EDITORIAL: In praise of our Kyiv bureau (08/15/04)

EDITORIAL

In praise of our Kyiv bureau

Right around this time each year, as we look ahead to commemorations of yet another anniversary of Ukraine's independence, our thoughts turn to Kyiv. This week, our thoughts are "closer to home" - still in Kyiv, but with our very own Kyiv Press Bureau.

Founded in January 1991, our Kyiv Press Bureau continues to be the only full-time U.S. news bureau in Ukraine. Its establishment goes back to 1990 when the 32nd UNA Convention meeting in Baltimore approved a resolution urging the UNA Executive Committee to look into the possibility of opening a news bureau in the capital of Ukraine and/or Lviv that "would provide direct news service on a regular basis to our UNA publications."

Our efforts toward that goal began in earnest in October of that year when a UNA delegation and the editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Weekly, who were in Kyiv to attend the second congress of Rukh, or the Popular Movement of Ukraine for Perebudova, met in Kyiv with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Months of delays, uncertainty and red tape culminated with the arrival on January 13, 1991, of the press bureau's first correspondent, Marta Kolomayets, in Kyiv. In fact, she arrived the same month that the first U.S. consul general, Jon Gundersen, arrived in Ukraine. Though Ms. Kolomayets was the second foreign journalist to be accredited in Ukraine, The Ukrainian Weekly became the first foreign newspaper to establish a bureau in the country.

Other staffers of The Weekly also did tours of duty in Kyiv: Chrystyna Lapychak, Khristina Lew and Roman Woronowycz. Mr. Woronowycz's latest tour of duty began way back in September of 1997. All have filed significant news stories and commentaries in the form of columns from Ukraine. They have written articles on developments that were simply not reported in any other publication in the world. They were, and are, pioneer journalists reporting the news from Ukraine specifically for our Ukrainian diaspora, as well as for scholars, opinion makers, political leaders, etc., who follow events as they unfold in Ukraine.

During the 13-plus years of its existence, our Kyiv Press Bureau has more than lived up to the mission it was given by the UNA. Thanks to the bureau's staffers, our readers received first-hand reports from the scene about that fateful day of August 24, 1991, as well as the equally fateful events leading up to the proclamation of Ukraine's independence. They have learned about Ukraine's democratization and move toward a market economy, about elections of presidents and Parliaments, about Ukraine's relations with neighboring states and the West, about the ideas of its leaders and the lives of its people. Just take a look at the Ukraine sections in our annual Year in Review issues and you will appreciate the remarkable scope of their reporting.

Our Kyiv Press Bureau has provided insight into the events and people shaping Ukraine's future. Its staffers have helped us make sense out of what oftentimes seems to be a bewildering country; they have reported the good and the bad (even though lately it seems the bad outweighs the good...); they have given us a look beyond the simple headlines that may be available elsewhere.

In just this week's issue we can proudly point to Mr. Woronowycz's reporting on the harassment of the presidential campaign of Viktor Yushchenko, his exclusive interview with Viktor Yanukovych and his commentary on scenarios related to the presidential election. Readers of Mr. Woronowycz's reports, we are sure, value his experience, knowledge, thoughtfulness and writing skill in conveying the news from Ukraine.

And so, as another Ukrainian Independence Day approaches, we take our hats off to our Kyiv Press Bureau. Long may it serve our readers and our community.

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