#80_1-8

DECEMBER 21, 2017 ISSUE No. 80 (1132)
Tel.: +38(044) 303-96-19,
fax: +38(044) 303-94-20
е-mail: time@day.kiev.ua;
http://www.day.kiev.ua
Dear readers, our next issue will be published on January 16, 2018
By Ivan KAPSAMUN, Valentyn TORBA,
The Day
Areal hybrid war is what the
world has come across in
the past few years. And
we must admit that
Western countries have
proved to be unprepared for this. In
spite of being backward, Russia is
really trying out a policy for which it
has been preparing for years and
which includes the latest tech niques
of influence. Unfortunately, our
country became the main battlefield
of Russian aggression. Ukraine is the
first to have seen “at full scale” what
a hybrid war is, with all of its com po -
nents: direct military ag gres sion,
the use of private military cam -
paigns, informational pro pa ganda,
diplomatic offensive, fueling a
hostile attitude on the part of the
neighbors along the whole perimeter
of borders, pri va ti zation of history
and heroes, etc.
“A year before committing an
open aggression against Ukraine,
Russia began to speak of a hybrid
war,” Yevhen MARCHUK, representative
of Ukraine in the security
subgroup of the Trilateral Contact
Group, writes on his FB page.
“Look, first of all, at the ratio of
non-military and military actions in
a hybrid war – 4 to 1 in favor of nonmilitary
actions [a definition of
what the ‘Gerasimov doctrine,’
which calls for a hybrid war on the
part of Russia, is can be found in
open sources, for example, in
wikipedia.org. – Author]. Arousing
fear and creating an atmosphere of
uncertainty is one of the basic components
of hybrid war. And let us
recall now the latest press conference
of Putin a few days ago, where
he said that ‘nationalist battalions
will carry out a massacre in the Donbas
when they come back there.’
This illustrates a well-synchronized
macro and micro levels of the special
operation to kindle fear among the
populace about the likely comeback
of the Kyiv ‘junta.’”
Photo by Oleksandr KLYMENKO
THE BLOOD
OF NOVOLUHANSKE
What should Ukraine and
the West do in response
to the Kremlin’s aggression?
■ COMMENTARY
Valentyn BADRAK,
director, Center for Army, Conversion
and Disarmament Studies:
“Speaking of a new institution
to study the hybrid war, I in fact
think we have enough of these institutions.
The question is in the
quality of their performance, especially
in such fields as information
campaigns, countering subversion,
and informational and psychological
influences. But we should take
into account that Russia has inhe -
rited its ambitions from the Soviet
Union’s traditions which had always
been of a large scale. Such entities
as, for example, Russia Today,
were established long ago. In
2005-10, about 30 entities entered
Ukraine alone, often in the guise of
editorial offices. For instance, the
office of the notorious Zatulin
existed in Kyiv even at the beginning
of the war. There are a lot of
examples like this. In particular,
RIA-Novosti used to organize quite
a few TV bridges to make Russian
politicians influence the Ukrainian
milieu. Let us recall the pacifistic
approach of Ukrainians to Russians
at the time when Russia was ‘spinning
the wheel of hatred’ toward
the so-called ‘Banderaites.’ The
Russian population was thus being
prepared for war. Surveys showed
in mid-2008 that two thirds of the
Russians considered Ukraine a hostile
state. Yet the Ukrainians were
told stories about ‘fraternal’ Russian
people. This was an attempt to
disarm us even at this level and to
dull our vigilance. This situation
cannot be changed in a short time.
The main problem is that there really
are quite a large number of people
in Ukrainian society, who are
convinced in the advantage of
Ukraine’s pro-Russian and pro-
Eastern development. This is a fertile
ground for the Kremlin to recruit
Ukrainian citizens inside our
country.
“The West has really awakened,
but it is prepared to defend itself on
the NATO borders. The West views
Ukraine as a buffer gray zone only.
Moreover, European countries are
not exactly rushing to arm Ukraine
because they are afraid of Russia’s
clout here. It is the stand of our
overseas partners, the US and Canada,
that can undo this knot. If this
occurs and we turn from a partner
into an ally, we will be able to receive
as much aid as Israel does,
and, accordingly, cooperation in
other sectors will reach an entirely
different level.”
Merry Christmas
2018
and a Happy New Year!

2
No.80 DECEMBER 21, 2017
DAY AFTER DAY
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day;
Mykola SIRUK
OnDecember 18, US President Donald
Trump unveiled a new national security
strategy, outlining the basic principles and
priorities of the nation’s foreign policy in
his administration’s time in power. The
document, which took 11 months to prepare, contains
68 pages. “With this strategy, we are calling for a great
reawakening of America, a resurgence of confidence,
and a rebirth of patriotism, prosperity, and pride,” the
resident of the White House described this document.
A number of media outlets have noticed that the
strategy echoes Trump’s campaign slogan of “America
first.” “We recognize that weakness is the surest path
to conflict and unrivaled power is the most certain
means of defense,” the head of state emphasized.
The document itself consists of four sections: protection
of the homeland, the Americans, and the
American way of life; promotion of America’s prosperity;
keeping peace through strength, and advancing
America’s influence.
● RUSSIA AND CHINA ARE
THE U.S.’S RIVALS
During his speech, Trump labeled Russia and China
as “rival powers.” According to the CNN, the document
referred to these two countries as those that
“challenge American power, influence, and interests,
attempting to erode American security and
prosperity.” “With its invasions of Georgia and
Ukraine, Russia demonstrated its willingness to violate
the sovereignty of states in the region,” the
strategy says. Also, the document draws attention to
Russia’s attempts to meddle in the American elections
in 2016. However, the American president stressed
during the speech that his nation needed to establish
“great partnerships” with both countries.
● THE DPRK PROBLEM
In addition, Trump mentioned such, as he said,
“rogue regimes” as North Korea and Iran. According
to the Voice of America, Trump called the challenge
of the DPRK a problem that would be dealt with.
● ECONOMIC SECURITY IS NATIONAL
SECURITY
The head of state also noted that for the first time
in such a document, economic security became an integral
part of national security. According to the CNN,
the document makes it clear that the slogan “America
first” is more than just a slogan; it is now a guiding
force in foreign policy making. The strategy
states: “The United States will no longer turn a blind
eye to violations, cheating, or economic aggression.”
● CLIMATE CHANGE
The media also noticed that the previous defense
strategy, unveiled by former US President Barack Obama
in 2015, called climate change “an urgent and growing
threat to national security.” At the same time,
Trump’s strategy references the “importance of environmental
stewardship” only in passing in a section
focused on “energy dominance.”
● MIGRATION
The president also addressed the border issue, reiterating
his idea of building a wall on the border with
Mexico and promising to put an end to the “chain migration”
of immigrants’ relatives and to close “loopholes
that undermine enforcement of immigration
restrictions.”
● REACTION OF THE MEDIA
The CNN writes that after Trump’s speech, a key
takeaway became evident: “the document may never
fully translate to the president’s words and actions.”
“While the national security strategy document refers
to Russia nearly two dozen times, criticizing its meddling
in other countries’ affairs and its attempts to undermine
the US, Trump referenced Russia only once,
alongside China, when he called both ‘rival powers.’”
Meanwhile, The New York Times believes that
“the disconnect between the president’s speech and
the analysis in his administration’s document attests
to the broader challenge his national security advisers
have faced, as they have struggled to develop
an intellectual framework that encompasses
Mr. Trump’s unpredictable, domestically driven, and
Twitter-fueled approach to foreign policy.”
