#20_1-8

MARCH 29, 2018 ISSUE No. 20 (1152) 

Tel.: +38(044) 303-96-19, 

fax: +38(044) 303-94-20 

е-mail: time@day.kiev.ua; 

http://www.day.kiev.ua 

By Ivan KAPSAMUN, The Day 

With one hand, Germany is 

solidarizing with the UK 

and the Western world, 

as it has expelled four 

Russian diplomats in 

response to the poisoning of the 

former spy Sergei Skripal and his 

daughter in Salisbury. The German 

Foreign Ministry said that they “did 

not take this decision lightly,” ex - 

plaining it, in particular, by a lack of 

cooperation with the Russian Fede - 

ration on chemical weapons. Why did 

not they take it lightly? 

Perhaps because literally the next 

day, the German authorities issued a 

permit for the construction and operation 

of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the 

exclusive economic zone of Germany in 

the Baltic Sea. The Federal Maritime 

and Hydrographic Agency of the Federal 

Republic of Germany has not identified 

any obstacles to granting the request 

for laying a 31-kilometer-long 

pipeline along the seabed. Thus, it is reported 

that “all necessary permits are 

now in place for the German route section, 

which has an overall length of 

85 kilometers.” 

The press service of Nord 

Stream 2 AG also states that “the national 

permitting procedures in the 

other four countries along the route – 

Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark 

– are proceeding as planned. 

Further permits are expected to be issued 

in the coming months, before 

construction starts in 2018.” 

However, not everything is as 

clearcut as the company claims. It is 

known that back in November last year, 

Denmark passed a law that would allow 

it to prohibit the laying down of the Nord 

Stream 2 on its territory. Lithuania, 

Latvia, and Poland also came forward to 

oppose the construction of the gas 

pipeline. Representatives of these countries 

have repeatedly argued that the 

Nord Stream 2 will increase the EU’s dependence 

on Gazprom, which already 

supplies about one-third of the bloc’s gas 

needs. Recently, the US also informed 

companies working with the Nord 

Stream 2 of the threat of sanctions. 

Let us recall that the Nord Stream 2 

gas pipeline will pass through the Baltic 

Sea, connecting suppliers in Russia with 

consumers in Europe, and its length 

will reach more than 1,200 kilometers. 

It is predicted that the combined capacity 

of the two gas pipelines will allow 

55 billion cubic meters of gas per year to 

be delivered from the coast of Russia 

through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The 

cost of the project is estimated at almost 

10 billion euros. 

Sketch by Viktor BOGORAD 

VALUES or 

NORD STREAM 2? 

■ COMMENTARY 

Serhii SOLODKYI, first deputy director 

of the New Europe Center: 

“This is an eternal question facing 

the liberal world, which on the one 

hand advocates the protection of human 

rights, and on the other, cooperates 

with dictatorial regimes. Unfortunately, 

Germany has been no exception 

in this regard. A country that is a 

leader and an example of success in 

many areas for the entire continent 

still is no model in this regard. We 

know the arguments of the German 

side, they say this is due to purely economic 

considerations, and there is 

nothing political about it, but Russia 

uses the energy lever as a weapon to 

achieve its political objectives. Such 

steps on the part of Germany, unfortunately, 

give ammunition to the Russian 

side as it argues that the EU is not 

united, that the West can easily be 

bought and corrupted. 

Expert: “Russia exports gas and corruption in parallel, buying 

votes of European politicians and opinions of experts” 

“We have seen how Russia has repeatedly 

used the gas weapon against 

Ukraine. We understand that the gas factor 

plays a lesser or greater role when the 

capitals of the EU hesitate whether to 

strengthen and extend sanctions against 

Russia. The issue of support for Ukraine 

is important to us. Despite the fact that 

Russia has repeatedly tried to use the gas 

lever during the war in order to discredit 

Ukraine as a responsible gas transit 

country, this country has proved, sometimes 

at a high price for itself, that it is 

responsible, and thus has taken away any 

trump cards Russia could hope to obtain 

in this regard. 

“Let us hope that the moment will 

eventually come when Germany will 

think better of it. Although I understand 

that with every passing day, it 

will be increasingly difficult to backtrack 

on the Nord Stream 2 story. Let 

us hope that other countries of Europe 

and the world will provide convincing 

reasons so that the German government 

and citizens change their decision, no 

matter how profitable it is in financial 

terms, because more than money is at 

stake. Germany and the continent as a 

whole will lose much more when the 

Nord Stream 2 project is completed. 

Then there will be losses both political 

and financial. By the way, speaking of 

the financial dimension, this gas 

pipeline does not in any way fit the EU 

strategic plans for diversification of energy 

resources. On the contrary, we are 

witnessing the increasing dependence of 

the EU on a single supplier. 

“‘Schroederization’ represents the 

higher, overt degree of cynicism and corruption. 

And in this situation, Germany 

is trying to convince others of the 

reasons it acts the way it does, and persuade 

them that it will not allow the gas 

pipeline to be used for political purposes. 

But it is a quite correct assessment. 

These steps raise more questions, casting 

doubt on the reputation of the whole 

of the EU. This applies not only to the 

Nord Stream 2, but also to the fact that 

far from all countries have solidarized 

with Britain in expelling Russian diplomats. 

This sends a signal to the Kremlin 

that believes that it has only to wait a little 

longer, and the West will make the 

concessions Russia needs by itself, which 

belief does not exactly help to resolve this 

conflict and the crisis of the global order. 

“I think that not all is lost and the attention 

of the world’s mass media and 

non-governmental organizations encourages 

the elites to be more responsible 

in their decision-making and not to 

sell their reputation for energy resources 

or other kinds of benefits. 

“We are still witnessing an internal 

political transformation in Europe, 

where not all countries have realized 

the seriousness of the challenges and 

risks facing the world in connection 

with Russia’s aggressive policy towards 

Ukraine and many Western 

democracies. Many countries still 

naively believe that it is possible to 

achieve some results through appeasement, 

without realizing that it only 

generates more insolence and aggression 

on the part of the Kremlin.”

2 

No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 

DAY AFTER DAY 

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA 

Pryluky: An Updated Profile 

The fresh issue of Route No. 1 

offers a unique look at that 

“small great city” 

By Olha KHARCHENKO, The Day 

“...How many people know that there 

was a time when Pryluky actually ruled 

Muscovy? And this plotline could have 

been used to create a drama on William 

Shakespeare or Friedrich von Schiller’s 

model, or a whole historical TV series, given 

the present realities. It would have become 

another Game of Thrones... 

According to biographers of the city, 

the Hlynsky princely family owned Pryluky 

for a time. Studying the story of the 

Hlynskys makes clear how we were giving 

impetus to the birth of a monster from 

the very beginning. One of the Hlynskys 

wed his daughter to Prince of Moscow 

Vasily III, and from this marriage Ivan IV 

was born, known as Ivan the Terrible. 

And does anyone ever recall that 

Boris Godunov was among those who 

destroyed Pryluky? But after its many destructions, 

that occurred at various 

points in time, the city always revived. 

And it was mainly by the efforts of the 

princes, whom many of us “abandon” to 

Poland, Russia, or Lithuania... But all of 

them were actually locals: the Vyshnevetskys, 

the Galagans... In western 

Ukraine, they use a very good word for 

it – tuteishi, ‘natives,’” editor-in-chief 

Larysa Ivshyna intriguingly writes in her 

column for the latest issue of the glossy 

magazine. 

The creative team of Route No. 1’s 

March issue made every effort to make 

the word “Pryluky” sound in a new way. 

We talked about people as the main asset 

with Artem Skrypka, director of production 

at the OJSC British American Tobacco 

for Ukraine, Caucasus, Central 

Asia, Belarus, and Moldova subregion. 

This enterprise provides sizeable incomes 

to approximately 10 percent of the city’s 

population and implements a number of 

social projects in it. The rich church architecture 

of the city, the centerpieces of 

the Pryluky Local History Museum’s 

collection, the unique Hustyn monastery 

and the nearby villages of Kachanivka, 

Trostianets, and Sokyryntsi are all covered 

in our separate travel descriptions. 

Also, Route No. 1 talked about their 

perspectives on Pryluky to prominent natives 

of the city: Consul General of 

Ukraine in Chicago Larysa He rasko, Ambassador 

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary 

of Ukraine to the Holy See (Vatican) 

and the Sovereign Order of Malta Tetiana 

Izhevska, actress of the Franko National 

Academic Drama Theater Svitlana 

Prus, director of the Chernihiv State 

Center for Olympic Training Viacheslav 

Derkach, and well-known citizen of Pryluky, 

Paralympic champion Oleh Len. 

In addition, the issue offers contributions 

dealing with how Pryluky has 

used its right to self-government, how the 

authorities are making the city attractive 

to young people, where one can get a tasty 

meal in it, and which European localities 

are also 933 years old. 

You can order Route No. 1. Pryluky 

from Den’s online store at https:// 

day.kyiv.ua/en/catalog/9678 or by calling 

our sales department: (044) 303 96 23. 

Also, you may wait till March 30 to buy 

it at a newsstand in your city or go to Pryluky 

on March 29 to attend the solemn 

opening of Den’s Photo Exhibition, as our 

glossy magazine will reach that city before 

it appears anywhere else, as an exclusive 

gift! 

The Kremlin’s “Ukrainian gambit” 

By Mykola SIRUK, The Day 

All over the world, no one doubted 

that Russian President Vladimir 

Putin would be re-elected for a 

fourth term. Indeed, the Russian 

regime had done everything to 

ensure the necessary turnout and, most 

importantly, a convincing victory in the 

first round. 

