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MARCH 29, 2018 ISSUE No. 20 (1152)<br />
Tel.: +38(044) 303-96-19,<br />
fax: +38(044) 303-94-20<br />
е-mail: time@day.kiev.ua;<br />
http://www.day.kiev.ua<br />
By Ivan KAPSAMUN, The Day<br />
With one hand, Germany is<br />
solidarizing with the UK<br />
and the Western world,<br />
as it has expelled four<br />
Russian diplomats in<br />
response to the poisoning of the<br />
former spy Sergei Skripal and his<br />
daughter in Salisbury. The German<br />
Foreign Ministry said that they “did<br />
not take this decision lightly,” ex -<br />
plaining it, in particular, by a lack of<br />
cooperation with the Russian Fede -<br />
ration on chemical weapons. Why did<br />
not they take it lightly?<br />
Perhaps because literally the next<br />
day, the German authorities issued a<br />
permit for the construction and operation<br />
of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the<br />
exclusive economic zone of Germany in<br />
the Baltic Sea. The Federal Maritime<br />
and Hydrographic Agency of the Federal<br />
Republic of Germany has not identified<br />
any obstacles to granting the request<br />
for laying a 31-kilometer-long<br />
pipeline along the seabed. Thus, it is reported<br />
that “all necessary permits are<br />
now in place for the German route section,<br />
which has an overall length of<br />
85 kilometers.”<br />
The press service of Nord<br />
Stream 2 AG also states that “the national<br />
permitting procedures in the<br />
other four countries along the route –<br />
Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark<br />
– are proceeding as planned.<br />
Further permits are expected to be issued<br />
in the coming months, before<br />
construction starts in 2018.”<br />
However, not everything is as<br />
clearcut as the company claims. It is<br />
known that back in November last year,<br />
Denmark passed a law that would allow<br />
it to prohibit the laying down of the Nord<br />
Stream 2 on its territory. Lithuania,<br />
Latvia, and Poland also came forward to<br />
oppose the construction of the gas<br />
pipeline. Representatives of these countries<br />
have repeatedly argued that the<br />
Nord Stream 2 will increase the EU’s dependence<br />
on Gazprom, which already<br />
supplies about one-third of the bloc’s gas<br />
needs. Recently, the US also informed<br />
companies working with the Nord<br />
Stream 2 of the threat of sanctions.<br />
Let us recall that the Nord Stream 2<br />
gas pipeline will pass through the Baltic<br />
Sea, connecting suppliers in Russia with<br />
consumers in Europe, and its length<br />
will reach more than 1,200 kilometers.<br />
It is predicted that the combined capacity<br />
of the two gas pipelines will allow<br />
55 billion cubic meters of gas per year to<br />
be delivered from the coast of Russia<br />
through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The<br />
cost of the project is estimated at almost<br />
10 billion euros.<br />
Sketch by Viktor BOGORAD<br />
VALUES or<br />
NORD STREAM 2?<br />
■ COMMENTARY<br />
Serhii SOLODKYI, first deputy director<br />
of the New Europe Center:<br />
“This is an eternal question facing<br />
the liberal world, which on the one<br />
hand advocates the protection of human<br />
rights, and on the other, cooperates<br />
with dictatorial regimes. Unfortunately,<br />
Germany has been no exception<br />
in this regard. A country that is a<br />
leader and an example of success in<br />
many areas for the entire continent<br />
still is no model in this regard. We<br />
know the arguments of the German<br />
side, they say this is due to purely economic<br />
considerations, and there is<br />
nothing political about it, but Russia<br />
uses the energy lever as a weapon to<br />
achieve its political objectives. Such<br />
steps on the part of Germany, unfortunately,<br />
give ammunition to the Russian<br />
side as it argues that the EU is not<br />
united, that the West can easily be<br />
bought and corrupted.<br />
Expert: “Russia exports gas and corruption in parallel, buying<br />
votes of European politicians and opinions of experts”<br />
“We have seen how Russia has repeatedly<br />
used the gas weapon against<br />
Ukraine. We understand that the gas factor<br />
plays a lesser or greater role when the<br />
capitals of the EU hesitate whether to<br />
strengthen and extend sanctions against<br />
Russia. The issue of support for Ukraine<br />
is important to us. Despite the fact that<br />
Russia has repeatedly tried to use the gas<br />
lever during the war in order to discredit<br />
Ukraine as a responsible gas transit<br />
country, this country has proved, sometimes<br />
at a high price for itself, that it is<br />
responsible, and thus has taken away any<br />
trump cards Russia could hope to obtain<br />
in this regard.<br />
“Let us hope that the moment will<br />
eventually come when Germany will<br />
think better of it. Although I understand<br />
that with every passing day, it<br />
will be increasingly difficult to backtrack<br />
on the Nord Stream 2 story. Let<br />
us hope that other countries of Europe<br />
and the world will provide convincing<br />
reasons so that the German government<br />
and citizens change their decision, no<br />
matter how profitable it is in financial<br />
terms, because more than money is at<br />
stake. Germany and the continent as a<br />
whole will lose much more when the<br />
Nord Stream 2 project is completed.<br />
Then there will be losses both political<br />
and financial. By the way, speaking of<br />
the financial dimension, this gas<br />
pipeline does not in any way fit the EU<br />
strategic plans for diversification of energy<br />
resources. On the contrary, we are<br />
witnessing the increasing dependence of<br />
the EU on a single supplier.<br />
“‘Schroederization’ represents the<br />
higher, overt degree of cynicism and corruption.<br />
And in this situation, Germany<br />
is trying to convince others of the<br />
reasons it acts the way it does, and persuade<br />
them that it will not allow the gas<br />
pipeline to be used for political purposes.<br />
But it is a quite correct assessment.<br />
These steps raise more questions, casting<br />
doubt on the reputation of the whole<br />
of the EU. This applies not only to the<br />
Nord Stream 2, but also to the fact that<br />
far from all countries have solidarized<br />
with Britain in expelling Russian diplomats.<br />
This sends a signal to the Kremlin<br />
that believes that it has only to wait a little<br />
longer, and the West will make the<br />
concessions Russia needs by itself, which<br />
belief does not exactly help to resolve this<br />
conflict and the crisis of the global order.<br />
“I think that not all is lost and the attention<br />
of the world’s mass media and<br />
non-governmental organizations encourages<br />
the elites to be more responsible<br />
in their decision-making and not to<br />
sell their reputation for energy resources<br />
or other kinds of benefits.<br />
“We are still witnessing an internal<br />
political transformation in Europe,<br />
where not all countries have realized<br />
the seriousness of the challenges and<br />
risks facing the world in connection<br />
with Russia’s aggressive policy towards<br />
Ukraine and many Western<br />
democracies. Many countries still<br />
naively believe that it is possible to<br />
achieve some results through appeasement,<br />
without realizing that it only<br />
generates more insolence and aggression<br />
on the part of the Kremlin.”
2<br />
No.20 MARCH 29, 2018<br />
DAY AFTER DAY<br />
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
Pryluky: An Updated Profile<br />
The fresh issue of Route No. 1<br />
offers a unique look at that<br />
“small great city”<br />
By Olha KHARCHENKO, The Day<br />
“...How many people know that there<br />
was a time when Pryluky actually ruled<br />
Muscovy? And this plotline could have<br />
been used to create a drama on William<br />
Shakespeare or Friedrich von Schiller’s<br />
model, or a whole historical TV series, given<br />
the present realities. It would have become<br />
another Game of Thrones...<br />
According to biographers of the city,<br />
the Hlynsky princely family owned Pryluky<br />
for a time. Studying the story of the<br />
Hlynskys makes clear how we were giving<br />
impetus to the birth of a monster from<br />
the very beginning. One of the Hlynskys<br />
wed his daughter to Prince of Moscow<br />
Vasily III, and from this marriage Ivan IV<br />
was born, known as Ivan the Terrible.<br />
And does anyone ever recall that<br />
Boris Godunov was among those who<br />
destroyed Pryluky? But after its many destructions,<br />
that occurred at various<br />
points in time, the city always revived.<br />
And it was mainly by the efforts of the<br />
princes, whom many of us “abandon” to<br />
Poland, Russia, or Lithuania... But all of<br />
them were actually locals: the Vyshnevetskys,<br />
the Galagans... In western<br />
Ukraine, they use a very good word for<br />
it – tuteishi, ‘natives,’” editor-in-chief<br />
Larysa Ivshyna intriguingly writes in her<br />
column for the latest issue of the glossy<br />
magazine.<br />
The creative team of Route No. 1’s<br />
March issue made every effort to make<br />
the word “Pryluky” sound in a new way.<br />
We talked about people as the main asset<br />
with Artem Skrypka, director of production<br />
at the OJSC British American Tobacco<br />
for Ukraine, Caucasus, Central<br />
Asia, Belarus, and Moldova subregion.<br />
This enterprise provides sizeable incomes<br />
to approximately 10 percent of the city’s<br />
population and implements a number of<br />
social projects in it. The rich church architecture<br />
of the city, the centerpieces of<br />
the Pryluky Local History Museum’s<br />
collection, the unique Hustyn monastery<br />
and the nearby villages of Kachanivka,<br />
Trostianets, and Sokyryntsi are all covered<br />
in our separate travel descriptions.<br />
Also, Route No. 1 talked about their<br />
perspectives on Pryluky to prominent natives<br />
of the city: Consul General of<br />
Ukraine in Chicago Larysa He rasko, Ambassador<br />
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary<br />
of Ukraine to the Holy See (Vatican)<br />
and the Sovereign Order of Malta Tetiana<br />
Izhevska, actress of the Franko National<br />
Academic Drama Theater Svitlana<br />
Prus, director of the Chernihiv State<br />
Center for Olympic Training Viacheslav<br />
Derkach, and well-known citizen of Pryluky,<br />
Paralympic champion Oleh Len.<br />
In addition, the issue offers contributions<br />
dealing with how Pryluky has<br />
used its right to self-government, how the<br />
authorities are making the city attractive<br />
to young people, where one can get a tasty<br />
meal in it, and which European localities<br />
are also 933 years old.<br />
You can order Route No. 1. Pryluky<br />
from Den’s online store at https://<br />
day.kyiv.ua/en/catalog/9678 or by calling<br />
our sales department: (044) 303 96 23.<br />
Also, you may wait till March 30 to buy<br />
it at a newsstand in your city or go to Pryluky<br />
on March 29 to attend the solemn<br />
opening of Den’s Photo Exhibition, as our<br />
glossy magazine will reach that city before<br />
it appears anywhere else, as an exclusive<br />
gift!<br />
The Kremlin’s “Ukrainian gambit”<br />
By Mykola SIRUK, The Day<br />
All over the world, no one doubted<br />
that Russian President Vladimir<br />
Putin would be re-elected for a<br />
fourth term. Indeed, the Russian<br />
regime had done everything to<br />
ensure the necessary turnout and, most<br />
importantly, a convincing victory in the<br />
first round.<br />
During the election campaign, the<br />
Russian regime widely exploited anti-<br />
Western rhetoric, using as an excuse the<br />
expulsion of Russian diplomats from<br />
Britain because of the involvement of<br />
Russian security services in poisoning a<br />
former Russian spy and his daughter.<br />
Now, after the end of the campaign,<br />
many politicians and experts ask a question:<br />
what will Russia’s policy under<br />
Putin be with regard to the EU, the US,<br />
and Ukraine, and vice versa, how will the<br />
Trump administration build relations<br />
with the Kremlin, given that its head has<br />
not personally criticized Putin and is<br />
trying to establish friendly relations with<br />
the Russian leader? The Day asked Russian<br />
political analyst, expert in Russian-<br />