The Voice of America reports, citing senior administration
officials, that, unlike previous strategies,
this document contains a “clear view” of the threats
and challenges facing the country.
“National security strategies are usually released
without fanfare, but President Trump wanted to
make an event out of it,” reads a comment by Barbara
Plett, a BBC correspondent. Meanwhile, the BBC article
“Trump’s National Security Strategy: A pragmatic
view of troubled world” states that the document
presents both “a decidedly more pessimistic view of the
world but nonetheless a markedly optimistic view of
America’s place in it.”
Meanwhile, the DW notes that “the strategy
from the Republican president could sharply alter US
international relationships if fully implemented.”
Former Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt wrote
on Twitter: “The previous US National Security Strategy
in 2015 favoured a ‘rules-based International order.’
That concept is totally absent from the new document.”
He also noted that the document mentions the
EU only in the context of “ensuring fair and reciprocal
trade practices and eliminating barriers to growth.”
● “FOR US, THE EMPHASIS
ON AGGRESSION OF RUSSIA
IS IMPORTANT”
REUTERS photo
What does Donald Trump’s
“principled realism” involve?
The Day experts opine on the US’s new defense strategy
By Olesia SHUTKEVYCH, Vinnytsia
On the New Year’s Eve Vinnytsia
looks especially nice in the photos
and its residents are making a good
advantage of it. Since the city’s
residents love taking photos, before
the New Year the city has been filled with new
interesting locations. On St. Nicholas’s Day
the New Year village has been launched at the
Oleksandr TSVIETKOV, americanist, Professor
at Borys Hrinchenko University of Kyiv:
“This is the first large-scale document of the
Trump administration to present its views on world
processes as seen from the standpoint of ‘America
first.’ It is based on the ideology of ‘principled realism’
– recognition of the factor of force in international
politics and assertion of the national sovereignty
A selfie with The Beatles in Vinnytsia
city’s Independence Square for a month’s time.
Three new houses are located in the venue, New
Year’s Workshop, A House of Tasty Things,
and New Year’s Residence. The areas for photo
shooting and a light installation have been established,
too.
During the New Year’s events a new location
will be functioning in the city, the Liverpool
Square, which was built this year. It includes
the Vinnytsia New Year’s Mail Service
as the best basis for peaceful development of the world
and the advancement of national interests.
“For us, the emphasis on aggression of Russia,
which demonstrates its intentions to undermine the
sovereignty of states in the region, is important. And
on the world stage, it intends to weaken the US position
in Europe, undermine transatlantic unity and
European institutions and governments.”
● “NOT EVERYTHING STATED IN THE
DOCUMENT ALIGNS WITH TRUMP’S
PERSONAL VISION”
Aliona HETMANCHUK, director of the New
Europe Center:
“By and large, the National Security Strategy is
an improved version of Trump’s election platform,
repackaged as a security vision. The main difference
is that while during the US presidential election,
Trump explained why his concept of ‘America first’
was the best strategy for Americans, in the national
security strategy, he tries to show why ‘America
first’ is the best strategy not only for the US, but for
the whole civilized world.
“A positive signal is that the document reflects
a certain departure from isolationism he declared
while campaigning. More emphasis is placed on
global engagement. However, it seems that global engagement
in Trump’s vision is based on strategic
competition rather than on strategic partnership
with some countries.
“Just like during the campaign, Trump has
made it very clear that he considers economic insecurity
the main threat to national security. For
Ukraine as well as for Europe as a whole, it is important
that the strategy clearly defines the significance
of Europe as understood by the White House:
‘The United States is safer when Europe is prosperous
and stable, and can help defend our shared interests.’
“It is also important that the strategy’s text reflects
the fact of the Russian invasions of Ukraine
and Georgia, as well as the current attempts by the
Kremlin to intimidate its neighbors. However, one
needs to see clearly that not everything stated in the
document aligns with Trump’s personal vision.
This was clearly seen once more during his presentation
of the strategy, when he substantially moderated
the wording of the document on Russia and
China: instead of the revisionist powers, as stated in
the text, they became just rivals with whom, according
to Trump, the US must build great partnerships.”
Photo courtesy of the author
Numerous interesting photo
locations have been established
in the city before the holidays
and interesting photo areas, where you can have
your photo taken with The Beatles and their
Yellow Submarine.
The fir-tree markets have been decorated in a
special way this year in Vinnytsia. At eight locations
where one can buy the symbol of the New
Year creative photo shooting areas have been established,
because apparently many visitors come
not as much to buy something as to take some pictures
and post them on social media.

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
DAY AFTER DAY No.80 DECEMBER 21, 2017 3
“You need to act through
‘agents of influence’”
Experts discussed with Andrei Sakharov’s
stepdaughter (daughter of Yelena Bonner)
Tatiana Yankelevich ways to improve
the image of Ukraine in the US
By Mykola SIRUK
Recently, a well-known human rights defender,
Andrei Sakharov’s stepdaughter (daughter of
Yelena Bonner) Tatiana Yankelevich, who
lives in the US, is an opponent of Vladimir
Putin’s regime and sincerely supports the
independence of Ukraine, was invited to a meeting of
an expert council on national security that was created
in 2014 on the initiative of the Center for Army,
Conversion, and Disarmament Studies. Yankelevich
is a fellow for the Cold War studies of the Weatherhead
Center for International Affairs and a department
member of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian
Studies at Harvard University.
The purpose of the event was to discuss the
prospects and potential of Ukraine in shaping its
image in the US and promotion of Ukrainian interests
in the media and public sphere, and to assess the risks
posed by pro-Russian ideas in the US. During the meeting
of the said expert council, it also discussed possible
concrete steps and further measures to be taken in
cooperation with the American public for the purpose
of forming a pro-Ukrainian environment in the US.
● “THE U.S. DOES NOT REALLY
UNDERSTAND THE IMAGE
OF UKRAINE”
In a conversation with Ukrainian experts, Yankelevich
said that the US did not really understand the image
of Ukraine. People there also do not have a clear
idea of the post-Soviet space, except for a small expert
community. “After the Maidan, Ukraine has had
very little coverage in the media,” she said.
Speaking about associations which the Russian
authorities evoke in the US, Yankelevich noted that
“everyone has grown used to the idea that Crimea will
stay Russian. I do not see any attempts by the US and
the West to change this situation, and without strengthening
sanctions, nothing will change,” she believes.
● “IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE
CONTACTS IN CONGRESS”
Yankelevich expressed her opinion that, first
and foremost, Ukraine needed to involve like-minded
people from the post-Soviet space in promoting its image
in the US or Europe. “Such people enjoy broad access
to European organizations, and they can be very
effective in shaping the pro-Ukrainian environment,”
she stressed.
However, she also noted: “I am an American citizen,
but not everyone will understand that I am very
knowledgeable about the situation, and, moreover,
some people may think that I am biased, and this can
be detrimental to the cause.”
Yankelevich said that she knew no journalists
who, having emigrated to the US, were commenting
on events in Russia, with the sole exception of Andrei
Piontkovsky, who had done so recently.
Therefore, in her opinion, it is important for
Ukraine to have contacts in Congress, to find people
who can hear and understand it there. She also believes
that Ukraine needs to act through agents of influence,
organizations such as the National Democratic Institute
or the PEN America, as well as through personal
contacts.
● “UKRAINE HAS EXPERIENCE
OF LOBBYING ITS INTERESTS”
Meanwhile, executive vice-president of the Congress
of Ethnic Communities of Ukraine Josef Zissels,
who was present at the meeting of the expert council,
reminded the council that Ukraine had some experience
of lobbying its interests in the US.