During the election campaign, the 

Russian regime widely exploited anti- 

Western rhetoric, using as an excuse the 

expulsion of Russian diplomats from 

Britain because of the involvement of 

Russian security services in poisoning a 

former Russian spy and his daughter. 

Now, after the end of the campaign, 

many politicians and experts ask a question: 

what will Russia’s policy under 

Putin be with regard to the EU, the US, 

and Ukraine, and vice versa, how will the 

Trump administration build relations 

with the Kremlin, given that its head has 

not personally criticized Putin and is 

trying to establish friendly relations with 

the Russian leader? The Day asked Russian 

political analyst, expert in Russian- 

American relations Lilia SHEVTSOVA to 

answer these questions. 

● “WHILE MAINTAINING 

AGGRESSIVE RHETORIC, 

THE KREMLIN IS TRYING 

TO LOOK FOR WAYS 

TO EASE TENSION” 

“The Kremlin’s foreign policy has always 

been an instrument for ensuring its 

domestic agenda succeeds. Until recently, 

the Kremlin was able to resolve tactical issues 

of survival at the expense of foreign 

policy. For instance, the annexation of 

Crimea added about 30 percentage points 

to Vladimir Putin’s support level and allowed 

him to obtain legitimacy for a time 

as a ‘gatherer of Russian lands.’ But at the 

same time, the ‘Ukrainian gambit’ of the 

Kremlin has begun to destroy the model under 

which the Russian system existed by 

using Western resources. 

“The main foreign policy challenge of 

Putin’s new presidential term is to find a 

balance between deterring the West and 

maintaining dialog with it, which would allow 

Russia to go back to using the Western 

By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day 

This week the world has shown an 

unheard-of solidarity with the UK in 

connection with Russia’s likely 

complicity in poisoning the former 

spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter 

Yulia – about 20 countries expelled over 

100 Russian diplomats (as we were going to 

press, the exact number was 139). 

At first, a decision to this effect was 

made in the European Union: Donald Tusk, 

President of the European Council, announced 

that 14 EU member states had 

joined the initiative. “Additional measures, 

including further sanctions within the common 

EU framework, cannot be excluded in 

the coming days and weeks,” Reuters quotes 

him as saying. In particular, the number of 

Russian diplomats was reduced in the Czech 

Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, 

Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, 

Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and 

Finland, CNN reports. 

Following the EU, the US took a similar 

step, giving 60 diplomats a week’s notice to 

leave the country. Besides, the Russian 

consulate in Seattle will be closed. In Canada 

it was announced about the expulsion of 

financial and technological potential. 

Putin, apparently, hopes that by escalating 

tension and threatening to ‘break windows,’ 

he will force the spineless liberal 

democracies to accept his rules of the 

game and return to the previous policy of 

appeasement. He obviously expects that the 

Russian elite and society will be compelled 

to agree to living in a ‘besieged fortress’ for 

an indefinite period of time. 

“However, neither the Russian president 

nor the ruling team is fully confident 

that this madman blackmail will succeed. 

And it is already obvious that, while maintaining 

its macho and aggressive rhetoric, 

the Kremlin is trying to look for ways to 

ease tension. ‘You did not hear us, you did 

not respect us, and look what you have 

made us to do! Listen to our complaints now 

and we will again comfortably coexist!’ is 

the current Kremlin mantra. 

“The problem is that the Kremlin, 

while knowing how to escalate, does not 

know how to retreat when it becomes clear 

that the West is not ready to return to the 

pre-Crimea consensus. Meanwhile, the 

blinking game can end badly for both 

sides. 

“Of course, the Kremlin’s main focus 

is on the US. Donald Trump’s presidency 

turned out to be much more unpleasant for 

Russia than fairly harmless Barack Obama’s 

America. Despite Trump’s inexplicable 

sympathy for Putin, his administration 

is pursuing a rather tough course 

against Russia, which the previous American 

president did not dare to do during his 

four Russian diplomats and the denial of accreditation 

to three. DW quotes Canadian 

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland as saying: 

“The four have been identified as intelligence 

officers or individuals who have 

used their diplomatic status to undermine 

Canada’s security or interfere in our democracy.” 

Australia is going to expel two 

diplomats, while New Zealand says they 

have no Russian agents, but if there were 

some, they would also be expelled. 

Lilia SHEVTSOVA: 

“It has begun to 

destroy the model 

under which the 

Russian system 

existed by using 

Western resources” 

term. The Kremlin, of course, will try not 

to provoke the US to take even tougher 

measures. But here is the question: how is 

one to swallow insults without losing 

face?!” 

● “THE KREMLIN HAS BEEN 

QUITE DISMISSIVE ABOUT 

THE ABILITY OF EUROPE TO 

DETER RUSSIA SO FAR” 

“Speaking of Europe, the Kremlin 

has been quite dismissive about the ability 

of Europe to deter Russia so far. The 

Kremlin did not expect at all that the Europeans 

would be prepared to maintain 

sanctions against Russia for so long. But 

now, when the position of Chancellor Angela 

Merkel, who ensured European unity 

on the issue of sanctions, has begun to 

weaken, the Kremlin will again hope that 

Europe can be split, either by intimidation 

or by seducing with ‘carrots’ businesses 

and politicians who are ready to cooperate 

with Moscow. 

“The Europeans’ reaction to the Skripal 

case will be a test of their ability to take 

a tough stand against Russia: to what extent 

will Europe support Britain in its confrontation 

with the Kremlin over a poisoning 

with a neuro-paralytic agent in the 

UK that Russia denies its involvement in? 

But no matter how this story ends, Russia 

will continue its old policy towards Europe, 

which is to disregard the EU outright 

and to try to split the Europeans and 

create blocs of Russia’s own making with 

‘Trojan horses’ – the countries which 

stand ready to resume dialog with the 

Kremlin.” 

“The next goal is to build up the pressure of sanctions” 

What does the unprecedented expulsion of 

more than 100 Russian diplomats mean? 

● UKRAINE’S SOLIDARITY 

Ukraine has also made a similar decision. 

According to President Petro 

Poroshenko, this was announced “synchronously 

and in coordination at 3 p.m. 

Brussels time, or at 4 p.m. Kyiv time.” “I 

am sure that the expulsion of 13 Russian 

diplomats from Ukraine will strengthen 

our security and dash the efforts of the 

fifth column to destabilize the domestic situation 

in Ukraine,” he said. In the head of 

state’s words, diplomatic presence has 

long been reduced almost to zero – “to the 

critical minimum that allows us to care 

about our citizens held hostage in Russia.” 

This stirred up discussions about 

whether or not this step of Kyiv was reasonable. 

The Russian president’s 

spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already 

said Russia will be guided by the principle 

of reciprocity when taking retaliatory 

measures. At the same time, it 

should be taken into account that some 

Ukrainian citizens, including political 

prisoners, still remain in the neighboring 

state – they need support and help 

from our diplomatic representatives. 

Commenting this, Iryna He ra - 

shchen ko, First Deputy Chairperson of 

the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, noted 

that the expulsion is a right decision, a 

political signal of solidarity to our European 

partners. “Freeing the Kremlin’s 

political prisoners depends on Putin 

alone, not on consuls. At the same time, 

support and help from consuls is perhaps 

the only support our political prisoners 

receive and are aware of. Given a complete 

isolation, a ban on being visited by 

and communicating with relatives by 

phone and by correspondence, the absence 

of the Ukrainian press, TV, and 

books, a consul’s visit, at least once in 

several months, is perhaps the only link 

with Ukraine, a signal that the fatherland 

is struggling for them. Consuls will 

find it more difficult to contact the political 

prisoners, for it is obvious that 

Russia will be revenging itself. But we 

have the right to demand that the world 

increase pressuring Russia into releasing 

our captives,” she wrote in Facebook. 

Continued on page 4 ➤ 

● “THE ‘RUSSIAN FACTOR’ 

IS THE MOST IMPORTANT 

TOOL THAT STRENGTHENS 

UKRAINIAN IDENTITY” 

“What about Ukraine? Russian leaders 

understand that Ukraine remains the 

main reason for Russia’s current confrontation 

with the West. Undoubtedly, 

the Kremlin will hope that the Ukrainian 

issue will vanish from the main international 

agenda and the West will get tired 

of Ukraine. By exacerbating the issue of international 

security and shifting attention 

not only to international terrorism, but to 

the threat of the collapse of the strategic 

security system, as well as turning nuclear 

weapons into an instrument of blackmail, 

the Kremlin effectively tells the West: 

look, we have more important problems for 

discussion and we have a means of coercing 

you to adopt our vision of global priorities 

and the rules of the game. 

“Of course, as long as imperialism and 

the view of Ukraine as an element of the 

‘Russian civilization’ remain elements of 

the political mentality of the Russian ruling 

elite, Ukraine will always be in a zone 

of geopolitical instability. On the one hand, 

having Russia in the neighborhood and the 

Kremlin’s desire to undermine Ukraine’s 

territorial integrity will destabilize the 

situation in Ukraine. On the other hand, the 

‘Russian factor’ is the most important 

tool that strengthens Ukrainian identity. 

“But it is also obvious that President 

Putin understands that the Donbas is not 

benefiting him, but harming his reputation 

and narrowing the room for international 

maneuver instead. Still, I think that despite 

this understanding, Putin is not ready to 

willingly abandon the Donbas and lose 

this instrument of influence in Ukraine and 

a possible pawn in dealing with the West. 

Apparently, surrendering the occupied 

districts of the Donbas is seen by Putin as 

likely to have worse consequences than 

keeping the current conflict going. 

