Month: August 23, 2019 4:11 am

The year 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the historic unification of the Western Ukrainian National Republic with the Ukrainian National Republic. The author and presenter of the Act of Union was Dr. Lonhyn Cehelsky. Marusia Kvit-Flynn, a relative of Cehelsky (he was her grandmother’s brother), writes about this political leader and the historic events in which he played a key role.

PHILADELPHIA – Dr. Lonhyn Cehelsky was honored earlier this year when Ukraine’s Ambassador Valery Chaly and his wife, Ludmila Mazuka, took part in a commemorative event marking the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Act of Union in Kyiv, at St. Sophia Square, on January 22, 1919. The commemoration on January 20 was organized by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the Society of Veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The official ceremony started at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery, where Ambassador Chaly laid flowers at the tomb or the unknown soldier of the Ukrainian National Republic.

Twenty-one Ukrainians saw action in the National Hockey League during the 2018-2019 season. Six of them also dressed in games for their American Hockey League affiliates, in addition to another 27 Ukrainian AHL skaters. A total of 30 Ukes were found on ECHL rosters, while the Southern Pro Hockey League had 12 players of Ukrainian descent. When taking into account players who played in more than one professional league, the grand total of Ukrainian pro hockey players in 2018-2019 was 79.

KYIV – The acrimonious political contest for control of Kyiv between the new Ukrainian president’s team and Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his defenders has been intensified and prolonged. It has also assumed an international dimension that is embarrassing, if not damaging, to the country’s image.
On the surface it would appear to be a case of the victor in Ukraine’s presidential election, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose Servant of the People party subsequently captured all of the single “majority” constituencies in the city, calling on a representative of a defeated political force to take heed of the popular mood and to step aside, and the latter digging his heels in.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – The Associated Press Stylebook on August 14 notified users of its style and usage guide that the name of the capital of Ukraine would now be spelled Kyiv, not Kiev.
In a tweet and a post on Facebook, the AP Stylebook wrote: “AP has changed its style for the capital of Ukraine to Kyiv, in line with the Ukrainian government’s preferred transliteration to English and increasing usage. Include a reference in stories to the former spelling of Kiev. The food dish remains chicken Kiev.”

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has simplified naturalization procedures for foreigners and stateless people who have “defended Ukraine” and for Russians facing “political persecution” at home.
In a decree published on the presidential website on August 13, Mr. Zelenskyy ordered the Cabinet of Ministers to “urgently” develop and draft a law “aimed at simplifying the procedure for acquiring citizenship.”

KYIV – On August 9, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine had a meeting with the representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.
The meeting took place on the joint initiative of both parties and was aimed at deepening the cooperation of the President’s Office, the President’s representation in Crimea and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, and the coordination of efforts toward deoccupation of the peninsula and its reintegration.

New Rada to be sworn in August 29
Ukraine’s new Parliament will be sworn in on August 29, Kyiv-based Dragon Capital investment bank wrote in a note to investors, citing the national legislature’s website. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to deliver his first state of the nation speech to the 424 elected lawmakers that day. As required by law, the president addresses Parliament after it appoints the speaker and two deputy speakers. A plenary session will be held on the same day as well. Since Mr. Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party won an outright majority of 254 seats on July 21, no delays are expected regarding the formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers. A new government will likely be formed by the first week of September, Dragon Capital said.

A Russian commercial tanker named Nika Spirit entered the Ukrainian port of Izmayil on July 24. However, using the EQUASIS…...

The European Union is reportedly drawing up plans for a coordinated EU policy of non-recognition of Russian passports issued to the residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of eastern Ukraine.
Lithuanian diplomats are involved in the work, with the Lithuanian government promising that if a united policy cannot be established, they will act unilaterally.

“After the attack of occupation forces on Ukrainian positions and the death of four Ukrainian servicemen, President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy called his Russian counterpart and asked him to ‘influence the other side.’ It’s time for the Ukrainian president to wake up and give up his dangerous illusion. There is no ‘other side’ – this is a fabrication of the Kremlin’s propaganda.

The West is paying ever more attention to Kremlin disinformation but has focused almost exclusively on Moscow’s use of the media, classical and electronic. As a result, it often misses the other channels Russia uses to put out lies to muddy the waters and undermine truth as such, Tallinn’s International Center for Defense and Security says.
Among the most important of these additional channels, Yevgen Tsybulenko and Dmitry Teperik of the ICDS say, are international forums, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the United Nations, and informal meetings of opinion leaders, experts and politicians.