“In 2005, I participated in a coalition of friends
of Ukraine, and this contributed to the repeal of the
Jackson-Vanik amendment. I did this together with the
then Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oleh Shamshur.
I told him back then that we needed to maintain such
a coalition,” he said. According to him, at present, the
Atlantic Council of the US, which includes former ambassadors
of the US and experts specializing in
Ukraine, can be counted among friends of Ukraine. Also,
Zissels added, we had the experience of mobilizing
support from ethnic groups in Europe and America,
Photo by Vlad MASHKIN
and American ethnic minorities sending a letter to
Barack Obama to ask him to provide lethal weapons to
Ukraine is an example of that.
● “THE U.S. LACKS AN INTEGRATED
FOREIGN POLICY ON UKRAINE
AND RUSSIA”
Yankelevich’s assessment of the current government
in Washington is of interest as well: “I do not feel
that this administration can be relied on. It has lost its
bearings, so one should not expect it to have a serious
approach to anything. Donald Trump does not have a
coherent foreign policy, in particular regarding Russia
and the post-Soviet space. In general, I get the impression
that Trump is unreliable in every respect. He
is an empty suit filled with short slogans. Trump said
he had kept his election promise of recognizing
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I, meanwhile, from
the very beginning was skeptical about it ever being
100 percent fulfilled. This is so because his ideas and
actions change quickly, because he has no real convictions,”
said Yankelevich.
“As far I can see,” she said, “the current secretary
of state, Rex Tillerson, is a sound person who has a clear
idea of his job and could have directed Trump’s foreign
policy if he had any. Unfortunately, the US lacks an integrated
foreign policy on Ukraine and Russia.”
After the meeting, The Day asked Yankelevich to
tell us about the purpose of her trip to Ukraine and answer
a few questions.
● “UKRAINIANS ARE DIFFERENT”
“I came to Ukraine to participate in the Sakharov
days in Odesa. And I took this opportunity due to Vytautas
Magnus University (VMU) of Lithuania having
established the Andrei Sakharov Center for Democracy
Development. I was invited to open it after Vytautas
Magnus University asked for my consent and that of
my brother, as we own the name of Sakharov and copyright
to works by Sakharov and our mother Bonner.
And we gave that consent and received an invitation
to open the Sakharov Center, but my brother, unfortunately,
could not come. So I came, and they funded
my trip to Ukraine.”
How do you remember Andrei Sakharov, what
role did he play in your life?
“He played a very unique role in our life. Those
were tense, tragic, and at the same time happy years.
It was a great honor for us, for my husband and my
brother, that we were part of that struggle. We also
were part of the struggle to defend Sakharov in his
years of exile, extrajudicial and unprecedented isolation,
when he was subjected to cruel treatment and
violations of all his rights. So, we were part of the
Sakharov defense campaign, as I call it, and it was a
huge honor for us. As for the personal relationship, we
loved and deeply respected Sakharov.”
Why, despite having such a person who could influence
popular opinion, Russia did not listen to his
opinion, but entered a swamp anyway, as you put it
a year ago in a broadcast aired by a Ukrainian TV
channel?
At that point, Josef ZISSELS (who accompanied
Yankelevich to Radio Liberty’s office) intervened in
the interview: “When have such people been listened
to in Russia? He was being shut up, prevented from
speaking.”
T.Ya.: “It was an aggressive majority that did not
want to listen to a different opinion. And I do not know
why Russia went that way, into a swamp.”
J.Z.: “Why do you call it a swamp? It [Russia. –
Author] was moving down its usual path, that of a revanchist
empire. How else could it move?”
Could not they have chosen the path proposed by
Sakharov?
J.Z.: “Russia could not move down any other
path.”
T.Ya.: “I think it was the inertia of the post-Soviet
consciousness or, more precisely, the Soviet consciousness
that prevailed as a result of people fearing
everything unclear and unusual, fearing freedom.
Freedom is a responsibility, and I think that people
need to mature to accept it.”
Read more on our website
“To understand the essence and
peculiarities of NATO from within”
How the North Atlantic Council meeting was simulated in Lviv
By Dmytro PLAKHTA, The Day, Lviv
“...and that is why we believe that NATO
member states must jointly counter modern cyberthreats.
I have finished, Mr. Chairman.”
“Thank you, Ms. Representative of the Federal
Republic of Germany. Does anyone have any
suggestions or additions? Now, the delegate of the
United States of America has the floor…”
No, the quote above comes not from a meeting
at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, but
from a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in...
Lviv, held with the participation of local college
and school students who played the role of delegates
from the Alliance’s member nations. On December
8-9, a simulation game called Model
NATO-2017 was conducted there.
The Model NATO is a game designed by the
team of the Institute of Public Initiatives NGO.
For four years, activists have been engaging in informal
education, in particular, in simulation
games, as they have been holding Model UN and
Model Council of Europe events. “This is the first
time that we are organizing a simulated meeting
of the North Atlantic Alliance’s Council. We have
support from the Lviv Oblast State Administration
and the Ukrainian Catholic University in that
effort,” noted Vitalii SERHIICHUK, a project
manager of the Institute for Public Initiatives and
coordinator of the Model NATO-2017.
● A GAME THAT DEVELOPED INTO
AN EDUCATIONAL TRADITION
The first attempts to imitate the activities of
international organizations took place back in the
1920s, when the League of Nations was still active.
A full-fledged movement modeling activities
of international and national institutions originated
in the 1950s in the US. At first, American
college students simulated the work of the US Senate,
and then moved to simulating the activities
of international organizations. The first model UN
event took place at Harvard in 1953. On that occasion,
students thought that their lesson about
the UN had not been informative enough. They
decided to hold a game that later developed into
an entire educational tradition.
A model UN event is, in essence, a synthesis
of a scholarly conference and a role-playing game,
in which college and high school students recreate
the work of the organization’s bodies, gaining
diplomatic, leadership, oratorical skills and the
ability to reach a compromise in the process.
“We tell all of our participants an interesting
fact: former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
also participated in model events in his student
years and became the best delegate on occasion,”
said Serhiichuk. “This educational movement already
has a long tradition, which is supported by
many organizations and universities. We, in
turn, are trying to develop it in Ukraine.”
● “THIS FORMAT ACTIVATES
CRITICAL THINKING AND CREATES
UNDERSTANDING OF UKRAINE’S
REAL CONDITION”
The purpose of the Model NATO-2017 is to increase
Lviv youths’ awareness on issues of security,
national defense, contemporary challenges,
international cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration
in the context of strengthening the
NATO-Ukraine dialog. The practical part of the
event aims to simulate a meeting of the North Atlantic
Council, with the roles of delegates performed
by Lviv college and school students.
“The NATO issue is extremely relevant for
Ukraine today,” stressed the project’s coordinator
Serhiichuk. “It is very important today to educate
young people on all international issues so
that they can properly form their vision of
Ukraine’s strategic development. It will also
contribute to the formation of critical thinking
and alter their perception of news, in particular,
by creating greater resistance to information manipulation.
Thanks to the model, people can better
understand the essence and peculiarities of
NATO from within.
“For example, after the first day of work and
discussions in the format of the North Atlantic
Council, one of the participants criticized the body
for failing to reach any concrete results throughout
the day. But this just reflected the way it really
happens when there are a lot of questions on
the agenda and the procedure needs to be carefully
observed. When someone will later say in the news
that NATO is ineffective and does nothing, all
such claims must be seen through the prism of personal
realization why this organization works the
way it does. You see, it is a long and complicated
process which seeks to take into account the interests
of individual member states and reach a
consensus on resolving a particular issue.”