“However, the situation is developing 

rapidly. We extrapolate the current trends 

into the future, but new circumstances 

arise all the time, which can radically 

change the political picture. What is impossible 

today can become possible tomorrow, 

and it can happen very quickly and unexpectedly. 

After all, we are at the stage of 

the collapse of the former world order 

and the formation of a new one. In any case, 

the situation in the ‘Russia-Ukraine’ space 

is not static and it is hard to freeze, unlike 

other conflicts in the post-Soviet space.” 

Should we expect any progress on 

the part of the Kremlin in fulfilling the 

Minsk Agreements? 

“I do not see any opportunities so far 

for the Kremlin’s position on the Minsk 

Agreements to change, as Putin has repeatedly 

said. But we are talking about the 

present moment here. It is difficult to 

foresee at the moment what will happen in 

a year or two.” 

● “ANY THOUGHT OF 

NORMALIZING RELATIONS 

WITH RUSSIA MAKES THE 

U.S. ELITE TO SUSPECT ITS 

AUTHOR OF BEING 

A SELL-OUT” 

What do the US elite expect from 

the fourth term of Putin, and what 

kind of policy are they going to pursue 

with regard to Russia? 

“I think that neither the American 

establishment, nor the Trump administration 

can, or want, to think strategically 

now. Everyone in Washington is obsessed 

with a situational agenda, often regulated 

by President Trump’s crazy tweets. It is 

clear that the ‘collective Washington’ does 

not expect anything good from Putin. 

Moreover, we see that any thought of normalizing 

relations with Russia makes the 

US elite to suspect its author of being a sellout. 

Even Henry Kissinger, who liked to visit 

Putin in the Kremlin and always called 

for ‘taking into account the interests of 

Russia’ on his return, has now fallen silent. 

Continued on page 5 ➤


DAY AFTER DAY No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 3 

Missiles against hatred and lies 

By Natalia ISHCHENKO 

March 24 marks the 19th 

anniversary of start of the 

NATO bombing campaign 

in the former Yugoslavia. 

Ukrainians know very 

little about the circumstances of those 

events. Information that we do have is 

often incomplete, often distorted, and 

sometimes absent at all. 

One of the little-known episodes is 

the bombing of the Radio and Television 

of Serbia (RTS) in April 1999. 

This attack was not a mistake. The 

RTS building in Belgrade was hit by a 

missile because the broadcaster was 

part of the propaganda machine of the 

then Yugoslav authorities, a weapon 

in the war waged by the regime of Slobodan 

Milosevic. 

● MILOSEVIC’S 

RESPONSIBILITY 

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 

(FRY, then including Serbia 

and Montenegro) was attacked because 

the Yugoslav leadership made 

sure that the peace talks on the resolution 

of the conflict in Kosovo failed. 

The negotiation process, which lasted 

from February to March 1999 in Rambouillet 

and Paris (France), was suspended 

on March 19. The parties could 

not reach an agreement, since president 

of the FRY Milosevic refused to 

sign military annexes to the crisis settlement 

treaty. Meanwhile, the number 

of Albanian refugees from Kosovo 

continued to increase... 

Javier Solana, then secretary 

general of NATO, made a special 

press statement on March 24, 1999, 

in connection with the start of the 

air operations. In particular, he 

said: “In the last months, the international 

community has spared no 

efforts to achieve a negotiated solution 

in Kosovo. But it has not been 

possible. 

“Clear responsibility for the air 

strikes lies with President Milosevic 

who has refused to stop his violent action 

in Kosovo and has refused to negotiate 

in good faith. 

“The time has now come for action. 

“Let me reiterate: NATO is not 

waging war against Yugoslavia. 

“We have no quarrel with the people 

of Yugoslavia who for too long 

have been isolated in Europe because 

of the policies of their government. 

“Our actions are directed against 

the repressive policy of the Yugoslav 

leadership. 

“We must stop the violence and 

bring an end to the humanitarian catastrophe 

now taking place in Kosovo. 

We have a moral duty to do so.” 

● 78 DAYS AND NIGHTS 

The Operation Allied Force began 

without the formal consent of the UN 

Security Council and lasted 78 days. 

During that time, the North Atlantic 

Alliance carried out air strikes with 

cruise missiles and aircraft against 

hundreds of targets in Serbia and 

How Slobodan Milosevic’s “propaganda machine” was attacked by NATO 

Montenegro. They were mostly military, 

industrial, and infrastructure 

facilities. According to various estimates, 

more than two and a half 

months of bombing killed 1,200 to 

2,500 people. The total property damage 

is estimated at tens of billions of 

dollars. 

The operation ended with the 

signing of a military technical agreement 

in Kumanovo (Macedonia) on 

June 9, 1999. Three days later, the 

withdrawal of the FRY forces from 

Kosovo began. 

The NATO secretary general issued 

an order to stop the bombing on 

June 10, and the last missile exploded 

at 1:30 a.m. that day. 

On June 10, 1999, the UN Security 

Council adopted Resolution 

1244, and 37,800 Kosovo Force 

REUTERS photo 

“ 

The isolated ruined buildings in the center of Belgrade, which have been 

specially left unaltered since 1999, remind the Serbs and should remind everyone 

else what happens when an authoritarian ruler wants to build a “great country” 

over the objections of the international community, by brainwashing people with 

propaganda and carrying out military aggression against other peoples. 

” 

tified, since they were part of the 

“apparatus of the dictatorship and 

power of Milosevic.” 

(KFOR) troops from 36 countries 

were sent to Kosovo. 

The international peacekeeping 

mission in Kosovo continues to this 

day. 

● BOMBING THE 

“PROPAGANDIST MACHINE” 

One of the significant episodes of 

the Allied Force operation was the 

bombing of the RTS. On April 23, 

1999, a cruise missile launched by a 

NATO aircraft hit the RTS building in 

Belgrade. Three TV channels and four 

radio stations then broadcast from the 

home of the region’s leading broadcaster. 

The attack took place at night, at 

2:06 a.m., just when Milosevic’s 

recorded interview was being broadcast 

on the central channel. Two of the 

four floors of the RTS building col- 

The publication also quoted a 

statement by UK International Development 

Secretary Clare Short: “This 

is a war, this is a serious conflict, untold 

horrors are being done. The propaganda 

machine is prolonging the war 

and it [the RTS building] is a legitimate 

target.” 

Admiral Ian Garnett, chief of 

joint operations at the Ministry of Defense, 

noted that Milosevic’s “propaganda 

machine consists of transmitters 

but also the studios from which 

the information is transmitted. That 

makes it part of the overall military 

structure. Both elements have to be 

attacked.” 

And NATO spokesman David Wilby, 

according to The Guardian, called 

lapsed, the main instrument room was 

destroyed, 150 to 200 people (who 

worked the night shift or were on duty) 

were then present in the broadcaster’s 

building. As a result of the 

bombing, 16 RTS staff were killed, including 

directors, editors, programmers, 

cameramen, guards, a makeup 

artist... More people were injured, and 

then rescued out of the rubble of the 

destroyed building. 

Representatives of NATO and its 

member countries asserted that the 

RTS was a dual purpose object, which 

made an important contribution to the 

propaganda war being conducted then 

by the Yugoslav authorities. 

The Guardian newspaper quoted 

Tony Blair in 1999, immediately after 

the attack, who insisted that the 

bombing of TV stations was fully justhe 

Serbian state broadcaster two 

weeks before the attack “a legitimate 

target,” because it “filled the airwaves 

with hate and with lies over the 

years.” 

● WHO IS TO BLAME? 

International journalist unions and 

TV broadcaster associations were, as 

expected, extremely negative about the 

news from Belgrade. Human rights organizations 

Amnesty International and 

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in turn, 

criticized the Alliance for attacking the 

Serbian broadcaster due to the deaths of 

civilians. However, the HRW cited in its 

report on the Kosovo crisis, posted on the 

official website of the organization 

(https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/na 

to/Natbm200-01.htm#P420_111626) 

Paragraph 7 of the 1956 Guidelines of 

the International Committee of the Red 

Cross, which lists among legitimate 

military objectives “installations of 

broadcasting and television stations” 

(the source referenced by the human 

rights activists is ICRC, Commentary on 

the Additional Protocols, p. 632, para. 

2002, note 3). 

In 2001, the European Court of 

Human Rights declared inadmissible 

for consideration of the merits a complaint 

lodged by relatives of several 

dead and wounded RTS workers 

against NATO members who participated 

in the bombing. 

Other international tribunals also 

found no grounds for opening cases 

against the countries participating in 

the Allied Force operation. In June 

1999, the UN International Court of 

Justice refused to comply with the request 

of the FRY to institute proceedings 

against the allies. In 2000, the 

prosecutor of the International Criminal 

Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 

informed the UN Security 

Council of his decision not to conduct 

an investigation into this issue. 

Instead, in 2002 (two years after 

the overthrow of the Milosevic 

regime), the Serbian court sentenced 

the former head of state radio television 

Serbia Dragoljub Milanovic to 

10 years imprisonment because he 

did not ensure the safety of his employees. 

According to the HRW, Western 

media organizations that used the facilities 

of the Serbian broadcaster for 

the transfer of materials from Yugoslavia 

were warned by NATO representatives 

that the headquarters of 

the RTS would be attacked. As soon as 

Western media learned about the Alliance’s 

plans, the authorities of Yugoslavia 

also received relevant information. 

But as the court found, the 

head of the RTS deliberately did not 

comply with the evacuation order for 

TV and radio workers, although he 

knew that the RTS building could become 

a target for bombing. 

