we not capable of organizing ourown monopoly? This is the surrender ofour national interests.”Copyright 2010, RFE/RL Inc. Reprintedwith the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW,Washington DC 20036; www.rferl.org. Seehttp://www.rferl.org/content/Yushchenko_I_Will_Never_Say_I_Failed_During_These_Five_Years/1924465.htmlQuotable notes“No one can say for sure who will win Ukraine’s presidential election laterthis month — the polls are too close to call. But one thing is clear: though Russiais likely to declare itself the winner, Ukraine will never return to being Moscow’ssubject.“…Ukraine has changed so profoundly over the past few years that no onecould turn it back into Russia’s vassal, even if they tried to. Orange methods of‘Ukrainization,’ such as banning Russian on national television and in universityentrance exams, have effectively created a distinct new national consciousness.Moreover, Moscow’s intimidation tactics have alienated most Ukrainians. Inrecent years Russia has tried hard to recover its lost influence over its formerempire, using tough-guy tactics ranging from outright invasion (in the case ofGeorgia) to cutting off gas supplies in midwinter. Those tactics have polarizedUkrainians — but the key indicator is that nearly two-thirds of the country nowidentify themselves as ‘Europeans.’ …– Owen Matthews and Anna Nemtsova, writing in Newsweek in a commentarytitled “Russia loses Ukraine,” January 18.

4THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3U.S.-Russian relations: START treaty not ready, Afghan cooperation is stalledby Pavel FelgenhauerEurasia Daily MonitorMoscow and Washington have failed tocomplete a strategic nuclear arms controlagreement before the end of 2009. This failuremay cast a long shadow on other moreurgent issues, such as cooperation onAfghanistan and the Iranian nuclear issue.The failure underlines the gap in trust andoverall strategic objectives that separates theUnited States and Russia. Presidents BarackObama and Dmitry Medvedev tried andfailed to cover this gap with nice rhetoricduring their numerous summit meetings in2009.U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton andRussian Foreign Affairs Minister SergeiLavrov in early March 2009 pressed a largered button on a small yellow box, symbolizinga “reset” in bilateral relations. Duringtheir first face-to-face meeting on April 1,2009, in London on the sidelines of a G-20summit Messrs. Obama and Medvedevsigned a memorandum announcing theirintention to “move beyond Cold War mentalities”and work together on arms control,missile defense, proliferation of weapons ofmass destruction (WMD), fighting internationalterrorism, containing Iran’s nuclearambitions, Russia’s WTO membership,among others (www.kremlin.ru, April 1,2009).Arms control negotiators began intensework to hammer out a new treaty to replacethe Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty orSTART-1 before its expiration date onDecember 5, 2009. During Mr. Obama’svisit to Moscow last July both presidentssigned a framework agreement on strategicnuclear arms that was designed to cut within10 years the number of deployed warheadson both sides to 1,500-1,675 and strategicdelivery systems to 500-1,100. Both presidentsexpressed official optimism that acomprehensive treaty would be ready forapproval by the end of 2009 (www.kremlin.ru, July 6, 2009).During the July 2009 summit in Moscowan additional agreement was signed to allowU.S. air transit of troops and suppliesthrough Russian airspace to Afghanistan thatwas reported to permit some 4,500 air flightsannually. Russia reportedly waived the rightto collect an estimated $133 million in navigationfees from these Afghan-destined militarytransit flights (Eurasia Daily Monitor,July 9, 2009). At present, U.S. militaryflights successfully reach Afghanistan bybypassing Russia, while the transit agreementseemed to be the only definite result ofthe announced “reset” in U.S.-Russian relationsin 2009.Last September, the Obama administrationannounced a decision to scrap plans todeploy Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD)interceptor missiles in Poland and a BMDX-range targeting radar in the CzechRepublic, which had previously stimulatedRussian ire. This apparent concession wasaccepted in Moscow with satisfaction, butRussian military and diplomatic experts distrustedAmerican intentions and called forcaution (Interfax, September 18, 2009).Until the end of 2009 Messrs. Obama andMedvedev met three more times on the sidelinesof multilateral forums: in September atthe United Nations General Assembly inNew York, at the Singapore Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation summit inNovember and during the U.N. conferenceon global climate change held in Decemberin Copenhagen. The only result of thesemeetings: more nice declarations of intent,but no tangible results.The new START treaty was not signed.Both sides announced they were in broadagreement, with only “technicalities” nothammered out (RIA Novosti, December 21,2009). But just before New Year, Russia’strue ruler – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin –disclosed that the problems were more serious.According to Mr. Putin the U.S. wascontinuing to develop BMD systems thatcould in the future negate Russia’s nucleardeterrent capability, destabilize the worldand promote “U.S. aggressiveness.” Mr.Putin announced that Russia is not ready toallow free American access to telemetricdata of intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) test launches, because this data mayhelp the U.S. to perfect its BMD systems toRussia’s detriment. Mr. Putin promised thatRussia will “develop new offensive nuclearweapons” to overcome the US BMD (ITARTASS, December 29, 2009). The exchangeof telemetric data on ICBM test launcheswas a key part of verification and confidence-buildingmeasures under START-1that expired on December 5, 2009.In the latter half of January of this yearU.S. and Russian negotiators will resumetheir efforts to complete a new START treatyin Geneva. However, if in accordancewith Mr. Putin’s statement, BMD issuesbecome linked to the START talks, theymay become deadlocked. It is equally possiblethat if a treaty is prepared that fails toprovide stringent verification procedures, itmay get stuck during ratification in the U.S.Senate and might never become law.The agreement on U.S. military air transitto Afghanistan has also failed to materialize.Because of unspecified “technical problems,”instead of the announced capabilityto fly 12 heavy transport aircraft throughRussian airspace every 24 hours, there wasonly one U.S. transit test flight in 2009(www.gazeta.ru, December 29, 2009). TheRussian military compares the U.S. andallied military effort in Afghanistan with thefailed Soviet campaign in the 1980s(Rossiyskaya Gazeta, December 25, 2009).There is an overall consensus in Moscowthat the U.S. and NATO will surely failwhere Russia did, and that there is no reasonto whole-heartedly support a lost cause.Russia is ready to step in as a leader of afuture new coalition to defend former SovietCentral Asia against an Islamist threat afterthe U.S. and NATO are finally defeated inAfghanistan by the Taliban. Such an outcomecould solidify Russian dominance in ahighly strategically sensitive region, while adecisive coalition success in Afghanistanthat would strengthen Western influence – isnot welcome.The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permission fromits publisher, the Jamestown Foundation,www.jamestown.org.The U.S., Canada, Ukraine and Russia’s expectations for the near abroadby Yuri ShcherbakFollowing is the text of the presentationby Dr. Yuri Shcherbak, who served asUkraine’s ambassador to the United Statesand Canada, at the conference “Ukraine’sQuest for Mature Nation Statehood:Roundtable X.” The conference was held inWashington on October 21-22, 2009. Thetext of the presentation was published inAction Ukraine Report on January 1 and isreprinted here with permission.In several days we will celebrate the 20thanniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.This event marked the end of the Cold Warand the end of the Communist dominance inEastern and Central Europe. Eventually, itled to the collapse of the Soviet Union andrestoration of Ukraine’s state independence.We witnessed the birth of new hopes ofpeaceful and democratic future for allEuropean nations without divide, withouthostility and military conflicts. We believedin this and worked towards fulfilling thedream of Ukraine joining the European andEuro-Atlantic structures.And what do we see today?• We observe the ruining of the post-ColdWar order related to the deep financial, political,institutional and moral crisis of humankindand intensification of the struggle fornatural resources.• We see a new leader – China – rising onthe world stage.• We witness the Americans’ failure inIraq and Afghanistan and diminishing of theU.S.’s leading role and authority on the globalscale.• We see the growing imperial ambitionsand hostile spirit of Russia, which is turninginto an authoritarian state that claims a dominantrole in the post-Soviet space. Using theweakness of the United States and indecisivenessof the European Union, Russia conducteda military operation against Georgia,with disproportionate use of military force,ethnic cleansing of Georgians and violationof Georgia’s territorial integrity.We see the growingimperial ambitionsand hostilespirit of Russia,which is turninginto an authoritarianstate thatclaims a dominantrole in the post-Soviet space.Russia turned out to be a good student inthe geopolitical game: we see it mimickingsome of the West’s previous geopoliticalmoves, such as supporting the independenceof South Ossetia and Abkhasia with referenceto the Kosovo precedent – a practicethat could possibly be extended to other disputedareas in the Russian near-abroad.In the so-called frozen conflicts on the territoryof the former Soviet Union, Russia’spersistent interference – either in the form ofmilitary presence or as political and economicpressure on the parties to the conflict –serves as a chilling agent that does not allowthe situation to unfreeze.It is worth recalling that all those territoriesin the region where Russia preserves andbuilds up its military presence are the breedingground for drug trafficking, smugglingand counterfeiting, which could not existwithout the implicit backing of Russian officials.On the other hand, those areas are close toexisting or potential strategic transport routes,or oil and gas pipelines. So, the so-calledRussian peace-enforcement or peace-keepingis far from contributing to regional security,but clearly provides substantial economic,not to say political, benefits to Russia.• And, finally, we see the unprecedentedweakening of the geopolitical position ofUkraine, both due to the above-mentionedexternal reasons and as a result of the country’sinternal disturbing developments.Among the latter is the current state anarchy,the Hobbesian “war of all against all” amongpoliticians and among Ukrainian authorities,which led to the degradation of the state systemof Ukraine, increase of corruption andmarginalization of Ukrainian foreign policy.This sad and disappointing result of thedevelopments taking place within a one-generationperiod (20 years) is evidence of thedrastic growth of threats to existence ofUkrainian statehood in the 21st century.The message of President DmitryMedvedev to President Viktor Yushchenkobecame a brutal ultimatum to the whole peopleof Ukraine, to its security and civilizationalEuro-Atlantic choice, and its right tohave its own history and national identity.The goal of Moscow is obvious: to assert itsclaim to the privileged sphere of interestsand to turn Ukraine into a protectorate or abantustan of Russia, ruled by a puppet pro-Russian government.If such actions succeed, there are prospectsfor Ukraine to turn into a part of theEurasian empire, lose its European andnational identity, develop into a demographic,as well raw-material and food reserve ofRussia and become a dangerous Eurasianbase for hostile actions against its members –European Union and NATO member-states.Ukraine’s civil society and its experts’community are alarmed by the growingRussia’s economic, informational and evenmilitary threat to Ukraine. If you analyze thestatements of Russian politicians, militaryexperts and media representatives, it is clearthat this alarm is well-grounded:• The information war of Russia againstUkraine has intensified and this has alreadyhad a number of consequences. According toa recent poll conducted by the MoscowbasedLevada Center, 33 percent of Russianshave a negative attitude toward the U.S., 19Americans risklosing their supporters[in CentralEurope] ifthey continue thecurrent policyof abandoningtheir allies for thesake of a seemingwarming of therelationship withRussia and pleasingRussia to ensureits backingof U.S. plans elsewhere.percent toward the EU, 44 percent towardUkraine and 65 percent toward Georgia.• A targeted campaign is being waged todiscredit Ukrainian values, language and historyin order to prepare the Russian populationfor possible hostile actions againstUkraine, in particular in Crimea, by makingthose actions legitimate in the eyes of theRussian people.• Activities of the pro-Russian “fifth column”in Ukraine, agents of influence, andFSB and GRU intelligence units on our territoryhave sharply intensified. Informationhas been revealed facts about the transfer oflarge sums of money from Russia to pro-(Continued on page 45)

6THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWOfficial Website of the Party of RegionsViktor Yanukovych at the Party of Regions congress on October 23.Presidential candidate Arseniy Yatsenyuk.Zenon ZawadaChernomyrdin at a February 17 meeting about disparagingremarks he made concerning President Yushchenkoand the Ukrainian people. “[Minister] Ohryzko expressedhis protest regarding unfriendly and utterly undiplomaticassessments, commentaries and expressions towardsUkraine and its leadership,” Ukraine’s Foreign AffairsMinistry said in a February 17 statement.Mr. Ohryzko warned Ambassador Chernomyrdin thatfurther remarks, such as those published on February 11in the pro-Russian daily newspaper KomsomolskayaPravda, could lead to a persona non grata declaration,making him liable to expulsion from Ukraine.“You know, he didn’t just fall from the sky,” theambassador said of President Yushchenko. “By hisappearance, he looks as though he’s a normal guy.” Hecontinued: “He’s that type – paints, collects shards. Hecan walk around some kind of tree stump for three hoursand examine it, fantasize. At home, he’s collected quite abit – mills, millstones, and gigantic [ones]! He put upwindmills in Kyiv. And this person suddenly turned outto be this way. Not at all similar. Kill me, but he’s notcapable of this at all. However, he’s doing it. Someone ishelping him.”Mr. Chernomyrdin was likely referring to the president’sattacks on Prime Minister Tymoshenko in the latterpart of his remarks.Within two weeks of the conflict, Mr. Ohryzkolearned that he had burnt too many bridges with hisfierce loyalty to President Yushchenko and stalwartEuro-Atlantic stance. Ukraine’s Parliament assembled250 votes – from the Party of Regions, the CommunistParty and 49 deputies of the Tymoshenko Bloc – to dismissthe career diplomat on March 3. While contemptfor Mr. Ohryzko from pro-Russian forces had long beenboiling, criticism of the prime minister pushed her overthe edge, prompting her to sacrifice him in exchange forsupport in canceling pre-term elections for the TernopilOblast Council, where her bloc faced big losses.The escalating tension between the government’s twoforeign policy teams, one led by Mr. Ohryzko and theother led by the prime minister’s foreign policy advisor,Hryhorii Nemyria, had reached its Rubicon during theSouth Ossetian War in August 2008. After Ms.Tymoshenko refrained from condemning the Russianaggression, adopting the more moderate European Unionposition, the Presidential Secretariat, with Mr. Ohryzkoin tow, began its attack campaign to cast Ms.Tymoshenko as a betrayer of national interests, alignedwith the Kremlin. The last straw was a circular signed byMr. Ohryzko and sent to 31 embassies and consulates,following the raucous February 10 NSDC meetinginstructing diplomats to distribute a briefing prepared byNSDC Assistant Secretary Stepan Havrysh. The briefingstated the prime minister’s claims about the role of theNSDC in corrupt energy schemes and as well as herclaims that the NSDC was trying to return RosUkrEnergoto the natural gas market were false.“It had reached the point that Ukraine’s ForeignAffairs Ministry is sending out letters which ask that theprime minister’s deeds be considered mistaken and notconforming with reality,” the Tymoshenko Bloc said in aMarch 4 statement on Mr. Ohryzko’s dismissal.During Mr. Ohryzko’s brief tenure, which began inDecember 2007, the Foreign Affairs Ministry began preparinga European Union Association Agreement, whichwas expected to be completed in 2009 but wasn’t, andbegan working towards creating a free trade zone. Forthe first time, Ukraine began negotiations with the EUon creating a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens.The March 3 parliamentary session upset the leadersof the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union, Ukraine’s leadingnationalist force, which was expecting big gains in thepre-term Ternopil Oblast Council election scheduled forMarch 15. Ukraine’s Halychyna electorate, which mostfiercely supports Euro-Atlantic integration, gave up supportingMr. Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine party and theTymoshenko Bloc, instead shifting in favor of the nationalists.In hastily canceling the election only 12 days inadvance, the government wasted 10 million hrv. TheTymoshenko Bloc’s sudden opposition surfaced after itsupported the very same elections at the December 18,2008, session of the Verkhovna Rada.Svoboda nationalists compared Prime MinisterTymoshenko’s interference to the anti-democratic tacticsemployed by former Presidential Administration ChairViktor Medvedchuk, who attempted to undermine theMukachiv election of 2004 but never crossed the line asMs. Tymoshenko did by cancelling the vote.Several court rulings and appeals emerged in the daysleading up to the elections as the Presidential Secretariatteamed with the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union to ensurethe elections were held despite the parliamentary vote. ATernopil districted court ruled on March 11 that a localelection commission had illegally halted the electionsand ordered them restored.When election day rolled around, 54 percent of thoseeligible to vote turned out to defy Prime MinisterTymoshenko’s attempts to derail the oblast council vote.More than 35 percent cast their votes for the Svobodanationalists, giving them full control in forming theTernopil Oblast Council’s coalition government. LocalTymoshenko Bloc operatives, led by the bloc’s oblastdivision head Vasyl Derevlianyi, attempted to sabotagethe vote by using their cars to block trucks from deliveringfreshly printed ballots. Brawls erupted and the blockingcars were pushed aside or flipped over. TheTymoshenko Bloc suffered more losses as last-minuterulings on the eve of the vote in Kyiv and Lviv reaffirmedthe election’s legitimacy for the next day.As the nation’s politicians waged fierce political battles,the Ukrainian economy continued to deteriorate inthe first and second quarters of 2009. Kyiv street kioskswere offering 9.2 hrv per $1 as the value of theUkrainian currency fell about 10 percent from the priorweek. By the summer, the exchange rate stabilized at arange of 8.0 hrv to 8.5 hrv per $1. Fiscal policy faredjust as bad as budget shortfalls cropped up throughoutthe first quarter. Amidst unpaid wages, partially paidpensions and insolvent local utility companies, theTymoshenko government failed to draft an anti-crisisplan, said Volodymyr Fesenko, the board chairman ofthe Penta Center for Applied Political Research in Kyiv.While President Yushchenko urged Ms. Tymoshenkoto revise the 2009 budget, she declined, stating her preferencefor more effectively using current funds, as wellas those derived from local taxes. The InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) demanded that Parliament pass arevised 2009 budget, more realistic than what wasapproved in December 2008. As a result, IMF officialswithheld a second tranche of a promised $1.9 billionloan, citing the conflict between the PresidentialSecretariat and the Cabinet. Finally IMF Mission inChief in Ukraine Ceyla Pazarbasioglu announced onApril 17 that she would recommend extending Ukraine$2.8 billion as part of a second tranche of a loan to stabilizethe nation’s economy. She recommended the largerthan-expectedloan despite the unacceptable 3 percentbudget deficit and Parliament’s failure to pass requestedlegislation.Ethnic strife resurfaced in Odesa when self-describedanti-fascist activists on April 17 stabbed and murderedMaksym Chaika, a 21-year-old university student andself-described nationalist. The Weekly initially reportedthat Chaika had ties to neo-Nazis, based on numerousphotographs that surfaced throughout the Internet inwhich he was depicted giving a Nazi salute and wearinga T-shirt with a Nazi eagle. Yet Chaika’s colleague,Volodymyr Musiak of the Black Sea Haidamak KozakFormation, told The Weekly that Mr. Chaika had no tiesto neo-Nazis and instead was involved with soccer hooligans.Chaika’s murder was the latest attack amidst a patternof aggression against ethnically conscious Ukrainians inOdesa. Only a month earlier, Odesa’s Ukrainian organizationsissued a statement protesting the refusal of localprosecutors and law enforcement officers to investigateand prosecute the city’s anti-Ukrainian agitators, especiallybusinessman Igor Markov, for inciting ethnic andreligious conflict. This time, some activists accused Mr.Markov of organizing Mr. Chaika’s murder because hewas a Ukrainian activist who demanded authorities prosecuteMr. Markov.The Chaika murder was planned and organized byOdesa’s pro-Russian radicals and chauvinists, reportedan April 20 statement issued by the Vilna Odesa (FreeOdesa) civic organization. “Contrary to the efforts ofpolice to write this matter off as a standard incident, anorganized political murder is clearly demonstrated,” thestatement said. A month after the murder, the SecurityService of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed a suspect in themurder, Andrii Dovhan, was hiding in the RussianFederation. Law enforcement authorities have yet tomake any arrests in Mr. Chaika’s murder.Yet it’s hard to imagine police having much success

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 201072009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWmaking arrests when the nation’s police chief remainedin his post after provoking an airport brawl in Frankfurt,Germany.It erupted after Lufthansa staff stopped InternalAffairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko and his 19-year-old sonOleksander from boarding a May 4 flight to Seoul, SouthKorea. They began cursing fiercely, threw their mobilephones at them and began fighting, injuring four officersand drawing arrest, police reported. They spent a halfdayin detention. Frankfurt police spokesman JurgenLinker confirmed the entire account of the incident publishedby the German tabloid Bild, except for the son’sreported excessive blood-alcohol measurement.During the incident, Oleksander Lutsenko was particularlyaggressive and required handcuffing, the newspaperreported. While his son tested positive for alcohol,the minister avoided testing when demonstrating his diplomaticpassport, Bild reported.Mr. Lutsenko acknowledged at a May 12 press conferencein Kyiv that he got into a physical altercation atthe airport in Frankfurt and was arrested, but denieddrunkenness, claiming he drank only a mug of beer. Hesubmitted a resignation letter to the Verkhovna Rada thatday in a carefully manipulated gambit in which Mr.Lutsenko knew his political opponents didn’t haveenough voters in Parliament to dismiss him. Of the fivefactions, only the Party of Regions of Ukraine called forMr. Lutsenko’s ouster.After keeping silent for more than a week, PrimeMinister Tymoshenko came to Mr. Lutsenko’s defenseduring her weekly Cabinet press conference on May 13,attempting to shift the media’s focus away from the minister’sarrest and stirring up empathy for his 19-year-oldson, who suffers from thyroid cancer. Mr. Lutsenko waswrong to arrive late for the flight and try to force hisway on board during the layover, she said, but “everyfather should defend his child, particularly one so ill.And that they made a mountain out of a molehill is simplyamoral.”The conflicts only augmented calls for the resignationof Mr. Lutsenko, who allowed corruption to flourishwithin Ukraine’s police force under his leadership. Italso reflected the corruption of the Orange government.Disappointment in the Orange government wasechoed by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylorin an unusually candid press conference held on May 21at the construction site of the future U.S. Embassy inKyiv. He said expected his term as ambassador would bea time for consolidating democracy and economic developmentin Ukraine, rather than conflict. “I had comefrom some exciting places such as Iraq, Afghanistan andJerusalem, and I was ready for some less exciting timeand more working time,” he said. “Some more nuts andbolts, some more lower-level but important reform workneeded to be done. But that was not to be.”Mr. Taylor took over as U.S. ambassador to Ukrainein May 2006, just as Ms. Tymoshenko attempted to forma pro-Western coalition between her bloc, the OurUkraine Bloc and the Socialist Party of Ukraine. As anexample of the instability, Mr. Taylor said he had toZenon ZawadaZenon ZawadaForeign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko (left) was dismissed by the Verkhovna Rada on March 3. PetroPoroshenko (right) was approved as his successor on October 9.work with three different prime ministers, three foreignaffairs ministers, and three parliamentary chairs in justthree years, in addition to the 2007 snap parliamentaryelection, “so not much reform got done.”“There were economic reforms, democratic reformsand judicial reforms that all needed to happen, and Ithought the three years of 2006 to 2009 would be a greattime to work those,” Mr. Taylor said. He also offered asubtle criticism of the government’s handling of theeconomy amidst the global financial crisis. “The lastthing I would say about my feelings of leaving is thatI’m very optimistic,” the ambassador said. “I am verysure things are going to get better. I am sure things aregoing to get better economically, because they can’t getmuch worse.” Mr. Taylor’s last day on the job in Kyivwas May 25.At about the same time, Presidential Secretariat ChairViktor Baloha announced his resignation on May 19after serving as the president’s right-hand man for morethan two and a half years, during which he wagedvicious public battles against the president’s politicalopponents that caused Mr. Yushchenko’s popularity toplummet dramatically.Mr. Baloha was widely blamed for fueling the nasty,vicious conflict with the Cabinet of Ministers led byPrime Minister Tymoshenko ever since she returned topower in late December 2007. He was also blamed forruining the president’s relations with other key pro-UNIAN/Oleksander YurchenkoFinance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk (left) resigned on February 17. Defense Minister Yurii Yekhanurov (right)was sacked on June 5.Zenon ZawadaWestern politicians, such as former Verkhovna RadaChair Yatsenyuk, former Defense Minister AnatoliyGrytsenko and Our Ukraine parliamentary faction leaderMykola Martynenko.While isolating the president and turning thePresidential Secretariat into a government organ at war,Mr. Baloha created his own political party, SingleCenter, built from his access to government resources(adminresurs) and recruiting a handful of Our Ukrainedeputies from the president’s camp.Mr. Baloha suggested to President Yushchenko inMarch 2009 that he dismiss Parliament and call pre-termelections, thereby enabling the two to get elected andearn deputies’ immunity from prosecution, according toa report by the Ukrayinska Pravda web site that cited ananonymous source in the Presidential Secretariat. Mr.Baloha also suggested leading President Yushchenko’sre-election campaign and tried to convince him to run onthe Single Center party platform, the May 15 report said.However President Yushchenko ultimately declinedMr. Baloha’s numerous proposals and instead decided totry to resurrect the Our Ukraine People’s Union from itsdismal status. He appointed longtime advisor and confidanteVira Ulianchenko as Mr. Baloha’s replacement onMay 19, also naming her the new chairman of the OurUkraine party. She immediately declared her interest incooperating with Ukraine’s oligarchs, with whom she’senjoyed warm relations.President Yushchenko’s selection of Ms. Ulianchenkowas viewed by many observers as the latest capitulationof his professed Orange ideals. She was a top-rankingofficer in the Black Sea Shipping Company (Blasco),which was investigated and prosecuted for selling thenation’s most valuable ships for personal profit. Asauthorities began investigating Blasco, Ms. Ulianchenkofled to the U.S. where she lived until returning toUkraine five years later, soon becoming an advisor toMr. Yushchenko when he was prime minister in 2000.A controversy involving First Lady KaterynaYushchenko surfaced in the springtime when it wasrevealed that not a brick had been laid for the Children’sHospital of the Future, despite her assurances that itwould be treating patients by March 2009. Ever sinceMs. Yushchenko participated in the capsule-burying ceremonyon March 16, 2006, to launch the ambitious $120million project, critics doubted the hospital would everbe built, arguing that such projects take a minimum of10 years and advising Ukrainians not to contribute.The three-year delay in simply getting the land for thehospital drew suspicions of corruption and accusationsof a public relations stunt from the media and critics ofthe president and first lady. Only in February of 2009 didthe hospital’s organizers find land for the project, abandoningtheir original idea of building it at the eliteFeofania medical complex on Kyiv’s outskirts andinstead gaining the Kyiv City Council’s approval tobuild on 27.5 acres in the city’s Holosiyivskyi Park, astate park.In explaining the delay in construction, AndriiMyroshnichenko, the supervisory council chairman of

8THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWDanylo PeleschukThe Lenin monument in downtown Kyiv was damagedby members of the Congress of UkrainianNationalists on June 30.the Children’s Hospital of the Future Charity Fund, saidthe Feofania territory consisted of ancient trees thatcouldn’t be cut, leading oranizers to decide in the summerof 2008 to look for another location. Yet, OlehRybachuk, the former Presidential Secretariat chair andYushchenko confidante, said he couldn’t believe it tooktwo years for a presidential project to find availableland.The bigger scandal involved fund-raising. AlthoughMr. Myroshnichenko reported in February 2007 that 253million hrv were raised ($50.6 million at the time), heacknowledged in February 2009 that only 100 millionhrv ($13 million) were available. Already 15 million hrv($2 million) have been spent on planning work, hereported. The gap in funds is a result of Ukrainian oligarchsdeveloping doubts about the project. MegamillionaireDonbas industrial magnate Serhii Taruta, amember of the hospital’s supervisory council, withheld$15 million because he was dissatisfied with the project’sdevelopment and transparency.Controversy plagued the Yushchenko government aswell. At the weekly Cabinet of Ministers meeting onMay 20, Prime Minister Tymoshenko accused DefenseMinister Yurii Yekhanurov of exploiting his position toengage in fraud and money laundering, demanding hisdismissal. Under Mr. Yekhanurov’s direction, the ministryallegedly bought food and fuel at double their marketprices from fake intermediary enterprises, then pocketedthe difference. He also forged documents to misappropriatereal estate, the prime minister alleged, based ondocuments offered by the Control ReviewAdministration.Observers said her public attack against Mr.Yekhanurov was a carefully staged retaliation for therecent attempt, by the president and others, to dismissInternal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko for his drunkenepisode in Frankfurt and shift media attention away fromthat scandal towards a close presidential ally. TheVerkhovna Rada sacked Mr. Yekhanurov on June 5.The spring scandals were quickly overshadowed bythe attempt in early June by Ukraine’s two largest politicalforces – the Party of Regions of Ukraine (PRU) andthe Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB) – to form a coalitiongovernment that would remain in place for five years.The negotiations were a complete betrayal of Ms.Tymoshenko’s earlier campaign rhetoric demonizing theParty of Regions as a mafia-oligarchic structure, andcampaign promises that she would never attempt to allywith her rivals.Even more shocking were the proposals under consideration:electing Viktor Yanukovych to a 10-year term aspresident and allowing Ms. Tymoshenko to remain asprime minister until the next parliamentary elections in2014. Attempts were also made to recruit the centristVolodymyr Lytvyn Bloc, reportedly making the alluringoffer of allowing Mr. Lytvyn to remain as parliamentarychair for six more years, reported Ukrayinska Pravda,the authoritative website that reported many significantleaks of information.Pragmatic politicians within both forces wanted thecoalition in order to avoid another expensive and potentiallyvolatile presidential election, observers said, whichhas the potentially to re-open wounds from 2004 and reignitetensions between Ukraine’s pro-Western and pro-Russian electorate. Leaders of both forces appealed tothe public to support the grand coalition, declaring that itwould bring stability amidst a devastated economy andpolitical gridlock. The prospect of a coalition ofUkraine’s biggest political forces – representing thenation’s biggest business interests, as well as policiesthat were largely indifferent to Ukrainian language andculture – ignited panic and fury among the nation’sright-wing forces, which called upon the Ukrainian peopleto protest.President Yushchenko said he wouldn’t allow anyconstitutional amendment transferring the power to electthe president from the people to the Parliament, andlabeled the potential coalition a crime against freedomand democracy and an “anti-constitutional revolt” tousurp power. As the coalition negotiations grew moreintense on the evening of June 4, President Yushchenkowent on national television and addressed the Ukrainianpeople with urgency, calling for their support in his bidto oppose what he called an “attack on Ukrainian democracy.”Yet the plans for the “Coalition for Unity and Rebirth”collapsed the morning of June 7 when Mr. Yanukovychannounced he was leading his party in withdrawing fromthe negotiations, claiming there wasn’t enough time toreach a quality agreement. “I understood that time isneeded for a new government and new coalition, but itmakes no sense to create a new government with theapproaching presidential elections,” Mr. Yanukovychsaid in a television address. “The few months that separateUkraine from the presidential elections would simplynot have been enough to begin truly, effective anticrisisactivity,” he noted.That same evening Prime Minister Tymoshenko deliveredher response in a live, national television address,blaming Mr. Yanukovych for ruining the chance to unitethe nation’s leaders to cope with Ukraine’s economiccrisis, as well as distancing herself from the agreement’scontroversial provisions. “Our political force acceptedlarge, unforeseen compromises,” she said of her eponymouspolitical bloc. “We conceded to everyone. We wereready for any losses – political, electoral, image, ranks.But today, not for a second, do I regret that we attemptedthis. This is the true and righteous path.”The planned coalition would have enabled Parliament,not the people, to elect the Ukrainian president andextended the term for parliamentary deputies by three tofive years, leaving Ms. Tymoshenko in place as primeminister for that duration. The proposed Constitution,leaked to the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper on June 4,contained numerous points that raised concern, includingdepriving licenses to mass media accused of “disinformationof society,” as well as giving the presidentenhanced control of law enforcement authorities. Theproposed Constitution would have also required theUkrainian president to get approval from the NationalSecurity and Defense Council and Parliament beforeusing military force against a foreign invader.Mr. Yanukovych flew to St. Petersburg on June 5 foran informal meeting with Russian Federation PresidentDmitry Medvedev, reported Kommersant, a daily newspaperpublished in Kyiv. Only after the meeting did thepro-Russian opposition leader become firm his decisionto abandon the coalition talks, Kommersant reported,citing an anonymous source. The next day, Mr.Yanuokvych reportedly met with former PresidentialSecretariat Chair Baloha and had a phone conversationwith President Yushchenko, who tried to convince theopposition leader that he could win the presidential election,Kommersant reported on June 10.Leaders of the PRU and the YTB reportedly couldn’tagree on clear principles for their coalition and economicanti-crisis measures. Observers said ultimately, Ms.Tymoshenko and Mr. Yanukovych couldn’t agree on athird document being drafted between the two forces,besides the coalition agreement and the amendedConstitution, reportedly called “The Grand Agreement.”It stipulated cooperation between the YTB and the PRUuntil 2024, including participation in elections as a singlepolitical bloc. The agreement allegedly gave Mr.Yanukovych the first two terms as president, and the secondtwo to Ms. Tymoshenko, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.The Security Service of Ukraine on May 22 launcheda criminal investigation into the Holodomor of1932-1933 with the goal of prosecuting who organizedthe Famine-Genocide that resulted in the deaths of millionsof Ukrainians. Special investigative groups areoperating throughout the 17 oblasts of the formerUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic devastated by theHolodomor to prepare evidence, such as testimonies anddocuments, for criminal prosecution in Ukraine, saidValentyn Nalyvaichenko, the SBU chair. “Ukraine hascollected enough testimony to launch a criminal investigationon the Famine artificially created by theBolshevik regime, which led to the mass destruction ofthe civilian population,” he said during a May 25 meetingwith a Ukrainian World Congress delegation led byAustralian Stefan Romaniw, the UWC’s executive secretary.In its investigation, the SBU is pursuing criminalcharges based on the law passed by Parliament inNovember 2006 that recognized the Holodomor as genocideagainst the Ukrainian people, as well as Article 442of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, which outlaws acts of genocide,Mr. Nalyvaichenko said.The sticky summer was filled with tension in Kyiv,where members of the Congress of UkrainianNationalists, led by nationalist Mykola Kokhanivskyi,scaled a ladder shortly before dawn on June 30 in orderto chip away at the face and hands of the downtown statueof Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. Five were arrested,including ringleader Mr. Kokhanivskyi, while twoescaped.The defacing of the Lenin statue reignited a movementto remove Soviet-era relics and monuments, inspiringactivists to form a Decommunization Committeeaimed at using legal means instead of vandalism.Established on July 3, the committee recruited 33 civicand political organizations to lobby for the removal ofSoviet monuments and change the names of cities,streets and squares named after Soviet icons involved inthe persecution of Ukrainians.Poltava commemorated the 300th anniversary of theBattle of Poltava on June 27-28 in the presence of morethan 60,000 spectators, among them Cossack fraternitiesfrom the Russian Federation, Swedish tourists andUkrainian nationalists who arrived in the spirit of internationalgoodwill. In the Great Northern War betweenthe Swedes and the Russians for control of the BalticSea, the Battle of Poltava was the decisive turning pointthat not only marked the permanent decline of theSwedish Empire, but also ended Hetman Ivan Mazepa’saspirations for Ukrainian independence.One of the day’s bigger controversies was sparked atthe start of the ceremony at the Memory of the FallenRotunda when the Russian national anthem was playedbefore the Ukrainian anthem, an incident believed tohave been planned by the city’s Russophile leadership.Additionally, the Russian delegation chose not to visitPoltava’s Kozak Cross monument – which doesn’t makeany references to Mazepa – to place flowers to honor allfallen Kozak warriors, not just those killed in the Battleof Poltava. Meanwhile, Poltava Mayor AndriiMatkovskyi addressed the crowds in the Russian languageat the rotunda consecration ceremony. TheSwedish delegation presented a bronze bust of King KarlXII to the Poltava City Council with the expectation itwould be included in the collection of the Battle ofPoltava Museum. Instead city officials tucked it away inthe offsite Poltava Ethnographic Museum. RussianPresidential Administration Sergei Naryshkin, who alsochairs the Russian Federation’s Commission toCounteract the Falsification of History, deliveredremarks that were Russo-centric and contradicted basichistorical facts.The State Organizational Committee led by IvanVasiunyk, a close advisor to President Yushchenko, succeededin preventing plans by Mr. Matkovskyi and theCity Council to host a “Glory of Russian Weaponry” celebrationfor Russian Cossack organizations such asDescendants of the Victory.Three centuries after the Battle of Poltava, Ukraine isstuck in a gray buffer zone between two systems of collectivesecurity, in the view of Valeriy Chaly, the deputydirector of Kyiv’s Razumkov Center, and the nation’spermanent internal conflict has forced it to the geopoliticalsidelines with the threat that only global powers willdecide its fate. Despite electing a firmly pro-NATO presidentin Mr. Yushchenko, Ukraine lost its chance atdeeper Euro-Atlantic integration “because of the nonconsolidationof political elites and the inadequateunderstanding of national interests and priority tasks,”he said. “We are practically locked in a zone, which inmy view, is a rather dangerous situation for Ukraine,”Mr. Chaly said in a mid-July press conference he said

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 201092009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWwas intended to raise awareness and spark discussion onUkraine’s geopolitical future.While it’s often suggested that Ukraine’s leadershipought to opt for a neutral, non-aligned status between theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and theRussian Federation, foreign policy specialists knowthat’s not a viable option, he said. Ukraine is alreadyfailing to finance its armed forces according to legislativestandards and it would be very difficult, if notimpossible, for the nation to do so in a non-aligned status,Mr. Chaly said.Additionally, Ukraine has already international andlegal agreements to integrate with the European Union(EU) and NATO. Meanwhile Russia has failed to honorits agreement that it wouldn’t pressure Ukraine after itagreed to surrender its nuclear arsenal entirely.The Russian government is currently pursuing a foreignpolicy strategy of realpolitik with the goal of creatingits own sphere of influence within post-Sovietsphere, whether informal or agreed upon, and ultimatelychanging the balance of power, Mr. Chaly said. Mostnotably, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrovproposed a European Security Treaty, or a new securityarchitecture, during informal meetings in late June withNATO foreign ministers in Corfu, Greece, as part of thehighest-level talks between NATO and Russian leaderssince the South Ossetian War.“Ukraine isn’t even following these processes in theappropriate way,” Mr. Chaly said. “Only the Ministry ofForeign Affairs is involved, in which diplomats arekeeping track through their own efforts, without a minister.”In mid-November, Mr. Chaly was appointed deputyforeign affairs minister by Petro Poroshenko, whobecame Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister on October 9.After an international manhunt of more than fiveyears, law enforcement authorities on July 21 arrestedOleksii Pukach, a high-ranking police officer who immediatelyconfessed to his involvement in the September2000 murder of muckraking journalist HeorhiiGongadze.During an all-night interrogation by prosecutors, Mr.Pukach offered to show authorities where Gongadze’smissing head is located and to identify who ordered thekilling. It’s widely suspected that top government officials,particularly former President Leonid Kuchma, wantedGongadze dead for his journalistic work. The arrest ofMr. Pukach, who apparently served as the go-between forthe murder’s orderers and killers as the Internal AffairsMinistry’s criminal investigation chief, didn’t lead to anyarrests among Ukraine’s political elite, despite someanticipation that it could be a breakthrough.Yet a day had not passed before the unexpected July21 arrest Mr. Pukach became a scandal in it of itself.Claims from Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officialsthat Mr. Pukach would name the murder’s orderersand locate Gongadze’s skull were dismissed by his lawyer,Serhii Osyka, who said his client never gave suchinformation. The scandal intensified after Mr. Pukachdismissed Mr. Osyka on July 27.While President Yushchenko raised hopes that Mr.Pukach’s discovery would lead to arrests of top-rankingofficials, the doubts expressed by Gongadze’s widow,Myroslava, that Pukach’s arrest could lead to a dead endinstead are gaining credibility.In what has been described as the most provocativestatement by a Russian leader since Ukrainian independence,President Dmitry Medvedev dispatched anAugust 6 letter to President Viktor Yushchenko, blaminghim for the worst bilateral relations since the Sovietperiod. He called upon the next president of Ukraine tolaunch a new era of relations, assuming that Mr.Yushchenko wouldn’t be re-elected.He scolded the Mr. Yushchenko for mishandlingnumerous critical issues, citing alleged arms delivery toGeorgia during the South Ossetian War, energy agreementviolations and diplomatic expulsions.“What we have witnessed during the years of yourpresidency cannot be interpreted as anything other thanthe Ukrainian party’s departure from the principles offriendship and partnership with Russia,” Mr. Medvedevsaid in the letter, posted on the Kremlin’s website fivedays after its date.Along with the letter, the Kremlin released a videostatement, recorded at the president’s residence on theBlack Sea coast and posted on Mr. Medvedev’s Internetblog, in which the Russian president vented his grievancesover the Ukrainian government’s policies. Besidesmilitary and economic matters, Mr. Medvedev criticizedcampaigns “to oust the Russian language from theUkrainian media, education, culture and science.”Official Website of Yulia TymoshenkoYulia Tymoshenko at a campaign rally on Independence Square on October 24.“The Ukrainian leadership’s outwardly smooth-flowingrhetoric fits ill with the overt distortion of complexand difficult episodes in our common history, the tragicevents of the great famine in the Soviet Union, and aninterpretation of the Great Patriotic War as some kind ofconfrontation between two totalitarian systems,” he said.The Verkhovna Rada voted on August 21 to overridePresident Yushchenko’s veto on the election rules bill,which critics alleged significantly restricted voter rightsand tipped the scales in favor of the dominating politicalforces – the Party of Regions of Ukraine and the YuliaTymoshenko Bloc.It was PRU and YTB deputies who provided 321 ofthe 325 votes in favor, passing into law their preferredrules which took effect September 1, said MykhailoOkhendovskyi, a Central Election Commission (CEC)member. The Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc and CommunistParty of Ukraine offered no support. Among its key provisions,the law restricted all appeals to a single court,the Higher Administrative Court in Kyiv, which willhave two days to review them and reach a verdict,instead of the previous five days. Presidential SecretariatDeputy Chair Maryna Stavniichuk commented:“Meaning the CEC, the organ which guarantees the realizationof voting rights, doesn’t have rights, and is supposedto leave citizens’ appeals and complaints withoutreview. What is this? Tell us national deputies, have youforgotten about 2004?” [It was the CEC which ruled oncreating a third round of voting that enabled the electionof President Yushchenko in 2004.]Immediately after the vote, the Presidential Secretariatreaffirmed previous statements that it would submit thelaw for the Constitutional Court’s review once it takeseffect, with the expectation the court would reject thoseprovisions under question.The Ukrainian hryvnia’s 8 percent plunge in value inAugust and September renewed public demands for theresignation of National Bank of Ukraine ChairVolodymyr Stelmakh, who was widely accused of allowingthe central bank to become a den of corruption.Public frustration approached boiling point when thecurrency’s value dropped to 9 hrv per $1 on September 4on the interbank market, or a 15 percent decline. Itrebounded to 8.50 hrv per $1 as of September 10, an 8percent decline from August 6, when $1 bought 7.87hrv.Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko, Ukraine’spolice chief, called NBU First Assistant Chair AnatoliiShapovalov in for questioning on September 10, twodays after announcing he has evidence of criminal activitywithin the central bank that is currently being investigated.“The exchange rate has become a scenario fordestabilizing the situation in the country from thePresidential Secretariat’s end,” Mr. Lutsenko said at aSeptember 8 press conference. “That’s why I turn to thepresident of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko – either establishorder in the National Bank, or prepare your subordinatesfor prison. It’s impossible to put up with this further.A massive fraud is unfolding before our eyes.”The hryvnia’s drop became the latest political footballbetween the warring poles of power in Ukrainian politics– President Yushchenko blamed Prime MinisterOfficial Website of Ukraine’s PresidentA view of the Freedom Day event at Kyiv’s Ukrainian Home on November 22 that served as the unofficiallaunch of President Viktor Yushchenko’s re-election campaign.

10THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWTymoshenko. Her national deputies accused the NationalBank of corruption, and presidential front-runner Mr.Yanukovych blamed them all.“Who’s to blame? Everyone’s to blame – the president,and the prime minister and the National Bankchair, who are supposed to sit together, develop a stateapproach to this issue, and provide all measures todefend the national currency,” the opposition leader saidon September 8.Mr. Poroshenko became Ukraine’s Foreign AffairsMinister on October 9 after the Verkhovna Rada upheld thepresident’s nomination with 240 votes, sealing a longsoughtarrangement between the embattled political forces.“He was the single candidate for whom we were ableto reach a compromise,” Kseniya Lyapina, an OurUkraine national deputy and presidential ally, told theInter television network. “Poroshenko demonstrated anability to reach agreements with friends and opponentsalike during the last year.” The business magnate’s candidacywas supported by a majority of the deputies ofthe Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense, YuliaTymoshenko and Volodymyr Lytvyn blocs and largelyrejected by the pro-Russian forces except for two votes.Ukraine was without a foreign affairs minister formore than seven months. Mr. Poroshenko’s candidacywas viewed by observers as a critical step in getting thenation’s foreign policy in order, particularly in preparationfor the December 4 Ukraine-European Union (EU)Summit in Kyiv.President Yushchenko chose the 44-year-old Mr.Zenon ZawadaSwedish soldiers and their Kozak allies charge toward their Russian enemies during the theatrical performancepresented on June 27 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava.Poroshenko as his nominee after not being able to mustersupport for his March nomination of Oleh Shamshur,a career diplomat serving as Ukraine’s ambassador to theU.S. While the Tymoshenko Bloc offered support asearly as March, the Lytvyn Bloc held back.Meanwhile, Mr. Poroshenko played a critical role infinancing the Lytvyn Bloc, enabling it to qualify forParliament in the 2007 elections, according to politicalobservers, including Dr. Taras Kuzio of CarletonUniversity in Ottawa.Mr. Poroshenko managed to mend fences with Ms.Tymoshenko since their conflict during her first term asprime minister in 2005, when a frustrated PresidentYushchenko dismissed them both as they constantlylocked horns.Meanwhile, a mix of political and economic turmoilexpected in the winter in Ukraine raised concern amongthe nation’s intelligentsia that the Russian Federationcould take advantage of the instability to advance itsinterests, perhaps militarily.Drawing particular alarm was the first reading of adefense law passed on September 9 by the RussianDuma (Parliament) that authorized its government todispatch its military to foreign countries to rebuff or preventaggression against that nation and to defend Russiancitizens there, among other purposes. Before the bill’spassage, Russian law had allowed for two explicit usesfor its military overseas: combating terrorism and fulfillinginternational agreements. The measure came lessthan a month after Russian President Medvedev’s hostileOfficial Website of Ukraine’s PresidentDuring an April 13 meeting between Ukrainian officials and the International Monetary Fund (from left) are:Ceyla Pazarbasioglu of the IMF, President Viktor Yushchenko and Volodymyr Stelmakh of the NationalBank of Ukraine.public statement towards President Yushchenko.“We’re starting to think: ‘Why is this law being considerednow and why was it passed? Particularly afterMedvedev’s August 11 address to the president ofUkraine,” said Dr. Mykola Zhulynskyi, chair of theNational Council on Cultural and Spiritual Issues anddirector of the Shevchenko Institute of Literature at theNational Academy of Sciences.Dr. Zhulynskyi was among 27 leading Ukrainianintellectuals who signed a September 10 statementrequesting that the governments of the U.S., GreatBritain, France and China call an international conferenceto ensure Ukraine’s safety, as outlined in the 1994Budapest Memorandum in which the world powersagreed to guarantee Ukraine’s safety in exchange for itssurrender of its nuclear arsenal.The Russian Duma on October 21 passed the secondreading of legislation authorizing its military to repelattacks and protect Russian citizens in foreign countries,as well as assist foreign governments requesting its aid.“The law allowing them to use their army to defendtheir interests on foreign territories applies to Crimeaand Sevastopol,” said Dr. Volodymyr Cherniak, an economist,Rukh veteran and former Our Ukraine parliamentarydeputy. “This isn’t by chance. It’s a geopoliticallystrategic approach to defend its interests, when chaosand disorder begin on this territory.”The first shoots of disorder are already apparent. In theview of Kyiv economist Dr. Oleh Soskin, Ukraine isheaded towards an inevitable internal financial default,based on the economic data of the first three quarters of2009. “What does this mean for the average citizen? TheUkrainian state machine won’t be able to fulfill its obligationsbefore the citizens of the Ukrainian state,” he said.Evidence of the government failing Ukrainian citizensis already apparent. In Kyiv, three schools shut theirdoors on October 20 because the district council lacksfunds to repair a ruptured heating pipe. Another 158 residentialbuildings are without hot water, the TymoshenkoBloc reported. “There are cities which are practicallybankrupt and can’t make payments,” Dr. Soskin said.“Cities and villages still haven’t paid for last year’s andthis year’s natural gas. There practically isn’t any moneyto pay for the fall 2009-winter 2010 heating season andwe can expect small and middle-sized cities to be absolutelycut off, and the large ones too.”Ukraine’s two most popular politicians kicked offtheir presidential election campaigns as the pro-Russianopposition leader, Mr. Yanukovych, hosted an October23 made-for-television bash, while Ms. Tymoshenko ledher ranks to Kyiv’s maidan (Independence Square) thenext evening. The campaign kick-offs reflected the distinctstrategies each candidate will pursue, as observerscriticized Ms. Tymoshenko for exaggerations in herremarks while Mr. Yanukovych was making promises hewas unlikely to keep.Ms. Tymoshenko stressed her unique charisma andcharacter molded by her struggles in her speech beforemore than 100,000 supporters gathered at the maidan,and mentioned very few specifics plans or goals, whichmay emerge later. Meanwhile Mr. Yanukovuch struck apragmatic tone in his campaign launch, stressing stabilityand economic growth more any other theme, which isreflective of PRU politics and the values and approachto life held by southeastern Ukrainians, millions ofwhich live in large, industrial cities.Mr. Yanukovych frequently criticized the “Orangebosses” who led Ukraine into “chaos, lawlessness andeconomic ruin.” He declared: “The epoch of the Orangeproject is finished! “The world is changing. The role ofpoliticians in the renewed world likes in making it maximallysafe and stable. The task of national leaders isensuring in their states the consolidation of universalvalues – prosperity, stability, confidence in tomorrowand the rights and freedoms of citizens.”Mr. Yanukovych was nominated for the Ukrainianpresidency by the 12th Party of Regions congress held atthe International Exhibition Center, attended by morethan 1,100 delegates from throughout the country.Meanwhile Ms. Tymoshenko’s October 24 public convention,organized for a television audience, revealed theextent to which Ms. Tymoshenko’s ranks have swelled,drawing numerous defectors from the Yushchenko camp,including People’s Rukh of Ukraine Chairman BorysTarasyuk, who addressed the crowd. Ms. Tymoshenkoeven snagged President Yushchenko’s famed “liubi druzi,”the tight circle of natural gas trading millionaires whooffered critical financial support in 2004. (Mr.Martynenko, Oleksander Tretiakov and Roman Zvarychall defected to Ms. Tymoshenko’s Batkivschyna party.)Significantly, both candidates’ circles of oligarchs

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010112009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWremained intact.President Yushchenko kicked off his re-election campaignon November 22 at an event billed as a celebrationof Freedom Day – the fifth anniversary of the OrangeRevolution that brought him to power.As the end of the year and the 2010 presidential electionapproached, opponents of Prime MinisterTymoshenko attempted to push her government towardsfiscal collapse by approving legislation that forces wageand pension increases starting November 1, at a timewhen the government is on the brink of insolvency.On October 30, President Yushchenko signed legislationpassed by Parliament to increase wages and pensionsgradually during the next year. Four of five factions(except the Tymoshenko Bloc), supported the billmarking the first time the Communists and the presidentbacked the same legislation. Ms. Tymoshenko said shewould ignore the law because her government can’tfinance the increases, which could require printing asmuch as 100 billion additional hrv ($12.3 billion). Inresponse, President Yushchenko claimed the budgetindeed has the funds.The prime minister asked the International MonetaryFund (IMF) to consider offering her government a desperatelyneeded fourth tranche of $3.8 billion during aNovember 11 meeting with European ambassadors andEuropean Commission representatives in Kyiv. “It willbe exceptionally difficult without the fourth IMFtranche,” Ms. Tymoshenko told the gathered diplomats.When approving the increases, President Yushchenkoopenly defied the IMF’s demand that the governmentrefrain from wage and pension hikes, which is viewedby political players and observers alike as a cheap, populiststunt during a presidential election campaign with noFlu in UkraineWith the H1N1 virus spreading around the globe,U.S. Assistant Surgeon General/Rear Admiral Dr.Boris Lushniak, a top authority on the H1N1 virus,presented the latest U.S. government information onthe growing pandemic to a September 16 internationalconference in Kyiv.Dr. Daniel Hryhorczuk, a professor at the Universityof Illinois in Chicago School of Public Health, andUlana Mazurkevich, president of the Ukrainian HumanRights Committee, organized the conference, whichwas Dr. Lushniak’s first visit to Ukraine after he tookthe oath of office as assistant surgeon general and waspromoted to rear admiral on August 31, 2006. He isthe highest ranking active-duty Ukrainian Americanofficer in the U.S. uniformed services.The conference, which addressed internationalapproaches to coping with the H1N1 pandemic, wasattended by nearly 100 participants, including publichealth professionals from Georgia, Belarus and theRussian Federation. “Conferences like this are key tous having contract internationally on a very importantpublic health matter, which is the beginnings of a pandemicinfluenza,” Dr. Lushniak said. “Without havinginternational cooperation and the ability for nations totalk with each other and describe experiences andplanning efforts, then the pandemic will be much moredifficult process to undergo.”Zenon ZawadaU.S. Assistant Surgeon General Boris Lushniak(left), with Academy of Medical Sciences PresidentDr. Oleksander Vozianov, addressed a September16 conference in Kyiv discussing internationalapproaches to the H1N1 pandemic.long-term benefits.At year’s end, Ukraine’s presidential election campaignwas being conducted freely and transparentlywithout significant rights violations, OleksanderChernenko, the board chairman of the Committee ofVoters of Ukraine (CVU), said at a December 2 pressconference in Kyiv. Yet the legitimacy and transparencyof the January 17, 2010, presidential vote remainedthreatened by the Verkhovna Rada’s failure to pass arevised elections rules bill in a timely manner, he said.Another Western-financed, Ukrainian election observationorganization, OPORA, reported the quality of thisyear’s presidential election campaign wasn’t muchimproved from 2004. “A threatening amount of aggressive,intolerant information about competitors has surfaced,which reaffirms the absence of political culture,”OPORA Elections Programs Coordinator OlhaAivazovska told a December 1 press conference in Kyiv.Both organizations urged Ukraine’s Parliament toapprove new elections rules as soon as possible, takinginto account recommendations offered by the VeniceCommission of the Council of Europe.The most troubling provisions of the Regions-Tymoshenko bill were the inability to appeal violationsuntil after the vote, the opportunity for voters to includethemselves on multiple registers on election day, theabsence of a formal procedure for overseas Ukrainiansto vote and the prohibition on Ukrainian civic organizationsto monitor the vote.Yet Ukraine’s biggest political forces, the Party ofRegions of Ukraine led by Viktor Yanukovych and theYulia Tymoshenko Bloc, weren’t interested in changingthe very rules they had authored, which critics said tiltsthe vote in their favor.There is only one recorded case of H1N1 in Ukraine– a laborer who contacted the virus from his job sellingvegetables in Detroit, First Deputy Health Minister Dr.Oleksander Bilovol told a press conference at the time.An unidentified viral epidemic causing pneumoniaswept throughout Ukraine in the last week of October,which President Viktor Yushchenko said was a directresult of the government’s health authorities failing toheed early warnings about the global pandemic.Health Minister Vasyl Kniazevych declared anH1N1 epidemic on October 30 and quarantined ninewestern oblasts, with the most casualties in theHalychyna oblasts of Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk. Authorities officially confirmed 14 H1N1cases the next day.The contagion affected all spheres of life as PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko declared a three-weekrecess for schools and universities and canceled allpublic mass gatherings. Millions of Ukrainians beganhoarding masks, medication and citrus fruits, pricesfor which soared at markets before stocks quickly ranout. The government was deluged with complaints oflacking available masks, gauze and Swiss-madeTamiflu tablets.Meanwhile an avalanche of conflicting statementsfrom top officials confused the Ukrainian public as towhat was happening and what to do. While Mr.Kniazevych declared an epidemic, he was contradictedthe same weekend by Bilovol, who said there was noH1N1 epidemic. Statements by politicians ranged fromcharacterizing the epidemic as a common flu virusaccompanied by pandemic strains (Prime MinisterTymoshenko on November 2) to a lung plague (presidentialcandidate Inna Bohoslovska on October 30).The epidemic emerged amidst a nasty presidentialelection campaign and immediately became politicizedby the candidates and used as ammunition against theirrivals. As Ms. Tymoshenko flew around Ukraine andvisited hospitals, some alleged for campaign photoops,the president attacked her.Authorities shifted their emphasis towards vaccinations,which authorities hoped would be available freelyby December. By the time December rolled around,political gridlock and election posturing delayed governmentplans to launch mass vaccinations in preparationfor an expected second wave of influenza andacute respiratory viral infection (ARVI).The Health Ministry of Ukraine confirmed that 759people had died of flu and AVRI in Ukraine fromOctober 29, 2009, through January 2, 2010. Over3.789 million people had contracted flu and flu-likeillnesses since the outbreak of the flu epidemic. A totalof 217,056 were hospitalized and 180,892 were dischargedfrom hospitals.U.S.-Ukraine:time of transitionTransitional would be the best way to describe thedevelopment of U.S.-Ukraine relations. It began witha new president, Democrat Barack Obama, replacinghis Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, in the WhiteHouse, and concluded with their Ukrainian counterpart,Viktor Yushchenko, facing defeat in the Ukrainian presidentialelections scheduled for January 17, 2010.The year included an exchange of high-level visits, albeitnot presidential as in the previous year, which helped smoothout some bilateral rough spots. Vice-President Joseph Bidenhad a three-day stopover in Ukraine in July, and ForeignAffairs Minister Petro Poroshenko had four days of talks inWashington and New York in mid-December. It also saw theappointment of a new U.S. ambassador to Kyiv, John Tefft,a few bilateral agreements signed or expressed in the area ofboth foreign and economic policies, as well as a few noteworthymeetings, events and anniversaries that focused onthe evolving U.S.-Ukraine ties.Obama electionOn the day President Obama was being sworn in to officein Washington, President Yushchenko’s office released thetext of his letter congratulating the new American president,noting that Ukraine was “looking forward to close and fruitfulcooperation with your administration in the spirit of strategicpartnership and friendship that exists between ournations.”President Yushchenko said Ukraine values highlyWashington’s support of Ukraine’s strategic aim of becominga “full-fledged” member of NATO and proposed raisingthe working level of the Ukraine-U.S. InteragencyCoordinating Group to the presidential level to reflect itsimportance. He invited President Obama to visit Ukraine,which, he said, “will give a new powerful impetus to thedevelopment of the strategic partnership” between the twocountries.As the inauguration of the new U.S. president was beingcelebrated at numerous festive gathering in the nation’s capital,the Embassy of Ukraine joined the festivities by hostinga gala reception. It was sponsored by the U.S.-UkrainianBusiness Council (USUBC) with the support of 10 leadingUkrainian-American organizations. Among the 300 guestsparticipating in the event were representatives of the U.S.government and Congress, former U.S. Ambassadors toUkraine William Green Miller and Steven Pifer, leaders ofthe Ukrainian American community and two very famousladies of Ukrainian descent: Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper,who a few weeks earlier had completed her second earthorbitjourney aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle, and OksanaBaiul, Ukraine’s figure skating gold medalist at the 1994Winter Olympics.Welcoming the guests on this occasion, UkrainianAmbassador Oleh Shamshur expressed the hope that thetwo countries “will be able not simply to move on but toreach a new qualitative level in our relationship.”White HouseU.S. Vice-President Joe Biden is welcomed to Ukraineon July 20.

12THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWUkraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Petro Poroshenko at a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton on December 9 in Washington.USUBC, the evening’s sponsor, which fosters expandingU.S.-Ukrainian commercial-economic relations, had justrecently accepted as its 100th member – the Microsoft Corp.Also participating in the event were The Washington Group,Ukrainian American Bar Association, Ukrainian AmericanCoordinating Council, Ukrainian-American EnvironmentalAssociation, Ukrainian Americans for Obama-Biden,Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, UkrainianFederation of America, Ukrainian National Women’sLeague of America and the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation.The year 2009 not only saw a change in the White House,but in the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv as well. William Taylor Jr.,returned to Washington in June 2009 after three years asambassador to Ukraine. He left not without regret, as he toldthe press before departing. After such earlier diplomaticassignments as Iraq, Afghanistan and Jerusalem, he toldreporters, “I was ready for some less exciting time.”Ukraine, however, did not turn out to be the oasis of calmand stability he had anticipated. Within just a few weeks, thepro-Western coalition fell apart, he said, igniting three yearsof corruption, gridlock and instability in Ukrainian governance.He noted that over the next three years he had towork with three different prime ministers, three foreignaffairs ministers and three Verkhovna Rada chairmen.President Obama nominated his successor, AmbassadorJohn F. Tefft, at the end of September, and the Senate confirmedhis nomination on November 20. Ambassador Teffthas been in the U.S. Foreign Service for 37 years. Mostrecently, from 2005 to 2009, he served as U.S. ambassadorto the Republic of Georgia. Prior to that, he was deputyZenon Zawadaassistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs,responsible for relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus andMoldova. He was ambassador to Lithuania (2000-2003) anddeputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow(1996-1999). His other assignments included Jerusalem,Budapest and Rome.Before departing for Kyiv, where he presented his credentialsto Foreign Affairs Minister Poroshenko onDecember 3, he had two meetings with representatives ofUkrainian American organizations and other groups interestingin improving U.S. relations with Ukraine – one organizedby the Coalition for a Secure and Democratic Ukraine;the other by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.The UCCA and its public affairs bureau in Washington,the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), alsohelped organize with the Congressional Ukrainian Caucusin September a briefing on Capitol Hill by formerAmbassador Taylor that focused on Ukraine’s significanceto the stability of the European continent and the future ofEast-West relations.Biden visits KyivYaro BihunWhile a number of senior U.S. and Ukrainian officialsvisited each others’ capitals for bilateral talks during the pastyear, the most significant came in mid-July, when Vice-President Biden came to Kyiv for talks with PresidentYushchenko and other Ukrainian leaders. He flew there twoweeks after President Obama’s visit to Moscow to “reset”the U.S.-Russia bilateral relationship.While in Kyiv on July 20-22, the vice-president also metU.S. State DepartmentOutgoing U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor (left) and incoming Ambassador John Tefft (right).with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (with whom he hadmet earlier in Munich in February), Verkhovna RadaChairman Volodymyr Lytvyn, opposition leader ViktorYanukovych (the current leader in the most recent pre-presidentialelection polls) and former Foreign Affairs MinisterArseniy Yatsenyuk, who has joined the ranks of candidatesfor president of Ukraine.During a news conference July 21, following his meetingwith Mr. Yushchenko, Mr. Biden underscored Washington’ssupport for Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration and energysector reform. The United States is working “to reset ourrelationship with Russia,” he said. “But I assure you and allthe Ukrainian people that it will not come at Ukraine’sexpense. To the contrary, I believe it can actually benefitUkraine,” he added.Mr. Yushchenko said they had discussed the need for“radical reforms” in the energy sector and for modernizingUkraine’s natural gas transit system to involve “many internationalcreditors and investors,” including those from theUnited States. They discussed U.S.-Ukraine cooperation inimproving the safety of the Chornobyl nuclear plant andUkraine’s integration in European projects to buy oil andnatural gas from what Mr. Yushchenko referred to as “traditionaland non-traditional regions of supply.” This wouldinclude the European Oil Transit Corridor project to transportoil from the Caspian Sea basin over the Odesa-Brodypipeline into Europe, bypassing Russia.After their press conference, Messrs. Yushchenko andBiden visited the newly constructed Candle of MemoryHolodomor Victims Memorial near the Kyivan CavesMonastery. From Kyiv, the U.S. vice-president flew on toGeorgia for a three-day visit.Poroshenko visits D.C.The highest-profile Ukrainian government official visit toWashington came in the second week of December, whenForeign Affairs Minister Poroshenko arrived for four-daysof high-level meetings in Washington – with senior U.S.government officials, congressional and business leaders,representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) –and in New York, with leaders at the United Nations.Highlighting the visit were his talks with Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton, conducted in conjunction with theinaugural session of the U.S.-Ukraine Strategic PartnershipCommission, which was formed to assist Ukraine in the variousaspects of its development and to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relationship.Secretary Clinton and Minister Poroshenko expressedtheir satisfaction with the results of their meeting.She reiterated the Obama administration’s commitmentto helping Ukraine on its “path to democracy and prosperity”and supporting its independence and “further integration”with NATO and the European Union.Mr. Poroshenko expressed his satisfaction with the U.S.assurances he received about security, economic and otherimportant issues for Ukraine. Listing some of the problemsthe two countries “should deal with together,” he underscoredthe urgent need for the renewal of what he termed the“crucially important” IMF loans to Ukraine. This issue – theIMF suspension of a scheduled $3.8 billion loan disbursementto Ukraine because of its failure to implement necessaryeconomic reforms – was on top of the agenda of histalks with IMF representatives in Washington. By year’send, the problem, which had complicated Ukraine’s abilityto pay for Russian gas supplies, was alleviated.Mr. Poroshenko discussed these and other importantissues also with influential members of the U.S. Congress,Washington think-tanks, and American companies economicallyinvolved in Ukraine, as well as and with representativesof leading Ukrainian American organizations.Other visits, talksThe IMF and other issues were also the subject of discussionof other high-level bilateral meetings – in late April,when U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg visitedKyiv and Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister for Europeanand International Integration Hryhoriy Nemyria visitedWashington, and again during Ukraine’s Minister of theEconomy Bohdan Danylyshyn’s visit here in mid-October.Following Mr. Steinberg’s meetings with PresidentYushchenko and other government leaders, he pointed outthat Ukraine is conducting some serious economic reforms.“Our relations are currently strategic and very important toUkraine,” he said, adding that “our joint values and jointaspirations are creating a strong basis for our relations.”Mr. Nemyria led the Ukrainian delegation to the springmeeting of the boards of the IMF and the World Bank. Healso met with representatives of the U.S. National SecurityCouncil and the co-chairman of the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee, Sen. Richard Lugar, to discuss the implementationof the Ukraine-U.S. Charter on Strategic Partnership,

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010132009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWthe development of bilateral relations for 2009, Washington’ssupport for Ukraine in IMF decisions and ways to overcomethe global economic downturn.Minister Danylyshyn’s October visit also focused onUkraine’s IMF problems, the situation in Ukraine resultingfrom the international economic crisis and related issues.Afterwards, during his meeting with members of theCongressional Ukrainian Caucus, he expressed his gratitudefor the funding Ukraine has been receiving from the IMF,for the U.S. support of this funding and for the release of itsfourth tranche that was being temporarily withheld.A few weeks earlier, on September 25, MinisterDanylyshyn and the director of the USAID mission toUkraine, Moldova and Belarus, Janina Jaruzelski, signeda bilateral memorandum of understanding regarding basicdirections and objectives of the U.S. Agency forInternational Development assistance program for thecoming year. Mr. Danylyshyn noted that the USAIDfundedprojects are an important instrument of supportingUkrainian reforms, including strengthening the financialsector, developing market-oriented agriculture, supportingsmall and medium-size business and addressing socialproblems.On October 28, Washington was the scene of the inauguralmeeting of the Bilateral Energy Security Working Group(BESWG), created under the auspices of the U.S.-UkraineStrategic Partnership Commission. Co-chaired byAmbassador Richard L. Morningstar, special envoy forEurasian energy, and Sergiy Pavlusha, Ukraine’s vice-ministerfor fuel and energy, the working group discussed theimportance of working together to strengthen energy securityfor Ukraine and Europe.The BESWG meeting focused specifically on Ukraine’senergy sector reform initiatives, ongoing U.S. technicalassistance to Ukraine in municipal heating reform and othersectors, and the potential for enhanced U.S.-Ukraine cooperationin energy efficiency and other new areas. They alsodiscussed promoting the participation of the U.S. andUkrainian private sectors in energy development and theimportance of successfully implementing cooperative projectsin nuclear power.As the year was coming to a close, the U.S. OverseasPrivate Investment Corporation (OPIC) restored its programsin Ukraine, following the signing on December 16 ofan agreement resolving a dispute over an insurance claimpaid by OPIC. As a result, OPIC can now provide financingand political risk insurance to American companies investingin Ukraine, paving the way for millions of dollars inpotential U.S. private sector investment there.Previously, OPIC had provided more than $254 millionin financing and insurance to 21 projects in Ukraine, in sectorsranging from manufacturing and construction to energyand financial services. OPIC acting President Dr. LawrenceSpinelli called this an historic occasion, indicative ofUkraine’s ongoing efforts to improve its investment climate.“We look forward to working with both U.S. and Ukrainianbusinesses to facilitate new levels of American investmentin Ukraine,” he said.Influencing bilateral relationsThe development of relations between the UnitedStates and Ukraine – or any other country, for that matter– does not happen simply between the two governmentsdirectly involved, in isolation from other entities interestedin how that process evolves. In Washington, thisincludes members of Congress, lobbyists, think-tankfoundations and institutes, and, needless to say,Ukrainian Americans and their organizations and institutions.And in 2009, as in years past, all have been activein this regard. Some examples follow.A number prominent Washington-based research foundationsand institutions have been active in Ukrainian affairs,among them the Woodrow Wilson Center for InternationalScholars, Kennan Institute, Brookings Institution, CarnegieEndowment for International Peace and the NationalEndowment for Democracy. Their work is evident in theresearch and reports of their own expert scholars, theirexchange programs and the forums they provide for invitedexperts and visiting government officials, prominent scholarsand cultural figures.Ambassador Miller, who was the U.S. envoy ambassadorto Ukraine in the latter 1990s and since then a senior policyscholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center made the first suchpresentation in 2009 at the center in early January. It was ananalysis of the evolving dire situation Ukraine found itself in18 years after independence resulting from a combination ofexternal and internal factors. Its resolution, he said, requirednot only unified action on the part of Ukraine’s leadershipbut strategically necessary assistance from the United Statesas well.The Wilson Center’s wide-ranging interest in UkraineParticipating in a December 11 panel discussion on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Voice of America’sUkrainian Service (from left) are: David Kramer of the German Marshal Fund; moderator MyroslavaGongadze of VOA; Steven Pifer, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine; and James Greene, former had of theNATO Liaison Office in Ukraine.was evident from some of its other Ukraine-related eventsduring the year, among them Ukrainian poet ViktorNeborak’s discussion in late January of literary trends in hiscountry as part of the Kennan Institute’s “ContemporaryUkrainian Literature Series,” and, in October, a presentationby Patriarch Filaret, primate of the Ukrainian OrthodoxChurch – Kyiv Patriarchate, who spoke about contemporarytrends in Christian societies, and, more specifically, inUkraine.During his visit here in April, Ukraine’s Vice PrimeMinister Nemyria presented a report on “Current Politicaland Economic Developments in Ukraine” at the BrookingsInstitution. A few weeks earlier, Brookings published areport, “Engaging Ukraine in 2009,” authored by StevenPifer, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a visitingfellow in foreign policy at Brookings; Anders Åslund, seniorfellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics;and Jonathan Elkind, a non-resident senior fellow on energysecurity issues at Brookings. And, in December,Foreign Affairs Minister Poroshenko, outlined his government’spolicies at yet another prominent think tank,the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, in addition to fundingvarious exchange and development programs withUkraine, recently has also become a venue for presentationsby noteworthy Ukrainians visiting Washington.President Yushchenko’s former chief of staff, OlehRybachuk, was there in February, predicting thatUkrainians will opt for new leadership in the next presidentialelection. In June, Dr. Serhiy Kot, a leading activistin Ukraine’s efforts to retrieve the countless art treasuresstolen by foreign occupiers during the last century,discussed the problems encountered in these efforts duringan evening at USUF sponsored by the ShevchenkoScientific Society.And demonstrating yet another aspect of its work, inFebruary the USUF, through its agreement with the governmentof Ukraine and the co-sponsorship of AeroSvitUkrainian Airlines and the U.S.-Ukraine BusinessCouncil, organized the “Discover Ukraine” exhibit atThe New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob K. JavitsConvention Center in New York City – the largest consumerand travel trade show in the United States.Early in the year, the National Endowment forYaro BihunDemocracy, which over the years has been promotingdemocratic development in Ukraine, hosted a panel discussionabout the development of an independent mediain Ukraine and its future prospects. The discussion, organizedby the International Forum for Democratic Studies,featured Ihor Lylo, one of Ukraine’s leading politicalreporters and director of two popular Lviv radio politicaltalk shows. Moderated by Nadia Diuk – who wasrecently promoted to NED vice-president – the discussionalso included Voice of America Ukrainian Servicetelevision correspondent Myroslava Gongadze.The Ukrainian services of the VOA and Radio FreeEurope/Radio Liberty celebrated their 60th and 55thanniversaries of broadcasting to the people of Ukraine.Initially, during the Soviet era, this was via short-waveradio broadcasts, which were subject to jamming bySoviet transmitters. Since independence, these programswere carried by local radio stations in Ukraine. TheVOA Ukrainian Service ended its radio broadcasts at theend of 2008, focusing its efforts now on its daily televisionnewscasts Chas-Time and the weekend TV newsfeatureprogram “Window on America.” Both VOA andRFE/RL Ukrainian services now also communicate withtheir audience over the Internet.A new project to utilize the technical advances nowavailable in the evolving digital-electronic era to help inthe development of Ukraine was launched in January,when the U.S. Agency for International Development andthe Chicago-based Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of Americasigned a partnership agreement to establish the ElectronicLibrary of Ukraine (ELibUkr). The goal of this program isto provide Ukrainian scholars and students with access tothe world’s digitized network of academic and researchinformation on an equal access basis through theElectronic Library/Knowledge Centers. With the supportand collaboration of electronic library organizations, facultyfrom Northwestern University, the NationalUniversity of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and other Ukrainianuniversities, ELibUkr intends to provide unprecedentedaccess to public and proprietary information for Ukrainianresidents while allowing the rest of the academic world tobenefit from the rich intellectual holdings of Ukraine. TheELibUkr Project plans to bring Ukraine’s main universitiesinto this system within three years.Andrew BihunNewly confirmed U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Tefft (center) is seen during a November 24 meeting withrepresentatives of Ukrainian American community organizations.

14THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWCanada-Ukraine:a state visit to KyivCanada’s Governor-General Michäelle Jean made astate visit to Ukraine on April 23-26. Sworn in onSeptember 27, 2005, Ms. Jean represents the Crownin Canada and carries out the duties of head of state. As alaunch of the state visit, the governor general hosted, atRideau Hall in Ottawa, a celebration of culture and friendshipbetween Canada and Ukraine to which an official delegationof Canadian community and cultural leaders wasinvited. The state visit to Ukraine focused on Canada’songoing support for the Ukraine’s democratic transformationand economic reform. The visit was an opportunity forthe Ukrainian Canadian community to highlight some of themany important projects they are leading or supporting inUkraine.The governor general’s visit to Kyiv started with a fullofficial state ceremonial greeting, followed by a privateworking meeting between President Viktor Yushchenko andMs. Jean. Mr. Yushchenko thanked Canada for its “longtermcontinued international support of Ukraine.” The presidenthosted the governor general and her delegation at anelaborate state dinner within the renovated structures of theSt. Sophia Cathedral complex. The governor general alsomet with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and VerkhovnaRada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn.Ms. Jean spoke to the students of the National Universityof Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NUKMA). The governor generalsaid she was one of the millions of worldwide enthralledviewers of the Orange Revolution. “When put to the test,Ukrainian society demonstrated its ability to come togetherfor the good of all to triumph over the forces of destruction,”she said. The meeting included an open two-hour discussionin which she encouraged the students to participate in civiclife.During Ms Jean’s visit, Zenon Potichny, president of theCanada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, announced the reopeningof the Chamber’s Kyiv office. It had first opened in1993, but as interest in investment dissipated under formerPresident Leonid Kuchma, it was shut down in 1999.Ms. Jean also visited Lviv, where she met with OblastChair Mykola Kmit and Mayor Andrii Sadovyi and visitedthe Dzherelo Rehabilitation Center for Children, whichserves children with disabilities. She met Zenya Kushpeta ofToronto, who has been the driving force behind the centersince 1993. After a tour of the facility, the governor generalparticipated in a roundtable discussion with governmentaland educational stakeholders and NGOs on the topic ofinclusive education and the integration into society of childrenwith disabilities. Oksana Kunanetz, current director ofDzherelo, Oksana Wynnyckyj, honorary consul general ofCanada in Lviv, and architect Volodymyr Luciw – allUkrainian Canadians – were recognized as pillars instrumentalto the founding of this innovative project.The Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilitiesproject is funded by the Canadian International DevelopmentAgency (CIDA) but the Dzherelo Center also receives supportfrom community organizations in Canada. One suchgroup is Toronto-based Friends of Dzherelo. Last year, thegroup invited 50 artists to participate in an exhibit and saleJean François Néron/Rideau HallCanada’s Governor General Michaëlle Jean and Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko, with their spouses,place bowls of wheat at the Holodomor Memorial in Kyiv during her April 23-26 state visit to Ukraine.of wooden “koliada” stars of their own creation and thefunds collected from the sale of the stars were designated forthe Dzherelo Center.On September 21-22 the Canada-Ukraine Center Inc.hosted a two-day symposium on the theme “GrowingCanada-Ukraine Relations through Science, Technology andBusiness” at the University of Saskatchewan. Fourteen presentationswere made on the selected topics of agriculture,energy, environment, health care and the transfer of technologiesbetween Ukraine and Canada and two concurrentroundtable discussions were held: increasing cooperationand collaboration between Canadian and Ukrainian universitiesand colleges in the areas of science and technology,and the exchange and commercialization of new technologies.Dr. Stepan Chekovskyi of the Ivano-Frankivsk NationalUniversity of Oil and Gas and Dr. Alexandr Bilchenko ofthe Kharkiv Medical Academy of Post Graduate Education,represented Ukrainian universities. Participants from Canadaincluded academics and administrators from the Universitiesof Saskatchewan, Alberta, Regina, Manitoba, GrantMacEwan College in Edmonton and the SaskatchewanInstitute of Applied Science and Technology.The Ivano-Frankivsk National University of Oil and Gasand the University of Regina signed a five-year extension totheir student internship exchange program; the universitiesof Alberta and Saskatchewan agreed to investigate collaborationin sustainable agriculture with universities in Ukraineand the Canada-Ukraine Center was directed to continue itswork with universities, governments and industry to developa process for the transfer of technologies.Within the framework of the 64th session of the UnitedNations General Assembly in October, Ukraine’s actingZenon ZawadaGovernor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean greets Ukrainian Canadian Congress President Paul Grod at anApril 24 meeting with Canadian leaders and businesspersons in Kyiv.Foreign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Khandogiy met withCanada’s Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon and the roadmapof Ukrainian-Canadian relations was signed. This documentconcerns cooperation between Ukraine and Canada,codifies their mutual wish to deepen bilateral relations anddetermine priorities in the fields of economy, policy, security,humanitarian affairs and culture. Canada confirmed itssupport for Ukraine’s possible accession to NATO and Mr.Khandohiy raised the question of a gradual liberalization byCanada of its visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens.On October 15, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada IhorOstash said that Ukraine was planning to open another diplomaticoffice in Canada – a Consulate General inEdmonton, Alberta. The ambassador said that Edmonton isnot only the industrial capital of Canada, but also thecity with the greatest number of Ukrainians living in it, notingthat the Premier of Alberta Ed Stelmakh is Ukrainian.Representatives of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress –Serhiy Kasyanchuk and Myron Spolsky – together withspokespersons of foreign communities, world organizationsof Ukrainians as well as national deputies and members ofthe Ukrainian government, took part in a parliamentaryhearing on the topic “Ukrainians Abroad: Current Situationand Perspectives of Development,” which took place onOctober 14 at the Verkhovna Rada. The purpose of the hearingwas to discuss the current situation of Ukrainians abroadand ways to get them involved in Ukrainian society.Mr. Kasyanchuk presented the position of the UkrainianCanadian Congress: that there was a need for a legislativeguarantee of relations between Ukraine and the diaspora – asystemic and logical approach to the development of therelationship between Ukraine and Ukrainians abroad.The Ukrainian Canadian Congress submitted its writtenproposals to the Verkhovna Rada and they included the followingpoints:• adoption of effective legislation concerning Ukrainiansabroad;• adoption of necessary laws about the legal status ofmigrant workers and members of their families;• support of ongoing exchanges between youth and studentorganizations of the diaspora and Ukraine, comprehensivesupport of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization andthe Ukrainian Youth Association, which have an internationalaspect;• development of research in Ukrainian studies at universitiesand other institutions of higher learning abroad;• development of programs popularizing worldwideUkrainian cultural, historical and spiritual heritage and contemporaryachievements with the purpose of improving theimage of Ukraine in the world;• establishment of a system of cooperation and partnershipwith the leaders of the Ukrainian diaspora headed bythe Ukrainian World Congress.In response to an urgent plea from the government ofUkraine, on November 4 the Ukrainian Canadian Congress(UCC) and the Canada Ukraine Foundation (CUF),launched an appeal to the government of Canada, all provincesand territories, and Canadians to help the people ofUkraine deal with a serious outbreak of pandemic flu, callingfor donations of specialized medical supplies: antibiotics,sanitizers, masks, syringes, ventilators and basic medical

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010152009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWOrganizers of the November aid shipment sent by theCanada Ukraine Foundation and the UkrainianCanadian Congress in response to Ukraine’s flu outbreak(from left): Serhiy Kasyanchuk, Bob Onyschukand Michael Zozula.products. Bohdan Onyschuk, chairman of CUF, said that therapid escalation of the disease could result in a public healthcatastrophe. The government of Ukraine had closed allschools, implemented a quarantine in nine oblasts and issueda call for medical supplies. The appeal was coordinated withthe Embassy of Ukraine in Canada. Paul Grod, president ofUCC, said that Canadians could not stand by and watch thepandemic ravage Ukraine.The first two Canadian relief shipments of H1N1 medicalsupplies left Toronto on November 9-10. The shipmentsconsisted of some 9,000 pounds of medical supplies thatincluded masks, surgical gowns, disposable gloves, handsanitizers, oxymeters and assorted other medical goods andequipment. Future shipments were to include antibiotics,anti-virals and other medications that were currently in shortsupply in Ukraine.Mr. Onyschuk expressed his gratitude to Health PartnersInternational for donating a large part of these supplies, aswell as to Air Canada and Cole Freight, for providing freeof-chargetransportation and freight forwarding services. Hepraised Ambassador Ostash and the Ukrainian Embassystaff in Ottawa for their tireless efforts in fast-tracking theclearance of these shipments with Ukraine. OstapHawaleshka, former president of CUF, accompanied the initialshipment. He was to work with Ukraine’s Ministry ofHealth to coordinate future shipments and ensure they aredistributed in Ukraine to areas of most need.There was no question that the Ukrainian community inCanada would become involved in the 2010 presidentialelection so, at the end of November, the first call for observerswas issued by CUF. The presidential election was scheduledfor January 17, 2010, with an anticipated second roundof voting on February 7, 2010. Volunteers were invited tosubmit applications with a deadline of December 15 andinformed of the conditions and requirements that needed tobe met to be accepted as an observer.Yaroslav Davydovych, former chair of Ukraine’sCentral Election Commission, was invited to Canada tomeet with Canadian Members of Parliament and encouragethe government of Canada to send a sizeable cohort –about 500 – of election observers to the election. Mr.Davydovych met with key Liberal members of the Houseof Commons and the Senate to underscore his concernsabout the current electoral laws in Ukraine and point outthat there is apprehension in Ukraine about the fairness ofthe upcoming election.Bad news came in March when, after 57 years of service,the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) permanentlyshut down the Ukrainian Section of Radio CanadaInternational (RCI). The UCC put out a “call to action” toprotest the shutdown of the Ukrainian Section, urging citizensto write to both party leaders and ministers who haveinfluence on the running of the CBC. The UkrainianCanadian Congress condemned this decision and PaulGrod, UCC president, wrote to Hubert Lacroix, president ofCBC/Radio Canada, pointing out that the cancellation ofthe service goes against the foreign policy priorities of thegovernment of Canada, which had recently announced thatUkraine would continue to be one of Canada’s top strategicbilateral partner countries.Ukrainians in U.S.:dispersed but activeFrom Riverhead, N.Y., to Rancho Mirage, Calif., andall points in between, Ukrainians dispersed throughoutthe United States were very active in their communitiesduring 2009.This summary of activity actually starts in October 26,2008, when Bishop Richard Stephen Seminack of the St.Nicholas Eparchy of Chicago, blessed the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of Our Lady of Zarvanycia in Seattle. Thecommunity, motivated by the Rev. Abraham Miller in 2005,had searched for a long time to find a place of their own.Finally, after purchasing an old Protestant Church, theparishioners worked very hard to refurbish it in time to celebrateits first divine liturgy on Christmas. The story aboutthe new church was published in early 2009.The Ukrainian Rochester Collection, a chronicle ofUkrainian life in the Rochester community over the past 100years, has been transferred to the Department of Rare Booksand Special Collections at the Rush Rhees Library of theUniversity of Rochester. Wolodymyr Pylyshenko was theinitiator and compiler of this collection, which includes personalmemoirs, pages from books and periodicals, and photographs,with subsets of materials from various Ukrainianorganizations in Rochester.Ukrainians were featured in a number of photographs inthe official calendar of the city of North Port, Fla., whichcelebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. Three Ukrainiansserved on the North Port Anniversary Committee and theUkrainian American Veterans Post 40 led the Ukrainian contingentthat participated in North Port’s anniversary paradeon February 28. Out of more than 75 floats, the UkrainianAmerican submission won a trophy for “Best in Show.”In Washington, more than a dozen participants attendedthe “Ukrainian Days” events on March 25-26, sponsored bythe Ukrainian National Information Service, the Washingtonbureau of Ukrainian Congress Committee of America(UCCA). The goal of the two-day advocacy event was topromote the concerns of the Ukrainian American community,including: the U.S. stance on Ukraine in NATO, theinclusion of Holodomor in the curriculum of genocide studies,the effect of the global economic crisis on Ukraine,energy security and diversification, and Ukrainian concernsabout the proclaimed “reset” of the U.S.-Russia relations.During the March 28 meeting in New York, the board ofdirectors of the Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukrainestrengthened their 18-year commitment to aid and assistUkrainian democracy, culture and education by electing toits board a new generation of members committed to thesegoals. The meeting provided an opportunity to review lastyear’s accomplishments and financial reports and to proposelong- and short-term projects to support Ukraine duringthese difficult financial times. The new leader of the CCAUis Yuri Omelchenko.In Detroit, Ukrainians founded the Ukrainian AmericanChamber of Commerce of Southeast Michigan. Its guidingprinciple is to work together on common ground toward theeconomic empowerment of Ukrainian American professionalsand those who do business or would like to do businessin and with Ukraine. The inaugural open house welcomednearly 100 guests, who were invited to join the new organization,founded in late 2008. Since the open house, theChamber has presented several roundtable business discussionsand hosted membership networking meetings.Upcoming projects included compiling a membership directoryand a list of Ukrainian businesses in the Detroit area.On March 29 the UCCA witnessed the founding of a newUCCA branch in Riverhead, Long Island. Over 65 membersof the local community of Eastern Suffolk County gatheredin the church hall of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian CatholicChurch to participate in the inaugural meeting.Sad news reached us from Binghamton, N.Y., that MariaK. Zobniw, a well-known and respected community activist,was among 13 people fatally shot on April 3. They were thevictims of a lone gunman, who also critically wounded fourothers at the local immigration services center before killinghimself. Mrs. Zobniw, who was known to family and friendsas Mima, was a very active member of the UkrainianAmerican community and a dedicated civic activist.Astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper was the specialguest on April 25 during the celebration of the 29 years ofcommunity service of the Ukrainian Education and CulturalCenter in Philadelphia. The day began with photo ops withthe executive director, board members and staff of the center,followed by meetings with the administration and childrenof the Ukrainian Heritage School. During lunch Capt.Stefanyshyn-Piper met with leaders of Plast UkrainianScouting Organization and the Ukrainian American YouthAssociation and then visited with the UHS 2009 graduatingclass. Afterwards, during a press conference, the captainfielded numerous questions in Ukrainian about her work inspace. Finally, the day concluded with a banquet, at whichCapt. Stefanyshyn-Piper reiterated the three lessons taughther by her Ukrainian father: believe in God, study and nevergive up.The Ukrainian Student Federation of America, known asSUSTA, held its annual national conference on April 4 atNew York University. This year’s conference theme was“Arts, Culture and Ukraine.” A new executive board waselected, with the top three positions assumed by new immigrantsfrom Ukraine. Bohdan Pechenyak is SUSTA’s newpresident.In Tucson, Arizona, parishioners of St. Michael UkrainianCatholic Church celebrated the fact that finally, after 25years, on April 4 they found a permanent home with the purchaseof a church on the city’s north side. An iconostasis,obtained from a church in Minneapolis, arrived in 100 piecesand took six weeks to assemble. The Arizona Daily Star,which reported on the event, also noted that St. Michael’snew pastor, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Andriy Chirovsky, is returningthe parish to its cultural and spiritual traditions.In Rancho Mirage, Calif., a celebration of UkrainianCatholic Easter attended by over 30 people was held onApril 12 at the Mountain View Villas clubhouse. Celebrantsof the Resurrection Liturgy were Msgr. Basil Smochka ofDesert Hot Springs and the Rev. Joseph Radvansky, visitingfrom Sandusky, Ohio. The community, currently attendingSunday liturgy at private residences, is making an effort torevive the recently closed St. Michael’s Ukrainian CatholicMission Church in the city of Desert Hot Springs.On April 13 some 30,000 children and their parents participatedin the annual White House Easter Egg Roll inWashington, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. AmongA plaque designating the Ukrainian Village section of Parma, Ohio, is unveiled during special celebrations onSeptember 19 by Bishop John Bura and City Councilman Chuck Germana.

16THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWVictoria KavkaParticipants of the plenum of the Ukrainian American Youth Association held in Chicago on November 14-15 and marking the organization’s 60th anniversary in the U.S.the participants in this year’s events were Gregory Gawdiak,Odessa Howera and Anya Bihun, along with their mothersKhristina Lew, Raissa Howera, and Halyna Bihun, respectively.On May 3 Capt. Stefanyshyn-Piper returned to her hometownof Minneapolis to take part in two events. The firstwas sponsored by the Minneapolis branch of Plast UkrainianScouting Organization, where the fraternity “ChotaKrylatykh” named Capt. Stefanyshyn-Piper an honorarymember in recognition of her accomplishments in astronautics,space walking and active promotion of the UnitedStates, Ukraine and Plast. The second ceremony was theunveiling of a permanent gallery of photographs and postersof the astronaut’s two space flights.The Ukrainian Institute of America in New York completeda significant milestone in 2009: in the restoration ofits landmark building, the historic Fletcher-Sinclair mansionon New York’s Museum Mile. In addition, after decades ofoutstanding leadership, Jaroslav Kryshtalsky stepped downfrom his position as president of the board of directors. Dr.Daniel Swystel was elected as the new president. Soonthereafter the well-known pianist Laryssa Krupa acceptedthe post of executive director, who role is to expand the programmingbeyond concerts and art exhibits and reorganizethe institute’s collection of books in the hopes of creating apermanent library that will include a music collection ofUkrainian composers and artists.On May 17 supporters and friends of the UkrainianFederation of America (UFA) met at the UkrainianEducational and Cultural Center in Jenkinstown, Pa., tohonor the achievements of E. Morgan Williams. Mr.Williams, a descendent of Welsh immigrants to Kansas,started working closely with the UFA six years ago on a programto tell the world about the Holodomor. He became atrustee of the Dr. James Mace Holodomor Memorial Fundadministered by the UFA and he is now, in cooperation withthe UFA, the founder/trustee of the Holodomor collection.Together with the UFA, Mr. Williams has also founded acollection called “Gulag: Through the Eyes of UkrainianArtists.” As a result of his interest in the Famine, Mr.Williams was asked to serve on President ViktorYushchenko’s committee for the 75the anniversary commemorationof the Holodomor and received a DistinguishedService Award from the president in 2007.At the end of May, Soyuzivka, the Ukrainian HeritageCenter of the Ukrainian National Association, was the sitefor the first-of-its-kind reunion of American veterans ofUkrainian heritage. The main mission of the reunion was toreach out to Ukrainian Americans who have served or areon active duty in the U.S. military, and allow them to meetand communicate in an informal setting. Veterans, whocame from as far away as Florida, shared their militaryexperiences, met old friends, made new ones and were alsoinformed about current issues that face the U.S. ArmedForces.The Ukrainian National Credit Union Association held its28th annual meeting on June 5-6 at the Ukrainian AmericanCultural Center of New Jersey in Whippany. Some 60 representativesof all 16 Ukrainian American credit unions gatheredto discuss current issues facing the credit union and toelect a new board of directors headed by Bohdan Watral.Despite the recession in 2008, Ukrainian American creditunions contributed over $3 million in support of communityorganizations, once again emphasizing their tremendousimpact on the Ukrainian community.Volodymyr Yavorivskyi, who has supported the Childrenof Chernobyl Relief and Development Fund (CCRDF) sinceits inception in 1990, presented Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky,founder and president of the fund, with an award on behalfof Verkhovna Rada Chair Volodymyr Lytvyn in recognitionof its contribution to Ukrainian medicine. The presentationwas made at the CCRDF’s fourth annual international galafund-raiser in Kyiv on June 6.Two and a half weeks before the Obama-Medvedev summit,on June 17, members of the executive board of theUCCA met with representatives of the U.S. Department ofState, the White House and the U.S. Senate and House ofRepresentatives to discuss the new administration’s policytoward Ukraine. Although expressing frustration regardingthe appearance of Ukraine’s lack of political stability andeconomic management, Robert Boehme, director of theOffice of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus Affairs at the U.S.Department of State, assured the UCCA of President BarackObama administration’s commitment to relationship withUkraine.Following very important trips foreign trips by PresidentObama to Russia and Vice-President Joe Biden to Ukraineand Georgia, the Central and East European Coalition(CEEC), an assembly of 18 ethnic organizations representingAmericans of Central and East European descent, had anopportunity to meet on August 26 with the principal architectsfor the Obama administration’s foreign policy agendain Washington. The coalition members were briefed on theThe growing Ukrainian community of North Carolina at an August picnic celebrating Ukraine’s Independence Day.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010172009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWtrips and broached issues related to the missile defenseshield, strategic partnerships and commissions establishedwith Ukraine and Georgia, energy security, the defense ofhuman rights and liberties in the region, and the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement.On September 22 members of the CEEC also had theopportunity to meet with National Security Council officialsfrom the White House and learn more about the Obamaadministration’s new plans for a missile defense system inEurope. The CEEC voiced concern about the negative perceptionsengendered by the decision to change course andthe manner in which the announcement was handled. TheCEEC also offered suggestions for the Obama administrationto consider that would demonstrate continued U.S. supportfor Central and Eastern Europe.The Embassy of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Americancommunity of greater Washington area marked the 45thanniversary of the Taras Shevchenko monument’s unveilingwith a commemorative ceremony on June 27. Addressingthe crowd on the grounds of the Ukrainian poet’s memorial,Ukraine’s Ambassador Oleh Shamshur called the unveilingan enormous achievement of the Ukrainian American communityand “convincing proof of their enthusiasm and commitmentto the liberty of their historic motherland.”The 2009 North Dakota’s Governor’s Award for the Artshonored the Ukrainian Cultural Institute (UCI) for its preservationand promotion of Ukrainian arts. The UCI was organizedin 1980 as an independent entity of the North DakotaUkrainian communities. It works through Dickinson StateUniversity to provide Ukrainian history and language classes,as well as various symposia and workshops on Ukrainiantopics. The UCI also promotes Ukrainian culture and historythrough a number of exhibits throughout the year and severalpublications.North Dakotans also honored Abraham Lincoln for signingthe Homestead Act in 1862, which gave new settlers 160acres of free land and a promise of a better life. Therefore,beginning in 1897, thousands of Ukrainian peasants immigratedto North Dakota. The UCI chose the historic signingto honor the homesteaders by using this event as the themefor the Ukrainian Festival on July 17-19 and having grandchildrenplace wreaths on their progenitors’ graves as part ofthe “History Alive” program.The Ukrainian Fraternal Association (UFA), founded in1920 as the Ukrainian Workingmen’s Association,announced its merger with the Providence Association ofUkrainian Catholics in America, founded in 1912. The UFA,which was based in Scranton, Pa., had held 26 conventionsand was the owner of the Verkhovyna resort in Glen Spey,N.Y., for over 50 years. With the merger of the two organizationscame the demise of the newspaper Narodna Volya, apublication of the UFA. A notice in Narodna Volya’s lastissue, dated August 31, noted that its subscribers wouldbegin receiving issues of America, the bilingual weekly ofthe Philadelphia-based Providence Association, beginning inOctober.On September 19 the city of Parma, together with theUnited Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio, celebrated thededication and unveiling of plaques designating a two-milestretch on State Road between Tuxedo Avenue andYaro BihunThe 25th anniversary of the establishment of The Washington Group was marked with a reception onDecember 4 at the Embassy of Ukraine. Among the speakers was former U.S. Ambassador to UkraineWilliam Green Miller (right).George KuzmowyczAccepting the Bethlehem Peace Light from the Austrian Air representatives who flew it to the U.S. are membersof the “Ti Scho Hrebli Rvut” sorority of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization. A ceremony welcomingthe peace light’s arrival was held at John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 4.Grantwood Drive as the “Ukrainian Village.” The ceremoniesthat day, attended by thousands of area residents, alsoincluded a religious service, a parade and a festival. It is estimatedthat about 15,000 Ukrainian Americans live in Parmaand make up the city’s largest new immigrant demographic.While visiting New York to participate in the 64th sessionof the United Nations General Assembly, President ViktorYushchenko of Ukraine addressed some 200 Ukrainiancommunity representatives gathered on September 22 atThe Ukrainian Museum and presented state awards to ninedistinguished Ukrainian activists. In his address to the gathering,the president spoke of the challenges facing Ukraine,especially in view of the approaching presidential electionand the need for constitutional reform to set the country onthe right track. Also while at the museum, PresidentYushchenko was given a private tour of an exhibit of sculpturesby Ihor Grechanyk from Kyiv, dedicated to the 18thanniversary of Ukraine’s independence.Ukraine’s consul general in Chicago, Konstiantyn Kuryk,hosted a reception honoring the Friends of the ConsulateGeneral of Ukraine in Chicago – Club 500, marking 17years of service to Ukraine. The reception was held at theUkrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago’s well-knownUkrainian Village on the evening of October 9.Approximately 100 members of the organization and theirguests had the opportunity to informally socialize with theConsulate General’s officials and staff.Sixty years ago, a group of young Ukrainians inPhiladelphia, acting on the initiative of Mykola Baczara,created the first branch of the Ukrainian American YouthAssociation (UAYA) in the United States. In order to fittinglymark the 60th anniversary of the UAYA’s establishmentin Philadelphia, a jubilee banquet and ball were held onOctober 24 at the Ukrainian Educational and CulturalCenter, with 250 people attending the formal banquet.Because many long-time members were recognized duringthe UAYA’s golden jubilee, this year’s ceremonies wereaimed at lauding those who had contributed significantly toUAYA’s growth and development over the last 10 years.The UAYA celebrated its 60th anniversary throughout2009 in many different ways. Among the festivities was anational plenum in Chicago and a banquet and “Zdvyh” inEllenville, N.Y. In addition, UAYA members came togetheronce more to celebrate not only the 60th anniversary of theirorganization, but also the 60th anniversary of the MykolaPavlushkov Branch in Chicago at a banquet held at theUkrainian Culture Center on November 14.Dr. Oleh Wolowyna reported in November on the pagesof The Weekly about the growth of the Ukrainian communityin North Carolina, where the Ukrainian population hasincreased from under 5,000 in 1996 to 14,000 by 2006(according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census). Some 3,000of this group are new immigrants to the United States whohave settled in an area outside the traditional Ukrainiancommunities. Dr. Wolowyna’s “Community Profile” notedthat the Ukrainian Association of North Carolina was foundedin 2005 on the initiative of a group of Fourth Wave immigrants.In November, the UCCA announced that it was seekingindividuals interested in volunteering as international electionobservers for the January 17, 2010, presidential electionin Ukraine. The UCCA will provide all volunteers with officialaccreditation from Ukraine’s Central ElectionCommission, extensive training to familiarize observerswith all the laws and regulations related to the election process,as well as in-country travel and lodging coordination.However, all expenses related to travel, food, and lodgingmust be borne by the volunteers themselves.One million flu masks and over 12,500 bottles of handsanitizers were purchased by the United Ukrainian AmericanRelief Committee Inc. (UUARC) on November 3 and flownto Ukraine. AeroSvit initiated a free cargo transportationprogram to accommodate the urgent need to fight the fluepidemic in Ukraine. The shipments were received by theKyiv representative of UUARC, Vira Prynko, at BoryspilAirport in Kyiv and picked up by representatives of theTernopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv Oblast state administrations.Thousands of Ukrainian Americans attended the solemncommemoration of the 76th anniversary of the Holodomorat St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on November14. A requiem service was concelebrated by the hierarchy ofthe Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Churches, assisted by30 clergy. The Dumka Chorus of New York, under the directionof Vasyl Hrechynsky, sang the responses. In addition tothe speeches given by various dignitaries from Ukraine andUnited States, William Pope, senior advisor for Europe atthe U.S. Mission to the United Nations, read PresidentObama’s message on the occasion of Ukrainian HolodomorRemembrance Day.The Ukrainian American Coordinating Council (UACC)and the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation have undertaken a programto perpetuate the memory of the Holodomor inUkraine through the use of modern technology. “The goal ofour partnership,” said Nadia K. McConnell, president of theU.S.-Ukraine Foundation, “is the distribution of information

18THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWYaro BihunUkrainians gathered at the foot of the TarasShevchenko monument in Washington on June 27 tocelebrate the 45th anniversary of its historic unveiling.about the modern history of Ukraine, not only for those inthe United States, but also for people in Ukraine and forthose in Ukrainian communities in different countries.” IhorGawdiak, president of the UACC, concurred with Mrs.McConnell and added that “Videotapes, movies on DVDs,interviews on the Internet and other technologies will buildthis ‘monument,’ which also can be seen and heard in homeseverywhere.”The Washington Group (TWG), an association ofUkrainian American professionals, known for its Ukrainerelatedsocio-political, cultural and economic communityactivities in the nation’s capital, celebrated its 25th anniversarywith a jubilee reception on December 4 at the Embassyof Ukraine. The festive gathering brought together morethan 100 members of the organization, three former U.S.ambassadors to Ukraine, and other U.S. and Ukrainian diplomatsand government officials. The event was also attendedby the Ukrainian American astronaut HeidemarieStefanyshyn-Piper.Representatives of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organizationjoined Latvian and various American scouting groups in aceremony at John F. Kennedy International Airport in NewYork City on December 4 to welcome the arrival of theBethlehem Peace Light in the United States. The PeaceLight of Bethlehem program dates back over 24 years andhas grown into a worldwide movement with scouts andguides from various countries participating in the distributionof the Light. Plast in Ukraine has been a part of thismovement for the past 12 years. This year, U.S. members ofPlast’s “Ti, Scho Hrebli Rvut” sorority have undertaken theresponsibility to share the Bethlehem Peace Light with asmany local Plast chapters, churches and the Ukrainian communitiesin the United States and Canada, as possible.“Ukrainians of Western Pennsylvania,” a new pictorialhistory book by author Stephen P. Haluszczak, covers thefour waves of Ukrainian immigration to westernPennsylvania. Since the late 1800s the Ukrainian communityin western Pennsylvania has played an important role inthe area’s development. The book features vintage photographs,including all Ukrainian churches in the area, and thehistory of community organizations. This book was yetanother in the series “Images of America” issued by ArcadiaPublishing.“Ukrainians of the Delaware Valley” was the latestinstallment of Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America”series. It features a photographic history of Ukrainians in theDelaware Valley from the turn of the 20th century to thepresent. With over 200 photographs, the book traces 17Ukrainian communities located along the Delaware River,as they sought to preserve their uniquely Ukrainian cultureand customs in the United States.“The Anthracite Coal Region’s Slavic Community,” alsofrom the “Images of America” series, deals primarily withSlovaks, Poles, Ukrainians and Carpatho-Rusyns, who initiallycame to the anthracite region of Pennsylvania to workthe coal mines. A historic photo of Metropolitan AndreySheptytsky visiting Ukrainian Catholic faithful is among thebook’s offerings.Canada’s Ukrainiansgain recognitionThe political year began with some bad news for theUkrainian community in Canada. On January 22Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff announced hisShadow Cabinet, removing Member of Parliament (MP)Borys Wrzesnewskyj from the position of critic for citizenship,immigration and multiculturalism, and not naming himto any other position. Mr. Ignatieff’s problematic relationshipwith the Ukrainian community and Mr. Wrzesnewskyj’sremoval again raised worries regarding Mr. Ignatieff’s viewsabout Ukrainians stemming from his questioning ofUkrainians’ claim of national identity apart from Russiawhich he raised in his 1993 book “Blood and Belonging.”The first scholar and political analyst to react to the newsof Mr. Wrzesnewskyj’s removal was Taras Kuzio, who wrotethat “Borys Wrzesnewskyj is an energetic and committedUkrainian Canadian whose removal from the shadowCabinet undermines the Liberal Party’s professed allegianceto diversity and inclusiveness, and throws a dark shadowover Michael Ignatieff’s support for traditional Liberal values.”Prof. Lubomyr Luciuk wrote a letter to Mr. Ignatieff inwhich he underlined Mr. Wrzesnewsky’s effective leadershipand the respect and appreciation with which he is regarded inthe Canadian Ukrainian community.In May 2009 Michael Ignatieff was confirmed as leader ofthe Liberal Party of Canada, assuming the role of an aspiringnational leader. His views of Ukrainians continued to be anissue. There were demands for an apology on what somefound to be derogatory and unacceptable comments made inhis book. Mr. Ignatieff’s negative views of Ukrainians wereused by the Conservative Party to claim that Mr. Ignatieffdoes not deserve to be a political leader.After a few months, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj was named specialadvisor on emerging democracies to the Liberal and, inthis capacity, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj backed the resolution inParliament of Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae to commemoratethe victims of Europe’s totalitarian regimes. Mr.Rae proposed that an annual day of remembrance to be heldon August 23, the anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact between the Nazi and Soviet regimes, to becalled Black Ribbon Day, a Day of Remembrance. He saidthat knowledge among Canadians about the Nazi and Sovietregimes is alarmingly superficial and inadequate and his resolutionwas meant to show that Canada will not stand forcrimes against humanity and that Canadians must not allowsuch crimes to remain misunderstood and unrecognized.Mr. Wrzesnewskyj spoke at the November 9 commemorationin Toronto of the 20th anniversary of the fall of theBerlin Wall, and warned against appeasement to what hecalled “Kremlin’s emerging Putinism.”Holodomor Memorial DayAs the Holodomor Memorial Day approached, an educationalcampaign on the Holodomor was launched onNovember 16. Thousands of postcards – released by theUkrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, with supportfrom Ukrainian organizations in Canada, the United States,Australia and Great Britain – were sent to embassies andconsulates internationally, urging governments to recognizeofficially that the Famine was an act of genocide perpetratedby the Soviet regime of Joseph Stalin. The postcards featureda pastel drawing of Raphael Lemkin and an excerpt from his1953 speech “Soviet Genocide in the Ukraine.” This educationaleffort was aimed at reminding governments everywherethat the father of the United Nations Convention onGenocide was personally convinced of the genocidal characterof Soviet rule in Ukraine.On November 23-29, the Ukrainian Canadian Congressheld its second National Holodomor Awareness Week, thegoal of which was to unite the Ukrainian community and allCanadians in remembering the victims and raising awarenessof the Holodomor. Work with provincial ministries of educationand local school boards continued, to ensure that all studentsin Canada learn about the Holodomor and that allCanadian provinces recognize the Holodomor as genocide.On November 25 a private member’s bill was introducedin the province of British Columbia recognizing theHolodomor as an act of genocide by Member of theLegislative Assembly (MLA) Bruce Ralston (NDP). OnNovember 25 members of the Quebec National Assemblyunanimously accepted the introduction by Louise Beaudoinof the Parti Québécois, of a private member’s bill recognizingthe Holodomor. The provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta,Manitoba and Ontario have already enacted such legislation.The government of Canada officially recognized theHolodomor in 2008 and designated November 28 as NationalHolodomor Memorial Day.A postcard depicting Raphael Lemkin, “Father of theGenocide Convention,” was released in November bythe Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundationto commemorate the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933in Ukraine.Citizenship and Immigration CanadaFormer Ontario legislator John Yaremko on June 12became the first laureate of the Paul Yuzyk Awardfor Multiculturalism. The award was presented byCitizenship, Immigration and MulticulturalismMinister Jason Kenney.Canada Post on July 6 released a pysanka stamp(bottom right) featuring the huge pysanka monumentin Vegreville, Alberta, as part of its “RoadsideAttractions” series.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010192009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWA solemn commemoration of the Holodomor was held onParliament Hill in Ottawa on November 24, followed byother commemorative events across the country asUkrainians marked November 28 as Holodomor MemorialDay. Flag installations were set up in St. Catharines,Hamilton and Toronto − displays of 33 black flags symbolizingthe year the Holodomor reached its peak. Candles ofremembrance were lit in homes in solidarity with Ukraine;many participated in memorial services in their local churches,and church bells tolled 10 times in memory of the 10 millionlives lost.The documentation of Holodomor survivors’ testimonies,a UCC-sponsored project, is continuing and excerpts of thetestimonies can be seen on the website www.holodomorsurvivors.ca.Internment recognitionThe issue of reparations for World War I internment finallyreached a resolution phase as the Canadian First WorldWar Internment Recognition Fund – an endowment valued at$10 million – was officially launched on September 14.Interest earned on that principal shall be distributed annuallyby an endowment council representing the affected communities.Thousands of postcards and posters were distributed toindividuals, public and university libraries, and various ethnoculturalcommunities providing information about how toapply for a grant to do research, commemorate or otherwiserecall what happened to thousands of Ukrainians and otherEuropeans during Canada’s first national internment operationsof 1914-1920. The fund will be held in trust and managedby the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of TarasShevchenko in Winnipeg.Continuing its efforts on behalf of marking the internmentoperations, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil LibertiesAssociation (UCCLA) on October 24-25 installed the 21st of24 memorial plaques at the Edgewood internment camp sitein the West Kootenays region of British Columbia. Planswere made to put up the last three memorial plaques inMontreal; Lethbridge, Alberta; and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Aconclave, organized by Andrea Malysh of Vernon, was heldat the time and the Canadian First World War InternmentRecognition Fund endowment council was introduced to theUCCLA.Another issue taken up by UCCLA is the presence of veteransof the KGB and alleged Soviet war criminals inCanada. The UCCLA announced on January 22 that it wouldintensify its campaign to get all NKVD, KGB and otherCommunist secret police veterans out of Canada. Its “NoKGB in Canada!” campaign involves mailing thousands ofpre-printed postcards to Prime Minister Stephen Harper,Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and MulticulturalismJason Kenney and the Minister of Public Safety Peter VanLoan. The cards carry the message: “Veterans of Sovietsecret police formations like the NKVD, SMERSH andKGB should not be allowed to enter Canada or to remainhere. No exceptions. Denaturalize and deport them all,immediately.”UCCLA’s chairman, Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, explained thatfor years the government of Canada and the RCMP havebeen alerted to the illegal presence of veterans of the Sovietsecret police in Canada. Yet there have been no repercussionsand when the RCMP’s War Crimes Unit was asked to investigateallegations about Communist collaborators in Canada,they responded that there was insufficient evidence uponwhich to act.The issue of the presence of former KGB members inCanada became more concrete at the end of the year becauseof the case of Mikhail Lennikov, a self-confessed veteran ofthe KGB who has requested to stay in Canada. Althoughboth the Immigration and Refugee Board and a judge of theFederal Court of Canada have ordered Mr. Lennikov’sremoval, he has defied those decisions, claiming a (non-existent)“right of sanctuary” by staying in a Lutheran Church.Organizational lifeThe Ukrainian National Federation (UNF) once ranUkrainian language schools (“Ridni Shkoly”) at most of itsbranches but this is no longer true. With the aim of restartingsuch “Ridni Shkoly,” a workshop to provide teachers andcommunity leaders with the tools needed was organized bythe Ukrainian Language Education Center at the CanadianInstitute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) and held at theUniversity of Alberta. At the workshop, various contemporaryapproaches to language teaching were demonstrated.Materials from the workshop and follow-up information areposted on the website forums on www.shkola.ca.Youth organizational life is reviving. The 75th anniversarynational convention of the Ukrainian National YouthFederation (UNYF) of Canada was held at Hawkestone,Ontario, on July 3-5. A new, eight-member national executiveteam headed by National President Volodymyr GrytsivAn installation in Toronto of 33 black flags symbolizes the year the Holodomor reached its peak. The installationmarked Holodomor Memorial Day, observed nationwide in Canada on November 28.(Edmonton) was elected along with a three-member controllingcommittee. On July 3 some 100 convention participantsand guests welcomed banquet guest speaker Borys Sirskyj,who spoke about Sen. Paul Yuzyk’s life and his contributionto the Ukrainian Canadian community and to Canada. Therewere sports tournaments, a concert, a traditional Ivan Kupalocelebration and a dance for everyone. At the conclusion ofthe convention a blessing ceremony for the new UNYFnational executive flag performed by the Rev. Ostap Chornijof Toronto.The UNYF was founded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in1934 as part of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada.Its aim is to unite youth of Ukrainian Canadian ancestry inorder to educate them to be conscious of their heritage, aswell as their role in and contribution to Canadian society. TheUNYF currently has branches in Vancouver, Edmonton,Winnipeg, Toronto, West Toronto, Hamilton and St.Catharines (Ontario), and Montreal. Branches are underdevelopment in Sudbury (Ontario), and Saskatoon andRegina (Saskatchewan).Since its revival two years ago, the Canadian Student’sUnion (SUSK) continues in its active mode. SUSK held its51st annual congress in Toronto on February 20-22 withmore than 65 delegates – double the attendance from the previousyear. Some of the topics covered at the congressincluded: trafficking of humans, Akcja Wisla in Poland,issues of concern to third- and fourth-wave Ukrainians. TheLeague of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) was presented byVolodymyr Paslavskyi and the Ukrainica Research Instituteby Taras Paslavskyi. Student-led workshops allowed delegatesto share their experiences of university life. The dinnerwas attended by former SUSK presidents, government andcommunity leaders, including Borys Wrzesnewskyj (MP),Paul Grod (president of UCC), Dr. Oleh Romanyshyn (presidentof LUC), and Mykhailo Wawryshyn (president of theUkrainian Canadian Professionals and BusinesspersonsFoundation). The congress concluded with the passing ofresolutions and the election of a new executive. Marco Jacutawas elected president.With the assistance of Members of Parliament JamesBezan, Judy Wasylycia-Leis and Wrzesnewskyj, theUkrainian Canadian community posted thousands of postcardsacross Canada inviting people to make use of theirpublic and university libraries. UCCLA Chair Dr. LubomyrLuciuk explained: “By asking Canadians of Ukrainian heritageto go to a library on March 9, the 195th anniversary ofTaras Shevchenko’s birth, we want to make sure that bookson Ukraine and Ukrainian Canadian themes are taken outand read. We want to underscore the contribution Ukrainianshave made to Canada while also recalling the long struggleUkrainians waged to secure their independence.”Personalities of the yearFormer Ontario legislator John Yaremko became the firstrecipient of the Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism presentedon June 12 by Citizenship, Immigration andMulticulturalism Minister Jason Kenney during a special ceremonyat Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. The Paul YuzykAward for Multiculturalism commemorates the late Sen.Yuzyk (1913-1986) who played a key role in the developmentand implementation of Canada’s multiculturalism policy.Mr. Yaremko was presented with the LifetimeAchievement Award for his advocacy of education, humanrights and multiculturalism, as well as his philanthropicactivities. The award includes a $20,000 grant, which will begiven to an eligible, registered not-for-profit Canadian organizationor association of the recipient’s choice.Mr. Yaremko was the first Ukrainian Canadian elected tothe Ontario Legislature, where he served as a distinguishedmember from 1951 until 1975. He was Ontario’s first ministerof citizenship (1961) and the province’s first solicitor general(1972-1974). He and his late wife, Myroslava, mademany philanthropic gifts that reflect their wide range of interests.In 2002 the John and Mary Yaremko Program onMulticulturalism and Human Rights was established at theFaculty of Law of the University of Toronto with an endowmentof $600,000 and in 2008 Mr. Yaremko pledged $50,000to the John Robarts Library at the University of Toronto topreserve and make broadly accessible library materials relatingto Ukrainian history, literature, language and culturethrough digitization.On May 15, Randy Bachman of Bachman-TurnerOverdrive (BTO) fame and a founding member of the GuessWho, was honored as an Officer of the Order of Canada, thecountry’s highest civilian honor, by Governor GeneralMichäelle Jean for “his contribution as an iconic Canadianrock musician and for his support of Canadian music as aproducer of emerging Canadian artists.” A native ofWinnipeg, Mr. Bachman is proud of his matrilineal Ukrainianhalf – he received his award wearing a Ukrainian embroideredshirt.On October 4, the Shevchenko Medal was presented byPaul Grod, president of UCC, to Alberta Cabinet MinisterGene Zwozdesky at the 11th annual Hetman Awards ceremonyhosted by the UCC Alberta Provincial Council. Mr.Zwozdesky received the medal in recognition of his work asa dedicated community volunteer, leader and activist. At theprovincial level, Minister Zwozdesky led the establishmentof the Advisory Council on Alberta-Ukraine Relations andhelped orchestrate the first visit by an Alberta premier toUkraine. He presented the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide(Holodomor) Memorial Day Act in the Alberta Legislature,which passed in a single day. Also in attendance at the eventwas Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, who presented theHetman Awards, with UCC Alberta President Daria Luciw,11 volunteers. The premier noted that the spirit of volunteerismwas a significant force among the early Ukrainian pioneersand commended the Hetman Awards honorees for theirwork.Another recipient of the Shevchenko Medal was the Rt.Rev. John Tataryn of Toronto. The presentation was made onOctober 25 by UCC President Grod during the golden jubileecelebrations of St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church.The Shevchenko Medal was awarded in recognition of theRev. Tataryn’s remarkable accomplishments in the developmentof the Ukrainian Canadian community over the past 50years. A native of Sydney, Nova Scotia, he built and nurturedthe new parish community of St. Demetrius in Toronto,established a school with a Ukrainian language program,spearheaded the building of a seniors residence and is responsiblefor the building of the Ukrainian Canadian Care Center,a long-term care facility. He initiated and fostered numerouschurch, cultural and community organizations, and organizedhumanitarian and social assistance to communities SouthAmerica and Ukraine.The Shevchenko Medal is the highest form of recognition

20THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWthat can be granted by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. Itrecognizes individuals of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainiandescent, as well as institutions and organizations, for theiroutstanding national contribution toward the development ofthe Ukrainian Canadian community.The editorial board of the Winnipeg Free Press wasnamed the recipient of the John Syrnick Award forJournalism, sponsored by the Ukrainian CanadianFoundation of Taras Shevchenko. According to ShevchenkoFoundation President Andrew Hladyshevsky, “TheWinnipeg Free Press was chosen for best sustained coveragein 2008 of the 1932-1933 Holodomor, a famine/genocideof historical significance to the free world and theUkrainian Canadian community.” The year 2008 was fullof events across Canada to commemorate the Holodomor,as well as to explore the issues and controversy surroundingit. The Winnipeg Free Press was there throughout the yearwith coverage. The award, which is named in honor of JohnSyrnick, who served as editor of Ukrainian Voice from1947 to 1970, was presented on March 9.Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, a professor of political geography,has been appointed interim head of the Department ofPolitics and Economics at the Royal Military College (RMC)of Canada, in Kingston, Ontario. Dr. Luciuk began teachingat RMC in 1990 and is the author and editor of over a dozenbooks and a prolific writer of commentaries published in themass media. As well, he serves as chairman of the UkrainianCanadian Civil Liberties Association and is a member of theCanadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund. Dr.Luciuk begins his new duties as department head on January1, 2010.Other eventsTowards the end of the exhibit “Ancient Ukraine: theRemarkable Trypilian Culture,” which ran at the RoyalOntario Museum from November 30, 2008, through March22, 2009, the ROM staff, including Dr. Marie Bountrogianni,president and executive director of ROM Governors, metwith the gala organizing committee to present a summary ofthe exhibit achievements and to express the ROM’s appreciation.The committee consisted of Olia Kalymon (chair),Lida Gadacz and Sonia Holiad (co-chairs), and 17 membersfrom the Ukrainian community of Toronto. The gala dinner,organized by the committee, sold out six months in advance,was attended by 560 people, including honorary patronKateryna Yushchenko, and raised $115,000 for the supportof the exhibit. The opening weekend Ukrainian Day at theROM attracted a sizeable crowd, not only from theUkrainian community but from the wider Toronto community.Dr. Bountrogianni thanked the committee for engagingthe help of the Ukrainian community in driving the Trypilliaproject.On July 6 Canada Post issued a postage stamp featuringthe world’s largest pysanka, located in Vegreville, Alberta.The pysanka is on display at the entrance to Elk IslandNational Park and was officially unveiled on July 28, 1975,in commemoration of the centennial of the Royal CanadianMounted Police. The stamp featuring the pysanka is part ofa series called “Roadside Attractions” that is designed toshowcase monuments that “capture the spirit of small-townCanada.”A unique photo album – “Ukrainska Divizia‘Halychyna’” (Ukrainian Galicia Division) – was presentedSandra SemchukParticipants in the October 24 unveiling by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association of a memorialplaque at the site of an internment camp in West Kootenays, British Columbia.in Toronto on December 6. A 254-page book, in Ukrainian,with 278 captioned photographs, it covers the history of thedivision from its founding in 1943 to the freeing of its membersfrom prisoner of war camps in 1949. The compiler andeditor of the photo album is former division officer BohdanMaciw of Montreal. The photographs were selected withhelp from Prof. Roman Serbyn, who also wrote the afterwordin which he examines the division in the context ofUkrainians in various armed formations in World War II.The album has a summary of the text and a catalogue of thephotographs in English.The presentation of the photo album was organized bythe Ukrainian Canadian Research and DocumentationCenter (UCRDC) which holds a valuable archive of 46interviews with former division members. Three excerpts ofthese interviews were shown at the presentation. TheUCRDC has set up a Divizia Fund designated for variousDivision-related projects that it hopes to realize: doing moreinterviews, digitizing existing interviews, providing grantsfor students doing research on the history of the division andproducing a film about the division using materials in theUCRDC archives.The Canadian year is not complete without the traditionalUkrainian summer festivals – one, longest running, the second– the largest. For the 44th time, Canada’s NationalUkrainian Festival took place in Dauphin, Manitoba, held in2009 from July 31 to August 2. There were changes made tothe festival program: the re-enactment of a traditionalUkrainian wedding was performed on the main stage andthe Sunday night show featured a single group: Ruslana andher back-up dancers. An estimated 7,000 people attendedthe festival.The largest Ukrainian festival outside Ukraine – theToronto Ukrainian Festival – was held September 18-20.Olya Grod, festival executive director, said the buzz aroundthe featured group – Haidamaky – seven professional andpatriotic musicians who delivered an alternative fusion ofrock, punk, reggae and ethno-Carpathian music coupledwith a high-energy stage show – helped to raise the attendanceto the half-million mark.The Haidamaky, who later also played in Edmonton,Saskatoon and Winnipeg, were brought to the festival thanksto the Celebrate Ontario program and the Ukrainian CreditUnion. The non-stop three-day Toronto Ukrainian Festivalstage program, organized by Festival Entertainment DirectorIvanka Podilchak, had 40 different performing groups. Otherhighlights of the stage show were a two-hour youth concertfor the under-18 crowd, directed by Ola Cholkan; the children’sperformer Maryka Chabluk from Winnipeg, and aUkrainian American family folk band Korinya that sang andplayed on traditional Ukrainian instruments.There were 45 entries in the festival parade, led bywell-known philanthropist and businessman JamesTemerty, the parade marshal, accompanied by formerPrime Minister John Turner. A record number of 80 vendorssold arts, crafts, books, memorabilia and deliciousfood. History and travel to Ukraine were represented by ajoint effort of the Consulate General of Ukraine and theCanada Ukraine Chamber of Commerce. The children hadtheir own midway of rides and games. The aim of theToronto Ukrainian Festival is to provide a professionalshowcase for Ukrainian art and culture geared to theCanadian mainstream population.Ukrainian diasporamakes headlinesUkrainians from diaspora countries like Brazil,Belgium and Australia made headlines in TheWeekly in 2009.The year began with reports of brushfires in Australiathat began on February 7 and damaged the Karpatycampground of the Ukrainian Youth Association (UYA)of Australia, near the towns of Narbethong, Buxton andMarysville, in southeastern Australia. Purchased in 1963,the campground has hosted local, national and internationalyouth camps. The UYA launched an appeal forassistance and plans for rebuilding had been outlined.The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) was highlyvisible in 2009, which began with a statement on theSummit Meeting of NATO Heads of State andGovernment, held in Baden-Baden and Kehl, Germany,and in Strasbourg, France, on April 3-4. The statementcalled for approval of a Membership Action Plan (MAP)for Ukraine to join the North Atlantic TreatyOrganization, and stated that Ukraine’s membership wasessential for global stability. The April 2 statement notedRussian military posturing and rhetoric, but also recalledEurope’s commitment to Ukraine via the BucharestSummit, which agreed that Ukraine would one day beoffered a MAP and become a NATO member.Ukrainian Journalists of North America met at Soyuzivkaon May 15-17. Represented were news outlets from theUnited States and Canada, with guest speakers fromUkraine. Participants discussed the role of Fourth Waveimmigrants, use of the Ukrainian language, development ofa proper image of Ukraine in the world, modern electronicmedia and journalistic ethics. Since its last meeting eightyears prior, the organization decided to meet annually,while conferring via the Internet on a monthly basis. JurijKlufas was elected president and Roma Hadzewycz,Myroslava Rozdolska, Maria Klymchak, Oksana Bashuk-Hepburn, Volodymyr Kish and Olha Vovnysh were electedas executive board members.Four Canadian scholars and visiting scholars fromUkraine, from the University of Alberta and theUniversity of Winnipeg, conducted research onUkrainian communities in Brazil. Points of interest forthe folklorists, geographer and historian includedCuritiba, Paranagua, Prudentopolis, Capanema, TijucoPreto, Linha Parana, Craveiro, Costa Carvalho and thecapital, Brasilia. The researchers witnessed a Ukrainianwedding, visited a Ukrainian-language school, and religious,political and cultural institutions.Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko met with the membersof the Ukrainian World Congress at their annualmeeting on August 20 in Lviv and promised to restoregovernment funding of diaspora programs. She met privatelywith the UWC for 30 minutes and then again for aclosed-door 90-minute buffet with the UWC board ofdirectors. Many believed that Ms. Tymoshenko used themeeting with the UWC to further her political career byappealing to the diaspora, whose relatives live mostly inwestern Ukraine. Compared to the previous year, whichallocated 110,000 hrv for diaspora programs, 2009 saw47 million hrv for these same programs.The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America(UMANA) held its 40th biennial convention on July 1-5in Vancouver, British Columbia. Members reviewed theorganization’s previous two years’ work and discussedissues of patient safety, medical ethics, disaster managementand projects for Ukraine. A new board was elected,headed by Dr. Wayne Tymchak of Edmonton, Alberta,and 35 new members were welcomed into UMANA’sranks.The UWC stated on August 28 that there were 20 millionUkrainians from 32 countries living outside the bordersof Ukraine. An organization representing Ukrainiansliving in Turkey had not been recognized by the UWC,but may join in the future. The UWC is concerned forthe preservation of the national identity of Ukrainiansliving abroad and supports the development of Ukrainianculture in the diaspora.Tetiana Petrova, department head at the Ministry ofLabor and Social Policy, said on October 6 that, basedon estimates by experts, up to 3 million Ukrainian citizenswere employed abroad. She said that it wasn’tunexpected for large numbers of the Ukrainian workforceto migrate to the European Union because of theeconomic crisis.President Viktor Yushchenko met with Poland’sPresident Lech Kaczynski in Warsaw on September 7-8to outline a road map for 2009-2010 Ukrainian-Polish

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010212009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWDaria KishParticipants of the conference of Ukrainian Journalists of North America, held on May 15-17 at theSoyuzivka Heritage Center.relations, as well as with members of Poland’s Ukrainiancommunity. During the visit to Warsaw the two leadersunveiled a monument to the victims of the Holodomor,and President Yushchenko and his wife laid flowers atthe monument to the “Fighters of Ukraine’s Freedom” inPikulice, Poland, dedicated to the soldiers of theUkrainian Insurgent Army. On September 8 PresidentYushchenko praised Poland’s decision to transfer thebuilding of the Narodnyi Dim (People’s Home) inPrzemysl (Peremyshl, in the Ukrainian transliteration) tothe Ukrainian community.In a demonstration of the Ukrainian diaspora workingtogether, the Vesselka Ukrainian-Brazilian Folk Groupfrom Prudentopolis, Brazil, performed with the IskraUkrainian Dance Ensemble and Academy of Whippany,N.J., on October 9 at the Ukrainian American CulturalCenter of New Jersey in Whippany. Vesselka celebratedits 61st year, and Iskra celebrated its 10th anniversary.President Viktor Yushchenko met with executives ofthe UWC on October 13 in Kyiv. The participants discussedways that the government of Ukraine could cooperatewith organized Ukrainian communities around theworld, further international recognition of the Holodomoras genocide and improve Ukraine’s image worldwide.On October 14 Eugene Czolij, president of the UWC,was among 80 foreign Ukrainians from 26 countrieswho addressed the Verkhovna Rada during a session on“Foreign Ukrainians: The Current States andCooperation Prospects.” Mr. Czolij called for the recognitionof the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists(OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) by theParliament and the passage of legislation that wouldremove Communist monuments and bringing parliamentaryimmunity to European standards.Mykhaylo Hamaliy, head of the Sports Commissionof the UWC, and Ukraine’s Minister of Family, Youthand Sports Yurii Pavlenko signed a memorandum ofcooperation in Kyiv on October 27. Points of cooperationinclude: the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver,British Columbia, and the 2012 Summer Olympics inLondon; the coordination of events and camps betweensports teams in Ukraine and the diaspora; and the promotionof non-Olympic sports disciplines.Holodomor victims were remembered during a divineliturgy at Ss. Michael and Gudula Cathedral in Brussels,Belgium, on November 15. In attendance were membersof Ukraine’s diplomatic corps in Belgium, as well asUkrainian community leaders and representatives ofinternational institutions.Brazil’s Ukrainians also honored the victims of theHolodomor with the erection and unveiling of a monumentin the city of Curitiba on December 19.An eventful yearfor our ChurchesThe Orthodox and Catholic Churches had a busy yearin 2009, with the construction of a museum, theenthronement of new bishops and parish centennials.Construction began on January 19 for the PatriarchMstyslav I Ukrainian Orthodox Museum as part of theHistorical and Educational Complex of the UkrainianOrthodox Church of the U.S.A. The museum is located onthe grounds of the Metropolia Center in South BoundBrook, N.J.Bishop Daniel of the UOC of the U.S.A. was enthronedon February 7 at St. Volodymyr Ukrainian OrthodoxCathedral in Chicago and installed to head the WesternEparchy of the Church. He was elected bishop by the 18thregular Sobor of the Church in October 2008.Eight bishops representing the Ukrainian Catholic hierarchyof North America met on March 10-12 in Clearwater,Fla: Metropolitans Stefan Soroka (U.S.A.) and LawrenceHuculak (Canada), Bishops Richard Seminack, PaulChomnycky and John Bura, representing the American delegation,and Bishops David Motiuk, Ken Nowakowski andBryan Bayda of Canada. The two-day meeting helped todevelop collaboration between the American and Canadianmetropolia, especially in seminary formation.Hierarchs of the UOC and the Ukrainian Catholic Churchheld an “Encounter” for the fourth time in eight years onMarch 12-13, also in Clearwater. The meeting provided aforum for a brotherly exchange of common concerns.Attending hierarchs included Metropolitans John, Stefan,Constantine, Lawrence, Archbishops Antony, Jeremiah,Yurij, and Bishops John, Ken, Andriy, Richard, Paul, David,Bryan and Daniel. Participants agreed to foster stability andindependence of ecclesiastical life in Ukraine.The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) received itsbiggest individual donation by a Canadian when Dr. MariaFischer-Slysh, a retired pediatrician residing in Toronto,donated $1 million to the Ukrainian Catholic EducationFoundation, The Weekly reported in April. Dr. Fischer-Slysh, born in 1922 in Kolomiya, Ivano-Frankivsk region, isa longtime philanthropist and community activist. Her giftwas used to endow two departments in the Faculty ofPhilosophy and Theology, help build a conference hall andoffset UCU’s operating expenses.Argentina welcomed the consecration of UkrainianCatholic Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk on April 7 by MajorArchbishop Lubomyr Husar at St. George Cathedral inLviv. The hierarch celebrated his first liturgy in Argentinaon July 5.Another momentous occasion or the Ukrainian CatholicChurch came on June 18 with the consecration of BishopYosef Milyan in Kyiv – the first public consecration of abishop in Kyiv by the Ukrainian Catholic Church since itsestablishment in 1596 by the Union of Brest. The service,led by Major Archbishop Lubomyr Husar, was held at theZenon ZawadaAt the Ukrainian World Congress annual meeting on August 20 at Lviv Polytechnical University (from left) are:Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, UWC President Eugene Czolij and UWC Vice-President MariaShkambara.Bishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ofthe U.S.A. during his enthronement on February 7.

22THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWPatriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church,visited Ukraine during a 10-day trip July 27 through August5. The motivation of the trip was questioned by manyUkrainians who saw the visit as Moscow reasserting itsinfluence over Ukraine’s Orthodox faithful – especiallymembers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – KyivPatriarchate. Ukrainian Orthodox have sought support ofEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to balance the influenceof the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine’s Churches.During the visit, Patriarch Kirill urged Ukraine to forge closereconomic ties with Moscow to resolve their mutual problems.He also drew criticism for his suggestion that Ukraineand Belarus join Russia in a return to “Holy Rus’.”Bishop Robert M. Moskal, 71, Ukrainian Catholic eparchof Parma, Ohio, retired last year. Pope Benedict XVI acceptedthe hierarch’s resignation and named Auxillary BishopJohn Bura, 65, of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy ofPhiladelphia to serve as the apostolic administrator. Theappointment was announced on July 29 in Washington byArchbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the UnitedStates.Also in 2009, a volunteer photography endeavor called“Sanctuary: The Spiritual Heritage Documentation Project”was launched by three professors at the University ofAlberta, John-Paul Himka, Natalie Kononenko and FrancesSwyripa, to “preserve in photographs” the unique andendangered Ukrainian church culture of rural Canada. Manyof the churches are in disrepair or have been vandalized butare significant in understanding the role Ukrainian settlersplayed in the development of rural Canada.As part of its outreach mission to Ukraine, the UOC ofthe U.S.A. sponsored a college-age mission trip to orphanagesin Kirovohrad and Zhytomyr oblasts the Church sponsors.The trip attracted 11 participants, led by Bishop Daniel,during July 30 through August 15. The Church also sponsoreda mission trip in December 2009-January 2010.Other developments in Church relations were reportedafter the September 11 announcement that the UOC-KyivPatriarchate and the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate would holda dialogue on issues related to Church unity. The UOC-KPis considered non-canonical according to Orthodox believers.The two Church groups held their first meeting inOctober and leaders acknowledge that the process of unificationwould take a long time.Pope Benedict XVI canonized Archbishop ZygmuntFelinski, a native of Ukraine, at St. Peter’s Basilica in theVatican on October 11. Archbishop Felinski was born in1822 in the Volyn region and was the archbishop of Warsawand founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary.During his 12-day visit to the United States, PatriarchFilaret, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – KyivPatriarchate, blessed the All Saints of Ukraine mosaic on thefaçade of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church inBloomingdale, Ill., on October 23-25. A banquet was held onOctober 25, to mark the occasion. As part of his 10th archpastoralvisit to Ukrainian Orthodox parishes of the KyivYuriy BorysovUkrainian Catholic Bishop Yosyp Milyan was consecratedin Kyiv on June 20.Patriarchate in the United States, the patriarch stopped for afew days in Washington. His itinerary included a presentationat the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson InternationalCenter for Scholars, and meetings with representatives of theU.S. Sate Department and the National Defense Council,members of the Senate and House of Representatives andMetropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka of the UkrainianCatholic Church in the United States.Archbishop Myroslaw Stefan Marusyn, 85, died onOctober 21 at the Ukrainian Pontifical Major Seminary ofSt. Josaphat in Rome. He was elevated to the office of archbishopby Pope John Paul II, having served the priesthoodsince 1948 and the episcopate since 1974. He was knownfor his scholarly papers on theology, history, liturgics andholy scripture, and his ministry to Ukrainians via VaticanRadio.Several Ukrainian churches in the diaspora marked their100th and other anniversaries during 2009. Centennialswere celebrated by St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedralin Allentown, Pa., on October 9-10, and St. MichaelUkrainian Catholic Church in New Haven, Conn., onNovember 8. The 90th anniversary of Holy TrinityUkrainian Orthodox Church in Trenton, N.J., was celebratedon October 25.St. Basil College and the Ukrainian Museum and Libraryof Stamford, Conn., hosted a photo exhibit on November 11,2009, through January 15 to mark the rebirth of theUkrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine. The exhibit, curatedby Lubow Wolynetz, was made possible through donationsby Bishop (emeritus) Basil Losten, former eparch ofStamford.Pamela JareskoPatriarch Filaret blessed the “All Saints of Ukraine” mosaic on the façade of St. Andrew Ukrainian OrthodoxChurch in Bloomingdale, Ill., on October 25.A scholarly focuson the HolodomorThe Holodomor continued to make headlines in theworld of academia. The Canadian Institute ofUkrainian Studies (CIUS), the Petro Jacyk Programfor the Study of Ukraine (University of Toronto) and theToronto-based Canadian Research and DocumentationCenter, which sponsored a 75th anniversary conference onthe Ukrainian Famine-Genocide in Toronto in November2007 under the title “The Holodomor of 1932-1933,” thisyear announced the release of the conference proceedings ina special issue of The Harriman Review. The special issuewas published by the Harriman Institute at ColumbiaUniversity in New York as part of the Famine commemorationby the Ukrainian program at that university.Harvard University’s Ukrainian Research Institute(HURI) announced in March that it had entered into anagreement with noted author, columnist and historian AnneApplebaum, commissioning her to research and write a newbook on the Holodomor. The book will take into account themost recent evidence that has become available since thecollapse of the Soviet Union and will address current scholarlydebates on the questions of genocide, intentionality andpopulation loss. The book will be a part of HURI’s largerongoing Holodomor Research Project, which is overseen bya committee of Harvard scholars, coordinated by SerhiiPlokhii, Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of UkrainianHistory.Americans and the National University of Kyiv MohylaAcademy (NUKMA) are spearheading an effort to plugUkraine’s universities into the Electronic Library (www.elibukr.org), which is expected to significantly boost severelyunderfunded Ukrainian scholarship. The first phase of theproject will include database subscriptions to scientific journalsand other publications that will not only allow unprecedentedaccess to Western books, but also give Ukrainians achance to share their knowledge. The project’s first-yearcost is $1.5 million, $450,000 of which was provided by theU.S. Agency for International Development, the government’sforeign aid arm.An exhibit titled “Hebrew Printing in Ukraine” was ondisplay in the Gelman Library of George WashingtonUniversity in Washington from November 2008 throughMay 2009. This exhibit is part of the Kiev JudaicaCollection, established through the donation of the large personallibrary of I. Edward Kiev (1905-1975), one of the preeminentJudaica librarians of the 20th century. Ukraine, ahistoric center of Jewish civilization, was also a heartland ofthe Jewish book. A selection of books drawn from the collectionoffers a typographic panorama of every region of thiscultural crossroads.In 2009 President Viktor Yushchenko recognized a groupof historians, archeologists, architects, restoration specialists,state and museum employees, and philanthropists, who havemade a great contribution to the study and reconstruction ofBaturyn, the capital of the Kozak Hetmanate (17th and 18thcenturies). Among those honored were two scholars fromCanada: Dr. Zenon Kohut, director of the CIUS andCanadian head of the Baturyn project, and Dr, VolodymyrMezentsev, a CIUS research associate, who serves as executivedirector of the project as well as co-manager of theBaturyn excavations. Both were awarded the Order “ForService,” third class.In Edmonton, Alberta, the Alberta Society for theAdvancement of Ukrainian Studies was founded and heldits first general meeting on April 8. The main aim of thesociety is to support the scholarly and educational programsand projects of the CIUS at the University of Alberta, aswell as to serve as liaison between these two institutions, theUkrainian community and Canadian society at large. Prof.(emeritus) Bohdan Medwidsky, well known for his scholarly,social, and philanthropic activities, was elected president.On March 17 a collection of essays titled “At theCrossroads of Cultures: Essays in Honor of LeonidRudnytzky,” was officially presented to the public at an academicevent held at La Salle University in Philadelphia.Publishing such a collection is an honored European academictradition to honor outstanding scholars. Prof.Rudnytzky, has taught at La Salle University for manydecades.In January, the Contemporary Ukrainian Literature Series– co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Studies Program at theHarriman Institute of Columbia University and the KennanInstitute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars – featured a presentation by Lviv poet, prose writer,literary critic and translator Viktor Neborak in both NewYork and Washington. Mr. Neborak works at the NationalAcademy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of Literature, in

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010232009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWParticipants in the first general meeting of the Alberta Society for the Advancement of Ukrainian Studies on April 8.Roman PetriwLviv and has recently been a contributor to the monthlyjournal PostPostup. Dr. Mark Andryczyk, administrator ofthe Ukrainian Studies Program and lecturer of Ukrainian literatureat Columbia University, interviewed Mr. Neborak onthe pages of The Weekly, discussing today’s Ukrainian literatureand the Ukrainian diaspora in North America.The Shevchenko Scientific Society in the U.S. held its19th general meeting at the society’s New York headquarterson May 16. Dr. Orest Popovych was re-elected as the scholarlysociety’s president by a unanimous vote. Proposedobjectives for the future include publication of the secondand third volumes of the Encyclopedia of the UkrainianDiaspora, organizing the society’s archives, developing amore grassroots fund-raising campaign, and seeking professionalfinancial planning for the society’s funds.The Shevchenko Society also released “ShevchenkoScientific Society, U.S.A. Activities and Press Reports2000-2008,” a 640-page compilation of English-languagearticles about the society and its members, as well as a registryof academic programs that were hosted by the society inthe period under review. Although not a history, the bookwas compiled to create a historical record of activities by thesociety in the U.S.The book “Contemporary Ukraine on the Cultural Mapof Europe,” edited by Larissa M.L. Zaleska Onyshkevychand Maria Rewakowicz, was launched during the internationalannual convention of the Association for the Study ofNationalities held at Columbia University on April 23 and atthe Shevchenko Scientific Society on April 25. This widerangingbook explores Ukraine’s European cultural connection,especially as re-established since the country regainedindependence in 1991. In it, an international group of contributors,specialists in their particular fields, discuss manyaspects of Ukraine’s contemporary culture.An agreement on scholarly collaboration between theCIUS, University of Alberta and NUKMA was signed onMay 4 in Edmonton by CIUS director Dr. Zenon Kohut andKyiv Mohyla Academy President Dr. Serhii Kvit. Theagreement will promote cooperation in the fields of history,culture and Ukrainian literature of the 16th to 20th centuries.The first project will deal with the study of Ukraine’s religiousand cultural heritage.Gene Lemcio, a long-time Seattle-based professor, filledfor a passion for Ukraine and intellectual advancement,together with James West, a colleague and professor at theUniversity of Washington, had the vision to harness thegrowth of the Ukrainian community in the Seattle area tocreate a Ukrainian Studies Endowment at the University ofWashington. They envision that instruction and research tobe funded by the endowment would focus not only onUkraine’s language, history and culture, but also on its currentgeopolitical significance, political development, role inregional security, and ties with the United States. Both professorsrealize that Ukraine’s highly educated population,natural wealth, size and location make it an important countryboth regionally and globally.In memory of the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor, thefall 2008 edition of the established journal CanadianAmerican Slavic Studies was entirely dedicated to awarenessand proof of the Stalinist genocide. This edition, newsof which was reported in 2009, includes scholarly articles,an interview and Holodomor-related artwork. It is filled withmaps, reprinted letters and documents, all of which contributeto solid, erudite argument against virtually anyHolodomor denier.Author Anne Applebaum was commissioned by theHarvard Ukrainian Research Institute to write anew book on the Holodomor.Prof. Andrea Graziosi spoke about the Holodomorand Soviet famines at the universities of Toronto andEdmonton in November.The new scholarly journal Holodomor Studies was introduced in 2009, soon after the release in late 2008 of aspecial issue of the journal Canadian American Slavic Studies devoted to the Holodomor.CIUS

24THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWParticipants of the May 16 general meeting of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in the U.S.A.; seated thirdfrom left is the newly re-elected president, Dr. Orest Popovych.Following the publication of the Holodomor issue ofCanadian American Slavic Studies, publisher CharlesSchlacks in 2009 began publishing a new journal, edited byRoman Serbyn, devoted entirely to the study of theHolodomor, titiled Holodomor Studies. This new journal isfilled with articles and documents that effectively aid in thedissemination of information surrounding the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. The first issue of thissemi-annual journal features a section devoted to RaphaelLemkin, who coined the term “genocide” and was one ofthe earliest voices of Holodomor studies.“Hunger by Design: the Great Ukrainian Famine and ItsSoviet Context” is a compilation of papers presented at asymposium about the Holodomor in October 2003. Thesymposium, “The Ukrainian Terror-Famine of 1932-1933:Revisiting the Issues and the Scholarship after the HURIFamine Project,” was held at the Harvard UkrainianResearch Institute in Cambridge, Mass., in commemorationof the 70th anniversary of the Holodomor. The book,released in 2009, is a collaboration between Halyna Hryn,editor of the journal Harvard Ukrainian Studies, and theHURI.The 26th Conference on Ukrainian Subjects at theUniversity of Illinois took place on June 24-27 in Urbana-Champaign. Titled “Contemporary Ukraine: Challenges andPerspectives,” the conference comprised four subject categories:Ukraine and the European Union, Ukraine andRussia, Ukraine and North America, and the Ukrainiandiaspora. In addition to 34 papers presented both inUkrainian and English by scholars from Ukraine and thediaspora, the conference featured roundtable discussions,book presentations, readings of poetry and exhibits.In August, it was reported that Kyiv historian OleksandrAlfiorov of the Institute of Historical Education, MykhailoDrahomanov National Pedagogical University, had discoveredthe only 18th century Ukrainian-language version ofHetman Pylyp Orlyk’s Constitution of 1710. The OrlykConstitution, adopted by Kozaks during a meeting in exilenear the small town of Bendery, refutes the suggestion thatthe constitution, hitherto known only in a Latin original andcopies, was a forgery. The Orlyk Constitution is regarded asthe first in the world to establish the separation of governmentpowers into legislative, executive and judicial branches.The Selfreliance Foundation of Selfreliance UkrainianAmerican Federal Credit Union in Chicago donated $3,000for the continuing research work of the Encyclopedia of theUkrainian Diaspora. For many years, Selfreliance has been asponsor of the encyclopedia. This year, the first book of theAmerican volume of the encyclopedia was published underthe auspices of the Shevchenko Scientific Society ofAmerica.Viktor Pedak first heard the word “ostarbeiters” in a 1990letter from a Zaporizhia resident, who admitted she wasamong the millions of Ukrainian youths forced to work forthe Nazis. This letter sparked 16 years of research for Mr.Pedak that culminated in a book titled “Hirke SlovoOstarbeiter,” which was presented at a September 2 ceremonyat the Great Patriotic War Natural History Museum inKyiv. Dr. Mykola Zhulynskyi, chair of the National Councilon Culture and Spirituality, estimated that Ukrainiansaccounted for about 85 percent of the total Ostarbeiter workforceof 2.8 million that were dragged by the Nazis from theSoviet Union.The Ukrainian Studies Program at Columbia Universitycontinued to offer courses during the fall semester aimed atdeepening the understanding of Ukraine and its culture.Besides language, examples of other courses include:“Soviet and Post-Soviet, Colonial and Post-ColonialCinema”, which explored how film was used in the Sovietera as a tool of domination over Soviet-ethnic minorities;“Ukrainian Foreign Policy: Russia, Europe and the U.S.”taught by career diplomat Ambassador Valeriy Kuchynsky;and “Early Modern Russia, Ukraine, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth” taught by Prof. Frank Sysyn,acting director of the Ukrainian Studies Program.In order to facilitate and encourage research on statisticaldata regarding the Ukrainian diaspora, the ShevchenkoSociety in New York created the Center for Demographicand Socioeconomic Research of Ukrainians in the U.S. Awebsite (www.inform-decisions.com/ukrstat/) has been setup, which contains detailed information about the center, itsmission, and objectives. It also provides free access to anintegrated database with census and survey data aboutUkrainians in the U.S.The first of a series of articles by Dr. Oleh Wolowynaappeared at the end of October utilizing the data from theCenter for Demographic and Socioeconomic Research todescribe the geographical dispersion of Ukrainians in theU.S. in the years 1990-2006. It detailed the population flowas new immigrants arrived and described what drove manyof them to move outside of established Ukrainian communities.The author pointed out that these geographical changeshave significant implications for the Ukrainian communityin the U.S. as a whole.HURI participated in the yearlong international commemorationof the bicentennial of the birth of Nikolai Gogol(Mykola Hohol) with the Petro Jacyk Memorial Symposium“Gogol and Ukraine: On the 200th Anniversary of the Birthof Nikolai Gogol.” The symposium consisted of two sessionsthat looked at Gogol’s biography in reference toUkraine, undertook an intensive literary analysis of theUkrainian elements in his writing, explored his influence onUkrainian literature and the question of his nationality, andconcluded with a series of literary readings by contemporaryUkrainian and Ukrainian American authors, whose workwas inspired by Gogol. The symposium, held on April 13 inHarvard’s Center for Government and International Studies,drew a total of 55 scholars and Gogol enthusiasts fromaround the country.On September 23-26, 63 scholars and 140 participants,representing 12 countries, attended a conference titled“World War II and the (Re) Creation of HistoricalMemory in Contemporary Ukraine” at the Goethe Institutein Kyiv. The focus of the discussion was to place theemerging Ukrainian historical memory and interpretationinto a wider European and international context. The conferencedemonstrated that Ukraine must reset its understandingof its various roles in World War II from the traditionalSoviet interpretation of the Great Patriotic Warand victory over fascism.The 2009 Harvard Ukrainian Summer institute wasattended by 27 students. They came from seven differentcountries and from a wide variety of universities.Introductory, intermediate and advanced language courseswere offered, as well as courses in Ukrainian history, literatureand linguistics. Outside the classroom, once a weekstudents met for dinner at designated Ukrainian tables inAnnenberg Hall, Harvard’s main undergraduate diningfacility, and were required to speak with each other exclusivelyin Ukrainian. Students also had the opportunity tofurther immerse themselves in the language and learn aboutcurrent Ukrainian culture by attending viewings of shortand feature films.The University of Toronto Libraries has launched a projectto digitize its Ukrainian imprints thanks to the generosityof the John and Mary A. Yaremko Foundation. So far over400 volumes have been scanned as part of the YaremkoUkrainian Digital Project and the texts, in their entirety, arefreely available for scholars and the general public onInternet Archive. Future plans are to scan in total about 500titles of Ucrainica from Robarts and Thomas Fisher RareBook Libraries, with a focus on language and literature.HURI and Loeb Music Library joined forces to co-sponsorthe exhibit “Hetman of Ukraine, Ivan Mazepa,1639-1709, the Cultural Legend.” This exhibits explored theimpact that story of Hetman Mazepa’s turbulent youth,political promise, and ultimate tragic fate had on poets, novelists,composers and painters, particularly in the 19th century.The exhibit was conceived as part of the institute’s commemorationof the 300th anniversary of the Battle ofPoltava. It opened in November and is on view throughJanuary 29, 2010.At the University of Toronto, prominent Italian historianAndrea Graziosi of the University of Naples, presented hislecture “The Holodomor and the Soviet Famines,1931-1933” on November 17.He said that since the collapse of the Soviet Union andthe publication of new documents and new testimonies,denials of the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine are no longerpossible. The debate has now shifted to other questions: thereasons for the Famine, the intentions of Stalin and his rulingcircle, the relationship of the Famine to other events thenoccurring in the USSR, and the consequences of the Faminefor later Ukrainian history.Prof. Graziosi explained that the Famine was a result ofdeliberate Soviet political and social policy – collectivizationand the forced requisitioning of grain from the peasantry.Hence the term “Holodomor,” which connotes someintention regarding “death by hunger,” was quite appropriate.He said that the debate about the causes of the Famineand Soviet policy which focuses on the division betweeneconomic, peasant-oriented explanations (Stalin was antipeasant)and political, nationally oriented explanations(Stalin was anti-Ukrainian) were off the mark.The Great Ukrainian Famine did not start out as a nationalquestion, but rather became so in 1932, when Stalinreceived reports about nationalist “wreckers” and“Petliurists” infiltrating the Ukrainian SSR and theUkrainian Communist Party,” Prof. Graziosi pointed out.Thus, while other famines had occurred elsewhere in theUSSR, they were quantitatively and qualitatively differentfrom those in Ukraine and in the Kuban in 1932-1933,which came to be directed specifically against Ukrainiansand in which victims numbered in the millions.Turning to the question of whether the Famine constituted“genocide,” Prof. Graziosi pointed out that the UkrainianFamine easily fits the category of “genocide” accepted bythe United Nations. But he cautioned that the entire conceptof genocide was too broad and too legalistic to be of use tohistorians seeking factual explanations. He believed thateven a decent Russian government would never admit thatthe Famine was “genocide” because of its legal-political,rather than historical, implications. These legal-politicalimplications would most certainly imply reparations toUkraine for harm done by Russia as the legal heir of theUSSR. Prof. Graziosi spoke on the same topic at theUniversity of Edmonton on November 20.HURI, with support from CIUS at the University ofAlberta, the Ukrainian Studies Fund and the KennanInstitute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars in Washington, sponsored a two-day conference“Poltava 2009: Revisiting a Turning Point in EuropeanHistory” on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the historicbattle as well as the October 1709 death of HetmanIvan Mazepa. The aim of the conference was to utilize newhistoriographic approaches to reassess the Battle of Poltavaas a crucial military event in the geopolitical development ofEurope. The November 10-11 conference, the only majorscholarly event dealing with the anniversary in NorthAmerica, drew 34 scholars from nine countries. The conferencefeatured eight sessions and the presentation of 25research papers.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010252009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWCultural events:art, film, and moreCultural events were everywhere in 2009, whether itwas music, art, film, dance or even ice sculptures.Here is a look at some of the most significant amongthem.The Ukrainian Museum kicked off its year with an exhibitfeaturing works by Mychajlo Moroz (1904-1992), titled“A Generous Vision: A Major Gift of Works by MychajloMoroz,” which opened on January 25 and ended onSeptember 6. The exhibit featured the artists expressionistlandscapes and seascapes, and was broken up into three sectionswith the artists time in Ukraine, Germany and in theUnited States.Merkin Concert Hall in New York also played host for amemorial concert in honor of pianist Alexander Slobodyanikon January 31. Mr. Slobodyanik, known as one of theworld’s most Romantic piano virtuosos, died at the age of66 of bacterial meningitis. His widow Laryssa Krupa andhis son Alex performed piano works at the concert.“The Orange Chronicles” by Damian Kolodiy and PeterZielyk was signed to two non-exclusive distribution dealsearlier in the year with Journeyman Pictures, based inLondon, and Forward in Time, based in North America. Thefilm has won several awards including the “AudienceAward” at the Phoenix Film Festival and “Best FeatureDocumentary” at the Boston International Film Festival,among others.“Billy Elliot: The Musical” featured Kiril Kulish, 14, ofSan Diego, as one of three actors performing the role in rotation.Based on the 2000 film “Billy Elliot” Kulish wasamong 1,500 hopefuls that auditioned for the part. Mr. Kulishalong with his two “Billy” co-performers were awarded theTony Award for best actor for their performance.The Vikenti Khvoika Museum featuring Trypillian artifactsopened in Kyiv. Khvoika, an archeologist (1850-1914),is credited with discovering the Trypillian culture of the 4th-3rd millennium B.C. and Slavonic archeological cultures onUkraine’s territory, and is credited with forming new methodologiesin the study of Ukraine’s Paleolithic era.Ice sculptors from Ukraine participated in ice and snowsculpture competitions in Quebec City (February 1-9),Ottawa (February 6-8) and in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec,(February 19-22). The Ukrainian team in Quebec Cityincluded Orest Dzyndra, Serhiy Kliapetura and PetroRomaniuk with their snow piece “Vertep,” which won firstprize “best in show” as selected by the public. MyroslavDedyshyn was the solo contestant in Ottawa and won secondprize with his ice sculpture “Angel.”Oles Yanchuk’s film “Famine-33” about the Holodomorwon the Henri-Langlois Prize at the Vincennes CinemaFestival in France on February 3. This was the first featurelengthabout the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933, and Mr.Kiril Kulish onstage in the title role of “Billy Elliott: The Musical.”Yanchuk said that the film would be used in schools andtranslated into various languages, including Russian.Composer Virko Baley was feted for his 70th birthdaywith a concert by Continuum, led by Cheryl Seltzer and JoelSachs, on February 22 at Merkin Concert Hall in New York.The concert, “Illuminating Ukraine: Virko Baley and theAvant-Garde” featured some of Mr. Baley’s works including“Song Without Words,” “Dance Without Words,”“Klytemnestra” and “Palm of the Hand.”A department of Kyiv’s History Museum dedicated a sectionon March 2 to Sholem Aleichem (Sholem NaumovichRabinovich, 1859-1916), a famous Jewish writer creditedwith 10 novels and 20 plays, as well as hundreds of shortnovels and stories.The Syzokryli Ukrainian Dance Ensemble celebrated its30th anniversary on March 28 at New York University’sSkirball Center for the Performing Arts. Roma PrymaBohachevsky founded the dance group. Its dance academyis based at Soyuzivka.The new “Taras Bulba” released on April 1 in Moscowdrew the ire of most historically conscious Ukrainians for itsblatant Russian propaganda inserted into the film and theuse of historically inaccurate identifying terms. Produced byRossiya television and commissioned by the RussianDavid ScheinmanMinistry of Culture, the $25 million film was the mostexpensive film in Russia’s cinematic history.The Digitization of Ukrainian Culture project, launchedin 2008, aims to catalogue thousands of texts in an electronicdatabase. The project, spearheaded by Kyiv-based attorneyBate C. Toms and Dudley Fishburn, a digitization expert,aims to preserve Ukraine’s written cultural past and makethem available to the public. Cooperation from universitiesand institutions, such as Harvard University Library, in thisendeavor would prevent the distortions by Soviet rule andRussian imperialism. The five-year project was estimated tocost $4.1 million, with the bulk of the funds being usedstrictly for the digitization at various universities with thenecessary equipment. A story about the project appeared onApril 5.The Ukrainian Museum hosted a pysanka exhibit “In FullBloom” from the beginning of April through August 30 thatfeatured 82 examples by Iryna Bilianska (1899-1960s). Thepysanky were created during the late 1920s and 1930s usinga unique style, featuring multi-colored flower and embroiderymotifs, traditional of the Sokal region of westernUkraine. The collection was discovered by Prof. DamianThe Gospel of Peresopnytsia (facsimile edition) received by the Library of Congress on April 1 .Jurij DobczanskyAdriana LuhovyFilmmaker Yurij Luhovy (right) with scout-locatorVolodymyr Bandura at the cross commemoratingFamine-Genocide victims in Lubiazhe, KharkivOblast. Mr. Luhovy’s documentary on the Holodomor,“Okradena Zemlya,” premiered in the spring.

26THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWHromovytsia and Kashtan square off in “Saved by the Bell” during their joint program on May 16.Olya SorokaAt the November 7 literary event “New Voices: Ukrainian American Writers” (from left) are: coordinatorAnna Golash, and writers Katie Zapoluch, Sonia Arko, Petrusia Kowerko-Duncan, Irene Zabytko, AlexSydorenko and Ania Antonovych-Metcalf.Walter CiszkewyczSome of the artifacts on display at The Ukrainian Museum-Archives of Cleveland, which hosted a grand reopeningon June 13.Horniatkewych (1892-1980) in the 1920s, and the museumreceived the donated examples from his son, Andrij. Fiveembroidered shirts from the museum’s collection were alsoincluded in the exhibit from the Sokal region.The Library of Congress on April 1 received replicas ofthe Gospel of Peresopnytsia, originally created between1556 and 1561, and the Khrystynopil Apostol, a 12th centurymanuscript. The books were donated by the Rev. Dr.Cyril Hovorun, chair of the Department of External ChurchRelations, and Abbess Serafima (Shevchyk), chair of theCommission on Church and Culture of the UkrainianOrthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP). Apresentation was co-organized by the library EuropeanDivision, the UOC-MP and the Embassy of Ukraine.Chicago’s Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA)featured an exhibit “From Lviv to Chicago” with works byTaras Borovyk, Serhei Mikhnovskyy and Orest Skop. Mr.Borovyk resides in New York, and the other two artists hadtheir works shipped from Ukraine for the exhibit. The art isvaried in the three approaches – simplistic, traditional andethereal.The University of Pittsburgh’s new Carpathian MusicEnsemble held its first concert in March, featuring Gypsyand Klezmer music, as well as music from more than 10Slavic countries, including Ukraine. The group of 20 wasfounded and directed by Dr. Adriana Helbig, assistant professorof ethnomusicology, and is supported by the university’sdepartment of music and the Center for Russian andEast European Studies.Dr. Henry Marsh, the main focus in the BBC documentary,“The English Surgeon,” helped to shed light on the stateof disrepair of Ukraine’s hospitals. The film traces the doctor’swork in the operating room as well as the waitingroom. The film won several major awards, including bestinternational documentary at the SilverDocs Film Festival.Yurij Luhovy’s “Okradena Zemlya” is a Ukrainianlanguagedocumentary about the Holodomor that featuresinterviews with historians, survivors and specialists onHolodomor research. The film was screened in Montreal onMay 20 and in Toronto on June 14, with the director beingpresent for questions and commentary. It was shown later atother venues in Canada and the U.S. The next step, Mr.Luhovy said, would be to release an English-language versionof the film to educate non-Ukrainians.Ukraine’s prowess in the ballet world was made clearwhen Irina Dvorovenko and her husband, MaximBelotserkovsky, the principle dancers at the American BalletTheater, assumed the lead roles at the Metropolitan OperaHouse in New York. Their profile offered a glimpse intotheir busy schedules and how they balance married life, achild and two careers in dance. Mr. Belotserkovsky wasnoted for his unassuming precise style, and Ms. Dvorovenkohas charmed audiences with her beauty, grace and lightfootedexecution.The Ukrainian Museum on June 13 through September27 hosted “Fine Art / Folk Art: A Dialogue,” which put thetwo disciplines in a comparative presentation. The exhibitfeatured pysanky, kylyms, embroidery, sculptures, paintingsand folk costumes. The works of the artists demonstrate thefolk roots of fine art, or the adaptation of fine art techniquesand styles to folk art.On May 23 Danny Schur’s “Strike! The Musical” recreatedthe Generals Strike of 1919 on Main Street inWinnipeg. The audience hailed the work as historicallyimportant and aesthetically interesting. Mr. Schur has wonthe 2006 Kobzar Literary Award, the 2007 Grant McEwanCollege Kostash Award and the 2008 Roger Charest awardfor the music.Alexej Gorlach, 21, won the eighth annual AXA DublinInternational Piano Competition on May 15 at the NationalConcert Hall in Dublin. Mr. Gorlach, a native of Kyiv, haswon other piano competitions in Japan and Germany. Mr.Gorlach was presented a crystal trophy and two performances– at Carnegie Hall in New York and London’s WigmoreHall – valued at more than $125,000.Two Ukrainian dance groups performed together in concerton May 16 at the North Shore Center for PerformingArts near Chicago. The show brought together on one stageHromovytsia Ukrainian Dance Ensemble of Chicago andthe Kashtan School of Ukrainian Dance of Cleveland.Dances were performed by one group or the other, but onetitled “Saved by the Bell” pitted dancers from each groupagainst one another in a boxing-themed character dance.A collection of works by Olga Antonenko was exhibitedin June and July 26 at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Artin Chicago. Ms. Antonenko, a native of Kyiv, is known forher mural “Spring in Chicago” at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport,and has a recurrent theme of rural Ukraine in her work. Herworks range from wall paintings and watercolors, to batiksand textiles.The Ukrainian Museum-Archives (UMA) in Cleveland

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010272009: THE YEAR IN REVIEW“The Dance” by Alexander Archipenko (1912-1913,bronze), on long-term loan from the David NilesCollection, was displayed at The Ukrainian Museumas part of “Fine Art / Folk Art: A Dialogue.”Dale RobinetteVera Farmiga in a scene from “Up in the Air,” whichpremiered on November 30.hosted its grand re-opening on June 13. Thousands of artifacts,books, newspapers and artwork are housed in its collection.Andrew Fedynsky, director for the UMA, was recognizedfor his work in amassing the collection and overseeingthe renovation of the building.Dr. Serhiy Kot spoke in Washington on June 26 at theU.S.-Ukraine Foundation about cultural property of Ukrainethat needs to be returned. Russia, he said, was the greatestoffender of plundered treasures. Since independenceUkraine has seen the need to assert its identity, but the tug ofwar with Russia has been going on for centuries. Manychurches and religious items were set to be destroyed duringthe Communist regime, he said. While some churches havebeen rebuilt, the priceless icons remain in foreign hands.The Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, with guest artistviolinist Vasyl Popadiuk, presented “Steppes: A UkrainianJourney” at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia onJune 27. The Steppes to Liberty Award was presented toRuslana Lyzhychko for her work for the betterment ofUkraine.Hollywood’s “Holodomor: Ukraine’s Genocide” byMarta Tomkiw and Bobby Leigh won the “Grand JuryAward for a Feature or Short for the Most OutstandingMovie Award of Discovery and Human Interest” at theMonaco Charity Film Festival, held in Monte Carlo. The20.5-minute short is a preview to a feature-length 96-minutefilm.“The Living” by Serhiy Bukovsky, a documentaryabout the Holodomor, won the Golden Apricot award atthe sixth Yerevan International Film Festival in Armeniaon July 12-19. “The Living” was ranked best among 104competing films.UIMA of Chicago presented works by OlexanderDubovyk and Vasily Fedorouk on August 2-30. The pairingdemonstrated Mr. Dubovyk’s expressive approach incontrast to Mr. Fedorouk’s geometric abstracts.The New Jersey State Opera hosted its annualDestination: Opera! festival at The Great Auditorium inOcean Grove, N.J. on September 11-13. As part of thefestival, soprano Anna Shafajinskaia, a native of Odesa,starred in Verdi’s classic “Requiem.”Cinematographer Andrij Parekh was director of photographyfor the 2009 release of “Cold Souls” featuringPaul Giamatti, who puts his soul into cold storage to properlyinterpret a character in an adaptation of the Chekhovplay Uncle Vanya. Reviews of the film called Mr. Parekh’swork evocative of Stanley Kubrick and Charlie Kaufman.Ilona Sochynsky’s works were on display at theUkrainian Institute of America in New York October 8through November 1 in an exhibit called “Fragments.Fetishes. Capriccios.” The exhibit combined elements ofabstract with realism to form an unlikely interrelationshipof dazzling visualization.“Jajo’s Secret” by James Motluk tells the personal storyof discovering a grandfather’s secret about the internmentof Ukrainians in Canada during World War I. The 48-minutedocumentary features commentary by members ofParliament in addition to rare photos, government documentsand period newspapers.The Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company wereon a tour of North America in the fall. Stops includedMorristown and New Brunswick N.J., Chicago,Philadelphia, New York, Houston, Toronto and Montreal.The ensemble is known for its precision and rigoroustraining that has pupils in training from a young age inpreparation for candidacy to join the renowned performinggroup.Washington’s Ukrainian and Ukraine-related culturalprograms have experienced marked growth in recentyears. The Washington Group’s Cultural Fund and cooperationbetween the local community and the Embassy ofUkraine have been major factors in this development.Poet and novelist Yuri Andrukhovych on October 20 andviolinist Zino Bogachek on October 18 were just a few ofthe cultural delights that graced the area’s calendar ofevents.To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of MykolaHohol (Nikolai Gogol), the Hohol Arts Fest was held onNovember 5-8 at the Ukrainian Institute of America inNew York. The festival featured Hohol in art, film, musicand the world, as well as works inspired by Hohol.“New Voices: Ukrainian-American Writers” was ashowcase at UIMA in Chicago on November 7. Participantsincluded Katie Zapoluch, Sonia Arko, Petrusia Kowerko-Duncan, Irene Zabytko (the keynote speaker), AlexSydorenko and Ania Antonvych-Metcalf. The event wascoordinated by Anna Golash and Ms. Arko.Soprano Stefania Dovhan debuted on November 8 atNew York City Opera, with her performance as DonnaAnna in “Don Giovanni.” Ms. Dovhan has sung since theage of 15, having attended the Baltimore School of Arts,the University of Maryland and the Academy of Music inAugsburg, Austria and the Staatstheater in Nuremburg,Germany.A retrospective on Andrij Kowalenko, a native ofZaporizhia, was held at UIMA in Chicago beginning onNovember 10. Works from 1951 through 1989 were ondisplay and divided into three categories – from the1940s-1950s, the 1960s-1970s, and post-1980.Kowalenko’s works are noted for their stirring imageryand introspective effect.Vera Farmiga stars in the film “Up in the Air” oppositeGeorge Clooney and has received high marks for her performance,including nominations for Best SupportingActress from the Golden Globes and the Screen Actor’sGuild Awards. The film premiered on November 30 and isa departure from Ms. Farmiga’s typical weighty characterroles. The critics at the Christian Science Monitor calledher work and on-screen chemistry reminiscent of LaurenBacall.The Victor Pinchuk Foundation on December 8announced the creation of the Future Generation Art Prize,a major biennial international competition for artists up toage 35. The competition provides an opportunity for undiscoveredartists in Ukraine to ply their craft for a chance at a$100,000 prize. Some of the contestants will be eligible todisplay their works at the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv.A banner yearfor the UNADuring 2009 the Ukrainian National Associationmarked the 115th anniversary of its founding. TheUkrainian Weekly’s front page on February 22 carriedgreetings on the occasion from the UNA president, whonoted: “We are guided by the principles we have inheritedfrom the founders of this venerable organization: responsibilityto our members and unity with our community. We areguided by our professional and community goal of developingour institution for the good of our people, for the benefitof myriad projects that assist and strengthen our community,and in the name of close contacts with our ancestral homeland,Ukraine.”An editorial in that same issue underscored: “In its activityfrom 1894 to the present, the UNA has been a leader, aninnovator, a publisher, an organizer, a patron of the arts, aprotector of its members and all Ukrainians, a supporter ofcauses, a facilitator of projects, an educator, a sports promoterand more. The UNA is so much more than an insurancecompany, although it is the success of its insurance businessthat allows the UNA to do all it does.”During 2009, Ruslana and annuities were the top news atthe Ukrainian National Association. The famed Ukrainianpop singer because she was the headliner of the third annualUkrainian Cultural Festival at Soyuzivka. Annuities becausethey continued to be the engine of the UNA’s growth in2009.Between 6,000 and 7,000 visitors arrived at Soyuzivka onJuly 17-19 for the Ukrainian Cultural Festival featuring theinternational pop star from Ukraine, winner of the EurovisionSong Contest in 2004. The crowd was perhaps the largestever to assemble at the UNA’s Ukrainian heritage center inthe Shawangunk Mountains of upstate New York. It wasclear that Ruslana and her ensemble of eight dancers hadwowed the crowd with their 75-minute non-stop concert ofsong and dance featuring elaborate costumes and a lightshow.Following her first festival performance in the UnitedStates, Ruslana enthused: “Soyuzivka is truly a piece ofUkraine. It’s no longer just a word… it’s the 26th oblast ofUkraine.” She promised that she and her troupe “are ready tocome here again, again and again, and to sing for you againand again.”Other stars of the festival were the Roma PrymaBohachevsky Ukrainian Dance Workshop, operatic singerLyudmilla Fesenko, vocalists Nadia Kobelak and FilipZmacher, bandurist Victor Mishalow and violinist OlehKulchytsky. But there were even more performers – 197 inall – including young performers who appeared on the outdoorstage on Sunday, which was designated as Family Day,and several bands, including the popular Klooch and Hrim.Masters of ceremonies Lida Kulbida and Andrij Stasiw keptthings running smoothly over the festival’s three days.UNA President Stefan Kaczaraj underscored how pleasedhe and his fellow officers were with the 2009 UkrainianCultural Festival. “I am extremely pleased because weattained our goals at the festival. One of those goals was tointegrate the Fourth Wave [of Ukrainian arrivals to NorthAmerica] into our community life. Also, seeing the numberof people who arrived at the festival from throughout theUnited States and Canada, as well as other parts of the world,I think we have good prospects for the future.”In a full-page advertisement published soon thereafter, theUNA expressed thanks to the festival’s performers, volunteers(71 of them), vendors (45), Soyuzivka staff (67), securitypersonnel (14) and sponsors for making the third UkrainianCultural Festival such a success.As for the UNA’s other major success during 2009 – salesof annuities – it should be noted that the UNA began the yearby reporting that it had surpassed the $10 million mark insales of annuities in 2008. By the time of the UNA GeneralAssembly’s annual meeting on November 6-8, UNANational Secretary Christine Kozak reported that during thefirst nine months of 2009, the UNA had over $20 million innew business income, primarily due to annuities sales.Considering that the figure for all of 2008 was $11.4 million,this was quite an accomplishment for the UNA. By the year’send, annuities sales totaled $35 million.At the annual meeting of the General Assembly, advisors,auditors and executive officers heard President Kaczarajreport that “it has been a record-breaking year for the UNA.”He was referring to the aforementioned over $20 million inpremium income (including annuities), over 100 independentagents who sell UNA products, and the growth of assets tothe highest level in the UNA’s history – just under $99 million.By year’s end UNA assets exceeded $100 million.UNA Treasurer Roma Lisovich also had good news to

28THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWRuslana and her troupe of dancers wowed the crowds at Soyuzivka’s third annual Ukrainian CulturalFestival held July 17-19.The cover page of the special insert about UNA scholarshiprecipients for academic year 2008-2009.report, as she focused on the UNA’s investment portfolio,noting that the UNA showed a healthy growth in investmentincome during a year when most insurance companies sufferedinvestment loses. In fact, the UNA’s investment incomefor the first nine months of 2009 was $3.6 million, outpacinginvestment income for the same period in 2008, when itstood at $2.9 million. Moreover, Ms. Lisovich predicted thatthe UNA’s investment income would continue to grow atThe more than 100 participants of the Conference of UNA Seniors held on June 14-19 at Soyuzivka.Russ Chelakabout 6 percent during 2010.In other developments at the UNA, the 2009 Almanac ofthe Ukrainian National Association was dedicated to the 70thanniversary of the independence of Carpatho-Ukraine, aswell as several other historic milestones, including the 300thanniversary of the Battle of Poltava and the 100th anniversaryof the birth of Ukrainian nationalist leader StepanBandera.Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Ukrainian Group and theUkrainian National Association released the 2009 SoyuzivkaHeritage Foundation Calendar, featuring beautiful photos ofscenes and doings at Soyuzivka. The calendar is an annualfund-raising vehicle for the Soyuzivka Heritage Center.The February 22 issue of The Weekly carried a specialfour-page section about the UNA’s scholarship and awardrecipients for academic year 2008-2009. Eighty-two studentsreceived scholarships totaling $16,600.Organizing achievements of 2008 were highlighted onThe Ukrainian National Association Forum page in TheWeekly on April 19. Kudos went to Lubov Streletsky, a UNAadvisor and secretary of UNA Branch 10, for collecting themost premiums with membership applications. She was citedas the outstanding branch secretary for 2008. Other top organizershailed were Valentina Kaploun of Branch 269 (also aHome Office employee) and Stephanie Hawryluk of Branch88.On March 18 the UNA learned about the death of VasylLuchkiw, member of the UNA Auditing Committee, formerUNA advisor, as well as New York District chairman andsecretary of Branch 16 for many years. He was 79.Dr. Luchkiw’s position on the Auditing Committee waslater filled by Advisor Eugene Serba, whose spot among theadvisors was filled by Ms. Hawryluk, a former advisor.The Auditing Committee – comprising Chairman SlavkoTysiak and members Wasyl Szeremeta and Mr. Serba – conducteda review of UNA operations, including those of itssubsidiaries, Soyuzivka, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly,on May 4. Their detailed report about the financial condition,management and operations of the UNA for the periodJanuary 1, 2007, through December 31, 2008, was publishedin the September 6 issue of The Weekly.Paying a visit to the UNA Home Office in April was Dr.Oksana TrytjakSerhiy Kvit, president of the National University of KyivMohyla Academy, an educational institution in Ukraine’scapital that traces its beginnings to 1615. Dr. Kvit came tothank the UNA for its support and to outline plans for thefuture of this progressive university, which hopes to expandits student body from 3,500 to 5,000.In May, the Brooklyn Ukrainian Group, assisted by threemembers of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization’sNewark, N.J., branch, held the sixth annual spring cleaningbefore the summer season at Soyuzivka. BUG membersfocused on preparing the Lviv building for campers, whilethe Plast members took on garbage pick-up on the Soyuzivkagrounds.In June, the UNA Seniors’ Conference took place atSoyuzivka with 104 seniors participating in a week of activitiesthat included presentations on various topics, exercise, abanquet, an auction, Bingo and other fun events. OksanaTrytjak was re-elected as president of the UNA Seniors.Toward the end of the year, the UNA focused attentionon its charitable arm, the Ukrainian National Foundation,and the various funds it comprises to support educational,cultural and humanitarian causes and projects that benefitthe Ukrainian community in the United States, Canadaand Ukraine. A two-part article by UNA TreasurerLisovich was published in The Weekly in December, andadvertisements encouraging donations to the UNFappeared in Svoboda and The Weekly. The UkrainianNational Foundation was established in 1992 and is registeredas a 501 (c) (3) corporation.As 2009 came to an end and 2010 approached, theUNA began looking ahead to its next quadrennial convention.National Secretary Kozak authored articles about theupcoming convention that appeared in October-Novemberto inform branches and their members about the procedurefor electing delegates and to encourage branches toincrease their membership rolls in order to qualify formore representation at the convention. The 37th RegularConvention of the UNA is scheduled for May 20-23,2010, at Soyuzivka.Miss Soyuzivka 2010Emilia Kuzemka, the daughter of Theresa and JohnKuzemka of Long Island City, N.Y., was crowned onAugust 21, as Miss Soyuzivka 2010. Former MissSoyuzivka 2009 Dianna Dekajlo performed the honors.Miss Kuzemka is a Dean’s List student at PaceUniversity and a vice-president of the Society forHuman Resources Management at the university. Shealso belongs to the Spartanky Sorority of PlastUkrainian Scouting Organization, is a member of theSyzokryli Dance Ensemble and sings in the choir atHoly Cross Ukrainian Catholic Church in Astoria,N.Y. She is a member of Branch 130 of the UkrainianNational Association.In attendance to view the crowning of the newMiss Soyuzivka were a number of former winners,Ulana Kebalo-George, Ania Bohachevsky-Lonkevych,Dianna Shmerykowsky, Alana Lenec, Ksenia Hentisz,Lidia Chopivsky-Benson and Marianka Hawryluk,who was the mistress of ceremonies for the event.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010292009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWSports: individualand team winnersOutstanding team and individual athletic accomplishmentswere the hallmarks of 2009.Our (one-man) sports department sifted throughvolumes of matches, tournaments, championships, grandprix events, competitions of all sorts in over 30 sports, anddecided the time was right to introduce our first annualUkrainian Weekly Sports Awards.The award winners:• Ukrainian Team of the Year: Shakhtar Donetsk (soccer);• Most Valuable Ukrainian Pro Athlete: Vitali Klitschko(boxing);• Ukrainian Rookie of the Year: Kateryna Bondarenko(tennis);• Inspirational Humanitarian Award: Basil Tarasko.Following is an alphabetical review of the top sportsnews of 2009 by sport:Viktor Ruban and Viktoria Koval won the 2009ARCHERY World Championships in South Korea, onSeptember 7. The Ukrainian pair eked out a close one overChina, 149-147.In BASEBALL, Ukraine’s Kirovohrad TechnicalUniversity won the Euro Cup held in Slovakia, defeatingCroatia, 5-4 in the finals. Ukraine finished the tourney witha 5-1 record, losing only to Sweden. Hitting star wasMaksym Symchyna (.409 with 7 RBI’s), while top pitcherwas Dmytro Cimarenk (14 innings, 6 hits, 12 strikeouts).After 52 trips to the dugouts of Ukraine in the 18 years ofleading off the development of youth baseball and softballprograms, Mr. Taraska really should just change his name toMr. Baseball.Ukraine now numbers 18 different leagues, second mostin Europe, with over 1,000 boys and girls playing baseballor softball. Several of the organized clubs comprise orphans(including a team that advanced to the European regionals in2008). Speaking of home runs, the first ever Little Leaguechampionship for children from orphanages was held inKyiv.The BASKETBALL Federation of Ukraine in Julyannounced the creation of a single Ukrainian Super Leaguefor the 2009-2010 season, with 16 hoop squads expected tocompete.In NBA news, the Atlanta Hawks made Ukrainian SergiyGladyr their No. 2 pick in a surprise move at the 2009 NBADraft. The Minnesota Timberwolves acquired UkrainianOleksiy Pecherov in a trade with the Washington Wizards,while the Utah Jazz exercised its option on center KyryloFesenko for the 2009-10 season.Vita Semerenko and Serhiy Sednev won silver medals inpursuit races at the Open European BIATHLONChampionship in Russia. Olena Pidhrushina, ValentynaSemerenko, Inna Suprun and Vita Semerenko won gold inthe women’s 4X6 km relay.In BOXING news Andreas Kotelnik retained his WBAjunior welterweight title in Rostock, Germany, on January 7,in a split decision over Argentine Marcos Rene Maidana. Itwas Maidana’s first loss, while Kotelnik improved to 31-2-1,13 KO’s.January saw Vitali Klitschko awarded “Comeback of theDecade” by the World Boxing Council after he reclaimedthe WBC heavyweight title with a TKO over Samuel Peterin late 2008. More honors followed in late March, when theWBC named Vitali the greatest puncher ever among heavyweights.His record of 37 wins, 36 by knockouts (97.2%)was cited as proof.Vitali Klitschko defeated Juan Carlos Gomez with aninth-round technical knockout on March 21, in a WBC titlefight held in Struttgart, Germany. An inadvertent head buttby Klitschko spurred the champion into a punching spreewhich resulted in the final knockdown.Wladimir Klitschko defeated Ruslan Chagaev on June20, in Germany’s Veltins Arena, a technical knockout in the10th round. The victorious bout earned Klitschko Ringmagazine’s heavyweight championship belt. He set an IBFrecord with his seventh title defense, the first-ever loss forChagaev. The Kitschko brothers’ promotion company, K2,was honored by the WBO for drawing some 60,000 supportersto the Chagaev fight.Vitali Klitschko again retained his WBC heavyweighttitle against Chris Arreola with a 10th round TKO in LosAngeles on September 26. After absorbing more than 300punches, Arreola’s trainer threw in the towel before the endof Round 10. Klitschko announced that he would probablyfight two or three more challengers before retiring.One of those remaining fights came on December 12,when Vitali again retained his WBC heavyweight titleagainst Kevin Johnson in Switzerland by unanimous deci-UEFA.comThe Weekly’s Ukrainian Team of the Year, Shakhtar Donetsk, defeated Werder Bremen 2-1 on May 20 to winthe UEFA Cup. Above, the deciding goal is netted in overtime by striker Jádson.sion. Klitschko set a new Compu Box record for jabs thrownin a match (749). Next up is a bout with British challengerDavid Haye, the reigning WBA heavyweight champion.Viacheslav Senchenko retained his WBA welterweighttitle against Motoki Sasaki in Donetsk on October 3. On thesame card, Oleh Yefimovich knocked out Esham Pickeringto defend his European featherweight title.Grandmaster Stanislav Savchenko won the FINEC 2009international CHESS tournament in St. Petersburg (Russia).Ukrainian Mykhailo Brodsky placed second. GrandmasterSerhiy Bilosheyev won the world chess championship inChelyabinsk (Russia) in early March. Grandmaster PavloEljanov won the 39th International Chess Super-Tournament2009 in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovnia) in mid-May.Ukraine placed 10 of the world’s top 100 as selected bythe World Chess Federation. Ruslan Ponomariov (16th),Sergey Karjakin (20th) and Pavel Eljanov (21st) wereUkraine’s top three.Yuriy Kuzbov won the Spice Cup GrandmasterInvitational in Texas on September 29 when he broke athree-way first place tie with a blitz tournament victory.In BICYCLING, Ukraine’s cyclists won three bronzemedals at the UCI Track World Cup 2009-2010 in Englandat the end of October. Bronze medal events were men’sscratch race final, team pursuit final and individual pursuit.Ukraine’s team of athletes won 67 medals at the 21stSummer DEAFLYMPICS in Taipei on September 5-15.The medals breakdown: 20 gold, 22 silver and 25 bronze,finishing second best overall.In DIVING, Ukraine’s athletes won 31 medals at theUniversiade in Belgrade on July 12: seven gold, 11 silverand 13 bronze medals. Konstantin Milayev (platform diving)and Olympic archery champ Viktor Ruban won gold,while Ukraine’s team was ranked sixth among 56 countries.Olha Kharlan captured three gold and a silver medal inmajor FENCING competitions throughout 2009, includingthe Orleans Women’s Saber Grand Prix, the Moscow GrandPrix and World Fencing Championships in Bulgaria andTurkey.Fourteen-year-old Matej Silecky of Verona, N.J., competedat Ukraine’s Junior Nationals in FIGURE SKATING inlate January. The Olympic hopeful was the 2009 NorthAtlantic Novice Regional Champion, placing in the top performersat various sectional competitions.Ukraine’s policemen FUTSAL (indoor soccer) teamrepeated as champions at the Worldwide Indoor SoccerPolice Association Tournament in New Zealand. FC TimeLviv bested Shakhtar Donetsk 5-4 in penalty kicks, winningthe Green Ball Cup international futsal tournament in theCzech Republic on August 9.Ukrainian pro Jim Furyk just happens to be one of themost consistent performers in GOLF over the past 10 years,with a top-10 ranking for over 270 weeks between 1999 and2009. So consistent, his fan base nicknamed him, “TheGrinder.”In GYMNASTICS, Ukraine’s team at the EuropeanAthletics Championship in Milan, Italy, won a gold, two silversand a bronze medal. Yana Demianchuk took the gold inbalance beam, Anna Kalashnyk won bronze in the vault,Oleksandr Vorobiev took silver in the rings, while MykolaKubsenko earned silver in the high bar.Olena Movchan and Yulia Domchevska won the gold inwomen’s synchronized trampoline finals at the WorldGames in Taiwan on July 16-27. Mykola Popov and MykolaShcherbakov took gold in men’s duo acrobatic gymnastics.Oleksandr Yakubovsky and Vitaliy Nakonechny eachwon three gold medals at the Beresh Cup international artisticgymnastics tournament in Crimea.In May, readers of The Weekly enjoyed an exclusiveinterview with Dallas Stars’ goaltending prospect TylerBeskorowany. Sports columnist Ihor Stelmach met up withthe Owen Sound junior at the 2008 National HOCKEYLeague Entry Draft in Ottawa.More prospect news followed with a year in the life ofZach Boychuk, Carolina’s 2008 top selection. Blessed withspeed and great offensive skills, Boychuk is expected to jointhe big club later this season.The start of the 2009 NHL season saw Jeff Woywitkamoving to Dallas, Kyle Brodziak to Minnesota and ToddFedoruk relocating to Tampa Bay. Ruslan Fedotenko wonanother Stanley Cup and re-upped with Pittsburgh, KeithTkachuk stayed in St. Louis, and Travis Zajac got big bucksto remain a Devil.The dropping of the puck on the current campaign sawthe unfortunate resignation of Wayne Gretzky as coach ofthe bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes. After a well-deserved respite,we hope to see the “Great One” back in hockey real soon.A pair of Ukrainians, Volodymyr Soroka (gold) andTigran Kazarian (bronze) were medalists at the 2009 JUDOWorld Cup in Tblisi, Georgia, on January 25. RomanHontiuk won the New York Open Judo Championship inMarch.Soroka again won a gold medal in the 73kg division atthe European Judo Championships in Tblisi, this time in lateApril. Ukraine finished in third place overall, with threemedals.The World Judo Cup in Estonia (men) and Spain(women) saw Ukraine’s team win seven medals. Ukrainewon six medals at the Cadet European Judo Championshipsin Slovenia on June 26-28. Ukraine’s Sambo team collectednine medals at the 2009 World Sambo and Combat SamboChampionships in Greece, held on November 5-9. NataliaVerloka bested American Soolmaz Abooali to win theKarate World Cup 2009 in Poland on October 10.A Ukrainian MOUNTAIN CLIMBING team fromDonetsk composed of athletes and coal miners successfullyscaled the summit of one of Tian Shan’s peaks in earlyAugust. The mountain range extends from Kyrgystan tonorthwest China. Climber Serhiy Koralev reported the peakto be 5,123 meters high.The president of the National Olympic Committee ofUkraine, member of the International Olympic Committeeand first vice-president of the International Association ofAthletics Federation, Serhiy Bubka, was elected to the boardof the Association of Summer OLYMPICS Federationsduring its General Assembly in Denver on March 25.Twenty of Ukraine’s athletes for the 21st Winter OlympicGames to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2010

30THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWwill be awarded scholarships by the International OlympicCommittee, doubling the previous quota of 10. Scholarshiprecipients will receive $1,000 monthly from July 2009through February 2010.Ukrainian athletes won 22 medals: six gold, eight silverand eight bronze at the IPC Biathlon and Cross CountryWorld Championships in Finland on February 3. Athletesfrom 20 countries took part in preparation for the X WinterPARALYMPIC Games to be held on March 2-12, 2012, inVancouver.Pavlo Tymoshchenko won the silver medal at the ModernPENTATHLON World Cup Final in Brazil on September15.Oleksander Salyuk’s ROWING team won the fifthPrime Yalta Rally on September 13. The three-day rallycomprised of 12 different categories and had 14 countriescompeting. Eight of the top 10 finishing teams wereUkrainian.Ukraine’s women’s team of Yana Dementyeva, AnastasiaKozhenkova, Tetiana Kolesnikova and Svitlana Spiriukhovawon the gold medal at the 2009 World RowingChampionships in Poland, on August 31.SAILING headlines featured a Dnipropetrovsk native,Victor Kovalenko, being named Australian Coach of theYear by the Australian Institute of Sports in February.Kovalenko, who works with three different yacht clubs,coaches the 470-class fleet for men and women. Ten of hiscrews have won world titles, including six medalists at theOlympic Games.Ukraine’s SHOOTING team fired off 18 total medals(six gold), winning second place overall at the 2009 WorldRunning Target Championships in Finland, on August26-30. Ukraine’s large-caliber pistol shooting team won thegold medal at the 44th World Military ShootingChampionships in Croatia on August 16.Ukraine’s U-17 junior SOCCER team won the fifthinternational soccer tournament in Minsk, Belarus, whenFilip Budkovsky tallied both goals in a 2-1 final win overRussia on January 19. Budkovsky earned top forward honorsin the tourney.January saw Dynamo Kyiv’s president, Ihor Surkis,appointed a member of the FIFA Committee for ClubFootball.Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Artem Milevsky and goalie AndriyPyatov were voted some of the best soccer players of theformer Soviet Union by Ukrainian and Russian publications.Andriy Voronin was voted by a Sports Express poll as aplayer of the month among soccer players of theCommonwealth of Independent States and Baltic nations.Voronin plays for the German club Hertha BSC Berlin andthe Ukrainian National Team.Shakhtar Donetsk made history with its 2-1 triumph overWerder Bremen on May 20 in Istanbul for the UEFA Cup. Agoal in the seventh minute of extra time secured the victoryfor Shakhtar – the first ever European trophy for a Ukrainianclub since Ukraine declared its independence. The road tothe finals was paved with wins over Dynamo Kyiv, ParisSaint-Germain FC and Olympique de Marseille.Dynamo Kyiv took solace by winning the UkrainianSoccer League, besting Tavaria Symferopol 3-2 in mid-May.Dynamo finished with 70 points, 12 better than secondplaceShakhtar Donetsk.FC Vorksla Poltava won its first Ukrainian Cup 1-0 overUEFA Cup winner Shakhtar Donetsk on May 31.The head coach of Ukraine’s national team, OleksiyMykhailychenko, proposed reducing the foreign-born quotain Ukraine’s soccer clubs to six players, one less than thecurrent allowance. The proposed reduction would reduce therisks of losing talented Ukrainian players.On June 17, the Wings soccer club from Chicago’sUkrainian American Youth Association traveled to Ukraineto compete against four Ukrainian soccer clubs: Karpaty ofLviv, Lviv soccer club, Karpaty of Yaremche and Hazovykof Borodchany.Ukraine won the UEFA Under-19 Championships inDonetsk, making history in the process, when England wentdown 2-0. Ukraine was the only team in the tournament towin on home soil.World-renowned striker Serhiy Rebrov announced hisretirement on July 20. The ex-Dynamo Kyiv striker willreturn to the club as assistant senior coach of the youth team.Rebrov’s storied 18-year career saw him play in the EnglishPremier League, Turkey and Russia, in addition to Dynamoand Shakhtar Donetsk.Speaking of Dynamo, striker Artem Milevsky wasawarded the Golden Ball of Ukraine by football.ua, basedon his performance during the 2008-2009 Ukrainian PremierLeague Championship.Ukraine’s U-21 team defeated Turkey 1-0 to win the seventhValeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament off a MykolaAleksandr Lepetukha/UNIANTennis player Kateryna Bondarenko, The Weekly’sUkrainian Rookie of the Year.Mazuryk penalty kick in the 13th minute.The 62nd National Soccer Coaches Association ofAmerica Convention held in St. Louis on January 14-18 wasmost special for Ukrainians, when Gene Chyzowych wasnamed to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. His officialinduction ceremony was on August 1 in Oneonta, N.Y.,home of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Gene joinedbrother Walter as the only brothers in the hall.Ukraine and Poland agreed to a soccer challenge as partof events kicking off the countries’ co-hosting the Euro Cupin 2012. UEFA selected Kyiv as the site of the Euro-2012final match. Construction on Kyiv’s new stadium is said tobe on schedule.Later, the Union of European Football Associations(UEFA) shocked the Ukrainian soccer community on May13 when it announced it was dropping Dnipropetrovsk as ahost city of Euro 2012. Lviv was left with a chance at joiningKyiv, Kharkiv and Donetsk – plus four Polish cities inhosting the European soccer-Olympics event.All of the Ukrainian cities have hotel and transportationinfrastructure projects ahead in preparation for the soccerworld’s second-most prestigious tournament, behind onlythe World Cup. Another obstacle to overcome in several citiesis the issue of stadium completion according to UEFArequirements.The official logo and slogan for the Euro-2012 soccerchampionships were unveiled on December 14 in Kyiv. Thelogo consists of a soccer ball joining two tulips – one redand-white(Poland), the other blue-and-yellow (Ukraine).UNIANVitali Klitschko was named by The Weekly as MostValuable Ukrainian Pro Athlete.The slogan is “Creating History Together.”Ukraine failed to secure a 2010 World Cup spot afterlosing 1-0 at home to Greece in a second-leg playoff inDonetsk on November 18. Coach Oleksiy Mykhailychenkowas disappointed, yet proud of the run his national teammade throughout its qualifying matches in 2009. “I feelvery disappointed and sad that we lost,” he said in his postmatchpress conference. “The boys did everything theycould to get the win but they didn’t succeed.” Ukraine’srecord in the World Cup qualifying games was four wins,two ties and two losses.Superstar Andriy Shevchenko ended a nightmare staywith the U.K.’s Chelsea plus an unwelcome return to A.C.Milan by returning home where his soccer career firstbloomed: on August 30, the former European Footballer ofthe Year was triumphantly re-introduced as a member ofDynamo Kyiv.In a STRONGMAN competition, Dmytro Khalaji set anew world record in Kyiv on May 18, when he enduredtwo vehicles running over him with a total weight of twotons and 1.5 tons, respectively.Four-time Olympic champion Yana Klochkovaannounced her retirement from competitive SWIMMINGon January 26. Klochkova won five Olympic medals andRoman Woronowycz“Mr. Baseball” Basil Tarasko, seen here with some of his young baseball hopefuls in 2004, was tapped for TheWeekly’s Inspirational Humanitarian Award.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010312009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWDiaspora sportsIn diaspora sports news, Hunter Mountain hostedthe 55th annual Carpathian Ski Club races on March 7with over 90 competing participants. Founded inUkraine (1924) and reborn there (1989), KLK (theUkrainian acronym for the club) began its activity inthe United States after World War II. The club commemoratedits 85th anniversary with a special fallweekend at Soyuzivka, where Ukraine’s ambassadorto the United Nations, Yuri Sergeyev, presented awardsfrom Ukraine’s minister of family, youth and sports.In an effort to encourage diaspora Ukrainians tonurture their national identity and remain true to theirroots, 14 soccer players from the eastern UnitedStates participated in the International UkrainianFootball Tournament in Nottingham, England, inmid-May. A total of eight teams took part in the tournament:Australia, two from Canada, four teams fromEngland and the U.S. squad. Canada’s USCAK teambested the host, Nottingham Trident, 3-1, to win thethird annual tourney.The Chornomorska Sitch Sports club’s men’s teamcaptured its first league championship in nine yearswith a 2-1 victory over the Newark Enforcers. TheMay triumph propelled Sitch to the top of the GardenState Soccer League – Semi-Pro Elite CentralDivision.Chornomorska Sitch Ukrainian AthleticEducational Association defeated Sport ClubPortugal, 1-0, to capture the Garden State SoccerLeague’s Semi-Pro Elite League Cup on June 21.The Philadelphia area’s Ukrainian American SportCenter unveiled its most recent innovation in July:the Tryzub Foundation, whose goal is to proactivelymeet all future challenges in protecting, prolongingand expanding Tryzub’s historic legacy.The 53rd annual USCAK-East Tennis Tournamentwas held at the Soyuzivka Heritage Center on June27-28, attracting 36 players, many from Soyuzivka’stennis camp. Players competed in six singles groups,three doubles groups and two in mixed doubles.Labor Day weekend at Soyuzivka saw swimmersfrom Chornomorska Sitch, the Tryzub Sports Cluband the Ukrainian American Youth Association competein the annual USCAK swim meet. Thirty hopefulsengaged in the competition, with ChornomorskaSitch coming out a resounding winner in team competition.The 43rd USCAK chess championship was heldon October 17 at the Ukrainian American CulturalCenter of New Jersey, where six participants, representingtwo Ukrainian American sports clubs, playedfive rounds, with no clear winner.set 50 Ukrainian records in 12 different swimming events.Ukraine’s synchronized swimming team won silver andbronze at the European Synchronized SwimmingChampions Cup in Andorra on May 15-17.Early February saw Ukraine’s women’s team of Alonaand Kateryna Bondarenko, Mariya Koryttseva and OlgaSavchuk defeat Israel 3-2 in Round 1 of the InternationalTENNIS Federation Fed Cup.Nadia Kichenok, 16, won the junior ITF tournament inAustralia on January 22.Serhiy Bubka won the Kyoto Challenger tennis tournamentin Japan on March 15. His first singles title earnedBubka $35,000 in winnings.Anastasia Lytovchenko and Tetiana Arfyeva won thewomen’s doubles event at the ITF Pro Circuit in Almaty,Kazakhstan, on April 20.Sisters Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko won the ECMPrague Open women’s doubles final in the Czech Republicon July 19. The second-seeded Ukrainians defeated the topseededRussian pair, Benesova-Strycova, 6-1, 6-2.Kateryna Bondarenko was the first ever Ukrainian tennisplayer to advance to the final eight of a Grand Slam tournamentat this year’s U.S. Open. She lost to YaninaWickmayer of Belgium in her quarterfinal match, 5-7, 4-6.Bondarenko had entered the U.S. Open riding high fromher upset of Venus Williams in the Rogers Cup on August15-23 in Toronto, winning 20 of 28 service points. BothBondarenko sisters made it into the third round beforebeing eliminated.Serhiy Stakhovsky earned his second ATP title when hedefeated Horacio Zeballos to win the St. Petersburg Openon November 1. The 93rd ranked Ukrainian upset the 54thranked Argentine, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6.Alona Bondarenko was prominently featured in a majoradvertising campaign by K-Swiss, a tennis shoes/accessoriescompany whose slogan is “Keeping it Pure.”The WTA ranks continue to attract young Ukrainianhopefuls like Viktoriya Kutuzova, Mariya Koryttseva, YuliaBeygelzimer, Tetiana Luzhanska and Tetyana Arefyeva. Onthe men’s side, Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. and SergiyStakhovsky are Ukrainians competing on the ATP tour.In TRACK AND FIELD, Ukraine won five medals atthe Grand Prix European Athletics Association Tournamentin June. Natalia Semenova captured gold in the discus,while Maksym Mazuryk (silver) bested countrymanOleksandr Korchmid (bronze) in the pole vault. TetianaPetliuk added another silver medal in the women’s800-meter race.Maksym Mazuryk won the gold medal in men’s polevault (5.7 meters) at the IAAF World Athletics Finals inGreece on September 14. A week earlier, Mazuryk cleared5.52 meters to tie for first with Russian Viktor Chistakov atthe Riete Grand Prix in Italy.Oleksiy Siutkin won a gold medal at the 209 ITUTRIATHLON European Cup in Turkey on August 4.Yuliya Sapunova won the 2009 Eilat International TriathlonUnion European Premium Cup in Israel on November 21.Nataliya Dobrynska won the International Association ofAthletics Federations women’s World Combined EventsChallenge in France on September 19.Oleksiy Kasyanov won first place overall at the IAAF’smen’s World Combined Events Challenge in France onSeptember 19 with 8,291 total points.Nadia Trotsenko defended her title with a gold medalwin at the European WEIGHTLIFTING Championshipsin Bucharest, Hungary, in early April. Yuliya Kalina wonsilver in the aggregate/snatch/clean+jerk event, and YuliyaDovhal notched a bronze medal in the over 75 kg division.On the men’s side, Ihor Shymechko took gold, whileOleksiy Torkhtiy won a silver in the 105 kg division.Nine Ukrainian wrestlers won medals at the EuropeanWRESTLING Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania onMarch 29 through April 6. Men’s winners includedVolodymyr Shatskykh (silver, Greco-Roman), VitaliyLishchynsky (bronze), Andriy Stadnik (gold, freestyle),Ibragim Aldatov (silver) and Vasiliy Tesmineckiy (bronze).In women’s, Nataliya Synyshyn (gold, 55kg), KaterynaBurmistrova (gold, 67kg), Iryna Khariv (silver, 59kg) andYuliya Blahinya (bronze, 51kg).The 2009 FILA Junior World Championships in Turkeysaw Alina Makhyna win gold and Iryna Hysyak win silverin their respective wrestling weight categories. Ukraine’swomen’s team finished ranked second overall out of 40teams. On the men’s side, Stanislav Zinchenko and AndriyNahorny won bronze medals.Yulia Ostapchuk won gold at the 20th European JuniorsGreco-Roman Wrestling Championship in Georgia on July2-4. Maxym Fesenko, Ruslan Oleksenko, AnzhelaKleshcheva, Iryna Netreba, Yulia Kuzmiv and YuliaBlabinya won bronze medals. In men’s freestyle, MykolaAivazian won silver. Ukraine’s women’s team came in secondout of 27 nations with five medals.***The year 2009 was a record breaking medal winningyear for independent Ukraine. Tracking results at internationalsports competitions at the highest levels, Ukrainianathletes won 224 medals at World and European championshipsand cups. The medal breakdown: 54-gold, 75-silverand 95-bronze.The press service of the Family, Youth and SportsMinistry reported another 151 awards were won byUkrainians in non-Olympic events – 36 of which weregold. In 30 Olympic-event European Championships,Ukrainian athletes won 18 additional gold medals.Team Canada (A) hoists the International Ukrainian Football (Soccer) Tournament trophy after winning thefinal match against Trident FC of Nottingham, England, on May 24.Natalie HordynskyThe Chornomorska Sitch team, winners of the Garden State Soccer League’s Semi-Pro Elite League Cup.Sitch President Omelan Twardowsky (right) beams after the June 21 victory.

32THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWOur communitymourns their passingDuring 2009 Ukrainians mourned the passing of manyof its important members. Among them were thefollowing, in chronological order:• Anastasia Baburova, 25, alumna of the USA/USAProgram for promising students, Sevastopol-born journalistfor Russia’s Novaya Gazeta, gunned down in broad daylightalong with Russian human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov– Moscow, January 19.• Iwan “Uke” Prynada, 59, former U.S. Army Specialistand decorated Vietnam War veteran, veteran of the StateDepartment’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, former presidentof the Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizationsof American (known as SUSTA), political activist in NewJersey, member of the Fraternal Order of Police, firstUkrainian American interred in the new Sarasota NationalCemetery – Englewood, Fla., January 29.Lydia KrushelnytskyRoman IwasiwkaIhor ŠevčenkoTania D’Avignon• Pavlo Zahrebelny, 84, renowned author of 20 novels,Red Army veteran of the defense of Kyiv, laureate of theState Prize of the USSR, editor-in-chief of LiteraturnaUkrayina, Hero of Ukraine, laureate of Ukraine’s prestigiousShevchenko Prize, and national deputy of Ukraine – Kyiv,February 3.• Wasyl Rudyk, 55, member of Plast Ukrainian ScoutingOrganization, U.S. Army veteran, served in the MilitaryPolice and Criminal Investigation Division before becominga warrant officer in Military Intelligence, buried on April 29with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery –February.• Lydia Krushelnytsky, 93, renowned director of theUkrainian Stage Ensemble, honorary member of theUkrainian National Women’s League of America and theWorld Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations,1989 recipient of a lifetime achievement award from theUkrainian Institute of America, awarded the title of HonoredArtist of Ukraine in 2002, recipient of Ukraine’s Order ofPrincess Olha, third class – New York, March 4.• Joseph Terelya, 65, former Soviet political prisonerimprisoned for nearly 23 years for his Ukrainian Catholicfaith and for seeking legalization of the Ukrainian CatholicChurch, founder of the Initiative Group for the Defense ofthe Rights of Believers and the Church in Ukraine, editor ofthe samvydav journal Chronicle of the Catholic Church inUkraine, collaborator with the Ukrainian Helsinki Group –Toronto, March 16.• Vasyl Luchkiw, 79, longtime community activist, pastnational commander and board member of the UkrainianAmerican Veterans; current auditor, former advisor, longtimedistrict chairman and branch secretary; head of theUkrainian Library Association, officer of the Ukrainian FreeUniversity Foundation – New City, N.Y., March 18.• Dr. Oleksa Bilaniuk, 82, president of the UkrainianAcademy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.A. and professorof physics at Swarthmore College, distinguished member ofthe Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Ukrainian Engineers’Society of America and the Academy of Sciences ofUkraine, member of the editorial board of the UkrainianJournal of Physics and collaborator on the English-Ukrainian-English Dictionary of Physics and technology –Wallingford, Pa., March 27.• Maria Zobniw, 60, noted Ukrainian American communityactivist of Binghamton, N.Y., longtime president of theBinghamton branch of the Ukrainian National Women’sLeague of America, secretary of the local branch of theUkrainian Congress Committee of America, and secretaryof UNA Branch 271 – Binghamton, N.Y., April 3.• Iwan Makar, 89, longtime member of the Organizationof Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), community activist withleadership roles in Organization for the Defense of FourFreedoms for Ukraine, Ukrainian Congress Committee ofAmerica and Ukrainian American Freedom Foundation, cofounderof the Ukrainian American Youth Association resortin Ellenville, N.Y. – May 1.• Orest Vlokh, 74, co-founder of Rukh, deputy in the firstsession of the Verkhovna Rada, researcher and physics professorat the Ivan Franko University in Lviv – May 4.• Roman Wrzesnewskyj, entrepreneur and philanthropist,founder of the Future Bakery in Toronto – May 31.• Leo Mol, 94, world-renowned sculptor with works ondisplay on several continents, sculptor of the TarasShevchenko monument in Washington, also famous for hisstained glass, particularly at the Cathedral of Ss. Vladimirand Olga in Winnipeg – Winnipeg, July 4.• Ludmilla Schmitt, Ph.D., 63, professor of foreign languagesat Rider University specializing in Spanish languageand Latin-American literature – Trenton, N.J. July 22.• Eugene Woloshyn, 92, former president of theUkrainian Youth League of North America, the UkrainianProfessional Society of North America, the UkrainianHeritage Foundation of North America and the UkrainianNational Association of Seniors; special agent in the U.S.Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps on occupied Germanyand at one point a member of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’ssecurity detail – Stow, Ohio, July 22.• Archbishop Myroslav Marusyn, 85, close advisor toArchbishop Buchko, the apostolic visitator for Greek-Catholic Ukrainians in Rome, later an apostolic visitator forUkrainians in Western Europe, vice-president of the papalcommission assigned to the revision of the Eastern Code ofCanon Law, celebrated countless divine liturgies andpreached many homilies for Vatican Radio that were broadcastto the “Catacomb Church” during the Soviet era –Rome, September 21.• Maj. Gen. Pavlo Popovych, 78, Ukraine’s first astronautand the Soviet Union’s fourth cosmonaut, awarded thetitle Hero of the Soviet Union, finished his service as thedeputy head of the astronaut training center in charge ofresearch work (1982-1988), member of the USSR SupremeSoviet and the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR, headof the Slavutych Society of Ukrainian Culture in Moscowwhich aided in the opening of the Ukrainian CulturalCenter on Staryi Arbat Street in Moscow – Hurzuf, Crimea,September.• Julian Kotlar, 85, long-serving member, activist andconvention delegate in the UNA, veteran of the UkrainianInsurgent Army and president of Former Members of theUkrainian Insurgent Army, executive publisher of LitopysUPA, past president of the Organization for the Defenseof Lemkivschyna – Clifton, N.J., October 17.• Yakiv Suslensky, 80, former Soviet political prisoner,became an advocate for the Ukrainian cause after encounteringUkrainian dissidents in the gulag, founder and presidentof the Society for Jewish-Ukrainian Contacts, foughtfor a balanced historical interpretation of the roles ofPetliura and Shukhevych, and succeeded in having over2,000 Ukrainians recognized as Righteous Gentiles at YadVashem, assisted the defense during the Demjanjuk trial –Jerusalem, October 19.• Iryna Senyk, 83, Soviet political prisoner who spentVasyl LuchkiwYakiv SuslenskyIryna Senyk

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010332009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWLeo Mol34 years in captivity, member of the Organization ofUkrainian Nationalists (OUN) and distinguished memberof the Ukrainian Helsinki Group – Kyiv, October25.• Stefan Tatarenko, 62, community activist, presidentof the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America of thePassaic-Bergen branch, noted accordionist and musicianwith the Tempo orchestra, served on the Clifton CityCouncil and Clifton Board of Education, president of theHoly Ascension Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Clifton,U.S. Army veteran – Clifton, N.J., November 12.• Murray Senkus, 95, prolific research chemist withsignificant contributions in organic chemistry, insecticides,chemotherapeutic agents, synthetic rubber andpenicillin, holder of 57 U.S. patents and author of 20 scientificarticles, assisted in the founding of the PrairieCenter for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage at theUniversity of Saskatchewan, awarded the NationBuilders Award of the Ukrainian Canadian CongressSaskatchewan Provincial Council – Winston-Salem,N.C., November 12.• Victor Pedenko, 73, former general secretary of theUkrainian World Congress, activist and leader in theUkrainian Youth Association of Canada and UkrainianCanadian Congress – London, Ontario.• Vera Rich, 73, poet, well-known translator ofUkrainian works in the United Kingdom who producededitions of great literature and poetry from TarasShevchenko, Ivan Franko and Pavlo Tychyna – London,December 20.•Ihor Sevcenko, 87, leading scholar of Byzantine andSlavic history and literature at Harvard University, cofounderand acting director of the Harvard UkrainianResearch Institute, obtained George Orwell’s permissionto translate “Animal Farm” into Ukrainian, with a specialpreface by the author, for dissemination in DPcamps in post-war Germany – Cambridge, Mass.,December 26.Joseph TerelyaThe noteworthy:events and peopleNoteworthy is the name for the section on developmentsand people in the news during 2009 that defyinclusion in one of our usual categories.• The 100th anniversary of the birth (January 1, 2009) ofUkrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera was markedduring 2009 with numerous events in Ukraine and in thediaspora. 2009 was also the 50th anniversary of the assassination(October 15, 1959) of Bandera, who headed theOrganization of Ukrainian Nationalists. In Ukraine, nationalistswanted President Viktor Yushchenko to bestow the titleHero of Ukraine on Bandera, but the president failed to acton the matter.• Volodoymyr Ivasiuk, the iconic composer, poet and afounder of Ukrainian pop music, was named a Hero ofUkraine on March 2 by President Viktor Yushchenko. Thisyear marks the 30th anniversary of the young songwriter’sdeath, when his mutilated body was found hanging from atree in the forests outside Lviv. Soviet authorities declared ita suicide, but Ukrainians have always suspected KGBinvolvement in Ivasiuk’s death at age 30.• Melanne Verveer, a Ukrainian American known for herlifelong dedication to working with emerging women leadersthrough the non-profit Vital Voices Global Partnership, wastapped by President Barack Obama on March 6 to serve asambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, a newly createdpost within the Department of State. Ms. Verveer (néeStarinshak) has worked closely with the White House in thepast, serving as an assistant to the president and chief of staffto the first lady during the Clinton administration.• Paula Dobriansky, who served most recently as U.S.undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs in2001-2009, was selected to join the board of directors of theVictims of Communism Memorial Foundation. The foundationis dedicated to memorializing the more than 100 millionvictims of communism and educating the public about thishistory. Dr. Dobriansky, daughter of noted Ukrainian communityleader and U.S. ambassador Dr. Lev Dobriansky, hasalso been senior vice-president and director of theWashington office of the Council on Foreign Relations andassociate director for policy and programs at the UnitedStates Information Agency.• On March 21 over 1,000 members of People’s Rukh ofUkraine commemorated the 10th anniversary of the death oftheir beloved leader, Vyacheslav Chornovil. After a morningOrthodox church service, the procession made its way to theChornovil monument in central Kyiv. A decade since the caraccident that cut short the life of the noted dissident andactivist, there has yet to be an official re-investigation of thesuspicious circumstances surrounding Chornovil’s death,which was declared the very next day by authorities to benothing more than an accident.• A U.S. federal appeals court on April 11 upheld the convictionof former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko on money-launderingand conspiracy charges. He has been in U.S.custody since February 1999 when he fled Ukraine afterbeing accused of siphoning at least $200 million from statecoffers. In May 2004 he was found guilty on 14 counts; inApril 2009 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned theconviction on six counts but upheld the remaining eight. Mr.Lazarenko’s request for a rehearing of his case was also beendenied, meaning the ruling was the final judgment of theappeals court.• President Viktor Yushchenko took time off from a statevisit to the Czech Republic to be present at the dedication ofa monument to Ukraine’s national poet Taras Shevchenko inPrague in late March. Mr. Yushchenko expressed gratitudefor the statue on behalf of the Ukrainian people and notedthat it was in Prague that the first full and uncensored publicationof Shevchenko’s “Kobzar” was published in 1876.• The Kyiv City Administration’s Commission forRenaming and Memorial Signs agreed to rename a secondaryschool in the city’s Desniansky district for James Mace,the noted U.S. scholar and Holodomor researcher. The schoolwas to work closely with the doctor’s widow, NataliaDziubenko-Mace, to prepare all the informational and educationalwork necessary for the renaming.• The May 31 edition of The New York Times ran anarticle on the continuing legacy of Surma, the Ukrainianshop on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The article’sauthor, Jim Dwyer, focused on Markian Surmach’s returnLev KhmelkovskyUkraine’s First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko receiveda papal award on June 29. The presentation wasmade by Msgr. George Appleyard.to the store to save it from shutting its doors, on the changingneeds of the store’s patrons and the changes in the surroundingcommunity.• First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko was recognized by theCatholic Church with the papal award “Pro Ecclesia etPontifice” at a ceremony at the Ukrainian Institute ofAmerica on June 29. The medal was presented on behalf ofPope Benedict XVI by Msgr. George Appleyard, pastor ofHoly Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Carnegie, Pa. Thefirst lady was nominated by Bishop Robert Moskal for herwork through the Ukraine 3000 International CharitableFoundation, which focuses on reform of health care andmaternal and pediatric medicine.• Ukrainian American research scientist AndrewChraplyvy and his colleague Robert Tkach were awarded theprestigious Marconi Prize, which annually recognizes scientistswho significantly contributed to developments in thefield of communications and information technology. Thetwo men traveled to Bologna, Italy, in October, where theyparticipated in a two-day Marconi Symposium before beingaward the prize at the Palazzo Re Enzo. Their research, inconjunction with a Bell Labs team in Atlanta, into improvingfiber optic cable technology ensured that the increasingamounts of information streaming through the Internet wouldnot overload networks. Roughly 50 million miles of the newfiber, now known generically as Non-Zero Dispersion Fiber(NZDF), have been installed worldwide.• After a stunning performance at the SoyuzivkaUkrainian Cultural festival, Ukrainian pop star Ruslanapaid a surprise visit on July 20 to the young campers at thePlast campground in East Chatham, N.Y. As July is themonth for summer camps the children were not able toOfficial Website of Ukraine’s PresidentPresident Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine in late Marchunveiled a monument to Taras Shevchenko in Prague.

34THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWMarkian HadzewyczPop star Ruslana on July 20 paid a surprise visit to the Plast campground in East Chatham, N.Y., where shereceived a rousing welcome from the Ukrainian scouts.and needy, and his achievements in the area of higher educationadministration.• Gareth Jones, the young Welsh journalist who bravelytraveled through Soviet Ukraine during the Holodomor toreport on the horrific events, was honored at his alma mater,Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, with anexhibit from his personal diaries of his trip to Ukraine. Therecently discovered diaries are believed to be one of the fewsurviving first-hand accounts of the terror, and there is hopethe exhibit will be shown at other venues around the worldand possibly translated.• The Ukrainian Homestead in Lehighton, Pa., was the siteof a 150th anniversary re-enactment of the historic Battle ofKonotop on the weekend of October 3-4. In 1659 a combinedforce of Ukrainian Kozaks under Hetman IvanVyhovsky, armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealthand Tatar allies defeated a Muscovite army led by PrinceTrubetskoy. Visitors were not only treated to a recreation ofthe battle, but were invited to tour the camps, view demonstrationsof period weapons and tools, and enjoy Ukrainianartwork and dancing.attend the festival at Soyuzivka, but all were excited andgrateful that Ruslana took the time to meet with them andsing songs around a campfire. As a former member of Plastherself, the pop singer was moved to see so many enthusiasticchildren come together to learn about their heritage asmembers of Plast.• Rukh, the people’s movement that paved the way forUkraine’s reborn independence, celebrated the 20th anniversaryof it founding. Since then, the movement-turned-partyhas suffered two major splits. As a result, two separate anniversarycommemorations were held in Kyiv in September.The September 6 event was organized by the Rukh party,today led by Borys Tarasyuk, at Kyiv Polytechnic Universityand was attended by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. TheSeptember 12 celebration was organized by the PresidentialSecretariat at the Ukraina Palace and was attended byPresident Viktor Yushchenko and several veterans of theUkrainian independence movement.• October marked the 25th anniversary of the passing of aCongressional bill to create a U.S. government commissionto study the Holodomor. After years of lobbying and legislativework, the commission became a reality and its very creationa source of pride for all Ukrainians. After four years ofresearch, collecting data and interviewing eyewitness, in1988 the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine renderedits report. Among its findings: that Joseph Stalin and his governmenthad committed genocide against Ukrainians in1932-1933. This commission and its conclusions laid thegroundwork for many other efforts aimed at raising internationalawareness of the Great Famine and recognizing theHolodomor as genocide.The strange caseof John Demjanjuk(continued)John Demjanjuk of Seven Hills, Ohio, was charged byGerman prosecutors on March 11 with 29,000 counts ofaccessory to murder for his alleged role as a guard at theNazi death camp in Sobibor, Poland. The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel said the case “will most likely beGermany’s last big Nazi war crimes trial.”On April 10 an immigration appeals board in the U.S.ruled that Mr. Demjanjuk could be deported. After hisappeals in the U.S. to block his deportation were exhausted– the Supreme Court declined to hear the case – Mr.Demjanjuk, 89, arrived in Germany on May 12. That day,seated in a wheelchair and breathing through a nasal tube,he heard a German judge read a 21-page warrant. His lawyerGunther Maull filed a challenge to the charges; heargued that the evidence was slim and that Germany’sjurisdiction in the case is questionable.A key piece of evidence in the new case is the TrawnikiID card that had been used as evidence in Mr. Demjanjuk’sprevious trial on other war crimes charges in Israel. It wasalso reported that the Munich court that issued an arrestwarrant for Mr. Demjanjuk had relied heavily on materialprovided by the U.S. Office of Special Investigations.Mr. Demjanjuk denies that he ever served the Nazis, but• The Ukrainian Graduates of Detroit and Windsor choseto honor Vera Kostiuk-Busch of Germany as the 2009Ukrainian of the Year at their 70th anniversary banquet onNovember 1. A lifelong community activist, Ms. Kostiuk-Busch visited Ukraine after independence and was struck bythe material needs of the local schools, and decided immediatelyto do what she could to help alleviate their needs. Eversince, she has been organizing fund-raisers and initiating supplydrives of donated material to send to Ukrainian schoolsand needy children. In 2003 Ms. Kostiuk-Busch took thenext big step and founded Pro Ukraine e. V., an officialGerman charitable organization dedicated to providing assistance.• The Ukrainian Museum in New York was the site of abook launch on October 17 for “Scratches on a Prison Wall,”the stirring wartime memoir of Luba Komar that was translatedinto English by daughter Christine Prokop. The eventdrew one of the largest crowds the museum had seen in threeyears at its new location. After several introductory speeches,the highlight of the evening was a series of dramatic readingsof book excerpts by Ms. Prokop herself. Accompanying thereading were pictures and video footage of interviews withthe now deceased author, who spent the war years as a courierfor the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists beforebeing arrested by the NKVD and sent to the gulag.• The Ukrainian Technological Society (UTS) ofPittsburgh named Stephen Sivulich, Ed.D., their 2009Ukrainian of the Year at its 40th annual award dinner andceremony. He was honored for 45 years of service to theUkrainian community, particularly the Ukrainian OrthodoxChurch, the Ukrainian Orthodox League and his local parish,as well as his humanitarian outreach to the elderly, disabledadmits giving false statements when entering the U.S. inorder to escape repatriation to the USSR. He says heserved in the Soviet army and was a prisoner of war capturedby the Germans. Mr. Demjanjuk’s son, John Jr.,commented: “Prosecutors claim he was an active participantat Sobibor, yet they cannot allege one specific harmfulact, because there is not a shred of evidence he everhurt a single person…”His son says Mr. Demjanjuk has bone-marrow and kidneydiseases, for which he is undergoing medical treatment.However, on July 3 it was reported that doctors inMunich had found that Mr. Demjanjuk was fit to standtrial, with the proviso that his court appearances be limitedto two 90-minute sessions a day.The November issue of Esquire magazine carried an indeptharticle on the Demjanjuk case titled “The Last Nazi.”Written by Scott Raab, the 9,000-word article raised questionsabout whether the Demjanjuk case is about justice orvengeance, or something else. “…guilt and innocence, notto mention truth and justice, are beside the point in thiscase. The Germans did not bring Demjanjuk here to determinehis guilt, but to assuage their own. Regardless of theverdict, the old man’s fate will be the same: Demjanjukthey brought here to die,” Mr. Raab wrote.Mr. Demjanjuk’s trial began on November 30 with thereading of the 10-page indictment. Prosecutor Hans-Joachim Lutz said the prosecution will prove that, Mr.Demjanjuk volunteered to serve the Nazis and was a willingparticipant in the Holocaust. Speaking after the courthearing that day, defense attorney Ulrich Busch said:“Scratches on a Prison Wall,” a wartime memoir byLuba Komar, was launched on October 17.“There is absolutely no evidence for that – it is purely theprosecutors’ fantasy.” Mr. Busch filed a motion onDecember 1 for the case to be thrown out, arguing it hadbeen illegal to deport – rather than extradite – Mr.Demjanjuk from the U.S., and that the Sobibor chargeswere addressed in Mr. Demjanjuk’s trial in Israel and thusthe current trial constitutes double jeopardy.Speaking with The Globe and Mail, Rebecca Wittmann,associate professor of German post-war legal history at theUniversity of Toronto, said “I find it a bizarre showpiece.”She added, “Of course it’s important to put Demjanjuk ontrial. But the defense has good arguments – that he’s a relativelyunimportant character, that he’s Ukrainian, notGerman, and that thousands of others in much higher positions– including a former guard who’s set to testify againstDemjanjuk – have gotten away scot-free.”On its third day, the trial was delayed because thedefendant was too ill to attend. After a three-week recess,the trial resumed in late December, with continuing testimonyby co-plaintiffs – Holocaust survivors and familymembers of Sobibor victims. The trial is expected to continuethrough May 2010.The case dates back to 1977. Mr. Demjanjuk had previouslybeen accused of being the notorious camp guardknow as “Ivan the Terrible” at the Treblinka death camp.He was extradited in 1986 to Israel, where he stood trialand was sentenced to death in 1988. However, the guiltyverdict and sentence were overturned on appeal by Israel’sSupreme Court in 1993 after it was learned that the real“Ivan” was one Ivan Marchenko.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010352009: THE YEAR IN REVIEWMeanwhile, backat The Weekly...Another year here at The Ukrainian Weekly meantmore donations for the joint digital archives projectof The Weekly and our sister publication,Svoboda, that will eventually make it possible for anyonewith access to the Internet to read all the newspapers’issues published since 1933, when The Weekly wasfounded, and since 1893, when Svoboda was established.During 2009, the donors to this mammoth undertakingwere: the Heritage Foundation of 1st SecuritySavings Bank, $5,000 (May); Selfreliance UkrainianAmerican Federal Credit Union, $10,000 (May); a donorwho wished to remain anonymous, $10,000 (August);and the Bahriany Foundation, $2,000 (December).Our anonymous donor noted: “Before the Internet andits World Wide Web, Svoboda was the premierUkrainian-language news source in the world. And bothSvoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly have been the primarychroniclers of Ukrainian politics and culture and ofour Ukrainian community life in North America from1893 to today. This unique treasure trove of historicalnews, commentary and analysis, with our community’sfinancial support, can now be accessible in electronicform to everyone in the world – not only directly at thetwo electronic archive websites but also, and probablymore importantly, through Internet search engines suchas Google.”The $27,000 received during 2009 helped the digitizationproject to make great progress. Previous donorswere the Shevchenko Scientific Society, which got theball rolling in December of 2007 with a $15,000 grant,and Self Reliance New York Federal Credit Union,whose very generous donation of $50,000 in Apri1 2008allowed the project to grow exponentially.What can we say? We simply couldn’t have done anyof the work on our digital archives without these wonderfulsupporters.At present, visitors to Svoboda’s website (http://www.svoboda-news.com), can read all issues released since1986, plus issues from 1893 and 1894. Most of theissues are in DjVu format. Issues for the years 2008 and2009 in are in Flash format, which is easily viewable onvirtually any computer, and PDF format, which is suitablefor downloads. Currently, UNA Almanacs for years1903, 1915, 1996-2008, and Veselka for years 1954-1965and 1994 are available for reading online Eventually, allissues of Svoboda, UNA Almanacs (published since1903) and issues of the children’s magazine Veselka(1954-1995), both published by Svoboda Press, will alsobe online.On The Weekly’s website (http://www.ukrweekly.com) readers will find all issues published since thenewspaper’s founding in PDF format. Copies of theseissues in the Flash format, which are best suited for onscreenreading, are under development. The Weekly’swebsite also includes the two-volume compilation of themost significant stories published from 1933 through2000 titled “The Ukrainian Weekly 2000” and the collectionof articles chronicling Ukraine’s drive towardindependent statehood and the first 10 years of its independencetitled “Ukraine Lives!”At the beginning of 2009, in our February 1 issue, weannounced a new section on our website called“Community Events.” The new section allows membersof the community to have their major events listed wellin advance in an online calendar. The aim is to help communityactivists keep track of what is going on when andwhere, and thus help them in planning their own events,as well as to help readers plan their attendance at suchevents. We advised readers that to have a major eventlisted they should e-mail info on the type of event, venueand date (e.g., Dance, Hromada Hotel, West Town, NJ,November 13, 2009) to community@ukrweekly.com.We hope to see the calendar used more widely in 2010.We published several special issues of our newspaperthis year, among them the “2008: Year in Review” issue(January 11), the “Ukrainian Debutante Balls” section(April 5) and “A Ukrainian Summer” (May 3). For thosekeeping count, the year in review was our 34th, the debutanteballs issue was our ninth and the summer sectionwas our 13th.Our first yearend review issue, covering 1976, was amodest one that simply listed, in bullet form, the top storiesand developments of the year. It was headlined “1976– The Year That Was At A Glance.” In 1979, the last issueof the year provided a review titled “The 1970s: A LookAt the annual meeting of the Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union, representatives of thecredit union are seen with the editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda, Roma Hadzewycz. In thephoto (from left) are: Yaroslav Zaviysky, Walter Kovbasniuk, Michael R. Kos, Michael Szpyhulsky, BohdanWatral, Daria Twardowsky Vincent, Orest Ciapka, Ms. Hadzewycz, Ihor Laszok, Andrew Hrechak and MichaelDziman. At the meeting, SUAFCU presented a $10,000 donation to the newspaper’s digital archives project.Back.” In 1980 the section, titled “1980: An Overview”took on the format familiar to readers today, with separate,but very short, articles on the top developments of theyear. The following year, the yearend review took on thelook of the current special sections.In subsequent years, as The Weekly’s ability to publishlarger issues was enhanced – in 1992, we began topublish 20- and 24-page issues – the size of the specialsection grew. In 1998, when the printing of the UNA’snewspapers was outsourced, the papers were able toprint even larger issues. That year The Weekly publishedits first 28-page issue and a huge yearend issue thatweighed in at 44 pages.It should be noted also that until 2000 the Year inReview section appeared in the last issue of the year.Afterwards we began publishing reviews of the prioryear’s developments in the first issues of the new year,thus allowing us more time to work on the issue and toinclude news breaking at year’s end.At the end of November 2009 The Weekly andSvoboda switched to a new print shop in Philadelphia –a move that should save the newspapers an estimated$35,000-$40,000 per year. The new printer also gives usmore flexibility in the number of pages we can print, aswell as how many pages (and which ones) can be appearin color.The new print shop, which also mails our newspapers,employs new bar-coded mailing labels meant to workmore efficiently with the U.S. Postal Service’s automatedsystems. It was hoped this would also speed up maildelivery, but as of year’s end there still appeared to beglitches in the system as some readers reported erratic ordelayed delivery. (Please do notify our circulation/subscriptiondepartment about any such issues by calling973-292-9800, ext. 3042.)An innovation this year on the pages of The Weeklywas Dr. Oleh Wolowyna’s series “U.S. Ukrainians inNumbers” providing demographic and socio-economicanalyses of Ukrainians in the United States. The articlesare based on the integrated databases made available bythe new Research Center for the Study of the UkrainianDiaspora in the United States at the ShevchenkoScientific Society in New York. The first article in theseries, “Geographical dispersion of Ukrainians in theU.S.: 1990-2006,” appeared on October 25. The second,“Growth and decline of Ukrainians in metropolitanareas: 1990-2006,” appeared on December 13.A few words about our small, but very hard-workingstaff.Our editors are Matthew Dubas, who was been withThe Weekly since March 2006, and Zenon Zawada ofour Kyiv Press Bureau, who had been with us sinceFebruary 2005 (except for the period between mid-Januaryand late August of 2008) and continues to do anexcellent job covering the major news and developmentsin Ukraine. Roma Hadzewycz has served as editor-inchiefsince 1980.The Weekly’s production team is led by layout artistDavid (Darko) Bushnell, who joined the staff in October2007. Meanwhile Awilda Rolon, who began working atthe newspaper as a typesetter back in December 1980,marked her 29th anniversary with us. 2010 will be a biganniversary for this loyal staffer.Returning this past summer to our editorial offices inPaul HadzewyczParsippany, N.J., was intern Tyrssa Korduba of Oakland,N.J., a student at the University of Virginia(Charlottesville) who is majoring in Eastern Europeanstudies. In Kyiv, for the second summer in a row, we hada summer intern in the person of Danylo Peleschuk ofStamford, Conn., a journalism graduate of NortheasternUniversity in Boston.Our webmaster is Ihor Pylypchuk, who is alsoSvoboda’s layout artist and computer troubleshooter. Mr.Pylypchuk is also in charge of the digital archiving ofSvoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly.Our regular correspondents include: Yaro Bihun inWashington and Oksana Zakydalsky in Toronto. Ourcolumnists are: Dr. Myron B. Kuropas (“Faces andPlaces”), Andrew Fedynsky (“Perspectives”), AndrewSorokowski (“Crosscurrents”), Orysia Paszczak Tracz(“The Things We Do…”), Khristina Lew (“DoubleExposure”) and Mr. Bihun (“Let’s Talk About It”). Inaddition, Mr. Zawada pens an occasional column fromKyiv called “Reporter’s Notebook.”We gained two columnists during 2009: OksanaBashuk Hepburn (“From a Canadian Angle”), whojoined the line-up in July, and Alex Kuzma (“On SecondThought”), whose first column appeared in September.But we also lost a columnist as Taras Szmagala, whoauthored “View from the Trembita Lounge” informed usthat, with a newborn son, he has no time to write his column.We will miss him.Now, what would our newspaper be without readers?Reader support for our newspaper continued to bestrong in 2009, as donations to The Ukrainian WeeklyPress Fund totaled $33,779.65. (That total was significantlyhigher than the amount received in the prior year,$29,153.80.) A hearty thank you to all donors, large andsmall.“The Ukrainian Weekly and you” was the title of ourApril 5 editorial addressed to subscribers and readers.We thanked our benefactors – those who support ourwork by donating to the Press Fund, as well as to ourcommunity correspondents – those volunteers who sendin stories about events and people in their neck of thewoods. The main point of the editorial, however, was toencourage more community correspondents to send instories, photos, letters, etc., to “share the good newsabout your activities with our community.”We offered our readers a partnership, noting that“together we can not only keep our community in touch,but also make it stronger for our generation and thosewho come after us.” We firmly believe in that and wehope for an even stronger partnership in 2010.Author, author ...The sections of “2009: The Year in Review” wereprepared based on materials published in TheWeekly, and written by numerous authors, duringthe past year. The sections were compiled by: RomaHadzewycz, Matthew Dubas, Zenon Zawada, YaroBihun, Oksana Zakydalsky, Ihor Stelmach, Lesia Lebedand Markian Hadzewycz.Credit for the layout of this special section – a hugeannual undertaking – goes to Darko Bushnell.