The agenda of the Model NATO’s participants
included a number of topical issues. They were cybersecurity,
and the relocation of the US Embassy
in Israel to Jerusalem, and the nuclear threat from
North Korea, and a comprehensive discussion of
NATO competences and the effectiveness of this
organization. Of course, the topic of Ukraine’s potential
accession to the North Atlantic Alliance
was also raised. “Does NATO need Ukraine? The
participants sought answers to this question
from the standpoints of the Alliance’s 29 members,”
we heard from Serhiichuk, who served as
moderator at the meeting of the Council as well.
“The format of Model NATO activates critical
thinking and creates understanding of Ukraine’s
real condition and place on the geopolitical map.
Yes, not all delegates always reached conclusions
that would please Ukraine. After all, Ukraine’s
position is still far from clear to all members of
the Alliance. This gives us an opportunity to review
what Ukraine really needs to correct in its
activities and how to reach our goal.”
Before the simulation game itself, its participants
are given the task of studying the country
they represent, identifying its priorities and
interests. “Having realized all the nuances of a certain
country’s policy, one can then come to a conclusion
why it acts in the international arena as
it does,” the moderator continued. “The participants
in our model events are people who forget
for two days how old they are and what are their
personal positions, because their job is to represent
the delegation of a particular country. This
is a great practice for the development of debate
and diplomatic skills. It will be useful not only for
those who intend to work in international relations.
Before simulating the North Atlantic
Council, we prepared our participants by practicing
games with elements of negotiation and
leader teamwork. It is important for our delegates
to learn how to cooperate, because they will
write a final communique at the end of the model
event, which should be adopted unanimously.”
● “IT IS IMPORTANT TO STUDY
AND DISCUSS ALL ISSUES
IN THE CONTEXT OF NATO”
When talking to The Day, the Model NATO’s
participants expressed their appreciation of the
importance of such an educational event both in
the context of gaining a better understanding of
the peculiarities of the North Atlantic Alliance
and in terms of acquiring useful practical skills.
Oleksandr KAPETS, who studies at the Law
Faculty of Franko University of Lviv, has repeatedly
participated in simulation games. He had
this to say about the Model NATO: “Since Ukraine
has a strong intention to join the North Atlantic
Alliance, college and high school students need to
devote more time to studying the subject. In the
future, we want to become members of that organization,
but public awareness of it is still at a
low level. It is therefore important to study and
discuss all issues in the context of NATO.
“Simulation games allow one to deepen one’s
knowledge and gain practical experience. It is also
a way to broaden one’s knowledge of international
topics and not only them. Each participant
analyzes in detail a particular nation, studying its
culture and politics. They identify its interests and
generally begin to better understand the specifics
of international relations.”
In the end, the Model NATO-2017’s coordinator
Serhiichuk emphasized: “Such events are
also good networking opportunities, because
they bring together many interesting, above-average
people. This simulation ‘bubble’ allows
them to establish certain connections in two
days. Our model events often give rise to projects
which the participants go on to jointly implement
later. This is our first project in such a format,
which is devoted to the theme of NATO. After
summing up its results, we will, if it turns
out to be a success, continue to develop the Model
NATO, and beyond Lviv as well.”

4
No.80 DECEMBER 21, 2017
TOPIC OF THE DAY
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day
Sumy residents are getting acquainted
with the NATO security formula
Ukraine should give more positive signals
Hanna Hopko on the results
of the visit to Washington
Last week a Ukrainian parliamentary
delegation, including
Chairperson of the Foreign
Affairs Committee Hanna Hopko,
visited the US. This visit
coincided with a lot of good news for
Ukraine: President Trump signed the
next year’s defense budget that
provides for 350-million-dollar-worth
aid to Ukraine, and the government of
Canada approved putting Ukraine on
the Automatic Firearms Country
Control List. Meanwhile, not so good
news kept coming from Ukraine itself,
such as the ongoing conflict between
the National Anticorruption Bureau
and the Prosecutor General’s Office
and the court hearing in the case of
Mikheil Saakashvili, ex-president of
Georgia and leader of the New Forces
Movement political party.
Hanna HOPKO, Chairperson of
the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine’s Foreign
Affairs Committee, spoke to The
Day about the purpose and the results
of the visit to Washington.
“The visit was part of the campaign
to enlist support for the
Ukraine Investment Plan which we
and a Lithuanian team have been actively
promoting since March this
year in Warsaw, London, Paris,
Berlin, Washington, and, twice, in
Brussels. It is the so-called Marshall
Plan, a plan of Western support for
Ukraine that provides for growthstimulating
investments in the real
sector of the economy.
“During the negotiations at the
World Bank, we said it was necessary
to check up on the political commitments
the G7 countries took after the
Revolution of Dignity – 25.5 billion
dollars through bilateral projects and
the International Monetary Fund. As
Canada is going to assume the G7
presidency next year, it is time to review
the utilization of funds, find out
why Ukraine failed to use some of
them, and to decide what sectors
should be of top priority.
“Meeting representatives of the
Senate, the House of Representatives,
the State Department, and the analytical
circles that form the policies of
the US administration, we set ourselves
a goal to promote a political decision
on supporting the so-called
Ukraine Investment Plan. This can be
done by way of political signals that
the US could send to the rest of the
countries in order to reappraise the financial
aid given and to be given to
Ukraine.
“Taking into account that, while
we were in the US, President Donald
Trump signed the defense budget
which envisions 350-million-dollar aid
to Ukraine, it was also important for
us to discuss the implementation of a
law on sanctions, including the energy
package. The very passage of this
law has in fact helped stop Nord
Stream 2, but now we want the Trump
Administration to speed up the implementation
and disclose the list of the
Russian top officials in President
Putin’s inner circle, who were involved
in various crimes.
“I would like to thank the Lithuanian
team, our friends, including
Mr. Andrius Kubilius and MP Zygimantas
Pavilionis, representative of
Lithuania’s foreign ministry. Lithuania
recently passed the Magnitsky
Act. We discussed this, for the
Ukrainian parliament is going to debate
on a bill about expanding sanctions
against Russia and passing the
Magnitsky Act. This should be done in
order to establish the responsibility of
human rights abusers for financing
the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine
and to enable Ukraine to join the US,
Canada, and Lithuania, which have
passed the Magnitsky Act.
“We also discussed a humanitarian
issue with our American colleagues:
releasing the people who were
detained and are kept in pretrial jails
or POW camps in the occupied Donbas,
the annexed Crimea, or Russia.
We said this is a topical question now.
The city is the first after Kyiv
to host a thematic exhibition
By Alla AKIMENKO, Sumy
The exhibition is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the
signing of the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership
between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and is entitled “NATO-Ukraine: The
Security Formula.” The display was created with the
support of the NATO Information and Documentation Center
in Ukraine, the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine, and
the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center.
Director of the NATO Information and Documentation
Center in Ukraine Barbora Maronkova and head of the Sumy
“As for supplying Ukraine with
lethal weapons, the impression is we
are approaching some kind of political
decision. This coincided with Canada’s
decision to allow selling defensive
lethal weapons to Ukraine.
“In their turn, our partners were
saying clearly that, to be able to promote
Ukraine’s interests more effectively,
they want to have more positive
news and see efficient independent
anticorruption institutions –
there must be no pressure, for example,
on the newly-established National
Anticorruption Bureau. These institutions
should be professional. In both
the House of Representatives and the
Senate, our allies strongly advised us
to speed up reforms, emphasizing that
the amount of aid to Ukraine will depend
on our domestic ability to meet
the existing international commitments,
including those to the IMF.