Dragoljub Milanovic was released 

in August 2012. He takes an active 

part in social and political life, speaks 

on TV and recalls the old times. He 

tried to sue journalists who wrote that 

he “sacrificed 16 employees of the 

RTS” in 1999. He has been unsuccessful 

so far: in the beginning of this 

year, the Supreme Court of Cassation 

of Serbia decided that such a value 

judgment was based on a court decision 

and did not detract from the honor 

and reputation of the former chief 

manager of the main Serbian broadcaster. 

● LEARNED AND UNLEARNED 

LESSONS 

As far as the RTS itself is concerned, 

it has... repented. On May 23, 

2011, the RTS management apologized 

to the citizens of the country 

and residents of the region for the fact 

that in the 1990s, the RTS programs 

contained insults, slander, and incitement 

to hatred and hostility. 

The media company acknowledged 

that this was happening to discredit 

the political opposition in Serbia and 

its leaders, and was also part of propaganda 

of the then undemocratic 

regime. The RTS executives stated 

that programs of the broadcaster 

harmed honor and dignity of representatives 

of the political opposition, 

critically-minded journalists, humanist-oriented 

intellectuals, ethnic and 

religious minorities in Serbia, as well 

as some of the neighboring peoples 

and nations in the 1990s. 

The new RTS has pledged to be independent 

in its work and implement 

the principles of rule of law, social justice, 

and civic democracy, protect human 

rights and minority rights, and 

devotedly observe European principles 

and values. 

In general, today’s Serbia strives 

to behave in a European manner. In 

particular, it aims to resolve all the 

conflicts – including old ones, first of 

all, the settlement of the Kosovo situation 

– through negotiations and 

agreements. The isolated ruined buildings 

in the center of Belgrade, which 

have been specially left unaltered since 

1999, remind the Serbs and should remind 

everyone else what happens 

when an authoritarian ruler wants to 

build a “great country” over the objections 

of the international community, 

by brainwashing people with propaganda 

and carrying out military aggression 

against other peoples.

4 

No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 

TOPIC OF THE DAY 


By Mykola SIRUK, The Day 

Recently, US President Donald Trump tweeted, 

in his trademark style, that John Bolton had 

been appointed as national security advisor, 

replacing Lieutenant-General Herbert 

McMaster in that position. 

Bolton served in presidents Ronald Reagan and 

George H.W. Bush’s administrations, while between 

August 2005 and December 2006, he was the US ambassador 

to the UN during George W. Bush’s presidency. 

While away from politics afterwards, Bolton 

worked with a number of neo-conservative think 

tanks and was a commentator for the Fox News media 

group, and also wrote memoirs entitled Surrender Is 

Not an Option. The book deals with his activities as the 

US ambassador to the UN, and in particular, exposes 

the operational inadequacies that hinder the UN’s 

effectiveness in international diplomacy and its bias 

against Israel and the US. At home, he criticized the 

pernicious bureaucratic inertia in the US State Department 

that can undermine presidential policy. 

● “BAD NEWS FOR AMERICA’S 

ENEMIES” 

The Democrats and some of the Republicans reacted 

to Bolton’s appointment with alarm. For instance, 

Senator Christopher Coons said that “Bolton’s 

views on Iran and North Korea are overly aggressive 

at best and downright dangerous at worst.” 

On the other hand, the appointment of Bolton has 

been approvingly commented by legislators who are 

seen as “hawks.” “Selecting John Bolton as national 

security adviser is good news for America’s allies and 

bad news for America’s enemies,” said Senator Lindsey 

Graham. 

Continued from page 2 ➤ 

● REACTION 

Speaking at the British Parliament, UK Prime Minister 

Theresa May said it is “the largest collective expulsion 

of Russian intelligence officers in history.” “Today’s 

actions by our allies clearly demonstrate that we 

all stand shoulder to shoulder in sending the strongest 

signal to the Kremlin that Russia cannot continue to 

flout international law and threaten our security,” the 

head of government emphasized. 

At the same time, ex-US ambassador to Moscow, 

Alexander Vershbow said to Newsweek: “If you’re really 

going to hit Putin’s power base, you have to go beyond 

the expulsion of some diplomats and spies, who 

can be replaced. I think what is needed is to include some 

of these targeted sanctions that single out Putin’s 

cronies for sanctions in terms of limiting their access 

to international markets, possibly banning their travel, 

pressing for more transparency about the sources 

of their wealth.” 

US diplomat Richard Haass tweeted: “Decision to 

expel Russian ‘diplomats’ less than optimal/creative 

as will likely lead to Moscow responding in kind. Better 

to choose asymmetrical response, ie, targeted economic 

and travel sanctions, increased public diplomacy 

vs Putin, etc so that costs fall mostly on Russia.” 

“It was the most stinging rebuke of the Kremlin 

since the expulsion of Russia from the G8 in response 

to the invasion and annexation of Crimea,” Politico 

writes. “A united West showed itself sufficiently fed 

up with a pattern of aggression and denial from 

Moscow to retaliate without waiting for conclusive 

proof of Russia’s culpability in the March 4 nerve agent 

attack, which left a former Russian double agent, Sergei 

Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, gravely ill.” 

● “OUR COUNTRY IS AWARE LIKE 

NOBODY ELSE OF THE SITUATION 

IN SALISBURY” 

Mariana BETSA, spokesperson of the Ministry 

of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine: 

“The decision to expel Russian diplomats in connection 

with an unprecedented chemical attack in Salisbury 

in coordination with our European and trans-Atlantic 

partners was absolutely deliberate. Its aim is to 

make it clear to Russia, which only recognizes brutal 

force rather than the force of law, that the international 

community is united not only in condemnation, symbolic 

acts and gestures, but also in concrete actions. These 

“The most undiplomatic diplomat” 

What should Ukraine expect from the US president’s 

new National Security Advisor John Bolton 

REUTERS photo 

vened in the US election. When Russian President 

Vladimir Putin announced his decision to create new 

nuclear weapons, Bolton wrote on Twitter that “there 

needs to be a strategic response to Russia’s new nuclear 

missiles to show our allies in Europe that we will not 

let Russia push the US or its allies around.” 

Ukraine: Bolton does not hide his skepticism about 

the idea to deploy a UN peacekeeping mission in 

Ukraine. He considers this a mistake on Ukraine’s 

part. According to him, this would mean intensifying 

Russia’s interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs, 

since Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security 

Council (which would make a decision on 

peacekeepers). “The main issue now,” he stressed, “is 

to prevent the Donbas from turning into a frozen conflict 

zone.” 

The Iran nuclear deal: Bolton’s hostility to the deal 

is well known. He even advocated the violent regime 

change in that country. Given that his fellow Iran 

fighter Mike Pompeo was recently appointed US sec- 

“The next goal is to build up the pressure of sanctions” 

MARIANA BETSA VOLODYMYR OHRYZKO 

measures are an instrument of pressuring Russia into returning 

to the international law field. 

“The summoned charge d’affaires of Russia in 

Ukraine was given a note of protest and told that 13 diplomatic 

agents were pronounced personae non gratae because 

they had been engaged in the activity incompatible 

with their diplomatic status – in other words, they in fact 

represented Russian intelligence services. They must leave 

the territory of Ukraine within 48 hours. Our country is 

aware like nobody else of the situation in Salisbury, of the 

fact that it is an act of Russia’s aggression not only against 

the UK, but also against the values and principles of the 

whole civilized world. We saw an illegal occupation and 

annexation. The hybrid war in the Donbas is going on. This 

is why we believe that it is necessary to exert consolidated, 

coordinated, and inexorable pressure on Russia. The next 

goal is to build up the pressure of sanctions, both personal 

and sectoral, against Russia. 

“I would not like to speculate about Russia’s likely retaliatory 

actions. We can see unprecedented expulsions of 

Russian diplomats all over the world. It is difficult to forecast 

Russia’s actions. We should not rule out either mirrored 

actions or asymmetrical measures, such as aggravation 

of the Donbas situation. Should the actions be mirrored, 

this will make it difficult to protect Ukrainians, including 

political prisoners, in Russia. At the same time, 

we think that the remaining number of consuls will be sufficient 

to afford proper protection. Of course, their workload 

will increase. But, in addition to the embassy in 

Moscow, we have several consulates general, so we hope 

that our consuls will continue to perform their protective 

functions as patriotically and effectively as they do now. 

“At the same time, I must point out that we recalled 

our ambassador as soon as Russia resorted to illegal occupation 

and aggression, as well as Russia recalled its ambassador 

to Ukraine. We have lowered the level of diplomatic 

representations. Almost no diplomats are left 

there – there are only consuls and rank-and-file diplomats 

who are doing routine work, but the line of 

diplomatic cooperation has in fact been frozen and does 

not exist. There is only a consular line though which we 

deal with Russia about our political prisoners.” 

● “IT IS NOT YET THE FINALE” 

Volodymyr OHRYZKO, former Minister of 

Foreign Affairs of Ukraine: 

“It is an unprecedented instance in the history of 

contemporary diplomacy. I have seen nothing of the sort 

in the past 30-35 years. There have been certain actions 

caused by bilateral problems, but there has never been 

a coordinated diplomatic and political demarche on the 

part of so many countries and such a large number of 

expelled spies. I think this will go down in the history 

of contemporary diplomacy – and not only. 

“For Russia, it means that it was shown a not yet 

red, but already an orange, card. For what Russia is doing 

abroad is really no longer acceptable to the world 

community. It is very good that this clear message has 

been sent. Unfortunately, the Kremlin’s formal reaction 

remains as it was in the Soviet era: we don’t know, 

you yourselves are to blame, and so on. But I think there 

are quite a few people there, who can duly analyze what 

is going on and draw proper conclusions. 

“It is an important and perhaps not the last step. 