American relations Lilia SHEVTSOVA to<br />
answer these questions.<br />
● “WHILE MAINTAINING<br />
AGGRESSIVE RHETORIC,<br />
THE KREMLIN IS TRYING<br />
TO LOOK FOR WAYS<br />
TO EASE TENSION”<br />
“The Kremlin’s foreign policy has always<br />
been an instrument for ensuring its<br />
domestic agenda succeeds. Until recently,<br />
the Kremlin was able to resolve tactical issues<br />
of survival at the expense of foreign<br />
policy. For instance, the annexation of<br />
Crimea added about 30 percentage points<br />
to Vladimir Putin’s support level and allowed<br />
him to obtain legitimacy for a time<br />
as a ‘gatherer of Russian lands.’ But at the<br />
same time, the ‘Ukrainian gambit’ of the<br />
Kremlin has begun to destroy the model under<br />
which the Russian system existed by<br />
using Western resources.<br />
“The main foreign policy challenge of<br />
Putin’s new presidential term is to find a<br />
balance between deterring the West and<br />
maintaining dialog with it, which would allow<br />
Russia to go back to using the Western<br />
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day<br />
This week the world has shown an<br />
unheard-of solidarity with the UK in<br />
connection with Russia’s likely<br />
complicity in poisoning the former<br />
spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter<br />
Yulia – about 20 countries expelled over<br />
100 Russian diplomats (as we were going to<br />
press, the exact number was 139).<br />
At first, a decision to this effect was<br />
made in the European Union: Donald Tusk,<br />
President of the European Council, announced<br />
that 14 EU member states had<br />
joined the initiative. “Additional measures,<br />
including further sanctions within the common<br />
EU framework, cannot be excluded in<br />
the coming days and weeks,” Reuters quotes<br />
him as saying. In particular, the number of<br />
Russian diplomats was reduced in the Czech<br />
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany,<br />
Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands,<br />
Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and<br />
Finland, CNN reports.<br />
Following the EU, the US took a similar<br />
step, giving 60 diplomats a week’s notice to<br />
leave the country. Besides, the Russian<br />
consulate in Seattle will be closed. In Canada<br />
it was announced about the expulsion of<br />
financial and technological potential.<br />
Putin, apparently, hopes that by escalating<br />
tension and threatening to ‘break windows,’<br />
he will force the spineless liberal<br />
democracies to accept his rules of the<br />
game and return to the previous policy of<br />
appeasement. He obviously expects that the<br />
Russian elite and society will be compelled<br />
to agree to living in a ‘besieged fortress’ for<br />
an indefinite period of time.<br />
“However, neither the Russian president<br />
nor the ruling team is fully confident<br />
that this madman blackmail will succeed.<br />
And it is already obvious that, while maintaining<br />
its macho and aggressive rhetoric,<br />
the Kremlin is trying to look for ways to<br />
ease tension. ‘You did not hear us, you did<br />
not respect us, and look what you have<br />
made us to do! Listen to our complaints now<br />
and we will again comfortably coexist!’ is<br />
the current Kremlin mantra.<br />
“The problem is that the Kremlin,<br />
while knowing how to escalate, does not<br />
know how to retreat when it becomes clear<br />
that the West is not ready to return to the<br />
pre-Crimea consensus. Meanwhile, the<br />
blinking game can end badly for both<br />
sides.<br />
“Of course, the Kremlin’s main focus<br />
is on the US. Donald Trump’s presidency<br />
turned out to be much more unpleasant for<br />
Russia than fairly harmless Barack Obama’s<br />
America. Despite Trump’s inexplicable<br />
sympathy for Putin, his administration<br />
is pursuing a rather tough course<br />
against Russia, which the previous American<br />
president did not dare to do during his<br />
four Russian diplomats and the denial of accreditation<br />
to three. DW quotes Canadian<br />
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland as saying:<br />
“The four have been identified as intelligence<br />
officers or individuals who have<br />
used their diplomatic status to undermine<br />
Canada’s security or interfere in our democracy.”<br />
Australia is going to expel two<br />
diplomats, while New Zealand says they<br />
have no Russian agents, but if there were<br />
some, they would also be expelled.<br />
Lilia SHEVTSOVA:<br />
“It has begun to<br />
destroy the model<br />
under which the<br />
Russian system<br />
existed by using<br />
Western resources”<br />
term. The Kremlin, of course, will try not<br />
to provoke the US to take even tougher<br />
measures. But here is the question: how is<br />
one to swallow insults without losing<br />
face?!”<br />
● “THE KREMLIN HAS BEEN<br />
QUITE DISMISSIVE ABOUT<br />
THE ABILITY OF EUROPE TO<br />
DETER RUSSIA SO FAR”<br />
“Speaking of Europe, the Kremlin<br />
has been quite dismissive about the ability<br />
of Europe to deter Russia so far. The<br />
Kremlin did not expect at all that the Europeans<br />
would be prepared to maintain<br />
sanctions against Russia for so long. But<br />
now, when the position of Chancellor Angela<br />
Merkel, who ensured European unity<br />
on the issue of sanctions, has begun to<br />
weaken, the Kremlin will again hope that<br />
Europe can be split, either by intimidation<br />
or by seducing with ‘carrots’ businesses<br />
and politicians who are ready to cooperate<br />
with Moscow.<br />
“The Europeans’ reaction to the Skripal<br />
case will be a test of their ability to take<br />
a tough stand against Russia: to what extent<br />
will Europe support Britain in its confrontation<br />
with the Kremlin over a poisoning<br />
with a neuro-paralytic agent in the<br />
UK that Russia denies its involvement in?<br />
But no matter how this story ends, Russia<br />
will continue its old policy towards Europe,<br />
which is to disregard the EU outright<br />
and to try to split the Europeans and<br />
create blocs of Russia’s own making with<br />
‘Trojan horses’ – the countries which<br />
stand ready to resume dialog with the<br />
Kremlin.”<br />
“The next goal is to build up the pressure of sanctions”<br />
What does the unprecedented expulsion of<br />
more than 100 Russian diplomats mean?<br />
● UKRAINE’S SOLIDARITY<br />
Ukraine has also made a similar decision.<br />
According to President Petro<br />
Poroshenko, this was announced “synchronously<br />
and in coordination at 3 p.m.<br />
Brussels time, or at 4 p.m. Kyiv time.” “I<br />
am sure that the expulsion of 13 Russian<br />
diplomats from Ukraine will strengthen<br />
our security and dash the efforts of the<br />
fifth column to destabilize the domestic situation<br />
in Ukraine,” he said. In the head of<br />
state’s words, diplomatic presence has<br />
long been reduced almost to zero – “to the<br />
critical minimum that allows us to care<br />
about our citizens held hostage in Russia.”<br />
This stirred up discussions about<br />
whether or not this step of Kyiv was reasonable.<br />
The Russian president’s<br />
spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already<br />
said Russia will be guided by the principle<br />
of reciprocity when taking retaliatory<br />
measures. At the same time, it<br />
should be taken into account that some<br />
Ukrainian citizens, including political<br />
prisoners, still remain in the neighboring<br />
state – they need support and help<br />
from our diplomatic representatives.<br />
Commenting this, Iryna He ra -<br />
shchen ko, First Deputy Chairperson of<br />
the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, noted<br />
that the expulsion is a right decision, a<br />
political signal of solidarity to our European<br />
partners. “Freeing the Kremlin’s<br />
political prisoners depends on Putin<br />
alone, not on consuls. At the same time,<br />
support and help from consuls is perhaps<br />
the only support our political prisoners<br />
receive and are aware of. Given a complete<br />
isolation, a ban on being visited by<br />
and communicating with relatives by<br />
phone and by correspondence, the absence<br />
of the Ukrainian press, TV, and<br />
books, a consul’s visit, at least once in<br />
several months, is perhaps the only link<br />
with Ukraine, a signal that the fatherland<br />
is struggling for them. Consuls will<br />
find it more difficult to contact the political<br />
prisoners, for it is obvious that<br />
Russia will be revenging itself. But we<br />
have the right to demand that the world<br />
increase pressuring Russia into releasing<br />
our captives,” she wrote in Facebook.<br />
Continued on page 4 ➤<br />
● “THE ‘RUSSIAN FACTOR’<br />
IS THE MOST IMPORTANT<br />
TOOL THAT STRENGTHENS<br />
UKRAINIAN IDENTITY”<br />
“What about Ukraine? Russian leaders<br />
understand that Ukraine remains the<br />
main reason for Russia’s current confrontation<br />
with the West. Undoubtedly,<br />
the Kremlin will hope that the Ukrainian<br />
issue will vanish from the main international<br />
agenda and the West will get tired<br />
of Ukraine. By exacerbating the issue of international<br />
security and shifting attention<br />
not only to international terrorism, but to<br />
the threat of the collapse of the strategic<br />
security system, as well as turning nuclear<br />
weapons into an instrument of blackmail,<br />
the Kremlin effectively tells the West:<br />
look, we have more important problems for<br />
discussion and we have a means of coercing<br />
you to adopt our vision of global priorities<br />
and the rules of the game.<br />
“Of course, as long as imperialism and<br />
the view of Ukraine as an element of the<br />
‘Russian civilization’ remain elements of<br />
the political mentality of the Russian ruling<br />
elite, Ukraine will always be in a zone<br />
of geopolitical instability. On the one hand,<br />
having Russia in the neighborhood and the<br />
Kremlin’s desire to undermine Ukraine’s<br />
territorial integrity will destabilize the<br />
situation in Ukraine. On the other hand, the<br />
‘Russian factor’ is the most important<br />
tool that strengthens Ukrainian identity.<br />
“But it is also obvious that President<br />
Putin understands that the Donbas is not<br />
benefiting him, but harming his reputation<br />
and narrowing the room for international<br />
maneuver instead. Still, I think that despite<br />
this understanding, Putin is not ready to<br />
willingly abandon the Donbas and lose<br />
this instrument of influence in Ukraine and<br />
a possible pawn in dealing with the West.<br />
Apparently, surrendering the occupied<br />
districts of the Donbas is seen by Putin as<br />
likely to have worse consequences than<br />
keeping the current conflict going.<br />
“However, the situation is developing<br />
rapidly. We extrapolate the current trends<br />
into the future, but new circumstances<br />
arise all the time, which can radically<br />
change the political picture. What is impossible<br />
today can become possible tomorrow,<br />
and it can happen very quickly and unexpectedly.<br />
After all, we are at the stage of<br />
the collapse of the former world order<br />
and the formation of a new one. In any case,<br />
the situation in the ‘Russia-Ukraine’ space<br />
is not static and it is hard to freeze, unlike<br />
other conflicts in the post-Soviet space.”<br />
Should we expect any progress on<br />
the part of the Kremlin in fulfilling the<br />
Minsk Agreements?<br />
“I do not see any opportunities so far<br />
for the Kremlin’s position on the Minsk<br />
Agreements to change, as Putin has repeatedly<br />
said. But we are talking about the<br />
present moment here. It is difficult to<br />
foresee at the moment what will happen in<br />
a year or two.”<br />
● “ANY THOUGHT OF<br />
NORMALIZING RELATIONS<br />
WITH RUSSIA MAKES THE<br />
U.S. ELITE TO SUSPECT ITS<br />
AUTHOR OF BEING<br />
A SELL-OUT”<br />
What do the US elite expect from<br />
the fourth term of Putin, and what<br />
kind of policy are they going to pursue<br />
with regard to Russia?<br />
“I think that neither the American<br />
establishment, nor the Trump administration<br />
can, or want, to think strategically<br />
now. Everyone in Washington is obsessed<br />
with a situational agenda, often regulated<br />
by President Trump’s crazy tweets. It is<br />
clear that the ‘collective Washington’ does<br />