“We discussed such a very important
question as the bill on cooperation
with Ukraine in cybersecurity.
This document, drawn up by 22 coauthors,
is now being studied by the Subcommittee
on Europe, Eurasia, and
New Menaces of the Foreign Affairs
Committee. This law will help the government
of Ukraine improve its strategy
of cybersecurity, particularly, in
such fields as installation of the most
up-to-date security updates on public
administration computers. These software
protection systems are aimed at
protecting critical infrastructure objects,
reducing Ukraine’s dependence
on Russian technologies, developing
our own cybersecurity capacities, and
participating in international efforts
to ward off cyber threats.
“We also propagated (I have personally
been doing so for a long time)
the idea of a visit to Ukraine by President
Donald Trump or Vice President
Mike Pence, and of a meeting of the
intergovernmental commission set up
by President Kuchma and the then US
Vice President Albert Gore as an effective
mechanism of discussing bilateral
issues.
“I also met representatives of the
Voice of America, Radio Liberty, and
their TV corporation. We discussed
the importance of countering Russian
propaganda not only in Ukraine, but
also in all the neighboring Russianspeaking
countries. Incidentally,
what can eventually reduce the Kremlin’s
influence in the Eastern European
region is the parliamentary elections
in Moldova in 2018 and the concerted
efforts of the US and Germany
to rebuff the threats and challenges
which are possible, in particular, due
to Putin’s impact on elections. We also
spoke frankly about the importance
of 2019. For one of the Kremlin’s
strategies is to win here via its client
parties – from the Opposition Bloc to
Medvedchuk’s followers. For this reason,
the improvement of people’s social
wellbeing and the fulfillment of
their expectations are very important.”
What is our American partners’
attitude to the idea of giving Ukraine
the so-called “Marshall Plan” and
lethal weapons?
Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day
Oblast State Administration Mykola
Klochko took part in the
opening of the exhibition.
Maronkova conducted a free
tour, with most of its participants
being Sumy college students. NA-
TO’s history as an organization;
background and facts of NATO
support for Ukrainian soldiers;
the NATO program “Science for
Peace and Security”; exhibition
“Heroes of Ukraine – participants
of the NATO Mission”; NATO
standard first-aid kits – this information
and more will be available
to visitors of the exhibition,
which is the first for Sumy.
“We strive to convey the
NATO ideas to the broadest possible
audience, to acquaint people
with the practical features of the
organization’s work. But most
importantly, we aim to dispel
many myths about NATO that
still exist in Ukrainian society, to
tell people how and why NATO responds to security challenges
in Ukraine and in the world,” Maronkova said.
“Despite the fact that the Sumy oblast has historically bordered
on Russia – the aggressor country, the mood of people here
is pro-European,” noted head of the Sumy Oblast State Administration
Klochko. “According to public opinion surveys, 69 percent
of the region’s residents support Ukraine joining the EU,
and 60 percent of them support Ukraine joining NATO. And this
is so despite the fact that ours is a northeastern region of Ukraine.
I am grateful to organizers for holding such an exhibition, which
helps to show people that the European choice is the only correct
one for Ukraine, and that accession to NATO is a well-thoughtout
and justified decision, which has already been made by other
countries that were formerly constituent parts of the USSR.”
■ The exhibition can be visited at the congress center of
Sumy State University at 2, Pokrovska Street until December 22
inclusive, and then at the university’s library at 2, Rymskoho-
Korsakova Street.
“As for the lethal weapons, the political
will of many statesmen is
prompting them to approve a positive
decision.
“As for the Marshall Plan, Lindsay
Graham, for example, said clearly
that they have a law on resisting Russian
aggression and that he is very
well aware of why the US should give,
say, 20 million dollars and send a political
signal to the Group of Seven. He
says it is a necessary thing, taking into
account the danger of populism, a
revanche of the pro-Russian forces,
and the fact that what really matters
to people are reforms and visual results,
such as an improved infrastructure,
new roads, trains, etc. So he
knows why this is needed and says
they are ready to consider this.
“At the World Bank, we were
clearly told: improve your investment
capability in order to utilize more effectively
the funds you have already
received, take an inventory of the government,
attract new people, and invest
in them to utilize the already given
funds (600 million dollars from
the World Bank and 400 million euros
from the European Investment Bank
for agrarians). The organization emphasized
that it would be prepared to
launch new programs only when we
showed a more rapid rate of funds
withdrawal. In particular, the World
Bank will help carry out the medical
reform and consolidate achievements
in the pension and education reforms
as well as in privatization.
“Everything depends on us. They
were saying clearly that Ukraine
should give more positive signals and
that we should stop trying to destroy
anticorruption achievements, for this
gives us no greater opportunities.
“To tell the truth, if we had a
faster pace of reforms, we could seriously
discuss the NATO MAP [Membership
Action Plan. – Ed.] with the
US, and the latter could become our
advocate in this matter. If we fulfilled
the Association Agreement by not 20
but at least 70 percent, had no setbacks
in the anticorruption struggle,
and saw a more rapid ‘de-oligarchization,’
we would not have to argue with
the EU about whether or not to mention
the prospects of our membership
in the declaration – we would be saying
in no uncertain terms that the Association
Agreement is working and
we need the next step – to begin to really
discuss our membership. So, we
were given clear signals in many aspects
that if we want the West to do
more for us, we must demonstrate our
readiness.
“As for the security component,
there is a chance to receive the abovementioned
350 million dollars from
the US defense budget. This may be
unfair, on the one hand, but, on the
other, this is the reality. This aid will
not reach Ukraine until we fulfill the
150-million-worth part of the demands,
including parliamentary and
civilian control and a civilian minister
of defense. In other words, 50 percent
of 150 million is given straight
away, while the rest will only be made
available if Ukraine meets concrete
demands.”
When can we expect President
Trump or Vice President Pence to visit
Kyiv?
“I think they can be expected to do
so next year. We don’t need a nominal
visit. We need a visit that will produce
concrete results – for example, a
peacekeeping mission, with due observation
of Ukraine’s all red lines, the
supply of lethal weapons, or a new
huge package of direct foreign investments
(for example, an agreement
with General Electric is being finalized
now). The US is also very important
to us as far as energy is concerned
– the first shipment of LNG
has already arrived in Ukraine, the
construction of Nord Stream 2 has
been stopped, but there must be next
steps. In particular, the US should
continue to stay in touch with Germany
in order to finally block Nord
Stream 2 in spite of the attempts of all
kinds of top-level lobbyists.”

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
TOPIC OF THE DAY No.80 DECEMBER 21, 2017 5
By Dmytro DESIATERYK, The Day
You can shower Aki Kaurismaki
(who turned 60 this year) with
compliments, and yet you will
not overstate anything. In a
nutshell, Kaurismaki’s talent
is unique because his films are social in
topics, perfect in form, funny and
moving in emotional contents. This
combination is unattainable for other
renowned filmmakers of today. He
looks at the reality soberly and at the
same time sympathetically. He hates
government, the police, and the
unprincipled capitalists. His protagonists
are proletarians, farmers, small
business owners, freaks or tramps, the
ordinary folks, the (Finnish) Everyman.
They fight in some or other way
for their own truth, and they often win.
His humor is as reserved as it is
appropriate. His actors’ gestures and
lines are as laconic as can be, and their
characters are perfectly tailored.
This is fully applies to Kaurismaki’s
new work The Other Side of Hope
(Germany – Finland), which got the
Silver Bear for Best Director at the recent
Berlin Film Festival.