Russia has not yet come back to the situation before February-March 

2014 – it has not returned the seized 

Crimea, has not stopped the Donbas war, and continue 

to meddle in Syria, in democratic process in the countries 

of Europe and the Americas. Of course, it is not yet 

the finale, but it is a very serious warning to Moscow. 

“As for Ukraine’s decision to expel diplomats, it is 

absolutely right. For neither diplomats nor consuls can 

really help our prisoners of war and political prisoners 

even if they wished very much to do so because everything 

depends on the Kremlin’s will in one situation or 

another. Therefore, all the talk that all Ukrainians in 

Russia will be left to the mercy of fate reminds me of 

the tales of the uninitiated who do not know about the 

way a diplomatic or a consular service functions. 

“Our action is also right because it would be political 

suicide to stay away from the joint position of our 

Western partners who support us. I am pleased very 

much that, even after some of our politicians said it 

should not be done, the political leadership still made 

a right decision.” 

By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day 

● BOLTON’S VIEWS 

North Korea: The new national security advisor 

has long been a supporter of a military response to 

North Korean provocations. During a speech in Seoul 

in 2003 on the eve of the six-nation talks on North Korea’s 

nuclear program, Bolton called its then leader 

Kim Jong-il a “tyrannical dictator.” 

Russia: Bolton is a longtime critic of the Kremlin. 

Recently, he denied allegations that Trump had conspired 

with Russia during the presidential campaign, 

although he believes that the Kremlin had interretary 

of state, the future of that important diplomatic 

agreement is now in doubt. 

Bolton is also known for his support for keeping 

the Guantanamo Bay prison camp open, relocating the 

US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and supporting Taiwan 

to increase pressure on the PRC. 

However, Bolton has recently tried to tone his rhetoric 

down. “Frankly, what I have said in private now 

is behind me,” he told Fox News in an interview. 

The Day asked American and Ukrainian experts 

to comment on the dismissal of McMaster and the appointment 

of John Bolton as national security advisor, 

and to tell us what Ukraine should expect from this 

change in Trump’s team. 

● “BOLTON IS BOTH PROPERLY TOUGH 

ON RUSSIA AND WELL INFORMED 

ON UKRAINE” 

John HERBST, Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia 

Center, Atlantic Council; former US Ambassador 

to Ukraine; Washington, D.C.: 

“There are a number of reasons for the dismissal 

of McMaster, which has been rumored for months. 

One, Trump and McMaster have never clicked personally. 

Trump seems to get along with Bolton. Two, 

Trump likes turmoil and change. Three, there are times 

that McMaster – like Tillerson and Kelly – spoke publicly 

and was then criticized by Trump. It seems that 

personal matters like these, rather than policy differences, 

explain the firing. 

“Bolton advocates a more hawkish policy on Iran 

and North Korea than McMaster. The same is true for 

Pompeo. It is not clear that this will lead to more hawkish 

policies from the administration. Mattis and Dunford, 

for instance, think that we should not renounce 

the Iran deal. These are issues to watch. McMaster and 

Tillerson both understood the need to push back hard 

against Kremlin aggression and provocations. So, I do 

not expect major changes with the new team. 

“Bolton is both properly tough on Russia and well 

informed on Ukraine. He attended the YES conference 

in the last two years and recognizes the importance of 

stopping Moscow’s aggression in Donbas.” 

● “SOMEONE WHO MAY BE ABLE TO 

SPEAK OPENLY AND CONVINCINGLY 

TO THE PRESIDENT ABOUT 

THE GLOBAL RUSSIAN THREAT” 

Adrian KARATNYCKY, senior fellow, Atlantic 

Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center; managing 

partner of Myrmidon Group LLC: 

“John Bolton is a Foreign Policy hawk, he is tough 

on Russia, and he represents no softening on the matter 

of relations with Russia. Indeed, Bolton, who was 

close to George W. Bush can be said to be a new-conservative, 

having been a longtime colleague of Jeane 

Kirkpatrick at the American enterprise institute 

think tank. Most commentary seems to focus on the 

fact that trump and McMaster never developed a comfortable 

relationship. 

“National Security Advisor is the person who has 

the greatest opportunity to inform the president on key 

issues and help shape his thinking. So a good personal 

relationship is an important part of the mix. Just 

a week ago Bolton asserted Russia, like China, Syria, 

and North Korea ‘are regimes that make arrangements 

and then lie about them.’ Bolton has asserted that thin 

‘lies’ in the past and has argued that Western policy 

should ‘cause him pain.’ Ukraine’s leaders should not 

view this as a weakening of resolve on Russia, but the 

entry of someone who may be able to speak openly and 

convincingly to the President about the global Russian 

threat. 

“In 2014 he called for speeding up the process of 

Ukraine’s integration into NATO, by reviving the Bush 

administration approach.” 

● “THE U.S. WILL BECOME MORE 

OPENLY SUPPORTIVE OF UKRAINE” 

Oleksandr TSVIETKOV, Americanist, Professor, 

Borys Hrinchenko University of Kyiv: 

“First of all, it will change, and also make more stable, 

President Trump’s team. In particular, I expect it 

to strengthen the element of foreign policy expertise, 

as opposed to military and strategic one. In addition, 

Bolton will now have an additional avenue of contact 

with the Department of State where he has longstanding 

connections, and perhaps it will bring about 

more consideration for the views (or rather hints) expressed 

in that department’s political experts’ opinions 

that come to the president’s table. The US may become 

more openly supportive of Ukraine, provided we engage 

in smart professional work with the administration and 

the entire (this qualifier is important!) Congress.”


TOPIC OF THE DAY No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 5 

Photo by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day 

The Kremlin’s 

“Ukrainian gambit” 

Lilia SHEVTSOVA: “It has begun 

to destroy the model under which 

the Russian system existed 

by using Western resources” 

By Maria CHADIUK, The Day 

Fighter Pilot, Test Pilot, 

NASA Astronaut, Citadel Grad, 

but most important: incredibly 

blessed to be a Husband and 

“Marine 

Father,” Randolph James 

Bresnik says about himself on Facebook. He 

visited Kyiv recently, and spoke to a packed 

senate meeting room of the Sikorsky Kyiv 

Polytechnic Institute (KPI) University. The 

visitor was greeted with a roaring ovation when 

he displayed the flag of Ukraine which he had 

unfurled at the International Space Station in 

October 2017. Also, the astronaut spoke about his 

path to the stars and the future of the space 

industry. 

● IN CAVES AND UNDER WATER 

It all started with a bachelor’s degree in 

mathematics and master’s degree in aviation 

systems. He continued by training with the US 

Air Force and graduating from The Citadel military 

college. All in all, Bresnik flew over 

83 planes over his time in military service, but 

realized that they “cannot reach the orbit.” 

Therefore, he tried to join the 18th astronaut 

class in 1997, but succeeded in reaching his objective 

only in 2004, joining the 19th class. The 

next step was to go through the general astronaut 

candidate training course. 

It is obvious that space is a unique environment. 

That is why astronauts use extreme spots 

on the Earth to get at least a similar experience. 

According to Bresnik, one of such training 

rooms is made of underground caves. There is always 

darkness there, and it is good for astronauts, 

because the concept of “day and night” is 

rather nominal in space: a “day” lasts for 45 minutes, 

and then is followed by a 45-minute “night” 

(the space station orbits the Earth in about an 

hour and a half). Also, astronauts train a lot under 

water. Such training is intended, among other 

things, to create conditions in which an individual 

cannot return to the surface of the Earth 

on a whim. They should be isolated and try to 

solve some issues in this environment, just like 

people have to do in space. 

● GRAVITATING TO FAMILY 

Bresnik compared spaceflight with the most 

important test which one has to pass. Life at a 

space station, taking walks in the boundless 

space require a lot of strength and concentration. 

In addition, astronauts work as scientists, 

conducting various studies, for example, in microbiology. 

However, the most famous of them 

are experiments that demonstrate how the laws 

of physics, which we are used to on the Earth, operate 

in space. These videos are quite popular on 

the Internet; one of the most popular videos 

shows a spinner spinning on a space station. 

Astronauts also need to train their bodies a 

lot. This is due, again, to the environment. In 

space, muscles work much less and can get atrophied. 

Bresnik compared the consequences of 

The boundless abyss 

and the beautiful Earth 

Randolph James Bresnik told Kyivans about NASA 

astronaut training and future flights to the stars 

this process with the experiences and health issues 

faced by the elderly. 

However, it is probably missions outside the 

station, also known as spacewalks, which are the 

most difficult. “When you see an astronaut in a 

spacesuit in open space, you realize that they 

have a boundless abyss under them. If we get out 

of the university now, get to the top of it and 

lean, then the body will instantaneously react, 

telling us that it is dangerous, and we can fall. 

We have the same feeling when we go for a walk 

outside the space station... You need to calm 

down, relax, and overcome this natural reaction 

to the fact that there is nothing under you,” explained 

the astronaut. 

And it is especially difficult to do it when 

you have to deal with other feelings as well. 

Bresnik has repeatedly emphasized that astronauts 

are ordinary people. And although they 

need maximum concentration during work, especially 

during spacewalks, life circumstances 

can significantly affect them. The thing is, when 

Bresnik was going to space, his wife was close to 

her due date. He was aware of this, so he had to 

carry a double load. At the space station, the 

husband had to go for a spacewalk, and only then 

he could learn about the events on the Earth. 

When the astronaut returned to the station 

again, he learned that his wife had not yet given 

birth. Then Bresnik went for a second walk. In 

general, waiting took a whole day, and he still 

speaks of it with trepidation. 