not expect anything good from Putin.<br />
Moreover, we see that any thought of normalizing<br />
relations with Russia makes the<br />
US elite to suspect its author of being a sellout.<br />
Even Henry Kissinger, who liked to visit<br />
Putin in the Kremlin and always called<br />
for ‘taking into account the interests of<br />
Russia’ on his return, has now fallen silent.<br />
Continued on page 5 ➤
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
DAY AFTER DAY No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 3<br />
Missiles against hatred and lies<br />
By Natalia ISHCHENKO<br />
March 24 marks the 19th<br />
anniversary of start of the<br />
NATO bombing campaign<br />
in the former Yugoslavia.<br />
Ukrainians know very<br />
little about the circumstances of those<br />
events. Information that we do have is<br />
often incomplete, often distorted, and<br />
sometimes absent at all.<br />
One of the little-known episodes is<br />
the bombing of the Radio and Television<br />
of Serbia (RTS) in April 1999.<br />
This attack was not a mistake. The<br />
RTS building in Belgrade was hit by a<br />
missile because the broadcaster was<br />
part of the propaganda machine of the<br />
then Yugoslav authorities, a weapon<br />
in the war waged by the regime of Slobodan<br />
Milosevic.<br />
● MILOSEVIC’S<br />
RESPONSIBILITY<br />
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia<br />
(FRY, then including Serbia<br />
and Montenegro) was attacked because<br />
the Yugoslav leadership made<br />
sure that the peace talks on the resolution<br />
of the conflict in Kosovo failed.<br />
The negotiation process, which lasted<br />
from February to March 1999 in Rambouillet<br />
and Paris (France), was suspended<br />
on March 19. The parties could<br />
not reach an agreement, since president<br />
of the FRY Milosevic refused to<br />
sign military annexes to the crisis settlement<br />
treaty. Meanwhile, the number<br />
of Albanian refugees from Kosovo<br />
continued to increase...<br />
Javier Solana, then secretary<br />
general of NATO, made a special<br />
press statement on March 24, 1999,<br />
in connection with the start of the<br />
air operations. In particular, he<br />
said: “In the last months, the international<br />
community has spared no<br />
efforts to achieve a negotiated solution<br />
in Kosovo. But it has not been<br />
possible.<br />
“Clear responsibility for the air<br />
strikes lies with President Milosevic<br />
who has refused to stop his violent action<br />
in Kosovo and has refused to negotiate<br />
in good faith.<br />
“The time has now come for action.<br />
“Let me reiterate: NATO is not<br />
waging war against Yugoslavia.<br />
“We have no quarrel with the people<br />
of Yugoslavia who for too long<br />
have been isolated in Europe because<br />
of the policies of their government.<br />
“Our actions are directed against<br />
the repressive policy of the Yugoslav<br />
leadership.<br />
“We must stop the violence and<br />
bring an end to the humanitarian catastrophe<br />
now taking place in Kosovo.<br />
We have a moral duty to do so.”<br />
● 78 DAYS AND NIGHTS<br />
The Operation Allied Force began<br />
without the formal consent of the UN<br />
Security Council and lasted 78 days.<br />
During that time, the North Atlantic<br />
Alliance carried out air strikes with<br />
cruise missiles and aircraft against<br />
hundreds of targets in Serbia and<br />
How Slobodan Milosevic’s “propaganda machine” was attacked by NATO<br />
Montenegro. They were mostly military,<br />
industrial, and infrastructure<br />
facilities. According to various estimates,<br />
more than two and a half<br />
months of bombing killed 1,200 to<br />
2,500 people. The total property damage<br />
is estimated at tens of billions of<br />
dollars.<br />
The operation ended with the<br />
signing of a military technical agreement<br />
in Kumanovo (Macedonia) on<br />
June 9, 1999. Three days later, the<br />
withdrawal of the FRY forces from<br />
Kosovo began.<br />
The NATO secretary general issued<br />
an order to stop the bombing on<br />
June 10, and the last missile exploded<br />
at 1:30 a.m. that day.<br />
On June 10, 1999, the UN Security<br />
Council adopted Resolution<br />
1244, and 37,800 Kosovo Force<br />
REUTERS photo<br />
“<br />
The isolated ruined buildings in the center of Belgrade, which have been<br />
specially left unaltered since 1999, remind the Serbs and should remind everyone<br />
else what happens when an authoritarian ruler wants to build a “great country”<br />
over the objections of the international community, by brainwashing people with<br />
propaganda and carrying out military aggression against other peoples.<br />
”<br />
tified, since they were part of the<br />
“apparatus of the dictatorship and<br />
power of Milosevic.”<br />
(KFOR) troops from 36 countries<br />
were sent to Kosovo.<br />
The international peacekeeping<br />
mission in Kosovo continues to this<br />
day.<br />
● BOMBING THE<br />
“PROPAGANDIST MACHINE”<br />
One of the significant episodes of<br />
the Allied Force operation was the<br />
bombing of the RTS. On April 23,<br />
1999, a cruise missile launched by a<br />
NATO aircraft hit the RTS building in<br />
Belgrade. Three TV channels and four<br />
radio stations then broadcast from the<br />
home of the region’s leading broadcaster.<br />
The attack took place at night, at<br />
2:06 a.m., just when Milosevic’s<br />
recorded interview was being broadcast<br />
on the central channel. Two of the<br />
four floors of the RTS building col-<br />
The publication also quoted a<br />
statement by UK International Development<br />
Secretary Clare Short: “This<br />
is a war, this is a serious conflict, untold<br />
horrors are being done. The propaganda<br />
machine is prolonging the war<br />
and it [the RTS building] is a legitimate<br />
target.”<br />
Admiral Ian Garnett, chief of<br />
joint operations at the Ministry of Defense,<br />
noted that Milosevic’s “propaganda<br />
machine consists of transmitters<br />
but also the studios from which<br />
the information is transmitted. That<br />
makes it part of the overall military<br />
structure. Both elements have to be<br />
attacked.”<br />
And NATO spokesman David Wilby,<br />
according to The Guardian, called<br />
lapsed, the main instrument room was<br />
destroyed, 150 to 200 people (who<br />
worked the night shift or were on duty)<br />
were then present in the broadcaster’s<br />
building. As a result of the<br />
bombing, 16 RTS staff were killed, including<br />
directors, editors, programmers,<br />
cameramen, guards, a makeup<br />
artist... More people were injured, and<br />
then rescued out of the rubble of the<br />
destroyed building.<br />
Representatives of NATO and its<br />
member countries asserted that the<br />
RTS was a dual purpose object, which<br />
made an important contribution to the<br />
propaganda war being conducted then<br />
by the Yugoslav authorities.<br />
The Guardian newspaper quoted<br />
Tony Blair in 1999, immediately after<br />
the attack, who insisted that the<br />
bombing of TV stations was fully justhe<br />
Serbian state broadcaster two<br />
weeks before the attack “a legitimate<br />
target,” because it “filled the airwaves<br />
with hate and with lies over the<br />
years.”<br />
● WHO IS TO BLAME?<br />
International journalist unions and<br />
TV broadcaster associations were, as<br />
expected, extremely negative about the<br />
news from Belgrade. Human rights organizations<br />
Amnesty International and<br />
Human Rights Watch (HRW), in turn,<br />
criticized the Alliance for attacking the<br />
Serbian broadcaster due to the deaths of<br />
civilians. However, the HRW cited in its<br />
report on the Kosovo crisis, posted on the<br />
official website of the organization<br />
(https://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/na<br />
to/Natbm200-01.htm#P420_111626)<br />
Paragraph 7 of the 1956 Guidelines of<br />
the International Committee of the Red<br />
Cross, which lists among legitimate<br />
military objectives “installations of<br />
broadcasting and television stations”<br />
(the source referenced by the human<br />
rights activists is ICRC, Commentary on<br />
the Additional Protocols, p. 632, para.<br />
2002, note 3).<br />
In 2001, the European Court of<br />
Human Rights declared inadmissible<br />
for consideration of the merits a complaint<br />
lodged by relatives of several<br />
dead and wounded RTS workers<br />
against NATO members who participated<br />
in the bombing.<br />
Other international tribunals also<br />
found no grounds for opening cases<br />
against the countries participating in<br />
the Allied Force operation. In June<br />
1999, the UN International Court of<br />
Justice refused to comply with the request<br />
of the FRY to institute proceedings<br />
against the allies. In 2000, the<br />
prosecutor of the International Criminal<br />
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia<br />
informed the UN Security<br />
Council of his decision not to conduct<br />
an investigation into this issue.<br />
Instead, in 2002 (two years after<br />
the overthrow of the Milosevic<br />
regime), the Serbian court sentenced<br />
the former head of state radio television<br />
Serbia Dragoljub Milanovic to<br />
10 years imprisonment because he<br />
did not ensure the safety of his employees.<br />
According to the HRW, Western<br />
media organizations that used the facilities<br />
of the Serbian broadcaster for<br />
the transfer of materials from Yugoslavia<br />
were warned by NATO representatives<br />
that the headquarters of<br />
the RTS would be attacked. As soon as<br />
Western media learned about the Alliance’s<br />
plans, the authorities of Yugoslavia<br />
also received relevant information.<br />
But as the court found, the<br />
head of the RTS deliberately did not<br />
comply with the evacuation order for<br />
TV and radio workers, although he<br />
knew that the RTS building could become<br />
a target for bombing.<br />
Dragoljub Milanovic was released<br />
in August 2012. He takes an active<br />
part in social and political life, speaks<br />
on TV and recalls the old times. He<br />
tried to sue journalists who wrote that<br />
he “sacrificed 16 employees of the<br />
RTS” in 1999. He has been unsuccessful<br />
so far: in the beginning of this<br />
year, the Supreme Court of Cassation<br />
of Serbia decided that such a value<br />
judgment was based on a court decision<br />
and did not detract from the honor<br />
and reputation of the former chief<br />
manager of the main Serbian broadcaster.<br />
● LEARNED AND UNLEARNED<br />
LESSONS<br />
As far as the RTS itself is concerned,<br />
it has... repented. On May 23,<br />
2011, the RTS management apologized<br />
to the citizens of the country<br />
and residents of the region for the fact<br />
that in the 1990s, the RTS programs<br />
contained insults, slander, and incitement<br />
to hatred and hostility.<br />
The media company acknowledged<br />
that this was happening to discredit<br />
the political opposition in Serbia and<br />
its leaders, and was also part of propaganda<br />
of the then undemocratic<br />
regime. The RTS executives stated<br />
that programs of the broadcaster<br />
harmed honor and dignity of representatives<br />
of the political opposition,<br />
critically-minded journalists, humanist-oriented<br />
intellectuals, ethnic and<br />
religious minorities in Serbia, as well<br />
as some of the neighboring peoples<br />
and nations in the 1990s.<br />
The new RTS has pledged to be independent<br />
in its work and implement<br />
the principles of rule of law, social justice,<br />
and civic democracy, protect human<br />
rights and minority rights, and<br />
devotedly observe European principles<br />
and values.<br />
In general, today’s Serbia strives<br />
to behave in a European manner. In<br />
particular, it aims to resolve all the<br />
conflicts – including old ones, first of<br />
all, the settlement of the Kosovo situation<br />
– through negotiations and<br />
agreements. The isolated ruined buildings<br />
in the center of Belgrade, which<br />
have been specially left unaltered since<br />
1999, remind the Serbs and should remind<br />
everyone else what happens<br />
when an authoritarian ruler wants to<br />
build a “great country” over the objections<br />
of the international community,<br />
by brainwashing people with propaganda<br />
and carrying out military aggression<br />
against other peoples.