The Other Side of Hope tells the
story of a Syrian refugee Khaled
(Sherwan Haji) who is trying to find
shelter in Finland and is at the same
time looking for his sister. Kaurismaki
has already covered the theme of illegal
migrants (Le Havre, 2011), but
here it is revealed in more detail, with
active immigrant protagonists. The
movie somewhat resembles Kaurismaki’s
most titled film The Man Without
a Past (2002, Grand Prix at the
Cannes Festival): it also features an
unlucky traveler who is attacked by
hoodlums (skinheads in The Other
Side of Hope) and receives help from
ordinary citizens; there is even a dog
which, like in The Man, makes friends
with the protagonist.
Parallel to Khaled’s adventures,
another plot unfolds in which a few
Finns try to set up a successful restaurant
business. The author spares no
sarcasm for his fellow countrymen.
The result is utterly funny: dialogs
and comical situations (with totally
impassive countenances of the characters)
have always been Kaurismaki the
screenwriter’s strong point. Importantly,
the director succeeded in depicting
the migrant characters (which
was doubtlessly a challenge, because
in such cross-cultural settings there is
always a risk that the plot, related to
an obscure culture, might not be true
to life). However, both Finns and
Arabs in Kaurismaki’s film are convincing.
As for the movie’s audiovisual
matter, its deep, picturesque
chiaroscuros, its mesmerizing oldfashioned
film format and its brilliant
soundtrack, saturated with top-class
blues and rock-n-rolls, were a sight for
sore eyes among the pompous boredom
of European art house.
The Other Side of Hope has a happy
end, and this is not just for happy
end’s sake; it is a conscious gesture of
the artist who is passionate about this
world’s injustice and yet has faith in
mankind.
● “I COULDN’T CUT WOOD,
THAT’S ALL”
This is your second film in a
planned trilogy about port cities, after
Le Havre. What are you hopes for
this project?
“Since I’m basically absolutely
lazy, I have to make a trilogy to do
something. I couldn’t cut wood, that’s
all. And then it suddenly came, I
turned from my harbor trilogy to a
refugee trilogy. Now it’s not a harbor
trilogy anymore, it’s a refugee trilogy,
and I hope that one will be a happy
comedy.”
You said earlier that you wanted
to change the audience’s perspective
about refugees.
AKI KAURISMAKI
HUMANITY
The Other Side of Hope
by Aki Kaurismaki premieres in Ukraine
“I was very modest starting with
changing the audience. In fact, I want
to change the world (laughs). But my
manipulative abilities are not good
enough, so I think I have to limit it to
changing Europe. We’ll start with
Europe, then we’ll go to Asia.”
Is it really possible to change the
mind of the Finnish people or, let’s
say, the right-wing parties that are
coming up in Europe? To tell them
that these are people, they want to
work, they want to live, and if we give
them the chance, maybe they’ll teach
us something interesting, like the
multi-culti restaurant in your movie?
“Yeah, of course everybody has to
have dreams, and I have a dream. At
first I wanted to change the minds of
Finnish people, and I might or might
not succeed. But when suddenly to
Finland, which is fairly a one-people
country, came 30,000 young Iraqis,
the young Finnish, and all the
Finnish men took it as a war. ‘Someone
was attacking us, like Russia 50
or 60 years ago.’ And the attitude towards
the refugees was unbearable,
in my opinion: that they will steal my
new car, or something. If not my car,
then the brush with which I polish my
car, but anyway, they’ll steal something.
And I certainly didn’t like to
see that kind of attitude in my compatriots.
“But the question about the
restaurant interests me more. Jean
Renoir said that with his La Grande Illusion
he tried to stop the Second
World War. Later he said, ‘It was a
lousy failure, I couldn’t stop it.’ Cinema
doesn’t have such influence. But
I’m honest trying to force these three
people who go to see this film to realize
that we are all same, we are all human,
and tomorrow it will be you who
will be the refugee.”
What do you think of the Islamization
of Europe?
“Can you repeat the last part of
the sentence please?”
REUTERS photo
■ The Day’s FACT FILE
Aki KAURISMAKI (b. April
4, 1957, Orimattila) is a
Finnish film director, screenwriter,
and producer, younger
brother of director Mika Kaurismaki.
Aki was a third child in the
family. Before becoming a film
director, he was a dishwasher and
mailman. He began his career in
the movies as his older brother
Mika’s assistant. Kaurismaki’s
style took shape under the influence
of such directors as Jean-
Pierre Melville, Rainer Werner
Fassbinder, and Robert Bresson.
The action of most of his films is
set in his home city, Helsinki.
Kaurismaki gained worldwide
renown with his film
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
(1989). Black comedy The Man
Without a Past won the Grand
Prix at the Cannes Film Festival
in 2002 and was nominated for
Oscar as the best foreign language
film in 2003. In February
2017, Kaurismaki’s drama The
Other Side of Hope was awarded
the Silver Bear for the best director.
After the closing of the Berlinale
Kaurismaki announced
plans to end his movie career,
saying this was his last film.
Since 1981, Kaurismaki has
been married to painter Paula
Oinonen, the couple have no children.
Together with his brother
Mika, Kaurismaki co-owns the bar
Corona in Helsinki. Almost in all of
his movies the leading women roles
are played by Kati Outinen.
Photo from the website KINOAFISHA.UA
IN THE FILM THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE, FATE BRINGS TOGETHER KHALED, A SYRIAN REFUGEE, AND WIKSTROEM,
A FORMER TRAVELING SALESMAN, WHO SPENT ALL HIS MONEY TO BUY A LOSS-MAKING EATERY
Islamization of Europe.
“Islamization?”
Islamization, yes. I mean…
“Because Iceland was a bit cool at
football once doesn’t mean it has to be
the ‘Icelandization of Europe.’ I don’t
know who wrote that thing once, after
the Second World War: ‘when they
took my neighbor I didn’t say a word,
when they took my cousin I didn’t say
a word, when they took my mother I
didn’t say a word, and when they took
me, there wasn’t anybody to say anything
because I was the last one.’
Maybe Stefan Zweig.
“So I can’t see any Islamization in
Europe. It’s a normal cultural changing
which we need, because our blood is
getting thick. Let’s go back to Sevilla in
1492. Total peace with all the religions
and everything. Business went well for
everybody, and then Isabella I and Ferdinand
II decided that we had to get
‘them’ out [Kaurismaki means the expulsion
of the Jews from Spain, Sardinia,
and Sicilia by a special royal decree of
1492. – Ed.] And we rushed everybody
out. We can make laws to hide the
crimes we made behind the laws.”
In this context, why did you
choose this title? What did you
mean?
“I never meant anything in my
life. I had a working title called
‘Refugee,’ which is a very clear title,
but it’s not very poetic. The husband of
my assistant found somewhere a twothousand-year
old Greek poem, The
Other Side of Hope. It changes a bit the
meaning in Finnish to German to English.
Three meanings, and I thought
okay, let’s try it, and then I was too lazy
to change it to Hitchcock style.”
● “ACTORS SHOULD ACT,
AND THE CAMERA IS
AN ENEMY OR A FRIEND”
What is your method of working
with actors? What do you want from
them?
“What I want from actors is not to
move too much, shaking their hands
like windmills. And of course I choose
them for their handsome faces. Actors
should act, and the camera is an enemy
or a friend. If you can act, it’s a
friend, if you can’t, it’s an enemy.”
How did you select actors for this
particular movie?