● “OUR PLANET IS DIFFERENT 

WHENEVER YOU LOOK AT IT” 

Still, Bresnik admitted there was a lot of fun 

in the life of an astronaut, for example, in moving 

about, when one can walk with the help of 

hands, or move by spinning around. Funny 

videos such as Pizza in Space offer another confirmation 

that space can be fun as well. 

However, Earth observation is the most captivating 

experience. The astronaut shared his 

impressions: “Our planet is wonderful, beautiful, 

and different whenever you look at it, because 

the weather is changing.” Such observations 

offer incredible variations of colors, the 

ability to see the highest places in the world, 

such as the Himalayas, as well as our planet as it 

is at night. Of course, astronauts not only enjoy 

the views themselves, but also make photos that 

allow other people to at least partly imagine 

themselves at the space station. Bresnik, by the 

way, presented the Sikorsky KPI with space photos 

of Kyiv. 

He even did a project called #OneWorld- 

ManyViews. It was basically about Bresnik photographing 

from space locations which he had 

visited on the Earth. So now you can see the 

Colosseum, the Big Ben, the Egyptian pyramids, 

and Saint Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral 

from the space height. As for the latter sight, 

the astronaut noted: “The idea was to allow the 

Kyivans to look at their hometown in a different 

way, to make them understand how beautiful it 

is, and for people who are not Kyivans to see how 

wonderful your capital is from space and Earth, 

and maybe come here, making this big world 

closer.” 

● WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR 

HOLIDAY IN SPACE? 

By the way, it is possible that not only terrestrial 

locations, but space as well will soon become 

closer and more accessible for people. Bresnik 

hopes that soon (perhaps 50 years or so down 

the line), 5 to 15 people a day will be able to travel 

to open space. The astronaut told the public 

about businesses taking an interest in organizing 

such voyages. The meeting in the KPI also 

featured a discussion of companies potentially 

leasing parts of space stations and the possible 

settlement of Mars. Such a prospect is highly impressive, 

is not it? 

In conclusion, Bresnik appealed to students: 

“I was like you. We have geologists, astrophysicists, 

and engineers in the ranks of astronauts. 

What unites us is not what we studied at school, 

but what we did and how we were guided by our 

passion for knowledge.” This proves once again 

that even the vastness of space cannot resist the 

power of dreams. 

Continued from page 2 ➤ 

“Deterring Russia and avenging Russian interference 

in US elections have become key consolidating 

ideas for the American elite. The Kremlin 

can be proud of making the ‘Russian factor’ an 

element of American domestic life. 

“As for the White House, here we see a paradox: 

the Trump team acts in an anti-Russian way, 

trying to find new ways of deterring the Kremlin. 

Meanwhile, Trump keeps trying to profess his love 

for Putin, thus making the anti-Russian rhetoric 

of other actors inside the American establishment 

even more strident. It is unlikely that this situation 

will change during his presidency. It is equally 

unlikely that Trump’s successor will easily 

leave behind the suspicion about the Kremlin and 

Russia that has already become an axiom. 

“Finally, John Bolton has never been really 

good in comprehending the consequences of his 

statements and his actions. So, he is unlikely to stay 

in the White House for long. 

“The US’ decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats 

and close the Russian consulate in Seattle in 

solidarity with the UK has increased tension in the 

relations of the West as a whole with Russia. The 

Kremlin will have to respond, although it clearly 

does not want to. Consequently, a new stage in the 

confrontation begins, with all the old taboos having 

already been destroyed.” 

Can Americans explain why Trump wants to 

have Putin as a friend to solve the conflicts that 

Putin has actually created or is creating himself? 

“While the team of Special Counsel Robert 

Mueller is painting Trump into a corner, they have 

not provided evidence of collusion between Trump 

and the Kremlin so far. But Mueller continues to 

tighten his grip. 

“Meanwhile, the main fruit of the American investigation 

into the ‘Russian trail’ in the latest election 

is so far evidence of the demoralization of the 

American elite and the preparedness of its various 

members to readily sell their principles if the 

price is good. I call this the Manafort Syndrome, 

after one of the most successful and influential 

Washington lobbyists who promoted the interests 

of authoritarian regimes in the US for a living and 

who for some time was chief manager of Trump’s 

election campaign. As we know, he lobbied for Viktor 

Yanukovych’s interests some time before, for 

which he was handsomely paid. 

“In any case, this incredible story of the investigation 

into Russian interference is likely to result 

in a significant turnover of the top layer of the 

American elite.” 

● “BOLTON REGARDS POLITICS 

AS A ‘HAMMER’ WHICH SHOULD 

BE USED TO DRIVE NAILS” 

What does the replacement of Herbert Mc- 

Master with Bolton in the position of national security 

adviser mean? 

“I think that the White House will continue to 

be plagued with high staff turnover. It seems 

that Trump has troubles finding people who will 

obey him without question, while those who are 

ready to obey will be ostracized by other American 

institutions. So, new national security adviser 

Bolton is, most likely, not for long in the White 

House. Especially if we take into account the difficult 

character of Bolton himself and his unpopularity 

within the Washington political class. 

“I see many critics of Russia applauding the appointment 

of Bolton. Meanwhile, this appointment 

has caused the most contradictory feelings in 

Washington itself. Firstly, the Congress has not 

held confirmation hearings on his candidacy yet, 

and this process will not go smoothly. The Congress 

did not confirm Bolton as US ambassador to the UN 

back in the 2000s, because he provoked collective 

rejection due to his extremist positions and ultrahawkishness. 

“Today, Bolton’s views are no longer so sharply 

out of step with the positions taken by most members 

of the Washington political class. Still, Bolton 

irritates people by his penchant for regarding 

politics as a ‘hammer’ which should be used to drive 

nails. His excessive aggressiveness, straightforwardness, 

and disregard for diplomacy can narrow 

his support base, both in the US and in Europe.” 

By Mykola SIRUK, The Day

6 

No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 

CLOSE UP 


“What unites these pictures is something 

more than the pain of war” 

An interview with the Italian 

photojournalist who visited Ukraine 

three times during the war 

ROBERTO TRAVAN 

UKRAINIAN SOLDIER, SERHII 

By Yulia YARUCHYK 

Photos courtesy of Roberto TRAVAN 

il prossimo tuo” is the name 

of an exhibit in Turin, Italy, which 

displays 110 photographs, including 

15 taken in Ukraine. Here, 

“A(r)ma 

the National Museum of the Italian 

Risorgimento has brought together the destinies 

of people from different countries and continents. 

What unites them is one terrible word – war. The 

authors of the pictures – Paolo Siccardi and 

Roberto Travan – are well-known Italian 

photojournalists who usually work in the world’s 

“hot spots.” Travan, the author of 15 Ukrainian 

pictures, works for the Italian newspaper La 

Stampa. It is he who hit upon the idea of 

DEBALTSEVE, 2016 

organizing this high-profile exposition. Roberto 

says what unites these pictures is something 

more than war. Faith, religion, God or what is left 

of God in a real war – this thin, sometimes 

invisible, thread goes through the pictures taken 

at different times in Afghanistan and Israel, 

Ukraine and Syria, African countries, and the 

Caucasus. It is difficult to translate the exhibit’s 

name into English without losing the meaning. In 

Italian, “Arma il prossimo tuo” (“Arm thy 

neighbor”) is almost consonant with the biblical 

“Ama il prossimo tuo” (“Love thy neighbor”). 

Travan has visited Ukraine three times during 

the armed conflict, mostly as a freelance photographer. 

The journalist is going to visit eastern 

Ukraine this year, too. The Day spoke to 

Roberto about the importance of the exhibit’s 

Ukrainian part, Ukraine in the Italian media 

space, and the importance of photography as a 

genre in journalism. 

Roberto, you chose a picture taken in 

Ukraine for the exhibit’s billboard. It looks like 

all the publications that wrote about the exhibit 

carried the photo of a Ukrainian soldier. This 

photo became the exhibit’s “hallmark” of sorts. 

“Yes, that’s true. The story of this picture is 

incredible and dramatic. It shows a Ukrainian 

soldier, Serhii, whom I met near Donetsk. The 

photo expresses two essential elements of the exhibit 

– war and faith. Serhii stood by a ruined industrial 

facility with a Kalashnikov gun in hand 

and a cross in the front pocket – I saw it at once. 

Serhii and I saw each other just for a few seconds 

because this photo was taken under fire. We ran 

away in different directions without even getting 

to know each other better. In a month or so I published 

this photo in Facebook and, unfortunately, 

received sad news from a Ukrainian colleague 

who also worked with me in the Donbas – Serhii 

had died in action. Naturally, my photographer 

friends in Ukraine, to whom I also sent the photo, 

know about our exhibit. It went viral in Facebook 

and the internet as a whole. A few days ago 

Serhii’s daughter wrote to me, asking to send her 

all of her father’s pictures that I have. It is difficult 

to describe what I felt at the moment. It 

seemed to me that I’d reopened this girl’s wound. 

For we, photo reporters, photograph war and see 

the same war on these pictures, rarely thinking 

that these people have a private life, interests, 

and feelings outside the war. 

“Unfortunately, he is not the only soldier on 

my photos, who is no longer among us. And it’s 

not simple. Photographers, journalists ought to 

take a neutral attitude to these events, but it is 

impossible to remain indifferent in these conditions.” 

You’ve photographed armed conflicts in 

various countries, on different continents. 

What do you think singles Ukraine out? 

“What impressed me the most is the cohesion 

of Ukrainians in this war and solidarity of civilians 

who do not stand clear of the armed conflict 

and are also fighting – just in other ways. I visited 

a lot of Donetsk region villages and met many 

local residents. The conditions they are living in 

are terrible. But these people chose to stay behind 

on their native land in spite of everything. 