36Yushchenko's...(Continued from page 1)Fesenko: Until the middle of 2006,President Yushchenko had full presidentialauthority but only used it to dismiss[Prime Minister Yulia] Tymoshenko inSeptember 2005. The president’s realinfluence in Ukraine lies in his influenceon the parliamentary coalition and government.Yushchenko lost influence evenon his own former parliamentary faction,Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense. It’snot only about authority, but real socialand political authority. That’s why theaccusations against Yushchenko are quitefair.THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3Kuzio: The constitutional changestook effect after the March 2006 elections,not in January. Yes, they shifted thepowers to some degree to the prime minister.But it would be wrong to argue, asYushchenko has done on many occasions,that he has no power. Let’s recall thatYushchenko is the only president thatserved under two Constitutions, andtherefore he had 15 months under the1996 Constitution. We didn’t see any differencebetween his ability to use powerunder the old Constitution or the newConstitution. So I don’t think it’s a questionof the Constitution. I think it’s aquestion of: are you able to use power?Are you able to implement power? I don’tthink he is. I don’t think he’s a politicianin that sense. In early 2005, Ukraine’selites were scared as hell of Yushchenkocoming to power. Some were committingsuicide. Some were fleeing to Moscow,Monaco or America. Yushchenko didn’tunderstand how to use that power to getwhat he wanted from the oligarchs. Yousaw his mentality during the three roundtables.Yushchenko could have gone tothose roundtables and dictated terms tothe people sitting at the roundtable,because he had millions of people in thestreets and the security forces all defectedto him. He could have dictated what hewanted, and instead they dictated to him.To say that I don’t have any power isridiculous.Soskin: In accordance with the newedition of the Constitution of Ukraine, thepresident of Ukraine has significantauthority. He chairs the National Securityand Defense Council of Ukraine, he is thesupreme commander of defense forces,he nominates the head of the NationalBank of Ukraine, he can revoke the actsof the Cabinet of Ministers, he has theright to legislative initiatives, and soforth. Besides that, Yushchenko had alarge Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defensefaction in the Verkhovna Rada in 2007with which he could have worked andcoordinated its activity. But Yushchenko’sproblem lies in the fact that having largeauthority, he doesn’t know how to use it,as much as he’s an incompetent person.QUESTION: President Yushchenko’scritics blame him for failing to work constructivelywith both his prime ministers,Yu l i a Ty m o s h e n k o a n d Vi k t o rYanukovych. But Mr. Yushchenko offeredevidence of Ms. Tymoshenko’s corruptionwhile in government. And afterPresident Yushchenko appointedYanukovych as prime minister, he spentmost of his energy trying to strip the president’spowers. So isn’t Yushchenko justifiedfor warring with his prime ministersif he believes they threatened the sanctityand stability of the Ukrainian nation?Fesenko: But it was Yushchenko himselfwho nominated them for the primeministership. The eyes saw what theywere buying. [Editor’s note: This is aUkrainian proverb.] Yushchenko’s singlecorrect personnel decision in nominatingZenon ZawadaDr. Taras Kuzio, professor at theInstitute of European, Russian andEurasian Studies at Carleton Universityin Ottawa.a prime minister was the appointment ofYurii Yekhanurov. The current relationsbetween Yushchenko and Tymoshenkoare a complete idiosyncrasy on the vergeof insanity.Kuzio: You can be in conflict withyour government, and people will havedifferent viewpoints as to where theamount of blame lies with Tymoshenko,Yanukovych or Yushchenko. Certainlythe constitutional reforms of 2006 didn’tprovide a clear division of powers. At thesame time, I think that most people,including myself, would argue that themain agent of instability has been ViktorYushchenko. For half of his presidency,his chief of staff was Viktor Baloha. Ifanyone was an agent of instability, it wasViktor Baloha. We have a very peculiarsituation for example, where Yushchenkocampaigns throughout 2007 for an Orangecoalition. Then he doesn’t really want toappoint Tymoshenko. Eventually she’sappointed in December 2007. Yushchenkodemands half the seats in government,which he gets from Tymoshenko. Andthen he spends all of 2008 trying toundermine the government. We can’t saythat Tymoshenko and Yanukovych areblameless, but at the same timeYushchenko takes the majority of theblame. Dzerkalo Tyzhnia [Editor’s note:The Weekly Mirror, a newspaper] made agood point when arguing the presidentshould not be getting involved in conflicts.He should be standing above theconflict trying to quiet it down.Soskin: Yushchenko wasn’t consistenton this matter. Before he dismissedTymoshenko from the prime ministershipthe first time, he said Tymoshenko wasthe best prime minister and worked verywell. But suddenly she became corruptand incompetent. Tymoshenko earned theprime ministership a second time in 2007,also thanks to Yushchenko. As it’s known,Yulia Volodymyrivna was lacking onevote to gain the post and it wasYushchenko himself who urgedYekhanurov to support Tymoshenko.Therefore, he did everything for her tobecome prime minister. The same appliesto Yanukovych’s appointment. It wasYushchenko himself who signed a universalwith him. [Editor’s note: TheUniversal of National Unity was signedin August 2006.] He knew aboutYanukovych’s corruption and criminalpast and nevertheless nominated him.Why did he do this? Because he understoodthat Yanukovych, [Rinat] Akhmetovand Tymoshenko have enough seriouskompromat [Editor’s note: compromisinginformation] on him, his brother [PetroYushchenko] and other members of hisfamily regarding their activities.Zenon ZawadaDr. Oleh Soskin, director of the Instituteof Society Transformation in Kyiv.QUESTION: President Yushchenko’scritics dismiss him for spending too muchof his time raising awareness of theHolodomor, Ukrainian history andUkrainian ethnic consciousness overall.They say that’s not the president’s job.Yet Ukraine has made unprecedentedstrides in ethnic consciousness underYushchenko’s leadership. Would suchcultural gains have been possible had itnot been for the Yushchenko presidency?Is Yushchenko not the only ethnicallyconscious Ukrainian among the nation’soligarchy?Fesenko: Renewing the memory ofHolodomor victims on a state level andeven on an international level trulydeserves great respect. A partial exonerationfor Yushchenko is his cultural-historicalactivity and an affirmation of national-culturalidentity. But he was too preoccupiedwith the past, almost not workingto resolve Ukraine’s current problems.Kuzio: I think the problem Yushchenkohas had is he personalized too much thesevery important issues. I don’t think thepresident of a country needs to take thingslike the Holodomor and make them hispersonal campaign issue. I think these areissues which have to be dealt with verydelicately and actively by academics, themedia and intellectuals, especiallybecause many of these historical issuesare not equally thought about in the sameway throughout the country. Secondly,they impact on your foreign relations. Forexample, the UPA [Ukrainian InsurgentArmy] issue impacts on relations withPoland. The Holodomor issue impacts onyour relations with Russia. Do you reallywant to upset Poland, which is your mainlobbyist for your integration in the EUand NATO? Yushchenko went too far infocusing too much on these nation-buildingissues at the expense of everydayissues such as rule of law, corruption andstability in the country.Soskin: You acknowledge in yourquestion that Yushchenko belongs to theUkrainian oligarchy. The question emergesof how he managed to join the familyof Ukrainian oligarchs. One needs to havewealth of no less than $1 billion to be anoligarch. From where did the currentpresident get such money in such a shorttime? It’s understood that Yushchenkoand his clan stole it from the Ukrainianpeople. And to better implement the theft,Yushchenko covers himself withUkrainian symbols and uses the nationalidea, national attributes and very complicatedissues of Ukrainian history. Heplays the strings of Ukrainian nationalconsciousness. And that’s even scarier,Zenon ZawadaVolodymyr Fesenko, board chairmanof the Penta Center for AppliedPolitical Research in Kyiv.considering Yushchenko is an oligarchicpredator under the skin of a Ukrainianpatriot.QUESTION: President Yushchenko’scritics blame him for the decline inUkrainian military during his five-yeartenure. But what can he really influencein the Ukrainian military when its budget,which has decreased dramatically inrecent years, is determined by the Cabinetof Ministers?Fesenko: But in 2005 and December2007, the president had influence on boththe coalition government and the budgetprocess. Therefore the accusations arepartly justified.Kuzio: The Ukrainian military hasbeen starved of funds throughout the last20 years, and that’s a general problemthroughout the post-Soviet world. Mostof the budget money tends to go to theinternal security forces, not the military.Yushchenko’s blaming the Tymoshenkogovernment for everything.Soskin: In accordance with theConstitution of Ukraine, the president ofUkraine is the head of state and the guarantorof Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Heis also the supreme commander ofUkraine’s defense forces, appoints thesenior command of Ukraine’s defenseforces and other military formations andchairs the National Security and DefenseCouncil. Besides that, PresidentYushchenko had a powerful faction in theVerkhovna Rada, which he destroyedhimself. So a priori he could have takeneffective steps to renew the Ukrainianarmy. For example, he could have notsigned the state budget, which he didevery year, until it included proposals tofinance the Ukrainian army. ButYushchenko is spiritually unstable, anunsteady person, and his competitorshave a great deal of kompromat againsthim. That’s why Yushchenko is incapableof defending the interests of the Ukrainianarmy.QUESTION: President Yushchenko’scritics blame him for unprecedented poorrelations with the Russian Federation. Yetwhat could Yushchenko have possiblydone better to satisfy Russian PrimeMinister Vladimir Putin and still maintainUkraine on its Euro-Atlantic integrationcourse?Fesenko: It’s not necessary to satisfyPutin, but to conduct a more flexible andsimultaneously consistent policy in relationswith Russia. Forcing the policy of(Continued on page 40)

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 201037FOR THE RECORD: U.S. Ambassador John Tefft on U.S.-Ukraine relationsBelow is the English-language version ofa commentary by John F. Tefft, U.S. ambassadorto Ukraine, that was printed inUkrainian and Russian, respectively, inDzerkalo Tyzhnia and Zerkalo Nedeli intheir issues dated December 12-18,2009. The English version was obtaineddirectly from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv bythe U.S.-Ukraine Business Council(USUBC), based in Washington.It is a great honor for me to take up mynew duties as the United States ambassadorto Ukraine. This is an important time forUkraine and for our bilateral relationship. Astrong relationship with a sovereign andindependent Ukraine has been a major priorityfor the United States since the collapse ofthe Soviet Union. It remains so today.Secretary Hillary Clinton restated ourcommitment after her December 9 meetingwith Foreign Affairs Minister PetroPoroshenko at the State Department whenshe said: “A strong and independent Ukraineis good for the region and good for theworld.” We see the success of Ukraine in thepost-Cold War world as a key to building aEurope whole, free and at peace.During his visit to Washington, ForeignAffairs Minister Poroshenko launched withSecretary Clinton the new U.S.-UkraineStrategic Partnership Commission. Thiscommission, created during the visit of Vice-President Joe Biden last July, focused on awide range of issues from foreign policy toenergy, non-proliferation, democracy, rule oflaw and people-to-people exchanges. Wewill continue to work through this commissionto build our strategic partnership.It is a prime, concrete example of whatwe mean when we say that, as we seek toreset our relationship with Russia, weremain steadfastly committed to Ukrainianindependence and improving our broad partnership.The road Ukraine has followedsince 1991 has not been smooth. I know thatall Ukrainians would agree that much stillremains to be done.As you know, President Barack Obamaand his team are determined to improve U.S.relations with Russia, but not to the detrimentof our relations with Ukraine. Vice-President Biden said during his visit here inJuly, “As we reset the relationship with…as we seek to reset our relationship withRussia, we remain steadfastly committedto Ukrainian independence and improvingour broad partnership.Russia, we reaffirm our commitment to anindependent Ukraine.”I arrive in Ukraine as President Obama’senvoy with 38 years of experience in theU.S. State Department. I have had the honorof serving as U.S. ambassador in Georgiaand ambassador to Lithuania before that, aswell as spending almost a year as actingChief of Mission in Moscow.I am not new to Ukrainian issues. Duringa posting to Washington, I vividly rememberworking late nights in 1992, preparing forthe first-ever visit by the foreign affairs ministerof an independent Ukraine.I later served as the chief U.S. diplomatin Washington directly responsible for policyissues related to Ukraine, Russia,Moldova and Belarus. I consider myselflucky to have the opportunity now to workon bilateral U.S.-Ukrainian relations onceagain, this time as President Obama’s envoyto this great county.Ukraine over the past century has withstoodwar, division, revolution and tragedy.Indeed, just recently the people of this countrymemorialized the millions of its citizens– men, women and children – who died duringthe Holodomor.But, as President Obama noted recently,“The Ukrainian people overcame the horrorof the great Famine and have gone on tobuild a free and democratic country.” I toowas deeply moved when I visited theHolodomor Memorial on Monday, immediatelyafter my initial meeting with PresidentViktor Yushchenko.In the sphere of international relations,Ukrainian peacekeepers have served withdistinction in recent years in a number ofdangerous assignments, including theFormer Republic of Yugoslavia and SierraLeone. As you might be aware, PresidentObama has just outlined a strategy for ourefforts in Afghanistan.We welcome Ukraine’s recent decision toincrease the number of Ukrainian personnelserving in western Afghanistan from 10 to30. We also honor the memories of the sixUkrainian service members who perished ina helicopter crash in Afghanistan in July ofthis year, as well as the 18 who gave theirlives while serving in Iraq from 2003 to2005.I would add that, as I mentioned duringmy confirmation hearings before the U.S.Senate, sovereign Ukraine took a courageousstep in ridding itself of the nuclearweapons it inherited after the fall of theSoviet system. In light of the internationalthreat posed by the nuclear programs of Iranand North Korea, and mindful of the upcomingreview of the Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty, Ukraine shines as an example forothers to follow.On the home front, Ukraine can countmany blessings, including its rich agriculturaltradition, an abundance of natural resourcesand a well-educated population. With ourfriends in the European Union, we are eagerto help Ukraine develop to its maximumeconomic potentials.Modernization and change are needed inthe gas and oil sector to provide Ukrainewith real energy security and reliable accessto sources of fuel. Much work remains to bedone to improve living standards andachieve sustained growth as the health of theglobal economy improves.The U.S. government has provided over$90 million in our various assistance programsthis year, focusing on improvinghealth, promoting economic growth, bolsteringpeace and stability, and promoting goodgovernance and the rule of law.We are joining forces with our Ukrainianallies and other nations and internationalorganizations to combat common scourgesincluding HIV/AIDS and human trafficking,as well as to raise awareness of climatechange and other environmental issues.Our team in the U.S. Embassy is committedto working with and helping Ukraine,even as we all try to weather the currenteconomic troubles. That will obviouslyrequire tough budget decisions by Ukraine’sleaders, a firm commitment to economicreform, and a willingness to combat corruptionat all levels and in all spheres of life. AsVice-President Biden noted during his visit,Ukraine’s leaders must work together tobring about needed political and economicreforms.The United States will closely monitor theGreat challengesremain for yoursociety and yourgovernment. Butyou should knowthat Americastands ready toassist you, asa partner andfriend.upcoming presidential election in Ukraine.As Secretary Clinton said on December 9,“It is for the Ukrainian people to decide whotheir elected leaders should be. We will workwith whomever the Ukrainian people elect ina fair and free election.” More broadly, theUnited States will continue to support thefurther development of effective governance,the free exchange of information and avibrant civil society.This is an extraordinarily difficult time inUkraine’s history. This country finds itself atan important crossroads. Great challengesremain for your society and your government.But you should know that Americastands ready to assist you, as a partner andfriend.Candidate profile...(Continued from page 3)Reforms as president: M r.Yushchenko developed a strong reputationas a reformer for helping to stabilizethe Ukrainian economy between 1993and 1996, as well as successfully payingdown hundreds of millions of dollars ingovernment debts during his prime ministershipin the early 2000s. Yet, his downfallas president is largely attributed to hisfailure to introduce hardly any meaningfulreforms to clean up the country’s kangaroocourts, flush out corrupt prosecutors,empower the impotent police forceand reverse the collapse in the medicalsystem. Contradicting his campaignpromises, corruption flourished andspread like a cancer under his presidency.The most significant reform of the Orangeera for which President Yushchenko canclaim credit was introducing standardizedtests in college admissions, which becamefully implemented in 2008.2010 reformsOfficial economic policy: PresidentYushchenko claims policies more orientedtowards the free market than governmentcontrols. Like most Ukrainian politicians,Mr. Yushchenko claims to defendthe interests of small and middle-sizedbusiness, yet did nothing to improve theirbusiness conditions. Mr. Yushchenkoadvocated legalizing the sale of agriculturalland in order to bring the marketfrom under the shadow economy. Yet hewasn’t able to muster support inParliament to pass the necessary legislation.Neither he nor his Our Ukraine partyoffered any coherent economic vision orprogram for Ukraine. Mr. Yushchenkoclaims credit for foreign investmentincreasing by four times during his presidency,as well as a fourfold increase inthe amount of savings deposited byUkrainians. Yet the nation’s credit andbanking system collapsed in the economiccrash of autumn 2008.De facto economic policy: Mr.Yushchenko stuck to the standardUkrainian cronyism begun by formerPresident Kuchma, allowing his inner circleof associates to pursue financialschemes and speculations, often illegal,without reprieve or restriction. Opponentsand observers alike called for the resignationof longtime Yushchenko confidanteand National Bank Chair VolodymyrStelmakh for allowing currency speculationsduring the hryvnia’s crash in the fallof 2008. Economists such as Dr.Volodymyr Pylypchuk and Dr. OlehSoskin believe that Ukraine’s bankersearned billions of dollars on currencyspeculations at the expense of theUkrainian economy, embezzling much oftheir profit to offshore bank accounts.They believe Mr. Stelmakh and PresidentYushchenko could be held criminallyresponsible.Social policy: President Yushchenko ismost praised by Ukrainian patriots andnationalists, and detested by RussophileUkrainians, for his extensive attempts andcampaigns to raise Ukrainian ethnic consciousness.He expanded the use of theUkrainian language in education, massmedia and film dubbing. PresidentYushchenko was the first politician of hisstature to make public awareness of theHolodomor – the Famine-Genocide of1932-1933 – a central part of his politics.He built the Holodomor VictimsMemorial Complex in central Kyiv andcreated the Institute of National Memory.The president released all Soviet documentsrelated to repressions and launchedthe first criminal prosecution of theHolodomor’s organizers. PresidentYushchenko stoked international controversywhen posthumously awarding thenations’ most prestigious honor, the Heroof Ukraine award, to Roman Shukhevych,who cooperated with German militarycommanders when leading the NachitgallBattalion in 1941. Two years later,Shukhevych became commander-in-chiefof the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, whichfought against both the Nazis and the RedArmy for Ukrainian independence.While the president made progress withUkraine’s past, he did little to improve itspresent-day situation. Health MinistersMykola Polischuk and Vasyl Kniazevychfailed to accomplish any significantreforms in the nation’s deteriorating healthsector. Mr. Kniazevych was blamed forfailing to prepare Ukraine adequately forits flu epidemic in the autumn 2009. Mr.Yushchenko did lead a sweeping reform ineducation by introducing standard testingin college admissions. Yet, salaries andbenefits of teachers and professorsremained abysmal, creating a severe deficitin the teaching professions.Foreign policy: Mr. Yushchenko hasdevoted his foreign policy to Ukraine’smembership in the European Union andthe North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO), yet critics blame him for failingto make significant progress towards integrationin either structure. Ukraine misseda prime opportunity to gain a MembershipAction Plan (MAP) at the NATO summitin Riga in 2006, said Dr. Taras Kuzio, aprofessor at Carleton University in Ottawa.Ukraine was denied a MAP at the April2008 Bucharest summit. Observers attributeboth failures to the domestic instabilityand image damage caused by the president’srelentless feuding with PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko. The presidentalso failed to fulfill promises that Ukrainewould reach an EU Association Agreementby the end of his presidential term.

38THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3ANALYSIS: The Demjanjuk saga – the final roundby Andrij J. SemotiukConclusionThe German caseThe question arises: Why has Germanydecided to target John Demjanjuk in this,of all cases? And why now, after 30 yearsof silence while the Demjanjuk casewound its way through the U.S. andIsraeli courts? After all, there was noshortage of Nazis to prosecute – no shortageof party members, Nazi governmentofficials, army officers, camp commandants.Why, for example, didn’t Germanyprosecute Reinhard Gehlen, the formerNazi chief of Eastern Front intelligenceand the other ex-Nazis he gathered in theWest German Federal Intelligence Service(BND) that he headed after the war,according to the Engelhart article?The answer is that Germany did nothave the stomach to prosecute its owntransgressors. While modern-dayGermany has paid dearly to disassociateitself from its Nazi past, paying out millionsof dollars in reparations to Nazi victims,running effective educational,restorative and commemorative programs,it is also true that Germany’s pursuit andconviction of its own Nazi transgressorshas not been as impressive.Though German courts investigatedover 100,000 cases, only some 6,500accused were convicted and, of these,most received rather light sentences. Notlong ago Germany passed legislation thateffectively provided an amnesty fromprosecution for German Nazis, includingSS concentration camp commanders andtheir German subordinates. But theamnesty did not include untermenschenlike Mr. Demjanjuk.That fact alone makes it hard to believethat this case is not a show trial. ConsiderAndriy J. Semotiuk is an attorneypracticing in the area of internationallaw in the field of immigration. He is amember of the bars of California and NewYork in the United States, and Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia in Canada.A former United Nations correspondentwho was stationed in New York, Mr.Semotiuk is currently a member ofthe Los Angeles Press Club. He residesin Los Angeles.the charge itself. Mr. Demjanjuk ischarged not with war crimes or crimesagainst humanity, nor even of murder, butof being an accessory to murder. Notmurder in Germany, but in Sobibor, thatis to say in Poland. Not as a high-levelofficial, but as a low-ranking guard. Notas a German, but as a Ukrainian. Not ofone or a few victims – but of 27,900 victims!Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography“Mein Kampf” spoke of a lie so“colossal” that no one would believe thatsomeone “could have the impudence todistort the truth so infamously.” It seemsalmost as if this is the approach beingused by the prosecutors in Munich andthat German descendants appear ready tobuy it once again today.Two key issuesFor 30 years Mr. Demjanjuk has maintainedhis innocence of all such charges.Yet now the German prosecutors whomaintain that he was present in Sobiborwill use a Trawniki identity card toattempt to prove this claim, and will arguethat he was a volunteer there. While it isimpossible in the context of an article likethis to thoroughly deal with these charges,they deserve at least some comment.In the book “Defending Ivan theTerrible,” Yoram Sheftel, the Israelidefense attorney in the successfulDemjanjuk appeal, points out that fromthe very beginning American authoritieswith the help of Israeli police prepared“photo spreads” to be presented toSobibor survivors in which Mr.Demjanjuk’s picture was included foridentification. Mr. Sheftel indicates that“all 10 Sobibor survivors in Israel, whowere shown the photographs, recognizedneither Demjanjuk nor Federenko assomeone from the Sobibor death camp.Thus, at that early stage, it was clear thatthe Soviet plot to present Demjanjuk as aformer guard at the Sobibor death campwas totally unfounded.”So far as is known, there is no witnesswho can establish that Mr. Demjanjukeven harmed someone much less murderedanyone, and only one statementtaken by the Soviet KGB of a Sobiborguard named Danylchenko who indicatedthat Mr. Demjanjuk was also there.Danylchenko later indicated that he wastortured by the KGB. He passed awaywithout ever being cross-examined aboutthe identification. That is the extent of theknown German prosecution evidence onpresence.In regard to the Trawniki card, Mr.Sheftel indicates that on January 23,1987, the original Trawniki documentthat purports to indicate that Demjanjukwas in Sobibor was provided for examinationto the German police force’s maincriminal-identification laboratory inWeisbaden, known for its initials as BKA.The laboratory analysts indicated that,even after a cursory examination, it wasevident that the document was a forgery.They pointed out that the face in thephotograph which the prosecution inIsrael had identified as Mr. Demjanjuk’shad been posted on to the uniform usingphotomontage techniques; the picture wasnot originally attached to the card, buthad been transferred from another document;there was no match between theseal on the Trawniki picture and that onthe document itself. Further German analysiswas stopped by the Israelis with thisinitial report.The Trawniki document was also thesubject matter of Dr. Julius Grant, theworld’s foremost forensic expert and theman who revealed the forgeries of the“Mussolini diaries” and the “Hitler diaries.”Basing himself on all the knownsignatures of Mr. Demjanjuk in the years1947 to 1986, Dr. Grant testified that theDemjanjuk signature on the card differedfrom all the others in the way the Ds andMs were formed and in the fact that in allother signatures the writing was continuousbut on the card it was not.Furthermore, Dr. Grant pointed outthat there were two holes in the right sideof the picture on the card while on thepaper under the holes in the photographthere were no holes. Judging by the purpleink found inside the holes, which wassimilar to ink used by the KGB, and thenature of the spacing of the holes, Dr.Grant concluded it was more logical toassume that the photograph was unstapledfrom some other Soviet document andattached at the card in the Soviet Union,than that it was originally attached inTrawniki in 1942.Israeli officials refused to allow Dr.Grant to detach the photo from the card tomake a conclusive finding, but he nonethelessconcluded his evidence by saying“The Trawniki document cannot be anauthentic document belonging to thedefendant Demjanjuk.”As for the contention that non-Germanguards at Nazi concentration camps werevolunteers, the evidence indicates thatbasically such Wachmanner were chosenby the Germans based on physical fitnessand told they could either become campguards or remain in prisoner of warcamps where they were mistreated ordied. Those who tried to escape wereshot. What choice is there in these alternatives?This assumes that the prosecutioncan establish beyond a reasonabledoubt that Mr. Demjanjuk was in Sobiborin the first place. A tall order to fill.A Fair trialAccording to the book “Letters fromNuremberg,” Tom Dodd, one of the keyprosecutors who sought to bring leadingNazis to justice indicates that the prosecutorswere as concerned about making surethe trials were fair as they were aboutconvicting the accused. So far there is littleevidence that this is true in theDemjanjuk case. In fact, in their zeal toappease his adversaries, the prosecutorsin Munich appear to be ready to abandonthe rule of law and all reason. For thisreason the Demjanjuk trial is not justanother Nazi war criminal trial, but a dangerousmoment in German historyIn considering the effects of theHolocaust, we are often reminded of philosopherGeorge Santayana’s admonitionthat “Those who cannot remember thepast are condemned to repeat it.” We arereminded that in 1933 Germany targetedthe Jews as scapegoats for its politicaland economic problems, while worldleaders – including those who professedconcern for reason and the rule of law –looked on in silence. Today the Germanleadership appears to be targeting Mr.Demjanjuk, and other untermenschen likehim, as scapegoats to slough off Germanguilt for what happened in the concentrationcamps of World War II.The question is whether the Germanpeople – and those who today professconcern for reason and the rule of law –will look on in silence again. For, in theend, this is not so much a trial of JohnDemjanjuk, as it is a trial of modern-dayGermany.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 201039Bethlehem Peace Light crosses border into Canadaby Zenon StepchukWINNIPEG, Manitoba – Members of thePlast sorority “Ti, Scho Hrebli Rvut’” inWinnipeg, Manitoba, decided to join in theproject of their sisters in the United States tospread the Bethlehem Peace Light.Because the closest location where thepeace light had already been received was inthe small town of Bayport, Minn., MartaHnativ and Oksana Shulakewych calledMinneapolis branch Plast members UlianaStepchuk (a member of the “Shostykryli”sorority) and Zenon Stepchuk (“ChotaKrylatykh” fraternity) to arrange for thepeace light to be brought to Winnipeg.On the way to Canada, the Stepchukspassed the light on to the Central MinnesotaCouncil of the Boy Scouts of America,which is based in St. Cloud.On Saturday, December 19, 2009, theBethlehem Peace Light crossed the borderbetween Pembina, N.D., and Emerson,Manitoba. Plast members declared toCustoms and Immigration officers that theywere transporting the Bethlehem PeaceLight to Ukrainian scouts in Winnipeg.From there the peace light was to be distributedto other venues in western Canada,including the Plast branch in Edmonton,Alberta.On Sunday, December 20, 2009, mem-bers of the Winnipeg branch of PlastUkrainian Scouting Organization, as wellas members of “Ti, Scho Hrebli Rvut” and“Chota Krylatykh,” met in Ss. Volodymyrand Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, werethe Bethlehem Peace Light was transferredto them. In turn, the light was passed on tothe Very Rev. Mitred Michael Buyachok,pastor. The peace light was placed in frontof the Nativity scene through the feast ofthe Epiphany. It was to be transferred alsoto other churches in Winnipeg.On Sunday, January 10, the Plast branchwas to hold the traditional Christmastimegathering, called a “Svichechka,” in thePlast home and in Ss. Volodymyr and OlhaChurch.In the United States, since its arrivalon December 4 (see The Weekly,December 27, 2009), the BethlehemPeace Light has already been disseminatedto New Jersey, Pennsylvania, NewYork, Connecticut, Massachusetts,Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan,Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolinaand Washington, D.C. (For informationand a photo album see www.peacelightplastusa.org.)Plast members with the Very Rev. Michael Buyachok at Ss. Volodymyr and OlhaUkrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the Bethlehem PeaceLight was brought from the United States.Zenon Stepchuk displays the lantern bearing the Bethlehem Peace Light, andUliana Stepchuk holds the special container that is used to safely transport thelantern by car.To The Weekly Contributors:Outgoing New Jersey...(Continued from page 1)treasurer.Executive Order No. 165 notes that“New Jersey draws strength from its ethnicand cultural diversity” and that “disseminationof knowledge of the heritage, culture,and history of Americans of EasternEuropean ancestry is important to the Stateof New Jersey.”In addition to public members, thecommission members will include thefollowing officials, or their designees,who will serve ex officio: the secretary ofstate; the public advocate; the commissionerof the Department of Education;the chair of the Governor’s EthnicAdvisory Council; the chair of the NewJersey Human Relations Council; and thechief executive officer of the New JerseyEconomic Development Authority. Inaddition, the governor shall appoint astate representative to the commission.Ms. Huk-Masier has been appointed tothe newly created commission as the exofficio representative of the EthnicAdvisory Council.Public members of the commission – allresidents of New Jersey – include one publicmember appointed by the governor uponthe recommendation of the president of theSenate, one appointed by the governor uponthe recommendation of the speaker of theGeneral Assembly, one appointed by thegovernor upon the recommendation of theSenate Minority Leader, one appointed bythe governor upon the recommendation ofthe Assembly minority leader, and an additional10 public members appointed by thegovernor.The public members are chosen withregard for representation by national origin,geographic representation, educationalbackground, knowledge and experiencerelated to the heritage, culture, and historyof Americans of Eastern European ancestry.The governor’s executive order waseffective immediately and is to be in forcefor five years.We greatly appreciate the materials – feature articles, news stories, press clippings, letters tothe editor, etc. – we receive from our readers. In order to facilitate preparation of The UkrainianWeekly, we ask that the guidelines listed below be followed.• Persons who submit any materials must provide a complete mailing address and daytimephone number where they may be reached if any additional information is required.• News stories should be sent in not later than 10 days after the occurrence of a given event.• All materials must be typed and double-spaced.• Photographs (originals only, no photocopies or computer printouts) submitted for publicationmust be accompanied by captions. Photos will be returned only when so requested andaccompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope.• Full names (i.e., no initials) and their correct English spellings must be provided.• Newspaper and magazine clippings must be accompanied by the name of the publicationand the date of the edition.• Information about upcoming events must be received one week before the date of TheWeekly edition in which the information is to be published.• Unsolicited materials submitted for publication will be returned only when so requested andaccompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope.MAILING ADDRESS: The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054.E-MAIL SUBMISSIONS: Materials may be sent to The Weekly also via e-mail to the addressstaff@ukrweekly.com.Please call or send query via e-mail before electronically sending anything other than Worddocuments. 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40THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3Yushchenko's...(Continued from page 36)NATO admission in conditions whenalmost 60 percent of Ukrainians don’t supportsuch policy was a mistake. It was necessaryto work with public opinion first,but Yushchenko disregarded that as a rule.So Yushchenko was justified in a quarterof the situations in Ukrainian-Russian relations.Kuzio: Most of the blame for deteriorationin relations lies with Russia, ratherthan Ukraine. Most of the issues [RussianFederation President Dmitry] Medvedevcomplained about – like arms to Georgia,re-writing Ukrainian history – were alldone under [former Ukrainian PresidentLeonid] Kuchma. In the West, I have thebiggest collection of Ukrainian schooltextbooks on history. I’ve been collectingthem for 20 years. That whole re-writingof Ukrainian history has been going onsince the late 1980s. It hadn’t begununder Yushchenko, as the Russiansclaimed. They always portrayed UPApositively. What’s changed is we havetwo people in charge of Russia who arerehabilitating Joseph Stalin and who aremore nationalistic than Yeltsin. You alsohave a president of Ukraine who morepersonalized these historical issues thanKuchma did. If I was Vladimir Putin, andYushchenko kept poking me in the eyeabout the Famine being genocide,Russians being an occupation force, aboutRussification and colonialism, and in thesame breath Yushchenko asks me for naturalgas subsidies and to have a corruptdeal for RosUkrEnergo, I think I’d be abit angry. I’d say you can’t have both, andYushchenko wants it both ways. Youcan’t push all these nation-building historicalissues and still go to Moscow capin hand, which is what they were doing.Soskin: During his presidency, it wasYushchenko himself who ruined preparingUkraine for the NATO MembershipAction Plan despite declaring everywherethat Ukraine will join MAP, as much asit’s one of the main tasks of the country.He didn’t want to lean on the state-patrioticforces which call for Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic step and NATO admission.Yushchenko didn’t manage to consolidatethe state-patriotic forces and didn’t workwith the forces of the third sector [editor’snote: non-governmental organizations].So with regards to Ukraine gainingNATO membership, Yushchenko wasinconsistent and viewing this issue asconjectural. On relations between Ukraineand Russia, Yushchenko couldn’t becomean equal player in relations with theRussian leader Vladimir Putin. Putin, andn o w M e d v e d e v d o n ’t p e r c e i v eYushchenko as an adequate politician onan international level, but rather considerhim a provincial peasant.QUESTION: Presidential candidateAnatoliy Grytsenko criticized PresidentYushchenko for accomplishing no foreignpolicy gains during his five-year term,neither with the Russian Federation northe European Union. But isn’t Ukrainemore integrated with the European Uniontoday than it was in 2004? Isn’t Ukrainemore integrated with NATO today than itwas in 2004? Are these not accomplishmentsof President Yushchenko?Fesenko: Ukraine truly moved further,than in 2004, in its relations with the EUand NATO. At the same time, Europeanpoliticians don’t have even a bit of theenthusiasm for Yushchenko that they hadat the start of 2005. On the contrary, there’sdisappointment and even frustration, particularlywith regards to the conflictbetween Yushchenko and Tymoshenko.Top European leaders are practically ignor-ing Yushchenko now, which works againstUkraine’s European integration. Failure togain the NATO MAP and the conflict onthe eve of the NATO Bucharest summit [inApril 2008] set back Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic prospects. During the Kuchma erain 2003, almost 30 percent of Ukrainiansfavored Ukraine’s admission to NATO,and a third were against. Now almost 20percent support NATO entry, against aremore than 50 percent [and close to 60 percent,according to some data]. So the balancein European integration is one stepforward, a half step back. On Euro-Atlanticintegration, it’s one step forward, two stepsback.Kuzio: I think in 2006 Ukraine had agreat chance of joining the MembershipAction Plan at the Riga summit of NATO.The Orange forces won the 2006 elections.They needed to establish a coalitionvery quickly, not dragging it out untilJune, which would have madeTymoshenko prime minister because herparty had the most votes. Because itdragged out until June, Bush, who wassupposed to come in June to Ukraine andgive his blessing, didn’t turn up andinstead went to Budapest. If they had gottentheir act together, if Yushchenko putaside his hostility to Tymoshenko comingback as prime minister, the Orange coalitionwould have been in power in April[2006], Bush would have arrived in Juneand they would have gotten a MAP inNovember. That’s way before theBucharest summit in April 2008. InBrussels they had the perception thatUkraine was part of the Russian world.What changed their mentality aboutUkraine was the Orange Revolution. Thatpositive glow about Ukraine and theOrange Revolution was there in 2005 and2006, but was down by 2007. Sadly, thesituation has not progressed much withthe EU and NATO.Soskin: Yushchenko’s fault is thatUkraine doesn’t have an official agreementwith the European Union today. Asit’s known, the official Ukraine-EU agreementconcluded in 2008. A temporaryagreement was active in 2009. It wasYushchenko who wasn’t able to sign anew EU Association Agreement. The singlething Yushchenko managed to do withNATO, and yet with the help of [formerForeign Affairs Minister] Borys Tarasyuk,who was later dismissed by the way, wasto sign the Agreement on IntensifiedDialogue of Ukraine and NATO in Vilniusin April 2005. And that’s notYushchenko’s achievement, but the resultof the hopes of Western states towardsUkraine, as well as the actions ofTarasyuk and leading non-governmentalcivic organizations, which were the locomotivefor Euro-Atlantic integration.That’s not Yushchenko’s service.Yushchenko ruined recklessly all otherplans for working with NATO, a shiningexample being the NATO summit inBucharest. NATO leaders don’t even wantto meet with Yushchenko, understandingthat Yushchenko isn’t professional anddoesn’t keep his word.QUESTION: President Yushchenko’scritics claim that he is overstepping hisbounds when trying to claim credit for thegovernment’s economic successes, particularlythe 2005-2008 boom period. In whichcase he shouldn’t be blamed for the economiccrash in the fall of 2008? To whatextent does Yushchenko bear responsibilityfor the performance of the Ukrainian economyduring his presidency?Fesenko: He’s not responsible for theeconomic crisis but he bears responsibilityfor chronic political instability and thatstructural socio-economic reformsweren’t even initiated, by Yushchenkohimself or his team. He even initiatedconstitutional reforms in the last year ofhis authority, when even the theoreticalpossibilities for their implementation nolonger remained.Kuzio: I think Yushchenko can claimsome credit, particularly in 2005, 2006,maybe in foreign investment. The questionis: Why is Ukraine suffering morethan other countries [from the global crisis]?I think the seeds of that lie in theunreformed nature of Ukrainian politicsand business under the Yushchenkoadministration. Tymoshenko has a pointwhen she says the reason we have sufferedmore as a country from the economiccrash because of the nature of oureconomy. We’re dominated by big businesssupplying raw materials. We’re verymuch influenced by world prices forproducts like steel.Soskin: There wasn’t any prosperity in2005-2008. The public socio-economiccrisis in Ukraine began in September 2008.Regarding 2005 to 2007, this was a socalledspeculative development, whichwas implemented thanks to enormous foreignloans. Ukrainian banks and the corporatesector borrowed hundreds of billionsof dollars from developed Western nations.And when the global crisis began, thismoney left Ukraine. It turned out that theUkrainian economy is unable to developwithout this foreign doping. Yushchenkowas told numerous times about this unfoldingof events, however he didn’t listen tothe advice of professional macroeconomists.It’s Yushchenko himself who bearsresponsibility for the breakdown ofUkraine’s banking system since he himselfsupported the dull deeds of the NationalBank leadership, particularly [chairmanVolodymyr] Stelmakh. He’s shielding thisperson from criminal responsibility.Thanks to Yushchenko, Stelmakh and hisentourage still lead the National Bank ofUkraine. In accordance with theConstitution of Ukraine, Yushchenko himselfcould have dismissed half the NationalBank Council’s membership, led by hiskum Petro Poroshenko [editor’s note: akum is a godparent to one’s child.]Yushchenko is also to blame for Ukrainefalling into the grips of Gazprom. It’sYushchenko and Tymoshenko themselveswho give the orders to the National Bankto pay for natural gas bought by NaftohazUkrayiny from Russia. Recently this hasbeen done by practically stealing from thestate’s foreign exchange reserves, whichbelong to the Ukrainian people.