“Me and Saku [Sakari Kuosmanen,
leading actor in Kaurismaki’s
films over the last 30 years. – Author]
met each other on board a steamship
and there were 70 people on the ship
and only him and me were standing
up. We might have a bottle with us
but it’s a rumor. And as he says, I said
that since you stand alcohol so well I
have to write you a role, and I did. I
did nine roles. And with Sherwan and
Simon [Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon, another
Arab actor in The Other Side of
Hope. – Author] I was just lucky.”
And the last question: What
makes refugees and immigrant such an
important theme personally for you?
“Because such attitude towards
them is a crime against Europe. Look
at the last century: we don’t have any
culture of humanity, and all that
there is, is some kind of democratic organization,
and now it’s falling to
pieces in 10 years because, because
we’re no good. Because our culture is
just one millimeter of dust. I showed
us… In this sense I respect Ms. Merkel
for being the only politician who
seems to be at least interested in the
problem. All the rest play their games.
This was not a political statement.
“Sixty years ago we had 60 million
refugees as we do today. And it’s only
then we helped them, and now they are
enemies. So where the hell is our humanity?
Because if you don’t have humanity
for a friend, you cannot exist
as well. If we are not humans, who the
hell are we then?”

6
No.80 DECEMBER 21, 2017
CULT URE
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
ANDRII MENTUKH’S PATH
By Liubomyr MEDVID
Illustrations from
Andrii MENTUKH’s archive
Oleksandr Arkhypenko
once said: “My art is an
expression of longing
for something which I
myself cannot define.
Most certainly, my greatest
longing is my lost Fatherland.” I do
not know if Andrii Mentukh would
agree; I do not know his attitude
towards this great sculptor. I just
do not recall us talking about
Ukrainian genius.
Yet I am deeply convinced that
Mentukh’s personality was shaped
not by the comfort of a predictable
carefree youth or a life that resembled
a bed of roses. He has known
plenty of trials, suffering, choices,
hesitations, and temptations. He is
another vivid example of a genuine
artistic talent, which most typically
rises and flourishes in troubled
times, while in hothouse conditions
it mostly degenerates and dies.
Andrii Mentukh was born in
1929 in Kariv, a village halfway between
Lviv and Sokal. When he was
only 15, he was warned by a fellow
villager that the Soviet secret police
suspected him to have contacts with
insurgents and were looking for
him. The teenager had to make a
most complicated, decisive choice.
Renowned artist
becomes nominee
for the Shevchenko
Prize for his cycles
Man in Images 1,
Man in Images 2, and
Man in Images 3
Either to go home, get caught by
the NKVD officers, and accompany
his parents and younger brother to
a camp somewhere near Vorkuta in
the far north, or to forget the path
to his house, cross the infamous
Curzon Line, and take a step into
the dangerous and unknown future,
undressed and empty-handed.
The teen chose for the latter. He
was lucky: he did not get lost and
finally he was able to find allies.
There, among insurgents from
Danyliv, he grew up and matured
as an agent responsible for information
and communications. He
was to experience dangers and unrest,
the darkness of tiny hide-outs,
the despair after the defeat of
Ukrainian armed resistance, and
survive a serious injury. And when
his underground period came to an
end, he was able to avoid what
seemed unavoidable: to get out
from the war-scorched Zakerzonnia,
torn and bleeding from fratricidal
clashes, and get to the north
of Poland unharmed.
Mentukh found himself in Gdansk.
It was a story of a miraculous
survival in a hostile environment,
among suspicion, under unbearable
conditions where human life, freedom,
and dignity were not worth a
red cent.
He has survived, but he missed
his Fatherland. Mentukh paid a very
high prize to redeem himself, and
the dearest and scariest that lurked
in him was called memory. I would
also call it longing. And this longing
was even worse because he could not
overcome it otherwise than by constant,
external and internal struggle,
a one-man contest for his own
self, his dignity, honor, and devotion
to his Ukrainian name.
Against the backdrop of the volcanic
landscape between reality and
memory, Mentukh could not but
grow into maturity as an artist, a
painter with a principled conscience
on the edge of the past and future.
Only in the sphere of art did fate
promise him an ability to speak from
beyond the threshold of his forced
silence, to manifest the sense of human
life adventure with its good
and bad, victories and failures, despicability
and beauty, and the unattainable
universal fatherland,
which resembled both a dream and a
mirage at the same time.
Mentukh was to become a
painter. He deserved this by victoriously
growing through calamities,
just like Arkhypenko, rising, gaining
the right to express himself in
the lofty realms of truth, beauty,
and humanity.
As soon as he adapted to the new
environment, concealing (sometimes
on the verge of failure) the

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
CULT URE No.80 DECEMBER 21, 2017 7
truth of the path that had led him to
the tereny odzyskane (Polish for
“regained territories”), Mentukh
became a student of the secondary
art school in Gdynia. Upon graduation
he went for master’s degree in
Gdansk, which he received from
the local Academy in 1959. Later
he was able to become an adjunct
(and later, a senior lecturer) at the
Academy’s department of drawing
and painting. (By the way, he did
not even try to earn professorship,
being very realistic about his political
past). Instead, he plunged into
creativity.
He actively participated in numerous
exhibits in Gdansk, Warsaw,
Krakow, and other Polish
cities.
Mentukh always needed to
stand up for his right for creative
and personal freedom, even as the
Polish security service kept an eye
on him, following his activities
closely up to 1984. However, Mentukh’s
prudent behavior and artistic
talent helped him a lot to protect
himself, establish and defend his
creative standpoint.
He organized a series of personal
exhibits in Bucharest, Sofia,
Moscow, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and
Pont Levin, making a worthy contribution
to Polish painting. His
paintings find their way to the museums
of Warsaw (the National Museum),
Szczecin, Gdansk, Opole, to
the depositories of the Polish Ministry
of Culture etc. The name of
Mentukh, an outstanding author of
original paintings, appears next to
the names of most outstanding Polish
artists. His individual artistic
hand, unique form-shaping style are
maturing, becoming more and more
convincing and at the same time retain
their iconic simplicity, delicacy,
and deep mysteriousness. Mentukh
becomes a notable figure in
Polish culture, and brilliant
prospects are ready to open to him
but for his Ukrainian spirit, which
the artist never gave up, and would
never do so, no matter how life
treated him.
He boldly defies political surveillance
and takes an active part in
the life of the Ukrainian diaspora in
Poland. Mentukh works on scenography
for the Festivals of Ukrainian
Culture in Sopot, becomes active in
Ukrainian communities, paints the
portraits of Taras Shevchenko,
Lesia Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, Ukrainian
Hetmans, and designs the
covers and front pages of five yearly
Ukrainian Calendars. All mentioned
above is but a small part from
Mentukh’s contribution to the activities
of our diaspora in Poland.
And it is just such a part which cannot
fully soothe his nostalgia for his
lost Fatherland with its eternal
problems and its unique, centuriesold
archetype.
After the collapse of the USSR,
Mentukh becomes most actively involved
in Ukrainian artistic life. In
1989 (together with the unforgettable
Emmanuil Mysko) he chairs
the jury and participates in the International
Biennial Impreza in
Ivano-Frankivsk; he chaired the
jury of this cultural project in the
years to follow, 1991-93; he becomes
honorary member of the National
Union of Artists of Ukraine;
he wins Vasyl Stus Award and coorganizers
the exhibition of contemporary
Ukrainian art in Kyiv
and in Polish cities; he takes part
in the exhibition at the Pivdenny
Khrest (Southern Cross) at the
Odesa Literary Museum, as part of
the Festival of the Association of
Ukrainian Writers; he holds personal
exhibits at the Lviv National
Gallery of Arts, the Andrii Sheptytsky
National Museum of Lviv,
twice at the National Art Museum
in Kyiv, at the Khmelnytsky Art
Museum, the Taras Shevchenko
National Museum in Kyiv, and the
Shevchenko Museum in Kaniv.
