Ukrainian Technological Society presents its 2016 scholarship awards

PITTSBURGH – The Ukrainian Technological Society (UTS) of Pittsburgh presented its 2016 Scholarship Awards to 15 undergraduate and graduate students from Western Pennsylvania and Ohio in ceremonies at Posvar Hall on the University of Pittsburgh campus on Sunday, August 7. Students, family members, UTS members and guests were welcomed by UTS Executive Board Secretary, Motria Hodowanec, who provided an overview of the UTS – now in its 47th year – and its activities. In her opening remarks, she thanked the many donors who have generously offered their financial support to the scholarship program, which has helped students pursue higher education in a variety of fields. Ms. Hodowanec noted that the society is an organization of Ukrainian professionals and businesspersons interested in cultivating Ukrainian culture and social awareness, and strengthening the Ukrainian community through active participation and leadership. In addition to the scholarship program, Ms. Hodowanec spoke of the society’s annual tradition of selecting and recognizing a Ukrainian of the Year.

UCU’s University Church of the Holy Wisdom of God to be consecrated

LVIV – On September 11, the University Church of the Holy Wisdom of God of the Ukrainian Catholic University will be consecrated. This church is unique not only for Lviv, but for all of Ukraine. For in one structure on different tiers, three churches will function: at ground level – the Church of the Holy Wisdom of God and on the lower level two more – the Church of St. Clement, Pope of Rome, and the Church of the Lord’s Grave. The Church of the Lord’s Grave is a reflection of the first century, a place especially for private prayer.

Ukraine at 25: Leaders in Ukraine share their thoughts

KYIV – On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Ukraine’s re-establishment of independence, The Ukrainian Weekly asked some of the country’s decision makers and opinion leaders, politicians and civil society leaders, to share their thoughts about where the country is headed. Ukraine’s economy is still on shaky ground as the International Monetary Fund has withheld funds because the country’s leadership has failed to implement certain corruption-fighting measures. Ukraine’s sovereignty is also fragile as Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine’s east for a third consecutive year. As a result, Ukraine’s territorial area has shrunk by about 7 percent, nearly 10,000 people have lost their lives and some 2.2 million have been displaced, of whom 1.8 million are internally displaced persons (IDPs). 

Following are their edited comments on the status of Ukraine at 25. Ulana Suprun, Ukraine’s acting minister of health:

Independence Day is a time for self-reflection and self-determination.

Vernyayev golden in parallel bars, Cheban in canoe sprint

Gymanst Oleh Vernyayev won his second Olympic medal in Rio, with a decisive victory – and Ukraine’s first gold medal – in the parallel bars. The Ukrainian bested American silver medalist Danell Leyva by a score of 16.041-15.900 on August 16. Leyva nailed his final routine, putting him temporarily in first place until Vernyayev put up an incredible 16.041 points with his routine to earn the top spot. Earlier, Vernyayev had almost dethroned the man he refers to as the “king of gymnastics,” coming ever so close to denying Japan’s Kohei Uchimura a second straight Olympic gold medal in men’s all-around gymnastics. Although Uchimura’s high bar routine sealed the victory, the final results on August 10 showed him beating the young Ukrainian by only 0.099 points.

Moscow wants Bosnia-style outcome for Ukraine, says senior analyst

Despite its declarations about taking revenge against Kyiv for supposedly sending “diversionists” into Crimea, Moscow is unlikely to launch a major war, but instead hopes to use the threat of such a conflict to force Ukraine to agree to a resolution of the conflict that would result in a Bosnia-style outcome, according to Anatoly Oktisyuk. But the senior analyst at Kyiv’s International Center for Research about the Future says that Moscow’s interest in such a solution inevitably challenges Kyiv to select one of four very different strategies (apostrophe.com.ua/article/politics/2016-08-12/posledstviya-kryimskoy-diversii-ukrainu-jdut-chetyire-stsenariya-razvitiya-sobyitiy/6735). As Mr. Oktisyuk points out, “the Bosnian war ended more than 20 years ago, but Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of the most backward countries of Europe with massive corruption and the deepening erosion of state institutions. Local identities dominate over national ones, there is no consensus or national unity, and that interferes with the country’s development.”

Not surprisingly, he continues, Russia would like to see exactly that outcome for Ukraine because it would leave the country as “a neutral federal state without claims on Crimea and one in which the anti-Russian west and center would be balanced by a pro-Russian enclave in the Donbas.”

Indeed, the Kyiv analyst says, “the political component of the 2015 Minsk agreements very much recalls the Dayton format of resolving the conflict in Bosnia in 1995.”  The major difference is that there were NATO and then European forces in the former Yugoslavia, while there are no such forces in Ukraine. Kyiv has sought so far unsuccessfully to change that.