4<br />
No.20 MARCH 29, 2018<br />
TOPIC OF THE DAY<br />
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
By Mykola SIRUK, The Day<br />
Recently, US President Donald Trump tweeted,<br />
in his trademark style, that John Bolton had<br />
been appointed as national security advisor,<br />
replacing Lieutenant-General Herbert<br />
McMaster in that position.<br />
Bolton served in presidents Ronald Reagan and<br />
George H.W. Bush’s administrations, while between<br />
August 2005 and December 2006, he was the US ambassador<br />
to the UN during George W. Bush’s presidency.<br />
While away from politics afterwards, Bolton<br />
worked with a number of neo-conservative think<br />
tanks and was a commentator for the Fox News media<br />
group, and also wrote memoirs entitled Surrender Is<br />
Not an Option. The book deals with his activities as the<br />
US ambassador to the UN, and in particular, exposes<br />
the operational inadequacies that hinder the UN’s<br />
effectiveness in international diplomacy and its bias<br />
against Israel and the US. At home, he criticized the<br />
pernicious bureaucratic inertia in the US State Department<br />
that can undermine presidential policy.<br />
● “BAD NEWS FOR AMERICA’S<br />
ENEMIES”<br />
The Democrats and some of the Republicans reacted<br />
to Bolton’s appointment with alarm. For instance,<br />
Senator Christopher Coons said that “Bolton’s<br />
views on Iran and North Korea are overly aggressive<br />
at best and downright dangerous at worst.”<br />
On the other hand, the appointment of Bolton has<br />
been approvingly commented by legislators who are<br />
seen as “hawks.” “Selecting John Bolton as national<br />
security adviser is good news for America’s allies and<br />
bad news for America’s enemies,” said Senator Lindsey<br />
Graham.<br />
Continued from page 2 ➤<br />
● REACTION<br />
Speaking at the British Parliament, UK Prime Minister<br />
Theresa May said it is “the largest collective expulsion<br />
of Russian intelligence officers in history.” “Today’s<br />
actions by our allies clearly demonstrate that we<br />
all stand shoulder to shoulder in sending the strongest<br />
signal to the Kremlin that Russia cannot continue to<br />
flout international law and threaten our security,” the<br />
head of government emphasized.<br />
At the same time, ex-US ambassador to Moscow,<br />
Alexander Vershbow said to Newsweek: “If you’re really<br />
going to hit Putin’s power base, you have to go beyond<br />
the expulsion of some diplomats and spies, who<br />
can be replaced. I think what is needed is to include some<br />
of these targeted sanctions that single out Putin’s<br />
cronies for sanctions in terms of limiting their access<br />
to international markets, possibly banning their travel,<br />
pressing for more transparency about the sources<br />
of their wealth.”<br />
US diplomat Richard Haass tweeted: “Decision to<br />
expel Russian ‘diplomats’ less than optimal/creative<br />
as will likely lead to Moscow responding in kind. Better<br />
to choose asymmetrical response, ie, targeted economic<br />
and travel sanctions, increased public diplomacy<br />
vs Putin, etc so that costs fall mostly on Russia.”<br />
“It was the most stinging rebuke of the Kremlin<br />
since the expulsion of Russia from the G8 in response<br />
to the invasion and annexation of Crimea,” Politico<br />
writes. “A united West showed itself sufficiently fed<br />
up with a pattern of aggression and denial from<br />
Moscow to retaliate without waiting for conclusive<br />
proof of Russia’s culpability in the March 4 nerve agent<br />
attack, which left a former Russian double agent, Sergei<br />
Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, gravely ill.”<br />
● “OUR COUNTRY IS AWARE LIKE<br />
NOBODY ELSE OF THE SITUATION<br />
IN SALISBURY”<br />
Mariana BETSA, spokesperson of the Ministry<br />
of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine:<br />
“The decision to expel Russian diplomats in connection<br />
with an unprecedented chemical attack in Salisbury<br />
in coordination with our European and trans-Atlantic<br />
partners was absolutely deliberate. Its aim is to<br />
make it clear to Russia, which only recognizes brutal<br />
force rather than the force of law, that the international<br />
community is united not only in condemnation, symbolic<br />
acts and gestures, but also in concrete actions. These<br />
“The most undiplomatic diplomat”<br />
What should Ukraine expect from the US president’s<br />
new National Security Advisor John Bolton<br />
REUTERS photo<br />
vened in the US election. When Russian President<br />
Vladimir Putin announced his decision to create new<br />
nuclear weapons, Bolton wrote on Twitter that “there<br />
needs to be a strategic response to Russia’s new nuclear<br />
missiles to show our allies in Europe that we will not<br />
let Russia push the US or its allies around.”<br />
Ukraine: Bolton does not hide his skepticism about<br />
the idea to deploy a UN peacekeeping mission in<br />
Ukraine. He considers this a mistake on Ukraine’s<br />
part. According to him, this would mean intensifying<br />
Russia’s interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs,<br />
since Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security<br />
Council (which would make a decision on<br />
peacekeepers). “The main issue now,” he stressed, “is<br />
to prevent the Donbas from turning into a frozen conflict<br />
zone.”<br />
The Iran nuclear deal: Bolton’s hostility to the deal<br />
is well known. He even advocated the violent regime<br />
change in that country. Given that his fellow Iran<br />
fighter Mike Pompeo was recently appointed US sec-<br />
“The next goal is to build up the pressure of sanctions”<br />
MARIANA BETSA VOLODYMYR OHRYZKO<br />
measures are an instrument of pressuring Russia into returning<br />
to the international law field.<br />
“The summoned charge d’affaires of Russia in<br />
Ukraine was given a note of protest and told that 13 diplomatic<br />
agents were pronounced personae non gratae because<br />
they had been engaged in the activity incompatible<br />
with their diplomatic status – in other words, they in fact<br />
represented Russian intelligence services. They must leave<br />
the territory of Ukraine within 48 hours. Our country is<br />
aware like nobody else of the situation in Salisbury, of the<br />
fact that it is an act of Russia’s aggression not only against<br />
the UK, but also against the values and principles of the<br />
whole civilized world. We saw an illegal occupation and<br />
annexation. The hybrid war in the Donbas is going on. This<br />
is why we believe that it is necessary to exert consolidated,<br />
coordinated, and inexorable pressure on Russia. The next<br />
goal is to build up the pressure of sanctions, both personal<br />
and sectoral, against Russia.<br />
“I would not like to speculate about Russia’s likely retaliatory<br />
actions. We can see unprecedented expulsions of<br />
Russian diplomats all over the world. It is difficult to forecast<br />
Russia’s actions. We should not rule out either mirrored<br />
actions or asymmetrical measures, such as aggravation<br />
of the Donbas situation. Should the actions be mirrored,<br />
this will make it difficult to protect Ukrainians, including<br />
political prisoners, in Russia. At the same time,<br />
we think that the remaining number of consuls will be sufficient<br />
to afford proper protection. Of course, their workload<br />
will increase. But, in addition to the embassy in<br />
Moscow, we have several consulates general, so we hope<br />
that our consuls will continue to perform their protective<br />
functions as patriotically and effectively as they do now.<br />
“At the same time, I must point out that we recalled<br />
our ambassador as soon as Russia resorted to illegal occupation<br />
and aggression, as well as Russia recalled its ambassador<br />
to Ukraine. We have lowered the level of diplomatic<br />
representations. Almost no diplomats are left<br />
there – there are only consuls and rank-and-file diplomats<br />
who are doing routine work, but the line of<br />
diplomatic cooperation has in fact been frozen and does<br />
not exist. There is only a consular line though which we<br />
deal with Russia about our political prisoners.”<br />
● “IT IS NOT YET THE FINALE”<br />
Volodymyr OHRYZKO, former Minister of<br />
Foreign Affairs of Ukraine:<br />
“It is an unprecedented instance in the history of<br />
contemporary diplomacy. I have seen nothing of the sort<br />
in the past 30-35 years. There have been certain actions<br />
caused by bilateral problems, but there has never been<br />
a coordinated diplomatic and political demarche on the<br />
part of so many countries and such a large number of<br />
expelled spies. I think this will go down in the history<br />
of contemporary diplomacy – and not only.<br />
“For Russia, it means that it was shown a not yet<br />
red, but already an orange, card. For what Russia is doing<br />
abroad is really no longer acceptable to the world<br />
community. It is very good that this clear message has<br />
been sent. Unfortunately, the Kremlin’s formal reaction<br />
remains as it was in the Soviet era: we don’t know,<br />
you yourselves are to blame, and so on. But I think there<br />
are quite a few people there, who can duly analyze what<br />
is going on and draw proper conclusions.<br />
“It is an important and perhaps not the last step.<br />
Russia has not yet come back to the situation before February-March<br />
2014 – it has not returned the seized<br />
Crimea, has not stopped the Donbas war, and continue<br />
to meddle in Syria, in democratic process in the countries<br />
of Europe and the Americas. Of course, it is not yet<br />
the finale, but it is a very serious warning to Moscow.<br />
“As for Ukraine’s decision to expel diplomats, it is<br />
absolutely right. For neither diplomats nor consuls can<br />
really help our prisoners of war and political prisoners<br />
even if they wished very much to do so because everything<br />
depends on the Kremlin’s will in one situation or<br />
another. Therefore, all the talk that all Ukrainians in<br />
Russia will be left to the mercy of fate reminds me of<br />
the tales of the uninitiated who do not know about the<br />
way a diplomatic or a consular service functions.<br />
“Our action is also right because it would be political<br />
suicide to stay away from the joint position of our<br />
Western partners who support us. I am pleased very<br />
much that, even after some of our politicians said it<br />
should not be done, the political leadership still made<br />
a right decision.”<br />
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day<br />
● BOLTON’S VIEWS<br />
North Korea: The new national security advisor<br />
has long been a supporter of a military response to<br />
North Korean provocations. During a speech in Seoul<br />
in 2003 on the eve of the six-nation talks on North Korea’s<br />
nuclear program, Bolton called its then leader<br />
Kim Jong-il a “tyrannical dictator.”<br />
Russia: Bolton is a longtime critic of the Kremlin.<br />
Recently, he denied allegations that Trump had conspired<br />
with Russia during the presidential campaign,<br />
although he believes that the Kremlin had interretary<br />
of state, the future of that important diplomatic<br />
agreement is now in doubt.<br />
Bolton is also known for his support for keeping<br />
the Guantanamo Bay prison camp open, relocating the<br />
US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and supporting Taiwan<br />
to increase pressure on the PRC.<br />
However, Bolton has recently tried to tone his rhetoric<br />
down. “Frankly, what I have said in private now<br />
is behind me,” he told Fox News in an interview.<br />