Mentukh’s presence in independent
Ukraine’s cultural life is
not only consistent and long-lasting,
but first and foremost, it is
highly valuable. In any art project
Mentukh’s art is manifested as a
meaningful phenomenon of sterling
quality carrying his signature
token image: absolutely simple, yet
precise, impressive, and essential.
The artist speaks to the viewer as
a competent, erudite, thoughtful
person, knowing the Sublime and
the True, the suffering and the unmistakability
of Being, the worthiness
and the perseverance in
dignity.
His paintings are signs on the
thoroughfares of human trips to
the unreachable horizon. They persistently
and consistently remind
of our immortal spiritual principle,
of the blissfulness of sublime
harmony, of the weight of truth
which is within reach, of the noble
nostalgia for the unattainable
truth, of the Beauty which is easy
to touch – but not so easy for idle
or hard-hearted people.
There is some mysterious magic
of Mentukh’s open signs, the symbols
of human faces, figures, communities.
Rounded like pebbles,
images of faces between train
tracks, elongated signs of silhouettes,
solid signs of human gatherings,
encoded into eternally imperceptible
evacuation: all of these
signs seem equal cliches at first
glance. However, in a magical way
each of these pseudo-cliches arises
before the viewer with its unique
biography, fate, and cosmos.
And this is no carefree cosmos.
It is a cosmos which holds the excessive,
impermissible hatred, misplaced
and vain human worries,
frozen vanity, animosity, greed,
and thirst. It is a different Composition
Cosmos, placid and alarming
at the same time, consistently devoid
of the usual human imperfection
and willfulness.
Mentukh speaks of important,
true things without reproaching.
He shows Beauty without embellishments,
exaltation, or clownishness.
He gives sensible and simple
evidence of the sublime. He is resilient
to a maximum, using economical,
minimalistic means of expression.
He reminds about the important
things silently, via his
symbolic paintings.
As a viewer, today and tomorrow
you will trust in Mentukh and
confide in him, a personality resulting
from sterling quality, conscious
interpretation, and the
sense of that sublime longing
which can only be found in exceptional,
responsible, and noble Personalities.
Liubomyr Medvid is a holder of
the Shevchenko National Prize,
academician, People’s Artist of
Ukraine

8
No.80 DECEMBER 21, 2017
TIMEO U T
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
By Hanna PAROVATKINA
Photos by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day
The exposition comprises
almost the entire legacy of
Mykhailo Boichuk and his
school as well as videos that
reconstruct the frescoes
known from newspaper black-andwhite
photos of the 1920s-1930s.
“Do not be afraid to lose your
individuality. Watch those who
work better. You should not be
afraid to borrow from others, but
you should try to do it better. Individuality
will emerge by itself
when the master turns mature,”
Boichuk used to say. And here is
another of his dictums: “Although
the old masters are dead,
their ever-young art is living,
and the artist who looks upon the
art of the past as archeology is
wrong. A completed artwork is
the ever-lasting truth, not archeology.”
Mykhailo was one of the seven
children in an ordinary family at
a remote Galician village of Romanivka.
Struck by the power of
the young artist’s talent, Metropolitan
Sheptytsky helped pay for
his studies in Vienna, the Krakow
Academy of Arts, and Munich. In
1907 Boichuk moved to Paris to
be taught by Paul Serusier at the
Academie Ranson. He founded a
school-studio of his own there in
1909. Mykola Kasperovych,
Sophia Nalepinska, Sophia Baudouin
de Courtenay, and others
became his like-minded pupils.
Frenchmen called them “Renovation
Byzantine,” while “Boichukism”
is a Soviet label that
caught on. The studio caused a
furor at the Salon d’Automne
(1909) and the Salon des Independants
(1910) in Paris. But once
Boichuk returned to Lviv in
1911, the group broke up.
“If Boichuk had spent a few
more years in Europe, we would
perhaps have had the world-famous
‘Byzantine’ style which is
as much recognized and respected
as impressionism,” says Yaroslav
KRAVCHENKO, an art critic, a
well-known researcher of Boichukism,
the son of the “last
Boichukist” Okhrim Kravchenko
who cherished the traditions of
his art school throughout his lifetime.
“This was a ‘banned’ art
when Boichuk was alive. On the
orders of officials, Boichuk’s pictures
were still being burned as
‘anti-Soviet and nationalist’ in
the early 1950s in Lviv.” (As a token
of those times, some pictures
by various authors at Mystetskyi
Arsenal bear the ‘scars’ of
ground, even acid-eaten, paint. It
is impossible to restore them.)
Reflecting on the “style,”
Kravchenko means a very wellknown
culturological concept.
Experts single out three waves of
“grand style” in the history of
Ukrainian culture: 1) the period
of Ancient Rus’; 2) the baroque
epoch; and 3) the period between
the beginning and the first third
of the 20th century, when a new
“EVER-LASTING TRUTH”
OLEKSANDR SAIENKO, THE PORTRAIT OF MATRONA SAIENKO, 1922
OLEKSANDR SAIENKO, REAPING A HARVEST, 1920
Mystetskyi
Arsenal hosts
a major exhibit
“Boichukism:
a ‘Grand Style’
Project”
generation of Ukrainians sought
ways to create a new, modern,
Ukrainian nation (which ended
up with the “Executed Renaissance”).
“For me, ‘Boichukism: a
‘Grand Style’ Project’ is a story of
an attempt to modernize Ukraine.
We are now trying again to ‘enter
Europe.’ If we keep our own history
in mind, we’ll be able to avoid
mistakes,” Olha MELNYK, chief
of Mystetskyi Arsenal’s museum
section and the exhibit co-curator,
comments, almost in unison
with Kravchenko, on the exhibit’s
concept.
In the year of preparing
Ukraine’s first – since 1990 – big
research exposition of Boichukists,
Mystetskyi Arsenal has drawn almost
all of this country’s leading
museums and archives as well as
private collectors into the project
(only the National History Museum
of Ukraine “distinguished itself”
by refusing to give a very important
item).
Over 300 paintings, graphic
and mosaic works by Mykhailo
and Tymofii Boichuk, Vasyl
Sedliar, Ivan Padalka, Sophia
Nalepynska, Oksana Pavlenko,
Antonina Ivanova, Mykola Rokytsky,
Serhii Kolos, and Okhrim
Kravchenko create an incredible
impression. What deserves
a special discussion is the
scenography and puppet theater
of the Boichukists, an almost
unknown thing to the general
public.
Yet the exhibit is about the
destiny of works rather than
about the real life of artists. Composition-wise,
the mega collection
is divided between two halls. The
first comprises the works that
show the search for an original
style by Boichuk and his likeminded
pupils. The second is
about the blossom and the decline
of the Boichukist movement. You
can judge about changes in the
life of the country and the artists
themselves by changes in their
oeuvre – works become more
schematic and their themes –
more ideologized.
Boichuk was arrested on November
25, 1936. He was shot on
July 13, 1937, in Kyiv together
with Padalka and Sedliar.
Nalepynska-Boichuk was also executed
on December 11 of the same
year as a “spy” and “the wife of
the leader of a nationalist terrorist
organization among artists.”
(The remnants of only three murals
of the Boichuk school have
survived in Ukraine, but even museum
people still have no access to
them.)
■ The exhibit “Boichukism: a
‘Grand Style’ Project” will remain
open until January 28.
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