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 201041Yushchenko...(Continued from page 2)ing. Both sides agreed to compromises basedupon avoiding issues that are considereddivisive within Ukrainian society. Mr.Yushchenko agreed not to raise rehabilitatingand promoting nationalist leaders or demandingcompulsory Ukrainian language tests inschools and universities. In return, Mr.Yanukovych would not advocate Russian asa second state language or call for a referendumon Ukraine’s NATO membership(UNIAN, December 25, 2009). Mr.Yanukovych has downplayed his electionprogram commitment to Russian as a statelanguage and Mr. Yushchenko has not mentionedNATO in his program.The next section of the published documentcalls for Messrs. Yushchenko andYanukovych not to criticize each other. The2010 election campaign is noticeable for theabsence of criticism by Mr. Yushchenko ofMr. Yanukovych and the former’s daily accusationsagainst Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko. Mr. Yushchenko has askedvoters to stay at home and not vote in thesecond round of the presidential election,arguing there is no difference between Ms.Tymoshenko and Mr. Yanukovych, who willinevitably enter the February 7 run-off. Alow turn-out in Orange Ukraine would resultin Mr. Yanukovych’s election, while a largevoter turnout would ensure Ms.Tymoshenko’s election since the combined“Orange” vote is larger. Thus, Mr.Yushchenko is, in effect, calling on his supportersto not vote negatively against Mr.Yanukovych in the second round.Playing on western Ukrainian anti-Russiannationalism, Mr. Yushchenko hasaccused Ms. Tymoshenko of being “unpatriotic”by referring to the fact that she has onlyone ethnic Ukrainian parent (her Armenianfather separated from her mother when shewas a child). In addition, since the summerof 2008 the president has repeatedly condemnedas “treasonous” the prime minister’scultivation of a pragmatic economic-energyrelationship with Russia that has brought hersupport from Western Europeans anxious toavoid another gas crisis in January.Mr. Yushchenko has appealed toUkrainians to vote for a “Ukrainian premier”(meaning himself) who will not, allegedlyunlike Ms. Tymoshenko, sell Ukraine toRussia by permitting the Black Sea Fleet toremain in Sevastopol beyond 2017, whichwould require a constitutional amendmentthat no president could undertake(Ukrayinska Pravda, January 3). Tymoshenkowould also allegedly transfer Ukraine’s gaspipelines to Russia, an accusation that contradictsMs. Tymoshenko’s mobilization ofParliament in February 2007 to vote for alaw banning any transfer of the pipelinesfrom Ukrainian state control and her March2009 agreement with the European Union tomodernize the pipeline infrastructure withoutRussian involvement.Ms. Tymoshenko is the “biggest threat todemocracy” in Ukraine, Mr. Yushchenko hasclaimed (Ukrayinska Pravda, December 24,2009). This accusation ignores the perilousstate of Ukrainian democracy, as shown byrecent Western and Ukrainian surveys, whichreveal that Ukrainians associate democracywith “chaos” following years of instabilityand elite in-fighting.A “Coalition of Political Reconciliationand Development of Ukraine” would proposeMr. Yushchenko as its candidate forprime minister, the secret agreement stipulates.The basis of this coalition remainsunexplained, since Mr. Yushchenko controlsonly 15 out of 72 Our Ukraine deputies.Mr. Yushchenko has always waveredbetween supporting a grand coalition withthe Party of Regions or a “democratic”coalition with the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc(YTB). Following the March 2006 electionsMr. Yushchenko sent Prime Minister (andhead of Our Ukraine) Yurii Yekhanurov tonegotiate a grand coalition and RomanBesmertnyi to form a “democratic” coalition.Following the dissolution ofParliament in April 2007, Mr. Yushchenkonegotiated a compromise with the Party ofRegions to hold pre-term elections inSeptember in exchange for a grand coalition.During the 2007 election campaignMr. Yushchenko campaigned for a “democratic”coalition, which was establishedwith Ms. Tymoshenko as its candidate forprime minister in December 2007. RaisaBohatyriova, the head of the Party ofRegions parliamentary faction, was appointedas secretary of the National Security andDefense Council. She, together with thePresidential Secretariat Chair Viktor Baloha,spent 2008 seeking to undermine theTymoshenko government in which Mr.Yushchenko had demanded that half thecabinet posts go to Our Ukraine.The alleged agreement seeks a grandcoalition through a Yanukovych presidency,but will fail for the same reasons that similardeals have has in the past. Mr. Yushchenkowill be unable to ensure that a parliamentarymajority will vote for him: Our UkraineNational deputy Oleksander Tretiakov saidthat Parliament would never vote for Mr.Yushchenko’s candidacy (UkrayinskaPravda, December 15, 2009). Ms.Tymoshenko, therefore, would remain a constitutionallypowerful prime minister underPresident Yanukovych.The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permission fromits publisher, the Jamestown Foundation,www.jamestown.org.Annual Meeting of UNA Branch 59Sunday, January 17, 2010Bridgeport, Ct. – The annual generalmeeting of UNA Branch 59 “UkrainskaSich” will be held at 2 p.m. at theProtection of the B.V.M. UkrainianCatholic Church hall (Noble and BarnumSts.). Agenda: Reports of the Branch officers,discussions, election of the newofficers. Afterwards informal gathering.All members and interested parties areencouraged to attend. For further infocontact T. Slevinsky, President, (203)375-6995, or I. Hayda, (203) 261-4530,B. Doboszczak (203) 723-4304.

42THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3City of Lviv to erect plaquehonoring singer Kvitka CisykMERCHANDISECLASSIFIEDSTO PLACE YOUR AD CALL MARIA OSCISLAWSKI (973) 292-9800 x 3040SERVICESor e-mail adukr@optonline.netNEW YORK – The city of Lviv willerect a plaque honoring Ukrainian Americansinger Kvitka Cisyk on Hlyboka Street inthe city’s historic center on January 22.The singer of movie soundtracks andcommercials for companies like FordMotor and Coca-Cola recorded twoUkrainian-language folk music albumsbefore she died of breast cancer in 1998.Beloved by Ukrainians in the UnitedStates since the 1980s, Kvitka and hermusic have in recent years gained widespreadpopularity in Ukraine.Hlyboka Street was the home of Ms.Cisyk’s grandparents Sophia and WasylLew. Her parents, Ivanna and WolodymyrCisyk, lived there during their stays in Lviv.The installation of the plaque was initiatedby New York-based producer AleksanderGuttmacher, who since 2008 has hostedevenings of Kvitka’s music both in theUnited States and Ukraine. These eveningshave been co-sponsored by the UkrainianAmerican Coordinating Council.PROFESSIONALSOPPORTUNITIESEarn extra income!The Ukrainian Weekly is lookingfor advertising sales agents.For additional information contactMaria Oscislawski, AdvertisingManager, The Ukrainian Weekly,973-292-9800, ext 3040.WANT IMPACT?Run your advertisement here,in The Ukrainian Weekly’sCLASSIFIEDS section.NEWSBRIEFS(Continued from page 2)Abkhazia and Georgia’s other breakawayregion of South Ossetia since a five-dayconflict with Georgian forces in August2008, after which the regions declaredtheir independence. (RFE/RL)Mayor says no to Georgian ObserversDONETSK, Ukraine – The mayor ofthe eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk hasturned down a Georgian offer of observersfor Ukraine’s presidential election onJanuary 17, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Servicereported on January 6. OleksanderLukianchenko said the city would be hosting600 observers from the Organizationfor Security and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE) and representatives of other internationalbodies for the election. He saidGeorgia had offered to send 1,000 observers,which was beyond the city’s transportand logistical capabilities. GrygolKatamadze, Georgia’s ambassador toUkraine, declined to comment on thatnumber in an interview with RFE/RL. Buthe said it was up to Ukraine’s CentralElection Commission not the mayor ofDonetsk, to determine the final number. “Ireceived an explanation that Donetsk isactively preparing for [the 2012] Europeansoccer championship, that many hotels areundergoing reconstruction, so it is verydifficult to find accommodation,” Mr.Katamadze added. Mr. Lukianchenko alsochairs the local election office of pro-Russianpresidential candidate ViktorYanukovych. (RFE/RL)Ukraine pays Russian gas billKYIV – Ukraine paid its gas debt toRussia’s Gazprom in full and on time,Reuters reported. “Yes, we have paid up,”a Naftohaz Ukrainy spokesman toldReuters. Energy Minister Yurii Prodansaid the bill – the last monthly bill for2009 – amounted to $892 million. AsUkraine prepares for the presidential electionon January 17, officials in bothMoscow and Kyiv have said a gas warwould be avoided. Ukraine has paid everybill on time in 2009, despite a cripplingeconomic crisis. (Reuters)Odesa welcomes Ariana crewKYIV – The crewmembers of the cargoship Ariana who were recently releasedfrom pirates’ custody have returned toUkraine. Relatives and local authoritiesmet the seamen at the Odesa airport, thepress service of the Foreign AffairsMinistry reported on January 6. All of theformer hostages have undergone medicalexaminations, and all are in satisfactorycondition. A new crew from Odesa arrivedto man the Ariana on January 5. TheAriana will proceed towards its destinationafter refueling and completion of certainprocedures. The bulk carrier flying Greekcolors and a Ukrainian crew of 24 menwas captured by Somali pirates in theIndian Ocean on May 2, 2009, on its wayfrom Brazil to the Near East. The seamenwere released in December 2009, after aransom was paid to the pirates.(Ukrinform)Fishing vessel named YanukovychKYIV – A fishing vessel in Japan hasbeen named for Party of Regions ofUkraine leader Viktor Yanukovych, it wasreported on January 6. VolodymyrKuzmenko, who was born in the Kharkivregion of Ukraine and has been living inJapan for many years, gave the name tohis new ship. The ship went out into theopen sea for the first time in earlyJanuary. (Ukrinform)Four Ukrainian cities to host Euro-2012FUNCHAL, Portugal – Kyiv, Lviv,Donetsk and Kharkiv will host matches inthe 2012 European soccer championship,UEFA said on December 11, 2009. Kyivhas been confirmed as the venue for theEuro-2012 final. “I’m pleased to say thatthanks to the tremendous efforts of theUkrainian government we can finallygive the green light to a symmetrical tournamentwith four cities in Poland, andKyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk inUkraine,” UEFA President Michel Platinisaid at a news conference. He said considerablework remains to be done, butadded, “I entirely trust Ukraine andPoland as hosts.” The Polish cities ofPoznan, Wroclaw, Warsaw and Gdanskhad already been confirmed as matchvenues. (Reuters)Zhuliany to be international airportKYIV – With major construction toexpand the capacities of Boryspil,Ukraine’s largest international airport, wellunder way, Kyiv is adding further capacityto deal with expanding business and touristtravel by approving construction of anew international terminal and reconstructionof the existing passenger terminal ofthe Kyiv Airport, commonly known asZhuliany. The city’s planning and architecturedepartment said on December 28,2009, that the project has been drawn upby the Bureau of Investment Projects -Project Management Company (BIP-PM)that would expand the gross area of thereconstructed terminal to 3,200 squaremeters. The total area of the new internationalterminal would be 12,000 squaremeters on two floors. BIP-PM has alsodrawn up a draft of the square near the airport,the parking facilities, and the complexdevelopment of the neighboring territorywith the creation of a business center.The draft envisages construction of hotel,commercial, office, and logistics infrastructurealongside entertainment facilities.“It is a positive sign the city of Kyiv islooking ahead regarding business and touristtravel. However, it is important first tocomplete the ongoing construction atBoryspil, and second to be in close touchwith those airlines serving Kyiv as to theirfuture needs and take these into consideration.Then the third issue should be toconsider what could be done practicallyand economically to expand the Zhulianyfacility, said Morgan Williams,SigmaBleyzer, who serves as president ofthe U.S.-Ukraine Business Council(USUBC). Mr. Williams also commented:“The government of Ukraine needs tomake sure the aviation safety problemsoutlined by the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) of the U.S. government,which have been stopping anincrease in the number of non-stop flightsbetween Ukraine and the United Statessince 2005, are resolved early in 2010. It isvery important for international businessand tourism travel for AeroSvit UkrainianAirlines to increase the number of its nonstopflights to New York City and to beable to fly to Chicago, Los Angeles andHouston. This is not possible under thepresent restrictions imposed on Ukraine bythe FAA.” (Ukraine Business Online, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council)Romanian Ukrainians get Cultural CenterKYIV – The first Ukrainian CulturalCenter has opened in Timisoara,Romania, it was reported on January 11.This is thanks to the efforts of localauthorities, the Union of Ukrainians ofRomania and the local organization ofUkrainians. There are some 8,000Ukrainians currently living in Timisoara.Participating in the opening ceremonywere Timisoara Mayor CiuhanduGheorghe, Romanian members ofParliament, leaders of Ukrainian NGOs,as well as Ukraine’s Ambassador toRomania Markiyan Kulyk and EuropeanCongress of Ukrainians PresidentYaroslava Hortyani. (Ukrinform)

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 201043

44THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 32009: Requiem...(Continued from page 1)draw upon once they became independent.Moreover, proximity to Russia gaveMoscow an opportunity for meddling thatsimply did not exist farther to the West.“Certainly the closer you were to WesternEurope, the easier the process went. I thinkinternal [political] factors and the Russiandesire not to allow these countries to movecloser to the West have been the biggestproblems,” says James Goldgeier, a seniorfellow at the Council on Foreign Relationsand author of the book “America Betweenthe Wars: from 11/9 to 9/11,” which examinesthe period between the end of the ColdWar and the September 11, 2001, attacks.Earlier this decade, the so-called “coloredrevolutions” in Georgia, Ukraine andKyrgyzstan appeared at the time to be greatdemocratic leaps forward – the start of asecond wave of the 1989-type democraticuprisings that could usher a new group ofcountries into Western institutions.But soon after the euphoria from theRose, Orange and Tulip revolutions abated,bitter disappointment and disillusionmentset in as the new elites descended into politicalsquabbling, infighting and recriminations.So what will it take to re-energize thedemocratic wave that appeared poised tosweep across much of the post-Soviet spacenot so long ago?“You’re going to need effective leadershipin the countries themselves, and realleaders who can put aside personal vanityand their own efforts to settle scores withothers and really try to help develop theircountries as best they can. And I think youare going to need to see changes in Russiaover time,” Mr. Goldgeier says.The hand of MoscowMost experts agree that Russia is indeeda big part of the problem. After losing itsWarsaw Pact satellites in Eastern Europe,Moscow has been steadfast in its determinationto keep what it calls a sphere of influencein the former Soviet space.“In the early part of the 1990s, Russiawas barely able to push back. Now they are.And in countries on their border with tremendouscultural and political ties, they’regoing to push back very hard,” says LincolnMitchell, a professor of international politicsat Columbia University in New York andauthor of “Uncertain Democracy: U.S.Foreign Policy and Georgia’s RoseRevolution.”After Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution,Moscow began using its energy wealth as ablunt weapon to punish the pro-Westerngovernment of President Viktor Yushchenko.It has also consistently sought to exploit theongoing rivalry between Mr. Yushchenkoand his Orange Revolution partner, PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko.In Moldova, Russia has used the conflictin the breakaway Transdniester region todestabilize the government in Chisinau andkeep it dependent on Moscow.Even before Georgia won its independencefrom the Soviet Union, Russia wasstirring up separatist sentiments in the country’sAbkhazia and South Ossetia regions.The Kremlin also armed both sides in thecivil unrest that rocked Tbilisi in the early1990s as rival political clans vied for power.And before the Rose Revolution sweptPresident Mikheil Saakashvili’s pro-Westerngovernment into office, Russia insisted on –and received – the right to appoint Georgia’sdefense and security ministers.When Mr. Saakashvili revoked thisextraordinary privilege soon after coming topower, it infuriated the Kremlin and set inmotion the acrimonious relationship thatendures to this day.But despite Russia’s undeniable role, analystssay the democratic deficit in most ofthe former Soviet space has deeper causesthan Moscow’s persistent meddling.Analysts say leaders in the region whoprofess to democratic principles have scantunderstanding of what these mean in practice.“You have to have leadership that is willingto lose an election, leadership that understandsdemocracy. You have to have leadershipthat believes that the democratic missionis more important than whatever goodthey think they can bring to the country,”Prof. Mitchell says.Abandonment fearsThere are also concerns that the Westcould abandon countries like Ukraine andGeorgia, especially given U.S. PresidentBarack Obama’s goal of pursuing betterrelations with Russia.In July 2009, a group of prominentEastern European intellectuals and formerofficials – including former Czech andPolish Presidents Vaclav Havel and LechWalesa – published an open letter to theObama administration expressing theirfears.In an effort to assuage these concerns,President Obama dispatched Vice-PresidentJoe Biden to Kyiv and Tbilisi in the summerto reassure Ukraine and Georgia ofWashington’s commitment.Analysts say, however, that over the yearsthe West has misfired to an extent in itseffort to develop democratic institutions inthe former Soviet Union.Prof. Mitchell, who has worked ondemocracy-building projects throughout theregion, says the United States and theEuropean Union have focused on what hecalls a “technical solutions-based approach”that stresses things like “helping parliamentsmark up bills better and hold better committeehearings” at the expense of building civilsociety from the ground up.The technical approach worked well inplaces like Poland, Hungary and the CzechRepublic, which had pre-communist democratictraditions to draw on. It also workedin the Baltic states, which were only incorporatedinto the Soviet Union after WorldWar II and had a living memory of a democraticsystem.But in countries like Ukraine, Georgiaand Moldova, Prof. Mitchell says such anapproach would have limited results.“Is a country simply OK with being democraticbut just not able to do it? That’s theideal type – Poland in 1992. Or is it trying touse the facade of democracy and some ofthe tools of democracy to strengthen a nondemocraticregime?” Prof. Mitchell says.“Increasingly, when you give authoritarianor semi-authoritarian governments the toolsof democracy, they don’t use them todemocratize. They use them to become lessdemocratic.”The coming year will provide several keytests for the countries of the region. Ukrainewill hold its first post-Orange Revolutionpresidential election in January, with incumbentMr. Yushchenko widely expected tolose to either Ms. Tymoshenko or oppositionleader Viktor Yanukovych.Georgia is scheduled to hold local electionsin May, seen by experts as the firstround of the battle to replace PresidentSaakashvili, whose term expires in 2013.And Moldova is expected to stumble intothe new year without a head of state as theAlliance for European Integration, aWestern-leaning parliamentary coalition,continues to struggle to elect its preferredcandidate, Marian Lupu, as president.But the biggest test of all may be whetherPresident Obama’s efforts to improveWashington’s relations with Moscow will –as the White House clearly hopes – mellowRussia’s posture in the region over time.Copyright 2010, RFE/RL Inc. Reprintedwith the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW,Washington DC 20036; www.rferl.org. Seehttp://www.rferl.org/content/Year_In_Review_Requiem_For_The_Revolutions/1915430.html.May we help you?To reach The Ukrainian Weekly call (973) 292-9800,and dial the appropriate extension (as listed below).Editorial – 3049, 3088 • Production – 3063, 3069Administration – 3041 • Advertising – 3040Subscriptions – 3042

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 201045The U.S., Canada...(Continued from page 4)Russian organizations in Ukraine. Underthese circumstances, respective actions of theUkrainian counterintelligence seem to beineffective.• Recent amendments to its legislationallow Russia to deploy troops to protect socalled“Russians abroad,” that is, thosenationals of Ukraine who received Russianpassports, as well as to conduct secret specialoperations against unwanted persons or organizations.Pro-democratic forces that care forUkraine’s future draw concrete conclusionsfrom these developments. The conclusionsare made not in the neoliberal language ofpolitical correctness, but in the language ofrealism, taking into account the power balanceand the factor of military threats.1. The United States, by entering the processof “resetting” the relationship withRussia and being interested in cooperationwith Russia on solving the problem ofAfghanistan and Iran, has actually agreed toRussia’s demand to declare Ukraine a zoneof imperial interests of Russia. No statementof U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden or AssistantSecretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow,who deny that Ukraine has become a meansof payment in the deal between the U.S. andRussia, can reassure Ukrainian civil society.There is a growing distrust of the U.S. andthe ability of its leadership to fulfill its commitments.There are civic organizations created withaim of protecting Ukrainian statehood anddemocracy. More and more people are concernedwith the current developments andbelieve that Russia will undertake hostileactions towards Ukraine – either in the formof a new gas war or of military provocationsin Crimea. All this is taking place against thebackground of a deepened political strugglein connection with the presidential elections.2. We call for a return to the Budapestmemorandum of 1994 regarding securityguarantees by the great powers and believe itis necessary to conduct a special session ofnegotiations to renew these obligations. Thiscould be done in the course of the next roundof negotiations on the non-proliferationregime to be held in 2010 in New York.3. There is an opinion, which is heardmore and more often these days, that Ukrainemade a fatal mistake when it surrendered itsnuclear weapons and took on trust the reassurancesof the U.S., Russia, the UnitedKingdom and France that they would protectUkraine in case of need.There are even calls to recreate Ukrainiannuclear (tactical) weapons to deter a potentialaggressor. According to some estimates,Ukraine’s technical, scientific and nuclearpotential would enable that to happen withina short time period.Definitely, this kind of thinking is not productiveif our country wants to build animage of a responsible and trustworthy partneron the international arena, and, luckily, atthe moment those pro-nuclear voices do nothave support either among the wider publicor among the ruling elites. But this maychange if threats to Ukrainian statehoodbecome more pronounced.4. Having found itself in the grey securityzone, abandoned by the Western allies,Ukraine has to pursue an independentdefense policy, with no perspective for joiningNATO and the EU.This means that now we have to completelyrebuild our defense strategy, which,for a long time, was based on the premise ofthe Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.Now that the words “NATO membership”are disappearing from the speeches of ourpoliticians, as well as from the declarationsof our European and American partners whohave actually declined the admission perspectivefor Ukraine, it is critical to thinkabout how we can close the emerging securitygap and what forces we can count on inthis effort.5. Even though Ukraine seems to be leftalone in solving that puzzle, the problemof our defense is not ours alone. Any possiblemilitary operations against Ukraine,even limited in time and space, couldpotentially lead to an all-European catastrophe.The concentration of nuclear powerplants, energy and chemical facilities,transport routes and power lines on the territoryof Ukraine is such that any actionwould cause mass losses among the civilianpopulation and create millions of refugeesfleeing to the West.Dear friends, we gather for the 10th timehere in Washington, in Brussels, Kyiv orKharkiv, and we have calming discussionsabout Ukraine’s road to Europe and U.S.support of its strategic ally.As a permanent participant of all thosemeetings and a person with considerablepolitical experience, I have the moral right tosay: Enough of reassuring each other! It istime to wake up and face the truth.As a former ambassador to the UnitedStates and Canada, I call our American andCanadian friends to inform the leadership oftheir states, their civil society and the mediaabout our concerns.I would also like to remind you that thepublic in Central Europe is also concernedabout the recent change in the U.S. plansregarding placement of the Ballistic MissileDefense (BMD), which is considered bymany as a concession of the Obama administrationto Moscow’s pressure.Americans risk losing their supporters inthis part of the world if they continue the currentpolicy of abandoning their allies for thesake of a seeming warming of the relationshipwith Russia and pleasing Russia toensure its backing of U.S. plans elsewhere.Russian politicians love to repeat thewords of Emperor Alexander III who said,“in the whole world Russia has only two reliableallies – its army and its fleet.” Takinginto account its geopolitical ambitions,Russia could become only a situational allyfor the U.S., so trading several strategic alliesfor one questionable tactical partner seems tobe a shortsighted policy.Apart from losing its allies, the U.S. mayalso lose in the larger geopolitical game.Nobody has disaffirmed the axiom of thegeopolitical theory that the region, andUkraine in particular, is a key to the fate ofthe whole of Europe.It is possible to receive a Nobel PeaceWill Yushchenko...(Continued from page 2)Yanukovych agreed to nominate Mr.Yushchenko for prime minister to replaceMs. Tymoshenko after the election. Also, Mr.Yanukovych would renege on his promise tovoters to make Russian the second officiallanguage, as well as keep the current head ofthe security service (SBU) and the regionalgovernors and cabinet ministers who belongto Mr. Yushchenko’s party. Moreover, theparties of Messrs. Yanukovych andYushchenko allegedly agreed to set up a newmajority coalition in Parliament without Ms.Tymoshenko’s party (http://ura-inform.com/politics/2009/12/25/oni/). If this happened,Ms. Tymoshenko would be left in the oppositionand a snap parliamentary election,which both Messrs. Yanukovych andYushchenko wanted to hold after the presidentialelection, would be avoided.Both Mr. Yushchenko and Mr.Yanukovych dismissed the document publicizedby Mr. Kozachok as a “provocation.”Mr. Yushchenko instructed prosecutors tocheck Mr. Kozachok’s allegations. Healleged that Ms. Tymoshenko was behindthem. Mr. Yushchenko said he would neverserve as prime minister under PresidentYanukovych. At the same time, Mr.Yushchenko admitted that he does not criticizeMr. Yanukovych at the current stage ofthe campaign. “I criticize Ms. Tymoshenkonow, but when I am in the runoff I will criticizeMr. Yanukovych,” he said (UkrainskiPohliad, December 25, 2009).Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenkoshare the same national-minded conservativeelectorate concentrated in western Ukraine,and therefore it would be logical for Mr.Yushchenko to spoil Ms. Tymoshenko’scampaign by any means if he stood a chanceof beating her. However, opinion polls showthat Mr. Yushchenko stands no chance. Themost recent polls conducted in December2009 by FOM-Ukraine and DemocraticInitiatives showed that no more than 3.5 to3.7 percent of Ukrainians are ready to votefor Mr. Yushchenko while popular supportfor Ms. Tymoshenko is above 15 percent andsupport for Mr. Yanukovych is around 30percent. Mr. Yushchenko is only the fifth orsixth most popular candidate among 18 running(Ukrayinska Pravda, December 28, 29,2009).Prize and at the same time lose the peace,and lose Europe. Let’s not forget this.The U.S. administration and Europeanliberals call us to be friends with Russia.Having a good neighborly relationship withRussia is our objective as well – we definitelydo not need an unreasonable and counterproductiveanimosity with our big neighbor.But what price should we pay for that? Theprice of losing our sovereignty and ournational values?Mr. Yushchenko has never trusted opinionpolls too much, and he apparentlybelieves in his own messianic role inUkraine. Consequently, he may still thinkhe can beat Ms. Tymoshenko. However, bybuilding his campaign solely on criticizingPrime Minister Tymoshenko and herCabinet, Mr. Yushchenko objectively helpsMr. Yanukovych. Many people in Ukrainewill trust Mr. Kozachok after hearing whatMr. Yushchenko said about Ms.Tymoshenko.For example, speaking on a regional televisionprogram in western Ukraine recently,he blamed Ms. Tymoshenko for Parliament’sfailure to pass the state budget for 2010. Thisis only partially true, as Ms. Tymoshenko’scoalition does not control a majority inParliament, so her budget bill should be easilyblocked by the opposition. He accusedMs. Tymoshenko of ruining the post-OrangeRevolution democratic coalition in 2005 byher corruption allegations against his partymembers. He added that one out of everyfive members of Ms. Tymoshenko’s caucusin Parliament is an oligarch, hence the pervasivecorruption in Ukraine (Interfax-Ukraine,December 27, 2009). In fact, there are manyrich businessmen who reportedly abuse theirgovernment connections to promote theirbusiness interests also present on the teamsof both Mr. Yanukovych and Mr.Yushchenko.Mr. Yushchenko is especially keen onattacking Ms. Tymoshenko’s weakest point:her income declaration. Speaking in Ms.Tymoshenko’s native city of Dnipropetrovsk,Mr. Yushchenko said that she does not wantto declare her true income (UNIAN,December 25, 2009).According to Ms. Tymoshenko’s declarationshe has no property, no bank account,not even a car. When asked about her sourcesof income, she vaguely refers to her husband’sagricultural business, but refuses toprovide any detail. At a recent press conferenceshe refused to speak about her homerent (Ukrayinska Pravda, December 29,2009). As is widely known, Ms. Tymoshenkowas considered Ukraine’s richest woman inthe mid-1990s when she ran the UnitedEnergy Systems, a gas intermediary.The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permission fromits publisher, the Jamestown Foundation,www.jamestown.org.

46THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3

No. 3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010OUT AND ABOUT47January 20WashingtonWorkshop, “Fluent in OPIC,” U.S.-Ukraine BusinessCouncil, Embassy of Ukraine, 240-505-9494 orusubc@usubc.orgFebruary 6PhiladelphiaDebutante Ball, Ukrainian Engineers’ Society ofAmerica – Philadelphia Chapter, Hyatt Hotel at theBellvue, 215-893-1234 or 215-635-7134January 22-24New YorkJanuary 23Warren, MIJanuary 23MontrealJanuary 25WashingtonJanuary 30New Britain, CT“Yara 20 Years of Theater: A Festival of Music,Poetry and Art,” Yara Arts Group, UkrainianInstitute of America, 212-288-8660Malanka, featuring music by Svitanok, UkrainianYouth Organizations of Metro Detroit, UkrainianCultural Center, 586-757-8130 or 586-558-8508Malanka, Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization andUkrainian Youth Association in Canada, Crown PlazaHotel – Montreal Airport, 514-502-6237Lecture by David Kramer, “Ukraine After the FirstRound of Elections,” Ronald Reagan Building andInternational Trade Center, 202-691-4000Malanka, featuring music by Zolota Bulava andHrim, Zolotyj Promin Ukrainian Dance Ensemble,St. George Greek Orthodox hall,860-452-4023 or 860-676-2790January 30Malanka, featuring music by Fata Morgana,Carteret, NJ St. Demetrius Community Center, 609-655-4468(prepaid tickets only)January 30ChicagoJanuary 31Lansdale, PADebutante Ball, Ukrainian Medical Association ofNorth America – Illinois Branch, Palmer HouseHilton, 312-282-7017 or umanaDeb@aol.comBlessing of church iconostas and wall iconographyby Chrystyna Dochwat, led by Metropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka, Presentation of OurLord Ukrainian Catholic Church, 215-715-4871February 6Debutante Ball, Ukrainian American YouthParsippany, NJ Association, Sheraton Hotel, 212-473-3084February 6Baltimore, MDFebruary 13WashingtonFebruary 13Colebrook, CTFebruary 13Warren, MIFebruary 13Marina Del Rey, CAFebruary 20Phoenix, AZFebruary 20Phoenix, AZFebruary 25-28New YorkPub night, featuring live music, Dnipro UkrainianSports Club, 410-967-0501 or ukisteve@aol.comDebutante Ball, The Washington Group and theWashington School of Ukrainian Studies, L’EnfantPlaza Hotel, zabavadc@gmail.com or 800-635-5056Winterfest ice skating, Bobrivka, 860-883-1391 or203-932-4376 or www.bobriwka.orgDebutante Ball, Ukrainian Engineers’ Society ofAmerica – Detroit Branch, Ukrainian CulturalCenter, 734-717-0695Debutante Ball and Silent Auction, featuring musicby Zakhid, California Association to Aid Ukraine,Marriott Hotel, 800-228-9290Kaktus Kolomiyka Zabava, featuring music bySvitanok, Ukrainian National Women’s League ofAmerica, Country Inn and Suites, 480-991-4656or chrystia@cox.netWild West Ukie Fest, featuring the ZoriankaUkrainian Dance Ensemble of Edmonton, UkrainianNational Women’s League of America, Pinnacle HighSchool Auditorium, 480-991-4656or chrystia@cox.netKinofest NYC, The Ukrainian Museum,http://www.kinofestnyc.com/index.htmlEntries in “Out and About” are listed free of charge. Priority is given toevents advertised in The Ukrainian Weekly. However, we also welcome submissionsfrom all our readers. Items will be published at the discretion of theeditors and as space allows. Please send e-mail to mdubas@ukrweekly.com.

48THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2010No. 3Being Ukrainian means:o “Malanka” in January.o Deb in February.o Two Easters in springtime.o “Zlet” and “Sviato Vesny” in May.o Soyuzivka’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival in July.o “Uke Week” at Wildwood in August.o Back to Ukrainian school in September.o “Morskyi Bal” in New Jersey in November.o “Koliada” in December.o A subscription to The Ukrainian WeeklyALL YEAR ROUND.To subscribe to The Ukrainian Weekly, fill out the form below, clipit and mail it to: Subscription Department, The Ukrainian Weekly,2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054.Or simply call 973-292-9800, ext. 3042.PREVIEW OF EVENTSFriday, January 22NEW YORK: Yara Arts Group and theUkrainian Institute of America present thefestival “Yara 20 Years of Theater.” An exhibitof contemporary art inspired by Yara theaterpieces and texts will feature works by:Anya Farion, Annette Friedman, MayaHayuk, Roman Hrab, Petro Hrycyk, PeterIhnat, Shu Kubo, Margaret Morton, AndreaOdezynska, Marko Shuhan, Marybeth Wardand Andrea Wenglowskyj. Poets OlenaJennings, Krystia Lucenko, OksanaLutsyshyna, Vasyl Makhno, AskoldMelnyczuk and Candece Tarpley will readtheir own poetry, and dancers Inka Juslin andKatia Kolcio will perform in all the rooms ofthe Fifth Avenue mansion that is home to theUIA. General admission: $15. Programbegins at 8 p.m. at the UIA, 2 E. 79th St. atFifth Avenue. For information call212-288-8660.Saturday, January 23NEW YORK: Yara Arts Group and theUkrainian Institute of America present “Yara20 Years of Theater.” A gala concert will featureYara Arts Group performing poetry andsongs from Yara shows throughout the years.They will be joined by Julian Kytasty andMarusia Sonevytska’s Debutante Hour.Yara’s poetry texts will be interpreted by foodartist Olesia Lew. General admission: $25 (or$30 for both Friday and Saturday programs).The program begins at 8 p.m. at the UIA, 2E. 79th St. at Fifth Avenue. For informationcall 212-288-8660.BUFFALO, N.Y.: A Malanka, or traditionalUkrainian New Year party, will be held at theUkrainian Cultural Center Dnipro, 562Genesee St. Live music will be featured from9 p.m. to 1 a.m. by Vechirka of Rochester,N.Y. The event, sponsored by the UkrainianAmerican Youth Association, also includes amidnight buffet and a champagne toast.Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 for studentsup to age 18. For information callHelen Turyk, 716-741-3416, or JosephGrega, 716-668-2011.Sunday January 24NEW YORK: Yara Arts Group and theUkrainian Institute of America will present aspecial workshop in traditional Japanesepaper cutting with Shu Kubo, a major artistfrom Japan and an official special advisor forcultural exchange with Japan. This will be ahands-on workshop appropriate for schoolagechildren accompanied by adults. Theworkshop is free, but pre-registration isrequired since space is limited. To register forthis afternoon workshop contact Yara at212-475-6474 or yara@prodigy.net.Saturday, January 30NEW YORK: Music at the Institute presentsa joint recital by baritone Oleh Chmyr andpianist Victor Markiw. Mr. Chmyr will singselected art songs of Schumann, Schubert,Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky,Donizetti, Ravel, Liudkevych, Hulak-Artemovsky and Skory. Mr. Markiw will performworks of Hector Villa Lobos, AlexanderScriabin and Myroslav Skoryk. The concertbegins at 8 p.m. and will be followed by areception. The UIA is located at 2 E. 79th St.,corner of Fifth Avenue. General admission is$30; UIA members and seniors, $25; and students,$20. Advance tickets may be purchasedby sending a check or by calling theUIA at 212-288-8660.CARTERET, N.J.: St. Demetrius UkrainianOrthodox Cathedral and St. Mary’s UkrainianCatholic Church are co-sponsoring aMalanka, which will be held at the St.Demetrius Community Center, 681 RooseveltAve. Entertainment will be provided by FataMorgana. Tickets are $55, which includesadmission, choice of sirloin beef or chickencapon dinner, open bar, midnight horsd’oeuvres and a champagne toast. The St.Demetrius Center is located just blocks fromExit 12 of the New Jersey Turnpike. There isa Holiday Inn right off the exit. Doors willopen at 6 p.m. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m.and music starts at 8 p.m. For table and ticketsreservations contact Peter Prociuk,609-655-4468 or pprociuk@aol.com. Ticketswill not be sold at the door. Outside liquor isprohibited. Deadline for tickets is January 24.For more information visit www.stdemetriusuoc.org.Saturday, February 13LOS ANGELES: The California Associationto Aid Ukraine (CAAU) presents its Ball2010 and Presentation of Debutantes at theMarriott Hotel, Marina del Rey, Calif., minutesfrom downtown Los Angeles and LosAngeles International Airport. Donations andproceeds from the ball will benefit programsto aid needy children in Ukraine. Music willbe by Zakhid. A silent auction will featureUkrainian handicrafts, Hollywood memorabilia,jewelry, fine art and more. Tickets purchasedprior to February 6 are $95 for studentsand $110 for adults; after February 6and at the door – $125. For information contactLuba Keske, 818-884-3836, or caau_info@earthlink.net.PREVIEW OF EVENTS GUIDELINESPreview of Events is a listing of community events open to the public. It is aservice provided at minimal cost ($20 per listing) by The Ukrainian Weekly to theUkrainian community.Preview items must be received no later than one week before the desired date ofpublication. No information will be taken over the phone. Items will be publishedonly once, unless otherwise indicated. Senders are asked to include the phonenumber of a person who may be contacted by The Weekly during daytime hours,as well as their complete mailing address.Information should be sent to: preview@ukrweekly.com or Preview of Events,The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054; fax,973-644-9510. NB: If e-mailing, please do not send items as attachments;simply type the text into the body of the e-mail message.VACATION RENTALSIN LVIVBeautiful, spacious, very central,competitively priced.Available for daily, weekly, monthlyor long term lease.For photos and informationplease visit www.rentlviv.comContact Myron and Georges atlvivrent@rogers.comToronto - 416 248 9803