“I was also struck very much with the fact 

that the whole country helps these frontline residents 

and the military. The daily work of volunteers, 

who gather food, clothes, and medicines, 

is also nothing but another way of fighting 

in this war.” 

This exhibit is of paramount importance. La 

Stampa is one of the few publications that did 

and do write about events in Ukraine. Other 

Italian media cover this topic limitedly and unwillingly. 

“Hundreds of people have visited the exhibit 

in the past two weeks. The exhibit was to last 

until May, but, owing to great public interest, it 

was decided to extend it until September. Maybe, 

we’ll manage to hold it in Rome next year. My 

observations show that Ukrainian photos form 

one of the most interesting parts of the exposition 

for spectators. Of course, the main objective 

of the exhibit is to make society reflect on war as 

such and to remind that a lot of armed conflicts 

are now going on in the world. These conflicts 

have been dragging on for years and, maybe for 

this reason, are becoming invisible to peaceful 

countries. You are right that the Ukraine war is 

little spoken of. Yes, but little is also being said 

about the wars in South Sudan, Nagorno- 

Karabakh, etc. People are just concerned about 

other problems, and wars seem to be far away.” 

Photography is extremely important to The 

Day as a genre of journalism and a way to put 

certain ideas across to readers. What can you 

say about Italian publications? 

“I think photography is no less important to 

Italian publications. It must be a demand of 

time. The speedy development of the internet 

has provided an opportunity to inform readers 

by means of a greater amount of visual information, 

for the print media are elementarily short 

of space. Sometimes one picture can say more 

that a big text. A photo can draw the attention 

of a much broader audience. There is no language 

barrier here. So, I think photography as a 

genre can have a dramatic impact on the information 

space we have.”


CULT URE No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 7 

From the past to the future 

THE AUTHORS OF RUSSOPHOBIA ARE PLAYWRIGHTS VARVARA FAER AND MAKSYM KUROCHKIN 

The international project 

Russophobia was shown on Stage 6. 

The content was created by 

a Finnish-Russian-Ukrainian team 

By Svitlana AHREST-KOROTKOVA 

Photos courtesy of the theater 

Having quickly won not only Kyivan 

audiences, but also visitors from other 

cities to their side, founders of the new 

theater space called Stage 6 surprised 

and pleased the public once again. For 

two days, the stage was “occupied” by the 

international project Russophobia. The content 

was created by a Finnish-Russian-Ukrainian 

team. The original idea, created by the director 

of the Moscow Teatr.Doc Varvara Faer, 

underwent serious changes after the Ukrainian 

playwright Maksym Kurochkin joined the 

project and drew historic parallels between what 

was happening 80 years ago to the nation of 

Finland, small but aspiring to obtain sovereignty 

and independence from its big neighbor, and 

today’s events in Ukraine. 

Fears and experience, hopes and reflections 

of the play’s characters, who are simple, ordinary 

people, are directly related to the themes of 

the long-past Winter War and the war lately unleashed 

by the former “brother” in Ukraine. 

The Theater of Documentary Play, known 

as Teatr.Doc, was created in 2002 by several 

playwrights working in the genre of documentary 

theater. This is a special genre that exists 

at the intersection of art and topical social 

analysis. The theater’s creative teams make 

performances based on meetings with real people 

and dealing with the most relevant and 

timely issues of the surrounding reality. They 

use testimonies of real people, the verbatim 

technique, “deep improvisation,” theatrical 

games and trainings. Participation in prestigious 

theatrical festivals, both in its homeland 

and around Europe, has not only failed to protect 

the theater from rejection by the current 

Russian regime, but become a litmus test for it. 

Still, the theater is alive and keeps up its good 

work, which should be treated as an act of civic 

virtue these days, in my opinion. 

“ALL OVER RUSSIA, PEOPLE GO DOWN FOR WORDS. WORDS ARE IMPORTANT AGAIN. BUT IT SEEMS TO ME WE DREAMED OF A DIFFERENT FUTURE.” 

RUSSOPHOBIA, STAGE 6 

According to the special genre nature of the 

theater, Russophobia shows an old man, his body 

bent down with life’s pains, remembering how 

his child self faced a man flying a red-starred 

airplane and trying to shoot him dead with a machine 

gun. Meanwhile, our contemporary, who 

lives in Kyiv, cannot forgive himself for his absence 

during the Maidan protest, because he was 

furnishing his long-awaited mortgaged apartment 

in Moscow. In parallel, he recalls the many 

occasions when he and the entire country of ours 

left unanswered spitting and slapping into face: 

from allegations about “stolen oil” to the Budapest 

Memorandum ultimately proving worthless. 

After all, there had been bad omens, blood 

had been shed for a long time, starting in the 

Baltic States that were the first to do away with 

the Sovietism, through Chechnya and the territories 

stolen from Georgia, and ending with the 

“polite green men” in Crimea. According to the 

playwright, the most difficult thing for him was 

to realize how totally calm people could be amid 

historical upheavals. And this became a chance 

to speak out on a topic that deeply worries him. 

The show premiered in Tampere at the end of 

last year. The Finnish version was titled Rajavirhe 

(A Border Incident). However, the play’s 

structure and text are the same as it is staged in 

Finland, Russia, and Ukraine. 

The cast was the troupe of one of Finland’s 

most famous independent theaters, the Telakka, 

which was named the best theater of the year in 

2016. Its artists are known far beyond the country. 

For example, Tomi Salmela starred in Jim 

Jarmusch’s film Night on Earth. In the project 

which was seen in Kyiv, the artists, too, delighted 

the public with appropriate performance of 

their parts and high professionalism, despite the 

documentary theater being a quite difficult 

genre. 

We managed to have a short talk with Varvara 

Faer, who is the director of the Teatr.Doc 

and the aforementioned performance. 

Originally, the project was conceived as a 

retelling of the Finns’ memories about the war 

between their country and the USSR. It was a 

completely different story, one dealing with 

the attitude of a giant country to the world 

around. That attitude was unfair... With the 

participation of the Ukrainian playwright 

Maksym Kurochkin, the narrative of that war 

came to be seen from some completely different 

perspectives, as revisions of history feelings 

gradually yielded to dealing with the explosive 

point of today’s reality, which is 

Ukraine. Memories of the past have smoothly 

turned into forecasts for the future. The play 

has already been staged in Finland and in 

Ukraine, and there will be a premiere in 

Moscow in two days [interview was taken on 

March 23. – Ed.]. By the way, the latter is a 

challenge to the prevailing attitude there. 

What are your impressions of the European 

and Ukrainian audiences’ perception of the 

events happening on stage, and your assumptions 

about the reaction of the Russian audience? 

“Yes, Finland and Ukraine have already seen 

the complete show, and we held a reading rehearsal 

in Moscow a year ago. In Finland, opinions 

were divided and ranged from enthusiastic 

to deeply indignant ones. Portions of the public, 

about a half of it, consider this play to be a piece 

of propaganda, and they do not like it. I think it 

applies not only to Finland, but to Europe in general. 

They want to think independently. They believe 

that not everything is so clear-cut, and 

maybe, Vladimir Putin is right about something. 

They say you need to look into the matter, to give 

it a thought, as nothing is 100 percent black or 

white. The second half pays attention to my objective 

with which I did this show – an outburst 

of emotions rather than an analytical reflection. 

Living emotion, human feelings, attention to 

history’s landmarks are important there. They 

are present in the context not for decoration, but 

as some highly important accents that must not 

be missed. 

“The Ukrainian audience was more unanimous. 

Even the artists noted that the public was 

fantastically attentive, and this filled them with 

incredible energy. By the way, we have already 

been invited to tour all over Ukraine with this 

show. I hope to see you again. I can breathe so 

easily in your country... Let us see how the performance 

in Moscow will go in a day, but the 

reading rehearsal was very well received. One 

must take into account here that the Teatr.Doc 

caters to an opposition-minded audience, it is 

they who will come to watch the show.” 

But what about your “persistent admirers” 

from the FSB? 

“Do you think they will come? We will see...”

8 

No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 

TIMEO U T 


“These pictures arouse hope for recovery” 

St. Sophia 

of Kyiv hosts 

a major 

charitable 

project to 

help cancerstricken 

children 

By Olha KHARCHENKO, The Day 

By Maria PROKOPENKO, 

photos by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day 

“A 

s the war began, we moved 

from Horlivka in the ATO zone 

to Brovary. Little by little, we 

settled down, but suddenly 

everything changed – doctors 

diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 

our son Kyrylo. He’s undergoing treatment 

now. Fortunately, it is successful, as 

planned,” Oleksii MARUNEVYCH says. 

We talked with Oleksii at the exhibit 

“What Is Essential Is Invisible to the Eye,” now 

being held in the Metropolitan’s House of the 

National Sanctuary “St. Sophia of Kyiv.” 

This charitable art project displays works by 

Kyrylo and seven other children who receive 

treatment at the cancer division of the Kyiv 

Oblast Clinical Hospital. All the drawings can 

be bought, and these funds will be used to help 

little patients. The project was organized by 

a branch of the international charitable organization 

Lions Club “Kiev Ecology.” 

● “THE OBJECTIVE OF ART 

THERAPY IS TO SHOW THAT 

LIFE IS GOING ON” 

Artist Kateryna SAPOZHKOVA applies 

art therapy to cancer-stricken children at the 

hospital. “I have long wanted to help canceraffected 

children but didn’t know how to do 

it well,” Kateryna recalls. “First I donated 

blood, handed over some money, and then, 

more than ten years ago, I asked donor.org.ua 

webmaster Sashko Brusylovskyi what else I 

could do. When he came to know that I am an 

artist, he said children badly needed art 

therapy. The treatment lasts at least nine 

months, and kids are almost completely isolated 

during this time. Since then, we’ve been 

having classes in the playroom.” 