The Day asked American and Ukrainian experts<br />
to comment on the dismissal of McMaster and the appointment<br />
of John Bolton as national security advisor,<br />
and to tell us what Ukraine should expect from this<br />
change in Trump’s team.<br />
● “BOLTON IS BOTH PROPERLY TOUGH<br />
ON RUSSIA AND WELL INFORMED<br />
ON UKRAINE”<br />
John HERBST, Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia<br />
Center, Atlantic Council; former US Ambassador<br />
to Ukraine; Washington, D.C.:<br />
“There are a number of reasons for the dismissal<br />
of McMaster, which has been rumored for months.<br />
One, Trump and McMaster have never clicked personally.<br />
Trump seems to get along with Bolton. Two,<br />
Trump likes turmoil and change. Three, there are times<br />
that McMaster – like Tillerson and Kelly – spoke publicly<br />
and was then criticized by Trump. It seems that<br />
personal matters like these, rather than policy differences,<br />
explain the firing.<br />
“Bolton advocates a more hawkish policy on Iran<br />
and North Korea than McMaster. The same is true for<br />
Pompeo. It is not clear that this will lead to more hawkish<br />
policies from the administration. Mattis and Dunford,<br />
for instance, think that we should not renounce<br />
the Iran deal. These are issues to watch. McMaster and<br />
Tillerson both understood the need to push back hard<br />
against Kremlin aggression and provocations. So, I do<br />
not expect major changes with the new team.<br />
“Bolton is both properly tough on Russia and well<br />
informed on Ukraine. He attended the YES conference<br />
in the last two years and recognizes the importance of<br />
stopping Moscow’s aggression in Donbas.”<br />
● “SOMEONE WHO MAY BE ABLE TO<br />
SPEAK OPENLY AND CONVINCINGLY<br />
TO THE PRESIDENT ABOUT<br />
THE GLOBAL RUSSIAN THREAT”<br />
Adrian KARATNYCKY, senior fellow, Atlantic<br />
Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center; managing<br />
partner of Myrmidon Group LLC:<br />
“John Bolton is a Foreign Policy hawk, he is tough<br />
on Russia, and he represents no softening on the matter<br />
of relations with Russia. Indeed, Bolton, who was<br />
close to George W. Bush can be said to be a new-conservative,<br />
having been a longtime colleague of Jeane<br />
Kirkpatrick at the American enterprise institute<br />
think tank. Most commentary seems to focus on the<br />
fact that trump and McMaster never developed a comfortable<br />
relationship.<br />
“National Security Advisor is the person who has<br />
the greatest opportunity to inform the president on key<br />
issues and help shape his thinking. So a good personal<br />
relationship is an important part of the mix. Just<br />
a week ago Bolton asserted Russia, like China, Syria,<br />
and North Korea ‘are regimes that make arrangements<br />
and then lie about them.’ Bolton has asserted that thin<br />
‘lies’ in the past and has argued that Western policy<br />
should ‘cause him pain.’ Ukraine’s leaders should not<br />
view this as a weakening of resolve on Russia, but the<br />
entry of someone who may be able to speak openly and<br />
convincingly to the President about the global Russian<br />
threat.<br />
“In 2014 he called for speeding up the process of<br />
Ukraine’s integration into NATO, by reviving the Bush<br />
administration approach.”<br />
● “THE U.S. WILL BECOME MORE<br />
OPENLY SUPPORTIVE OF UKRAINE”<br />
Oleksandr TSVIETKOV, Americanist, Professor,<br />
Borys Hrinchenko University of Kyiv:<br />
“First of all, it will change, and also make more stable,<br />
President Trump’s team. In particular, I expect it<br />
to strengthen the element of foreign policy expertise,<br />
as opposed to military and strategic one. In addition,<br />
Bolton will now have an additional avenue of contact<br />
with the Department of State where he has longstanding<br />
connections, and perhaps it will bring about<br />
more consideration for the views (or rather hints) expressed<br />
in that department’s political experts’ opinions<br />
that come to the president’s table. The US may become<br />
more openly supportive of Ukraine, provided we engage<br />
in smart professional work with the administration and<br />
the entire (this qualifier is important!) Congress.”
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
TOPIC OF THE DAY No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 5<br />
Photo by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day<br />
The Kremlin’s<br />
“Ukrainian gambit”<br />
Lilia SHEVTSOVA: “It has begun<br />
to destroy the model under which<br />
the Russian system existed<br />
by using Western resources”<br />
By Maria CHADIUK, The Day<br />
Fighter Pilot, Test Pilot,<br />
NASA Astronaut, Citadel Grad,<br />
but most important: incredibly<br />
blessed to be a Husband and<br />
“Marine<br />
Father,” Randolph James<br />
Bresnik says about himself on Facebook. He<br />
visited Kyiv recently, and spoke to a packed<br />
senate meeting room of the Sikorsky Kyiv<br />
Polytechnic Institute (KPI) University. The<br />
visitor was greeted with a roaring ovation when<br />
he displayed the flag of Ukraine which he had<br />
unfurled at the International Space Station in<br />
October 2017. Also, the astronaut spoke about his<br />
path to the stars and the future of the space<br />
industry.<br />
● IN CAVES AND UNDER WATER<br />
It all started with a bachelor’s degree in<br />
mathematics and master’s degree in aviation<br />
systems. He continued by training with the US<br />
Air Force and graduating from The Citadel military<br />
college. All in all, Bresnik flew over<br />
83 planes over his time in military service, but<br />
realized that they “cannot reach the orbit.”<br />
Therefore, he tried to join the 18th astronaut<br />
class in 1997, but succeeded in reaching his objective<br />
only in 2004, joining the 19th class. The<br />
next step was to go through the general astronaut<br />
candidate training course.<br />
It is obvious that space is a unique environment.<br />
That is why astronauts use extreme spots<br />
on the Earth to get at least a similar experience.<br />
According to Bresnik, one of such training<br />
rooms is made of underground caves. There is always<br />
darkness there, and it is good for astronauts,<br />
because the concept of “day and night” is<br />
rather nominal in space: a “day” lasts for 45 minutes,<br />
and then is followed by a 45-minute “night”<br />
(the space station orbits the Earth in about an<br />
hour and a half). Also, astronauts train a lot under<br />
water. Such training is intended, among other<br />
things, to create conditions in which an individual<br />
cannot return to the surface of the Earth<br />
on a whim. They should be isolated and try to<br />
solve some issues in this environment, just like<br />
people have to do in space.<br />
● GRAVITATING TO FAMILY<br />
Bresnik compared spaceflight with the most<br />
important test which one has to pass. Life at a<br />
space station, taking walks in the boundless<br />
space require a lot of strength and concentration.<br />
In addition, astronauts work as scientists,<br />
conducting various studies, for example, in microbiology.<br />
However, the most famous of them<br />
are experiments that demonstrate how the laws<br />
of physics, which we are used to on the Earth, operate<br />
in space. These videos are quite popular on<br />
the Internet; one of the most popular videos<br />
shows a spinner spinning on a space station.<br />
Astronauts also need to train their bodies a<br />
lot. This is due, again, to the environment. In<br />
space, muscles work much less and can get atrophied.<br />
Bresnik compared the consequences of<br />
The boundless abyss<br />
and the beautiful Earth<br />
Randolph James Bresnik told Kyivans about NASA<br />
astronaut training and future flights to the stars<br />
this process with the experiences and health issues<br />
faced by the elderly.<br />
However, it is probably missions outside the<br />
station, also known as spacewalks, which are the<br />
most difficult. “When you see an astronaut in a<br />
spacesuit in open space, you realize that they<br />
have a boundless abyss under them. If we get out<br />
of the university now, get to the top of it and<br />
lean, then the body will instantaneously react,<br />
telling us that it is dangerous, and we can fall.<br />
We have the same feeling when we go for a walk<br />
outside the space station... You need to calm<br />
down, relax, and overcome this natural reaction<br />
to the fact that there is nothing under you,” explained<br />
the astronaut.<br />
And it is especially difficult to do it when<br />
you have to deal with other feelings as well.<br />
Bresnik has repeatedly emphasized that astronauts<br />
are ordinary people. And although they<br />
need maximum concentration during work, especially<br />
during spacewalks, life circumstances<br />
can significantly affect them. The thing is, when<br />
Bresnik was going to space, his wife was close to<br />
her due date. He was aware of this, so he had to<br />
carry a double load. At the space station, the<br />
husband had to go for a spacewalk, and only then<br />
he could learn about the events on the Earth.<br />
When the astronaut returned to the station<br />
again, he learned that his wife had not yet given<br />
birth. Then Bresnik went for a second walk. In<br />
general, waiting took a whole day, and he still<br />
speaks of it with trepidation.<br />
● “OUR PLANET IS DIFFERENT<br />
WHENEVER YOU LOOK AT IT”<br />
Still, Bresnik admitted there was a lot of fun<br />
in the life of an astronaut, for example, in moving<br />
about, when one can walk with the help of<br />
hands, or move by spinning around. Funny<br />
videos such as Pizza in Space offer another confirmation<br />
that space can be fun as well.<br />
However, Earth observation is the most captivating<br />
experience. The astronaut shared his<br />
impressions: “Our planet is wonderful, beautiful,<br />
and different whenever you look at it, because<br />
the weather is changing.” Such observations<br />
offer incredible variations of colors, the<br />
ability to see the highest places in the world,<br />
such as the Himalayas, as well as our planet as it<br />
is at night. Of course, astronauts not only enjoy<br />
the views themselves, but also make photos that<br />
allow other people to at least partly imagine<br />
themselves at the space station. Bresnik, by the<br />
way, presented the Sikorsky KPI with space photos<br />
of Kyiv.<br />
He even did a project called #OneWorld-<br />
ManyViews. It was basically about Bresnik photographing<br />
from space locations which he had<br />
visited on the Earth. So now you can see the<br />
Colosseum, the Big Ben, the Egyptian pyramids,<br />
and Saint Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral<br />
from the space height. As for the latter sight,<br />
the astronaut noted: “The idea was to allow the<br />
Kyivans to look at their hometown in a different<br />
way, to make them understand how beautiful it<br />
is, and for people who are not Kyivans to see how<br />
wonderful your capital is from space and Earth,<br />
and maybe come here, making this big world<br />
closer.”<br />
● WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR<br />
HOLIDAY IN SPACE?<br />
By the way, it is possible that not only terrestrial<br />
locations, but space as well will soon become<br />
closer and more accessible for people. Bresnik<br />
hopes that soon (perhaps 50 years or so down<br />
the line), 5 to 15 people a day will be able to travel<br />
to open space. The astronaut told the public<br />
about businesses taking an interest in organizing<br />
such voyages. The meeting in the KPI also<br />
featured a discussion of companies potentially<br />