Since 2014, 18 countries have provided non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine

Since January 2014, 18 countries have provided $164.1 million (U.S.) worth of non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine, with more than 80 percent of that coming from just two countries, the United States, which has given $117.6 million worth of supplies, and Canada, which has given $23.6 million. Those figures were provided to the Apostrophe portal by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, which noted that there had been some weapons provided as well, by Lithuania among others, but that data about such transfers remain classified (apostrophe.com.ua/article/politics/ 2016-08-03/voyna-na-donbasse-kakie-stranyi-zapada-pomogali-ukraine/6566). According to the ministry, the amount (in U.S. dollars) of non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine between January 1, 2014, and July 15, 2016, provided by the 18 countries is as follows. United States $117,573,368
Canada $23,641,521
Poland $5,421,745
United Kingdom $4,975,847
Australia $4,682,498
China $3,400,000
Turkey $1,052,568
Slovakia $774,543
Norway $629,501
France $594,020
Netherlands $500,000
Spain $258,419
Czech Republic $245,782
Albania $226,388
Lithuania $116,201
Switzerland $31,928
Latvia $31,125
Denmark $21,300
Commenting on this data, Sergey Zgurets, director of the Defense Express Information Consulting Company, said that this foreign assistance had “a very great political effect at the very beginning of the Russian intervention when it seemed that Ukraine was standing one on one with a nuclear power.”

But “all countries tried not to cross a definite line in order not to provoke Russia to harsher methods of conducting military operations in the Donbas.” Furthermore, he said, it was important for Ukraine to rely as heavily as possible on its own resources, given that it has a sizeable military industry.  There have been achievements there, but much remains to be done.

Vitvitsky on selection commission for Ukraine’s General Inspectorate

KYIV – Bohdan Vitvitsky, a Ukrainian-born corruption expert from New Jersey, has joined a selection commission that will choose members of a newly created General Inspectorate at the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The move is part of an overall drive to fix the nation’s deeply flawed prosecutorial and justice system. Prosecutor General Yurii Lutsenko made the announcement live on television on August 8. Dr. Vitvitsky, who holds a juris doctor as well as a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University, is a former U.S. federal prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney. He served as resident legal advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine in 2007-2009.

U.S. envoy thanks Ukraine for assistance in recovering remains of WW II-era pilot

KYIV – On August 12, U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt spoke at a ceremony at the National Military History Museum in Kyiv commemorating the repatriation of remains from Ukraine to United States custody. The U.S. Army second lieutenant was shot down near Novi Troyany, Odesa Oblast, in June, 1944 during Operation Frantic – a series of shuttle bombing operations against Germany during World War II conducted by American aircraft based in Britain and southern Italy which then landed at three airfields in Ukraine. The identity of the second lieutenant is being withheld until positive identification is confirmed. “I would like to thank the Ministry of Defense and General Staff and everyone in the government of Ukraine who has made today’s repatriation possible… Over 70 years ago, this young American pilot was killed while fighting a war on Ukrainian soil that was marked by brutal conflict with an aggressive foe challenging our most fundamental values.

New U.S. ambassador to Ukraine is sworn in

WASHINGTON – The swearing-in ceremony of Marie L. Yovanovitch as ambassador of the United States of America to Ukraine was held on August 12, in the William J. Burns Auditorium at the George Marshall Center, U.S. Department of State. Ambassador Yovanovitch will arrive in Ukraine in time for the 25th anniversary celebration of the independence of Ukraine on August 24. She replaces Geoffrey Pyatt, who will serve as the new U.S. ambassador to Greece. The U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) was represented at Ambassador Yovanovitch’s swearing-in by President Morgan Williams. He noted that the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) congratulates Ambassador Yovanovitch on her appointment and that the council’s 200 members look forward to working with her in Kyiv. Over 45 representatives of USUBC member-organization met with Ambassador Yovanovitch in Washington.

Moscow more likely to use terrorism against Ukraine than to launch conventional attack, Bezsmertnyi says

Moscow is unlikely to launch a conventional military attack against Ukraine in the near term, according to Roman Bezsmertnyi. It simply isn’t prepared to do so or to suffer the international consequences. Instead, he says, the Russian side is more likely to use terrorist attacks and other means of heightening tensions in Ukraine. In an interview on Kyiv’s 112 Ukraina television channel, Ukraine’s former representative to the trilateral contact group said that officials are currently considering several different scenarios for the future of Russian-Ukrainian relations, including heightened tensions (112.ua/politika/rossiya-ne-poydet-v-nastuplenie-a-budet-pribegat-k-teraktam-i-obostreniyu-situacii-na-donbasse-bezsmertnyy-332117.html). Within that vector, the ambassador suggests, three possible vectors are being discussed, but only two of them are likely.