Art therapy helps a child express his or 

her emotions through drawing and thus establish 

a link with the outside world. “As a 

rule, a child gets to the cancer ward suddenly. 

Both parent and the child are shocked. 

Then the family divides – only one of the parents 

stands by the child all the time. The child 

remains withdrawn from his milieu, undergoes 

painful procedures for a long time, and 

often retreats into his shell. The objective of 

art therapy is to show that life is going on and 

recovery is possible,” Kateryna explains. 

“Incidentally, Ania Bezkorovaina and Olia 

Tkachenko, the girls who take part in the exhibit, 

are in remission now.” 

● “A BRIDGE BETWEEN CHILD 

AND PARENTS” 

Parents often draw together with the 

child, and the artist calls these joint classes a 

bridge between them. During the classes, 

Kateryna tells children about artists and art 

styles. They are always trying out new materials. 

The first pictures of the cancer patients 

are dreary, but then the themes become 

more cheerful. The pictures displayed at 

St. Sophia of Kyiv are colorful; they often depict 

flowers, cute animals, and serene land- 

Pryluky: a new meeting 

of donating books from Den’s Library to 

the city. All schools and libraries of Pryluky 

will receive their copies of The Crown... 

this year! 

Deputy mayor Tetiana Fesenko noted 

the importance of Den’s campaign to popularize 

precisely printed word in a time 

when many people are attracted to social 

networks. She also recalled: “Pryluky residents 

were astounded by the photos on disesting 

for Pryluky residents to talk with 

Ivan Kapsamun, a journalist of Den. That 

dialog was clearly of mutual interest,” 

Rylach continued to share his impressions, 

and added: “Besides, a portion of the 

display will be hosted on our company’s 

premises. You see, British American Tobacco 

Ukraine marks its 25th anniversary 

this year. The anniversary falls exactly 

on the date when Den’s Days in Pryluky are 

to begin. Therefore, we decided to additionally 

congratulate our employees 

through the photo exhibition of Den.” 

By the way, our partner, who understands 

what corporate social responsibility 

is, has decided to keep up the tradition 

Den’s Days will start in 

the ancient city on the 

Udai River on March 29 

Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day 

scapes. Kateryna says children draw the 

places they would like to visit as well as their 

life after recovery. 

Kyrylo Marunevych, who turned five in 

January, depicted a lighthouse amidst the sea 

on several pictures. Oleksii Marunevych confesses 

that art therapy has stirred up more 

good emotions in his son, which is no less important 

than medicines. “Drawing is a powerful 

positive stimulus. Bedsides, this encourages 

his mum who stays at the hospital 

with Kyrylo,” Oleksii adds. 

One can also see the way classes are held 

in the playroom of the children’s cancer division. 

Next to the drawings is Oleh 

Herasymets’ photo project “The Room,” a series 

of pictures about this special space. 

● A BENEFACTOR WITH 

40-YEAR EXPERIENCE 

As amatter of fact, Kateryna regularlyorganizes 

exhibits of cancer-stricken children. It 

is usually small expositions on the hospital’s 

premises. The art project at St. Sophia of 

Kyiv is bigger – it involves people from various 

countries. The idea emerged spontaneously 

during a conversation between Lions Club 

“Kiev Ecology” vice-president Tetiana Vasylieva 

and the artist. 

But the initiative in fact began with the 

foundation of Lions Club “Kiev Ecology” 

about seven years ago. “In general, Lions Club 

is an international charitable organization 

that addresses not only ecological, but also socio-cultural 

problems, and the Kyiv branch is 

the 10th in Ukraine,” says Jean ROCHE, President 

of Lions Club “Kiev Ecology,” Knight 

of the Legion of Honor. “In France, the organization 

helps vulnerable communities. 

For example, it buys walking sticks for the 

elderly. In Ukraine, it id called ecological, but 

we are to protect not only the environment but 

also the people who live in this environment. 

For instance, the club helps orphans in Kyiv.” 

Almost at the very outset, the Kyiv 

branch of Lions Club began to help the children’s 

cancer division of the oblast hospital. 

But, earlier, this occurred once a year, when 

the organization raised the funds which the 

hospital used for buying reagents and medicines. 

This money was enough to meet a 

Pryluky are waiting for us again. 

Let us recall that Den came to 

know that millennium-old city 

firsthand in 2004, but our 

relationship has grown more 

active over recent years. Den’s Days in 

Pryluky of 2017 are still remembered by 

the locals. 

“We received a lot of good reviews 

about last year’s event. I have heard good 

things about it both from the workers of 

the tobacco factory and from other locals, 

including municipal officials, with 

whom I have had occasion to talk. All the 

photos of Den were highly appreciated. 

So if we already have a certain tradition, 

we will build on it! This year, we have 

been able to support this valuable project 

as well,” head of the government relations 

department at British American 

Tobacco Ukraine Yurii Rylach told Den. 

It is with the support of British American 

Tobacco Ukraine and the Pryluky 

City Council that this year’s events of 

our newspaper will be held in the city. 

The exhibition of the best photos of 

the 19th Den’s International Photo Contest-2017 

will open at the Pryluky City 

House of Culture at noon on March 29. 

As part of the event, our newest historical 

bestseller The Crown, or Heritage of 

the Rus’ Kingdom will be launched with 

the participation of the editorial team. 

“Last year I was most impressed by 

the large number of visitors at the opening 

of the exhibition, because it was a 

weekday. I honestly did not expect to see 

so many people, and they were sincerely 

interested in the event to boot. I 

know that it was important and interplay, 

because they were extremely sincere 

and frank. No one left the exhibition 

in apathetic mood! In particular, I heard 

testimonies of ATO veterans last year, 

who also visited the exhibition. They 

were struck especially strongly, even unsettled, 

by the pictures related to the 

events in the ATO area.” 

Director of the Maslov Pryluky Local 

History Museum Tetiana Zots is also 

convinced that Den’s photo exhibition 

provides a multi-dimensional, diverse, 

multi-age all-Ukrainian measure of the 

events of the year. “Contemplating this 

exhibition, you feel the reflection of 

events in the field of culture, education, 

medicine, sports... the life of the country 

in its entirety. These are different 

masters, different territories and their 

views come from different parts of 

Ukraine. Something is reflected with 

irony, something is tragic, something is 

sad, but there is also fun, there is humor, 

joy, success. That is, it is things that 

have long pained people or caused some 

other emotions that have come to be photographed. 

Den’s photo exhibition shows 

the life of Ukraine for a year.” 

“I will speak on behalf of the cultural 

and artistic community of the city as 

well,” said Fesenko, and addressed another 

aspect of the event. “It was also an 

opportunity for a healthy analysis and a 

new look at one’s own work. Certainly, 

artists were inspired by individual compositions, 

because it is always an impetus 

for thinking and creating something 

of one’s own.” Also, Fesenko admitted: 

Den’s event was a model of 

holding such events for municipal officials 

in the provinces, where they are 

sometimes too “formalized.” 

Read more on our website 

month’s need in medicines. On the last New 

Year eve, Jean Roche visited the hospital and 

saw that the requirement in this help was 

much greater. So the benefactors decided to 

do something of a larger scale and hit upon the 

idea of an exhibit. “A cancer-stricken child is 

stressed out. But his pictures arouse a hope 

for recovery,” the Lions Club “Kiev Ecology” 

president says. 

Jean Roche himself has been in charity 

for over 40 years. It all began with participation 

in a TV marathon to raise funds to combat 

myopathy. This week-long TV marathon 

helped raise about 10 million euros. 

● “THE HOSPITAL FEELS 

HELPLESS WITHOUT 

THESE REAGENTS” 

“Many selfless people have joined our initiative. 

The sense of this project is to show the 

ability of children to enjoy life at a difficult 

moment of illness,” Hennadii TSIAUK, an organizer 

of the art project, a participant in the 

second season of the Master Chef culinary 

show, emphasizes. “All the children’s pictures 

are on sale. There will be a ceremony on 

March 30, when we will hand over the raised 

money to the doctor.” 

Concurrently, a “quiet auction” of 

Ukrainian artists’ works is being held. The lion’s 

share of the proceeds will also benefit the 

children. 

Money is being raised to acquire reagents 

for the hematological analyzer. “A child in the 

cancer ward always performs a lot of tests. It 

is especially important to take the count of 

blasts in the bone marrow. Tests are done almost 

every day so that the doctor can see what 

needs to be corrected. The hospital feels 

helpless without these reagents,” Kateryna 

explains. 

The art project is important to children 

not only because of raising funds for their 

treatment. “This exhibit makes it clear to children 

that they are not erased from life,” 

Sapozhkova emphasizes. “It happens that 

when a bald and masked kid comes out for a 

walk, everybody dashes aside from him or her. 

There are some country children in the hospital. 

Whenever they come home, some of 

their peers don’t want to visit them, thinking 

that cancer is contagious. But here a child is 

an artist, everybody watches his or her exhibit, 

and their pictures are bought. It is an 

incredible motivation for a healthy life!” Incidentally, 

the organizers are so keen on the 

project that they want to hold this kind of exhibits 

regularly. 

The art project “What Is Essential Is Invisible 

to the Eye” will remain open at the Metropolitan’s 

House until March 31. The organizers 

also invite everybody to a classical 

music concert, “It Is Only with the Heart that 

One Can See Rightly,” to be held on March 30 

at the Khlibnia gallery of St. Sophia of Kyiv. 

All the ticket sale proceeds will also be used 

to help children. 

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