Month: August 16, 2019 7:17 pm

Vladimir Putin’s regime is often presented as a pioneer in the production and use of “fake news,” but, in fact, historical writer Nikolay Syromyatnikov says, “fake news” under various names has been part of Moscow’s modus operandi since January 1923 – a tactic that Soviet leaders from beginning to end viewed as critical to their success.
On January 11, 1923, 13 days after the formation of the USSR, Iosif Unslikh, the deputy head of the NKVD, asked the Politburo to authorize the creation of a bureau of disinformation in the State Political Administration of his commissariat. The Politburo agreed and that agency was set up.

EDMONTON-TORONTO – Dr. Manoly Robert Lupul died in Calgary, Alberta, on July 24, three weeks shy of his 92nd birthday. His death was announced on August 1 by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), which is based in Edmonton and Toronto.

FOX CHASE, Pa. – Sister Mary Bernarda died at the Basilian monastery in Fox Chase, Pa., on July 17 at the age of 96. Sister had suffered a stroke on July 4 and was treated at Holy Redeemer Hospital. On July 8, she returned to the Basilian Motherhouse in Fox Chase. She departed this earth surrounded by the love, support and care of sisters at the Motherhouse, friends and colleagues with whom she had shared a home, a spiritual life, work, meals and leisure time for many years.

More than 160 persons helped the Ukrainian National Association celebrate the blessing of its new headquarters building in Parsippany, N.J., on Sunday, November 9, 1997. The rite was conducted by clergy of the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches: the Rev. Marian Struc, pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Jersey City, N.J. (home to the UNA’s former headquarters); the Rev. Oleh Hucul, pastor of Holy Ascension Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Maplewood, N.J.; and the Rev. Myron Stasiw, a UNA advisor who is pastor of Holy Protectress Ukrainian Catholic Church in Toronto.

In less than a week, Ukraine will celebrate the 28th anniversary of the re-establishment of its independent statehood. We already know that this year’s celebrations of Ukrainian Independence Day on August 24 are going to be different from that in years past. For starters, there will be no military parade featuring military equipment. Instead, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Bohdan, said there would be a “Walk of Dignity,” in which “everyone who is proud of Ukraine” will be honored, followed by a grand concert in Kyiv’s city center. Among those expected to participate will be members of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, veterans, doctors, teachers, athletes and diplomats.

Thirty years ago, on August 18, 1989, the Kremlin conceded for the first time that the Soviet-Nazi non-aggression treaty, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that was signed on August 23, 1939, had secretly and illegally divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.
Just days prior to the Kremlin marking the 50th anniversary of the pact, the Kremlin continued to insist that secret protocols of the pact had no bearing on the fact that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had become part of the Soviet Union, and that an admission that the pact was illegal did not alter the political status of the three Baltic states.

Prominent Ukrainian news media have reacted sharply to the recent fake news issued to the media by members of the President’s Office and the subsequent comments from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Andriy Bohdan. The disinformation concerned Mr. Bohdan and his purported resignation from his highly controversial post as head of Mr. Zelenskyy’s administration.
Mr. Bohdan twice held high posts in the administration of Viktor Yanukovych and is therefore prohibited from holding such a post by the Law on Lustration. President Zelenskyy has tried to get around this by changing the name of his administration. By calling it the Office of the President, which is nowhere mentioned in the lustration law, the claim is that the ban on Mr. Bohdan does not apply.

On July 21, I was in Kherson, a pleasant port city in southern Ukraine, observing Verkhovna Rada elections with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which had invited me to participate as a member of their delegation. NDI, an NGO based in Washington, has been doing valuable work in Ukraine for more than two decades. It was a slightly different election observation experience than earlier ones I have had.

KYIV – This year’s convocation at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) was the largest since the re-establishment of Kyiv Mohyla Academy in 1991. The graduation ceremony took place on Ukraine’s Constitution Day, June 28, in keeping with the university’s tradition.
Kyiv Mohyla Academy issued diplomas to 646 undergraduates, 366 master’s graduates, 58 MBAs, and four Ph.D.s.

GLEN SPEY, N.Y. – For many years, the Catskill Mountains in Sullivan County, New York, have been a recreation destination for Ukrainian Americans who live on the East Coast of the U.S. and beyond.  Soyuzivka Heritage Center in Kerhonkson, Oselia SUM (CYM) in Ellenville, the Grazhda concert hall at Hunter Mountain in Jewett and the former Verkhovyna Mountain View Resort in Glen Spey drew many with special events, festivals and summer camps.  Local Ukrainian communities took root with some settling as second homeowners in the area.

KERHONKSON, N.Y. – The sights and sounds of children singing Ukrainian songs and learning about their heritage filled Soyuzivka Heritage Center from June 30 to July 5, as the “Tabir Ptashat” day camp brought children, parents, grandparents and counselors together. “Tabir Ptashat” is the day camp for Ukrainian-speaking children age 4-6 that is organized at the Soyuzivka Heritage Center by the Pershi Stezhi sorority of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization.

NEW YORK – Three scholars will be visiting the Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, for academic year 2019-2020, beginning in the fall 2019 semester. The program will be offering six courses and organizing several events, including a two-day conference focusing on Ukrainian cultural responses to the war between Ukraine and Russia in the Donbas.