leasing parts of space stations and the possible<br />
settlement of Mars. Such a prospect is highly impressive,<br />
is not it?<br />
In conclusion, Bresnik appealed to students:<br />
“I was like you. We have geologists, astrophysicists,<br />
and engineers in the ranks of astronauts.<br />
What unites us is not what we studied at school,<br />
but what we did and how we were guided by our<br />
passion for knowledge.” This proves once again<br />
that even the vastness of space cannot resist the<br />
power of dreams.<br />
Continued from page 2 ➤<br />
“Deterring Russia and avenging Russian interference<br />
in US elections have become key consolidating<br />
ideas for the American elite. The Kremlin<br />
can be proud of making the ‘Russian factor’ an<br />
element of American domestic life.<br />
“As for the White House, here we see a paradox:<br />
the Trump team acts in an anti-Russian way,<br />
trying to find new ways of deterring the Kremlin.<br />
Meanwhile, Trump keeps trying to profess his love<br />
for Putin, thus making the anti-Russian rhetoric<br />
of other actors inside the American establishment<br />
even more strident. It is unlikely that this situation<br />
will change during his presidency. It is equally<br />
unlikely that Trump’s successor will easily<br />
leave behind the suspicion about the Kremlin and<br />
Russia that has already become an axiom.<br />
“Finally, John Bolton has never been really<br />
good in comprehending the consequences of his<br />
statements and his actions. So, he is unlikely to stay<br />
in the White House for long.<br />
“The US’ decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats<br />
and close the Russian consulate in Seattle in<br />
solidarity with the UK has increased tension in the<br />
relations of the West as a whole with Russia. The<br />
Kremlin will have to respond, although it clearly<br />
does not want to. Consequently, a new stage in the<br />
confrontation begins, with all the old taboos having<br />
already been destroyed.”<br />
Can Americans explain why Trump wants to<br />
have Putin as a friend to solve the conflicts that<br />
Putin has actually created or is creating himself?<br />
“While the team of Special Counsel Robert<br />
Mueller is painting Trump into a corner, they have<br />
not provided evidence of collusion between Trump<br />
and the Kremlin so far. But Mueller continues to<br />
tighten his grip.<br />
“Meanwhile, the main fruit of the American investigation<br />
into the ‘Russian trail’ in the latest election<br />
is so far evidence of the demoralization of the<br />
American elite and the preparedness of its various<br />
members to readily sell their principles if the<br />
price is good. I call this the Manafort Syndrome,<br />
after one of the most successful and influential<br />
Washington lobbyists who promoted the interests<br />
of authoritarian regimes in the US for a living and<br />
who for some time was chief manager of Trump’s<br />
election campaign. As we know, he lobbied for Viktor<br />
Yanukovych’s interests some time before, for<br />
which he was handsomely paid.<br />
“In any case, this incredible story of the investigation<br />
into Russian interference is likely to result<br />
in a significant turnover of the top layer of the<br />
American elite.”<br />
● “BOLTON REGARDS POLITICS<br />
AS A ‘HAMMER’ WHICH SHOULD<br />
BE USED TO DRIVE NAILS”<br />
What does the replacement of Herbert Mc-<br />
Master with Bolton in the position of national security<br />
adviser mean?<br />
“I think that the White House will continue to<br />
be plagued with high staff turnover. It seems<br />
that Trump has troubles finding people who will<br />
obey him without question, while those who are<br />
ready to obey will be ostracized by other American<br />
institutions. So, new national security adviser<br />
Bolton is, most likely, not for long in the White<br />
House. Especially if we take into account the difficult<br />
character of Bolton himself and his unpopularity<br />
within the Washington political class.<br />
“I see many critics of Russia applauding the appointment<br />
of Bolton. Meanwhile, this appointment<br />
has caused the most contradictory feelings in<br />
Washington itself. Firstly, the Congress has not<br />
held confirmation hearings on his candidacy yet,<br />
and this process will not go smoothly. The Congress<br />
did not confirm Bolton as US ambassador to the UN<br />
back in the 2000s, because he provoked collective<br />
rejection due to his extremist positions and ultrahawkishness.<br />
“Today, Bolton’s views are no longer so sharply<br />
out of step with the positions taken by most members<br />
of the Washington political class. Still, Bolton<br />
irritates people by his penchant for regarding<br />
politics as a ‘hammer’ which should be used to drive<br />
nails. His excessive aggressiveness, straightforwardness,<br />
and disregard for diplomacy can narrow<br />
his support base, both in the US and in Europe.”<br />
By Mykola SIRUK, The Day
6<br />
No.20 MARCH 29, 2018<br />
CLOSE UP<br />
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
“What unites these pictures is something<br />
more than the pain of war”<br />
An interview with the Italian<br />
photojournalist who visited Ukraine<br />
three times during the war<br />
ROBERTO TRAVAN<br />
UKRAINIAN SOLDIER, SERHII<br />
By Yulia YARUCHYK<br />
Photos courtesy of Roberto TRAVAN<br />
il prossimo tuo” is the name<br />
of an exhibit in Turin, Italy, which<br />
displays 110 photographs, including<br />
15 taken in Ukraine. Here,<br />
“A(r)ma<br />
the National Museum of the Italian<br />
Risorgimento has brought together the destinies<br />
of people from different countries and continents.<br />
What unites them is one terrible word – war. The<br />
authors of the pictures – Paolo Siccardi and<br />
Roberto Travan – are well-known Italian<br />
photojournalists who usually work in the world’s<br />
“hot spots.” Travan, the author of 15 Ukrainian<br />
pictures, works for the Italian newspaper La<br />
Stampa. It is he who hit upon the idea of<br />
DEBALTSEVE, 2016<br />
organizing this high-profile exposition. Roberto<br />
says what unites these pictures is something<br />
more than war. Faith, religion, God or what is left<br />
of God in a real war – this thin, sometimes<br />
invisible, thread goes through the pictures taken<br />
at different times in Afghanistan and Israel,<br />
Ukraine and Syria, African countries, and the<br />
Caucasus. It is difficult to translate the exhibit’s<br />
name into English without losing the meaning. In<br />
Italian, “Arma il prossimo tuo” (“Arm thy<br />
neighbor”) is almost consonant with the biblical<br />
“Ama il prossimo tuo” (“Love thy neighbor”).<br />
Travan has visited Ukraine three times during<br />
the armed conflict, mostly as a freelance photographer.<br />
The journalist is going to visit eastern<br />
Ukraine this year, too. The Day spoke to<br />
Roberto about the importance of the exhibit’s<br />
Ukrainian part, Ukraine in the Italian media<br />
space, and the importance of photography as a<br />
genre in journalism.<br />
Roberto, you chose a picture taken in<br />
Ukraine for the exhibit’s billboard. It looks like<br />
all the publications that wrote about the exhibit<br />
carried the photo of a Ukrainian soldier. This<br />
photo became the exhibit’s “hallmark” of sorts.<br />
“Yes, that’s true. The story of this picture is<br />
incredible and dramatic. It shows a Ukrainian<br />
soldier, Serhii, whom I met near Donetsk. The<br />
photo expresses two essential elements of the exhibit<br />
– war and faith. Serhii stood by a ruined industrial<br />
facility with a Kalashnikov gun in hand<br />
and a cross in the front pocket – I saw it at once.<br />
Serhii and I saw each other just for a few seconds<br />
because this photo was taken under fire. We ran<br />
away in different directions without even getting<br />
to know each other better. In a month or so I published<br />
this photo in Facebook and, unfortunately,<br />
received sad news from a Ukrainian colleague<br />
who also worked with me in the Donbas – Serhii<br />
had died in action. Naturally, my photographer<br />
friends in Ukraine, to whom I also sent the photo,<br />
know about our exhibit. It went viral in Facebook<br />
and the internet as a whole. A few days ago<br />
Serhii’s daughter wrote to me, asking to send her<br />
all of her father’s pictures that I have. It is difficult<br />
to describe what I felt at the moment. It<br />
seemed to me that I’d reopened this girl’s wound.<br />
For we, photo reporters, photograph war and see<br />
the same war on these pictures, rarely thinking<br />
that these people have a private life, interests,<br />
and feelings outside the war.<br />
“Unfortunately, he is not the only soldier on<br />
my photos, who is no longer among us. And it’s<br />
not simple. Photographers, journalists ought to<br />
take a neutral attitude to these events, but it is<br />
impossible to remain indifferent in these conditions.”<br />
You’ve photographed armed conflicts in<br />
various countries, on different continents.<br />
What do you think singles Ukraine out?<br />
“What impressed me the most is the cohesion<br />
of Ukrainians in this war and solidarity of civilians<br />
who do not stand clear of the armed conflict<br />
and are also fighting – just in other ways. I visited<br />
a lot of Donetsk region villages and met many<br />
local residents. The conditions they are living in<br />
are terrible. But these people chose to stay behind<br />
on their native land in spite of everything.<br />
“I was also struck very much with the fact<br />
that the whole country helps these frontline residents<br />
and the military. The daily work of volunteers,<br />
who gather food, clothes, and medicines,<br />
is also nothing but another way of fighting<br />
in this war.”<br />
This exhibit is of paramount importance. La<br />
Stampa is one of the few publications that did<br />
and do write about events in Ukraine. Other<br />
Italian media cover this topic limitedly and unwillingly.<br />
“Hundreds of people have visited the exhibit<br />
in the past two weeks. The exhibit was to last<br />
until May, but, owing to great public interest, it<br />
was decided to extend it until September. Maybe,<br />
we’ll manage to hold it in Rome next year. My<br />
observations show that Ukrainian photos form<br />
one of the most interesting parts of the exposition<br />
for spectators. Of course, the main objective<br />
of the exhibit is to make society reflect on war as<br />
such and to remind that a lot of armed conflicts<br />
are now going on in the world. These conflicts<br />
have been dragging on for years and, maybe for<br />
this reason, are becoming invisible to peaceful<br />
countries. You are right that the Ukraine war is<br />
little spoken of. Yes, but little is also being said<br />
about the wars in South Sudan, Nagorno-<br />
Karabakh, etc. People are just concerned about<br />
other problems, and wars seem to be far away.”<br />
Photography is extremely important to The<br />
Day as a genre of journalism and a way to put<br />
certain ideas across to readers. What can you<br />
say about Italian publications?<br />
“I think photography is no less important to<br />
Italian publications. It must be a demand of<br />
time. The speedy development of the internet<br />
has provided an opportunity to inform readers<br />
by means of a greater amount of visual information,<br />
for the print media are elementarily short<br />
of space. Sometimes one picture can say more<br />
that a big text. A photo can draw the attention<br />
of a much broader audience. There is no language<br />
barrier here. So, I think photography as a<br />
genre can have a dramatic impact on the information<br />
space we have.”
