FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Where were you on August 24, 1991? (08/27/06)

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Where were you on August 24, 1991?

Zenon Zawada of our Kyiv Press Bureau caught up with fellow Ukrainian Americans and expatriates in Kyiv to ask: Where were you on August 24, 1991? Below are their answers.

Askold Lozynskyj, president of the Toronto-based World Congress of Ukrainians:

We were driving with my wife from our vacation home in New Jersey to New York City, and we heard it on the radio. At that particular time, I was first vice-president of UCCA.

In May of 1991, I probably wasn't sure of Ukraine's independence. In a few weeks before the 24th, I was assuming that it was going to happen, especially when the coup developed. We saw what the Baltics did, so we clearly saw a possibility for Ukraine.

As for Ukraine 15 years later, obviously we were much more hopeful. We were under the impression that Ukraine was not only a rich country, but that the national democrats would be in the leadership.

Roksolona Lozynskyj, Mr. Lozynskyj's wife:

We wept. But our assumption was that the Ukrainian Communists were trying to save themselves. Their tail-saving superceded their contempt for Ukrainian independence. I remember Askold had told a friend of ours, 'Ukraine will be independent before the Yankees win another World Series.' And it was true. Independence was inevitable. A lot of people gathered at Dibrova on Second Avenue that night and people cried. It was emotional weeping.

Mary Mycio, Kyiv-based author of "Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl":

I was in the Verkhovna Rada, working for the Rukh Fax Gazette, which was sent by fax to the Moscow press corps. It was very chaotic. A lot was going on around the podium.

Kravchuk read the entire declaration for the vote. He pushed it through because the National Council wanted to let off steam about the status of the Communist Party. The issue was declaring independence or making the party illegal. Laryssa Skoryk wanted to declare the party illegal.

By the afternoon, there were probably thousands in front of the Rada. I was in the Rada looking out the window and saw the demonstrators with flags. Some staff people were standing behind me. "So now we have independence," one said. And the other responded, "Yes, but it's so Communist." And that was the general sentiment - that we are independent, but a lot of Communists remained.

I didn't think Russia would let go that easily. As time has proven, it's not letting go so easily.

Marta Kolomayets, Kyiv-based project director of U.S.-Ukraine Foundation

I was watching CNN in my New York apartment. The next thing I did was interview Hennadii Udovenko, who was the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic's representative to the U.N. I asked him whether he was still a member of the Communist Party. And he laughed, "There is no more Communist Party!" He immediately became a Ukrainian patriot. With the putsch, there was no way out of it. Independence had to happen.

Ivan Lozowy, president of the Kyiv-based Institute of Statehood and Democracy:

"I arrived in March 1991 for good. I was holding the flag outside the Rada that morning. A couple of hundred people carried it up at 8 in the morning to the Rada after Maria Drach and Mykhailina Borodai had pressed it. After they announced independence, the deputies came out and brought it into the session hall. Ivan Zayets was among them, and so were [Vyacheslav] Chornovil and [Mykola] Porovskyi.

Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America:

I was in Hunter, N.Y., for a Ukrainian festival and they announced the news on loudspeakers. "We just got word from Ukraine that independence was declared," was the message. Then it was nothing short of waterworks. Tears fell from young and old alike. It was right before the appearance of the Chaika dancers, who were already on stage, and a joyful Hopak must have been their next dance.

Afterwards, we went down to our local city governments to tell them we have a new date for independence, which was formerly January 22. I was 23 years old and external affairs officer for the UCCA in the Albany area.

It was a surprise because I didn't anticipate it so soon.

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