“Kredytivka” season

It’s that time of year: our Ukrainian credit unions, or “kredytivky,” in the United States are holding their annual meetings to report back to the members and communities they serve and to elect board members. Perhaps you’ve noticed some of those meetings advertised in your area, or you’ve received an announcement because you are a credit union member. We encourage readers to attend to learn more about these institutions.

April 5, 2004

Fifteen years ago, on April 5, 2004, President Leonid Kuchma signed into law a series of bills on presidential elections that had been overwhelmingly passed by the Verkhovna Rada in March. The bills reduced the presidential campaign period from 180 to 120 days and lowered the threshold for registering a candidate from 1 million to 500,000 signatures.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reinforced Ukrainians’ turn away from Moscow

Many Russians think that had Moscow not annexed Crimea and begun its military interference in Ukraine in 2014, Ukrainians and Russians could have remained fraternal peoples, says Aleksandr Tsipko. But these actions only reinforced the longstanding desire of Ukrainians to escape Moscow’s orbit and ally with those who oppose Russia.

Statements on the illegal annexation of Crimea

The North Atlantic Council released the following on March 18.1. Five years ago, Russia used force against Ukraine to illegally and illegitimately annex Crimea. This violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is a serious breach of international law and a major challenge to Euro-Atlantic security. We strongly condemn this act, which we do not and will not recognize. We call on Russia to return control of Crimea to Ukraine. We reiterate our full support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and territorial waters. Crimea is the territory of Ukraine.

“With rue my heart is laden for golden friends I had…”

Our family moved to Cleveland on Labor Day in 1954, my seventh birthday. A week later I was enrolled in a Ridna Shkola Saturday heritage class in a dismal upstairs room lighted by bare bulbs in a fading commercial building in the old Ukrainian neighborhood. It was all the immigrant community could afford, having come off the boat from DP camps four-five years before. 

BOOK REVIEW: Selected poems by Serhiy Zhadan

“What We Live For, What We Die For: Selected Poems,” by Serhiy Zhadan. Translated from the Ukrainian by Virlana Tkacz and Wanda Phipps. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018. 160 pp. ISBN 978-03000-22336-1. $18.

A full house for Shelest Piano Duo concert

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Anna and Dmytro Shelest – the Shelest Piano Duo – attracted a full house March 17 at the historic Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria (just south of Washington) in the third concert of The Washington Group Cultural Fund’s 2018-2019 Music Series.

NEWSBRIEFS

UWC cites disinformation threatDisinformation is one of the most serious threats to a free democratic electoral process, noted Eugene Czolij, the head of Ukraine World Congress International Observation Mission to Ukraine’s 2019 Elections (UWC Mission) and former president of the UWC. He held a press conference at Ukraine Crisis Media Center in Kyiv on March 26 to present the UWC’s interim report.

Corporate law attorney joins New York firm

NEW YORK – Polsinelli, an Am Law 100 firm, announced on February 5 that Markian B. Silecky has joined the firm’s New York Office as a shareholder in the firm’s corporate and transactional practice. His primary practice focuses on international corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, data privacy and compliance.