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
CULT URE No.20 MARCH 29, 2018 7<br />
From the past to the future<br />
THE AUTHORS OF RUSSOPHOBIA ARE PLAYWRIGHTS VARVARA FAER AND MAKSYM KUROCHKIN<br />
The international project<br />
Russophobia was shown on Stage 6.<br />
The content was created by<br />
a Finnish-Russian-Ukrainian team<br />
By Svitlana AHREST-KOROTKOVA<br />
Photos courtesy of the theater<br />
Having quickly won not only Kyivan<br />
audiences, but also visitors from other<br />
cities to their side, founders of the new<br />
theater space called Stage 6 surprised<br />
and pleased the public once again. For<br />
two days, the stage was “occupied” by the<br />
international project Russophobia. The content<br />
was created by a Finnish-Russian-Ukrainian<br />
team. The original idea, created by the director<br />
of the Moscow Teatr.Doc Varvara Faer,<br />
underwent serious changes after the Ukrainian<br />
playwright Maksym Kurochkin joined the<br />
project and drew historic parallels between what<br />
was happening 80 years ago to the nation of<br />
Finland, small but aspiring to obtain sovereignty<br />
and independence from its big neighbor, and<br />
today’s events in Ukraine.<br />
Fears and experience, hopes and reflections<br />
of the play’s characters, who are simple, ordinary<br />
people, are directly related to the themes of<br />
the long-past Winter War and the war lately unleashed<br />
by the former “brother” in Ukraine.<br />
The Theater of Documentary Play, known<br />
as Teatr.Doc, was created in 2002 by several<br />
playwrights working in the genre of documentary<br />
theater. This is a special genre that exists<br />
at the intersection of art and topical social<br />
analysis. The theater’s creative teams make<br />
performances based on meetings with real people<br />
and dealing with the most relevant and<br />
timely issues of the surrounding reality. They<br />
use testimonies of real people, the verbatim<br />
technique, “deep improvisation,” theatrical<br />
games and trainings. Participation in prestigious<br />
theatrical festivals, both in its homeland<br />
and around Europe, has not only failed to protect<br />
the theater from rejection by the current<br />
Russian regime, but become a litmus test for it.<br />
Still, the theater is alive and keeps up its good<br />
work, which should be treated as an act of civic<br />
virtue these days, in my opinion.<br />
“ALL OVER RUSSIA, PEOPLE GO DOWN FOR WORDS. WORDS ARE IMPORTANT AGAIN. BUT IT SEEMS TO ME WE DREAMED OF A DIFFERENT FUTURE.”<br />
RUSSOPHOBIA, STAGE 6<br />
According to the special genre nature of the<br />
theater, Russophobia shows an old man, his body<br />
bent down with life’s pains, remembering how<br />
his child self faced a man flying a red-starred<br />
airplane and trying to shoot him dead with a machine<br />
gun. Meanwhile, our contemporary, who<br />
lives in Kyiv, cannot forgive himself for his absence<br />
during the Maidan protest, because he was<br />
furnishing his long-awaited mortgaged apartment<br />
in Moscow. In parallel, he recalls the many<br />
occasions when he and the entire country of ours<br />
left unanswered spitting and slapping into face:<br />
from allegations about “stolen oil” to the Budapest<br />
Memorandum ultimately proving worthless.<br />
After all, there had been bad omens, blood<br />
had been shed for a long time, starting in the<br />
Baltic States that were the first to do away with<br />
the Sovietism, through Chechnya and the territories<br />
stolen from Georgia, and ending with the<br />
“polite green men” in Crimea. According to the<br />
playwright, the most difficult thing for him was<br />
to realize how totally calm people could be amid<br />
historical upheavals. And this became a chance<br />
to speak out on a topic that deeply worries him.<br />
The show premiered in Tampere at the end of<br />
last year. The Finnish version was titled Rajavirhe<br />
(A Border Incident). However, the play’s<br />
structure and text are the same as it is staged in<br />
Finland, Russia, and Ukraine.<br />
The cast was the troupe of one of Finland’s<br />
most famous independent theaters, the Telakka,<br />
which was named the best theater of the year in<br />
2016. Its artists are known far beyond the country.<br />
For example, Tomi Salmela starred in Jim<br />
Jarmusch’s film Night on Earth. In the project<br />
which was seen in Kyiv, the artists, too, delighted<br />
the public with appropriate performance of<br />
their parts and high professionalism, despite the<br />
documentary theater being a quite difficult<br />
genre.<br />
We managed to have a short talk with Varvara<br />
Faer, who is the director of the Teatr.Doc<br />
and the aforementioned performance.<br />
Originally, the project was conceived as a<br />
retelling of the Finns’ memories about the war<br />
between their country and the USSR. It was a<br />
completely different story, one dealing with<br />
the attitude of a giant country to the world<br />
around. That attitude was unfair... With the<br />
participation of the Ukrainian playwright<br />
Maksym Kurochkin, the narrative of that war<br />
came to be seen from some completely different<br />
perspectives, as revisions of history feelings<br />
gradually yielded to dealing with the explosive<br />
point of today’s reality, which is<br />
Ukraine. Memories of the past have smoothly<br />
turned into forecasts for the future. The play<br />
has already been staged in Finland and in<br />
Ukraine, and there will be a premiere in<br />
Moscow in two days [interview was taken on<br />
March 23. – Ed.]. By the way, the latter is a<br />
challenge to the prevailing attitude there.<br />
What are your impressions of the European<br />
and Ukrainian audiences’ perception of the<br />
events happening on stage, and your assumptions<br />
about the reaction of the Russian audience?<br />
“Yes, Finland and Ukraine have already seen<br />
the complete show, and we held a reading rehearsal<br />
in Moscow a year ago. In Finland, opinions<br />
were divided and ranged from enthusiastic<br />
to deeply indignant ones. Portions of the public,<br />
about a half of it, consider this play to be a piece<br />
of propaganda, and they do not like it. I think it<br />
applies not only to Finland, but to Europe in general.<br />
They want to think independently. They believe<br />
that not everything is so clear-cut, and<br />
maybe, Vladimir Putin is right about something.<br />
They say you need to look into the matter, to give<br />
it a thought, as nothing is 100 percent black or<br />
white. The second half pays attention to my objective<br />
with which I did this show – an outburst<br />
of emotions rather than an analytical reflection.<br />
Living emotion, human feelings, attention to<br />
history’s landmarks are important there. They<br />
are present in the context not for decoration, but<br />
as some highly important accents that must not<br />
be missed.<br />
“The Ukrainian audience was more unanimous.<br />
Even the artists noted that the public was<br />
fantastically attentive, and this filled them with<br />
incredible energy. By the way, we have already<br />
been invited to tour all over Ukraine with this<br />
show. I hope to see you again. I can breathe so<br />
easily in your country... Let us see how the performance<br />
in Moscow will go in a day, but the<br />
reading rehearsal was very well received. One<br />
must take into account here that the Teatr.Doc<br />
caters to an opposition-minded audience, it is<br />
they who will come to watch the show.”<br />
But what about your “persistent admirers”<br />
from the FSB?<br />
“Do you think they will come? We will see...”
8<br />
No.20 MARCH 29, 2018<br />
TIMEO U T<br />
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA<br />
“These pictures arouse hope for recovery”<br />
St. Sophia<br />
of Kyiv hosts<br />
a major<br />
charitable<br />
project to<br />
help cancerstricken<br />
children<br />
By Olha KHARCHENKO, The Day<br />
By Maria PROKOPENKO,<br />
photos by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day<br />
“A<br />
s the war began, we moved<br />
from Horlivka in the ATO zone<br />
to Brovary. Little by little, we<br />
settled down, but suddenly<br />
everything changed – doctors<br />
diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia in<br />
our son Kyrylo. He’s undergoing treatment<br />
now. Fortunately, it is successful, as<br />
planned,” Oleksii MARUNEVYCH says.<br />
We talked with Oleksii at the exhibit<br />
“What Is Essential Is Invisible to the Eye,” now<br />
being held in the Metropolitan’s House of the<br />
National Sanctuary “St. Sophia of Kyiv.”<br />
This charitable art project displays works by<br />
Kyrylo and seven other children who receive<br />
treatment at the cancer division of the Kyiv<br />
Oblast Clinical Hospital. All the drawings can<br />
be bought, and these funds will be used to help<br />
little patients. The project was organized by<br />
a branch of the international charitable organization<br />
Lions Club “Kiev Ecology.”<br />
● “THE OBJECTIVE OF ART<br />
THERAPY IS TO SHOW THAT<br />
LIFE IS GOING ON”<br />
Artist Kateryna SAPOZHKOVA applies<br />
art therapy to cancer-stricken children at the<br />
hospital. “I have long wanted to help canceraffected<br />
children but didn’t know how to do<br />
it well,” Kateryna recalls. “First I donated<br />
blood, handed over some money, and then,<br />
more than ten years ago, I asked donor.org.ua<br />
webmaster Sashko Brusylovskyi what else I<br />
could do. When he came to know that I am an<br />
artist, he said children badly needed art<br />
therapy. The treatment lasts at least nine<br />
months, and kids are almost completely isolated<br />
during this time. Since then, we’ve been<br />
having classes in the playroom.”<br />
Art therapy helps a child express his or<br />
her emotions through drawing and thus establish<br />
a link with the outside world. “As a<br />
rule, a child gets to the cancer ward suddenly.<br />
Both parent and the child are shocked.<br />
Then the family divides – only one of the parents<br />
stands by the child all the time. The child<br />
remains withdrawn from his milieu, undergoes<br />
painful procedures for a long time, and<br />
often retreats into his shell. The objective of<br />
art therapy is to show that life is going on and<br />
recovery is possible,” Kateryna explains.<br />
“Incidentally, Ania Bezkorovaina and Olia<br />
Tkachenko, the girls who take part in the exhibit,<br />
are in remission now.”<br />
● “A BRIDGE BETWEEN CHILD<br />
AND PARENTS”<br />
Parents often draw together with the<br />
child, and the artist calls these joint classes a<br />
bridge between them. During the classes,<br />
Kateryna tells children about artists and art<br />
styles. They are always trying out new materials.<br />
The first pictures of the cancer patients<br />
are dreary, but then the themes become<br />
more cheerful. The pictures displayed at<br />
St. Sophia of Kyiv are colorful; they often depict<br />
flowers, cute animals, and serene land-<br />
Pryluky: a new meeting<br />
of donating books from Den’s Library to<br />
the city. All schools and libraries of Pryluky<br />
will receive their copies of The Crown...<br />
this year!<br />
Deputy mayor Tetiana Fesenko noted<br />
the importance of Den’s campaign to popularize<br />
precisely printed word in a time<br />
when many people are attracted to social<br />
networks. She also recalled: “Pryluky residents<br />
were astounded by the photos on disesting<br />
for Pryluky residents to talk with<br />
Ivan Kapsamun, a journalist of Den. That<br />
dialog was clearly of mutual interest,”<br />
Rylach continued to share his impressions,<br />
and added: “Besides, a portion of the<br />
display will be hosted on our company’s<br />
premises. You see, British American Tobacco<br />
Ukraine marks its 25th anniversary<br />
this year. The anniversary falls exactly<br />
on the date when Den’s Days in Pryluky are<br />
to begin. Therefore, we decided to additionally<br />
congratulate our employees<br />
through the photo exhibition of Den.”<br />
By the way, our partner, who understands<br />
what corporate social responsibility<br />
is, has decided to keep up the tradition<br />
Den’s Days will start in<br />
the ancient city on the<br />
Udai River on March 29<br />
Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day<br />
scapes. Kateryna says children draw the<br />
places they would like to visit as well as their<br />
life after recovery.<br />
Kyrylo Marunevych, who turned five in<br />
January, depicted a lighthouse amidst the sea<br />
on several pictures. Oleksii Marunevych confesses<br />
that art therapy has stirred up more<br />
good emotions in his son, which is no less important<br />
than medicines. “Drawing is a powerful<br />
positive stimulus. Bedsides, this encourages<br />
his mum who stays at the hospital<br />
with Kyrylo,” Oleksii adds.<br />
One can also see the way classes are held<br />
in the playroom of the children’s cancer division.<br />
Next to the drawings is Oleh<br />
Herasymets’ photo project “The Room,” a series<br />
of pictures about this special space.<br />
● A BENEFACTOR WITH<br />
40-YEAR EXPERIENCE<br />
As amatter of fact, Kateryna regularlyorganizes<br />
exhibits of cancer-stricken children. It<br />
is usually small expositions on the hospital’s<br />
premises. The art project at St. Sophia of<br />
Kyiv is bigger – it involves people from various<br />
countries. The idea emerged spontaneously<br />
during a conversation between Lions Club<br />
“Kiev Ecology” vice-president Tetiana Vasylieva<br />
and the artist.<br />
But the initiative in fact began with the<br />
foundation of Lions Club “Kiev Ecology”<br />
about seven years ago. “In general, Lions Club<br />
is an international charitable organization<br />
that addresses not only ecological, but also socio-cultural<br />
problems, and the Kyiv branch is<br />
the 10th in Ukraine,” says Jean ROCHE, President<br />
of Lions Club “Kiev Ecology,” Knight<br />
of the Legion of Honor. “In France, the organization<br />
helps vulnerable communities.<br />
For example, it buys walking sticks for the<br />
elderly. In Ukraine, it id called ecological, but<br />
we are to protect not only the environment but<br />
also the people who live in this environment.<br />
For instance, the club helps orphans in Kyiv.”<br />
Almost at the very outset, the Kyiv<br />
branch of Lions Club began to help the children’s<br />
cancer division of the oblast hospital.<br />
But, earlier, this occurred once a year, when<br />
the organization raised the funds which the<br />
hospital used for buying reagents and medicines.<br />
This money was enough to meet a<br />
Pryluky are waiting for us again.<br />
Let us recall that Den came to<br />
know that millennium-old city<br />
firsthand in 2004, but our<br />
relationship has grown more<br />
active over recent years. Den’s Days in<br />
Pryluky of 2017 are still remembered by<br />
the locals.<br />
“We received a lot of good reviews<br />
about last year’s event. I have heard good<br />
things about it both from the workers of<br />
the tobacco factory and from other locals,<br />
including municipal officials, with<br />
whom I have had occasion to talk. All the<br />
photos of Den were highly appreciated.<br />
So if we already have a certain tradition,<br />
we will build on it! This year, we have<br />
been able to support this valuable project<br />
as well,” head of the government relations<br />
department at British American<br />
Tobacco Ukraine Yurii Rylach told Den.<br />
It is with the support of British American<br />
Tobacco Ukraine and the Pryluky<br />
City Council that this year’s events of<br />
our newspaper will be held in the city.<br />
The exhibition of the best photos of<br />
the 19th Den’s International Photo Contest-2017<br />
will open at the Pryluky City<br />
House of Culture at noon on March 29.<br />
As part of the event, our newest historical<br />
bestseller The Crown, or Heritage of<br />
the Rus’ Kingdom will be launched with<br />
the participation of the editorial team.<br />
“Last year I was most impressed by<br />
the large number of visitors at the opening<br />
of the exhibition, because it was a<br />
weekday. I honestly did not expect to see<br />
so many people, and they were sincerely<br />
interested in the event to boot. I<br />
know that it was important and interplay,<br />
because they were extremely sincere<br />
and frank. No one left the exhibition<br />
in apathetic mood! In particular, I heard<br />
testimonies of ATO veterans last year,<br />
who also visited the exhibition. They<br />
were struck especially strongly, even unsettled,<br />
by the pictures related to the<br />
events in the ATO area.”<br />
Director of the Maslov Pryluky Local<br />
History Museum Tetiana Zots is also<br />
convinced that Den’s photo exhibition<br />
provides a multi-dimensional, diverse,<br />
multi-age all-Ukrainian measure of the<br />
events of the year. “Contemplating this<br />
exhibition, you feel the reflection of<br />
events in the field of culture, education,<br />
medicine, sports... the life of the country<br />
in its entirety. These are different<br />
masters, different territories and their<br />
views come from different parts of<br />
Ukraine. Something is reflected with<br />
irony, something is tragic, something is<br />
sad, but there is also fun, there is humor,<br />
joy, success. That is, it is things that<br />
have long pained people or caused some<br />
other emotions that have come to be photographed.<br />
Den’s photo exhibition shows<br />
the life of Ukraine for a year.”<br />
“I will speak on behalf of the cultural<br />
and artistic community of the city as<br />
well,” said Fesenko, and addressed another<br />
aspect of the event. “It was also an<br />
opportunity for a healthy analysis and a<br />
new look at one’s own work. Certainly,<br />
artists were inspired by individual compositions,<br />
because it is always an impetus<br />
for thinking and creating something<br />
of one’s own.” Also, Fesenko admitted:<br />
Den’s event was a model of<br />
holding such events for municipal officials<br />
in the provinces, where they are<br />
sometimes too “formalized.”<br />
Read more on our website<br />
month’s need in medicines. On the last New<br />
Year eve, Jean Roche visited the hospital and<br />
saw that the requirement in this help was<br />
much greater. So the benefactors decided to<br />
do something of a larger scale and hit upon the<br />
idea of an exhibit. “A cancer-stricken child is<br />
stressed out. But his pictures arouse a hope<br />
for recovery,” the Lions Club “Kiev Ecology”<br />
president says.<br />
Jean Roche himself has been in charity<br />
for over 40 years. It all began with participation<br />
in a TV marathon to raise funds to combat<br />
myopathy. This week-long TV marathon<br />
helped raise about 10 million euros.<br />
● “THE HOSPITAL FEELS<br />
HELPLESS WITHOUT<br />
THESE REAGENTS”<br />
“Many selfless people have joined our initiative.<br />
The sense of this project is to show the<br />
ability of children to enjoy life at a difficult<br />
moment of illness,” Hennadii TSIAUK, an organizer<br />
of the art project, a participant in the<br />
second season of the Master Chef culinary<br />
show, emphasizes. “All the children’s pictures<br />
are on sale. There will be a ceremony on<br />
March 30, when we will hand over the raised<br />
money to the doctor.”<br />
Concurrently, a “quiet auction” of<br />
Ukrainian artists’ works is being held. The lion’s<br />
share of the proceeds will also benefit the<br />
children.<br />
Money is being raised to acquire reagents<br />
for the hematological analyzer. “A child in the<br />
cancer ward always performs a lot of tests. It<br />
is especially important to take the count of<br />
blasts in the bone marrow. Tests are done almost<br />
every day so that the doctor can see what<br />
needs to be corrected. The hospital feels<br />
helpless without these reagents,” Kateryna<br />
explains.<br />
The art project is important to children<br />
not only because of raising funds for their<br />
treatment. “This exhibit makes it clear to children<br />
that they are not erased from life,”<br />
Sapozhkova emphasizes. “It happens that<br />
when a bald and masked kid comes out for a<br />
walk, everybody dashes aside from him or her.<br />
There are some country children in the hospital.<br />
Whenever they come home, some of<br />
their peers don’t want to visit them, thinking<br />
that cancer is contagious. But here a child is<br />
an artist, everybody watches his or her exhibit,<br />
and their pictures are bought. It is an<br />
incredible motivation for a healthy life!” Incidentally,<br />
the organizers are so keen on the<br />
project that they want to hold this kind of exhibits<br />
regularly.<br />
The art project “What Is Essential Is Invisible<br />
to the Eye” will remain open at the Metropolitan’s<br />
House until March 31. The organizers<br />
also invite everybody to a classical<br />
music concert, “It Is Only with the Heart that<br />
One Can See Rightly,” to be held on March 30<br />
at the Khlibnia gallery of St. Sophia of Kyiv.<br />
All the ticket sale proceeds will also be used<br />
to help children.<br />
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