Month: October 25, 2019 6:54 am

Dear Editor: I read Andrew Fedynsky’s article in The Ukrainian Weekly titled “A family snapshot from a vastly larger picture” (September 8) with great interest.
Thank you for sharing the story about Mr. Fedynsky’s parents and the hardships they endured in Ukraine before and during World War II.
Every paragraph was heart-wrenching. These kinds of stories are rare treasures, because so many Ukrainians either died before being able to talk about their experiences, or they were afraid of the consequences of doing so, or they were emotionally unable to talk about them.
I would enjoy reading more of such survivors’ accounts in The Ukrainian Weekly.
Thank you, Mr. Fedynsky, for writing about your parents’ experiences.

This year has been filled with good news about various entities adopting the correct spelling of Ukraine’s capital city: Kyiv. First came moves by international airports to change the way the capital is rendered on its flight arrivals and departures lists. One by one, airports in Canada, Europe, the Mideast and Africa announced the change. By July 1, the count was up to 50 airports. It was part of the very successful campaign launched by Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In an open letter, the ministry explained: “Under the Russian empire and later the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russification was actively used as a tool to extinguish each constituent country’s national identity, culture and language. In light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, including its illegal occupation of Crimea, we are once again experiencing Russification as a tactic that attempts to destabilize and delegitimize our country. You will appreciate, we hope, how the use of Soviet-era place names – rooted in the Russian language – is especially painful and unacceptable to the people of Ukraine. … To better inform the international community about the correct forms of Ukrainian place names and to avoid mistakes, we are launching the campaign: #CorrectUA.”

Forty-five years ago, on October 26, 1974, nearly 500 persons attended the 50th anniversary banquet at Club Navaho Manor in Irvington, N.J., to mark the founding of Ukrainian Athletic Education Association Chornomorska Sitch.
Based in Newark, N.J., the club was founded on December 21, 1924, and remains the oldest Ukrainian sports club in the U.S.A. In 1974, the club had more than 300 members and 11 athletic teams, including soccer, ice hockey and bridge.
The banquet was opened by the club president, Myron Stebeslky. Zenon Snylyk, editor of The Ukrainian Weekly and a former three-time U.S. Olympian and World Cup soccer player, served as emcee. Mr. Snylyk introduced representatives of over 40 various local organizations.

It’s been called the Trump-Ukraine controversy, Ukraine scandal, Ukraine matter, Ukraine affair, Ukraine mess. Call it what you will, but since late September, Ukraine has been at the center of attention in the United States in a way never before seen.
There are so many aspects that can be discussed, but let me share just a few thoughts.
As damaging and tragic as this whole episode is for the United States, how it plays out for Ukraine’s relationship with its most powerful strategic partner remains to be seen. While it certainly complicates U.S.-Ukraine relations in the short-term, I remain confident that America will continue to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and democratic aspirations.

Since its inception in 2005, the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group (CUPFG) has proved to be an invaluable tool in promoting and enhancing relations between our two countries. As an all-party group, it serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas between Canadian parliamentarians and their counterparts in Ukraine, and to promote and enhance the political, economic and cultural relations between Canada and Ukraine. This is not unlike the U.S. Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, founded in 1997, and its Senate counterpart, established in 2015.
Many parliamentarians of all stripes have participated in it over the past 14 years, but this year marks a watershed as three of the group’s most venerable members will no longer sit in Parliament. The first to go was Raynell Andreychuk, a Conservative senator who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 on August 14 (See The Ukrainian Weekly August 9).

Ukraine defeated Portugal 2-1 on October 14 at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex in Kyiv to clinch a spot at Euro 2020 despite Christiano Ronaldo scoring his 700th career goal.
Roman Yaremchuk and Andriy Yarmo­lenko had Ukraine up 2-0 after only 27 minutes. In the 72nd minute Ronaldo notched his landmark goal from the penalty area after Taras Stepanenko was sent off, but Ukraine held on to secure first place in Group B.
Thus, Ukraine joined Poland, Russia, Italy and Belgium in next summer’s finals.

IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KO) utilized a vicious body attack to wear down and defeat previously unbeaten WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (17-1, 14 KO) in the 10th round on October 18 in their unification match at the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia. Gvozdyk more than held his own in the first five rounds before Beterbiev began wearing him down with his punishing shots, non-stop pressure and body attack.
It had been a close, competitive and exciting bout until Beterbiev steadily broke Gvozdyk down to unify two 175-pound title belts and claim the lineal title in the main event at the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card before 3,283 fans – many of them Ukrainians.
This was the first ever light heavyweight world title unification fight between undefeated titleholders.

… Please register below for a FREE account.The subscription will be updated and be live from the date of registration. Login Subscribe NowCreate an account or log in to continue reading....

WASHINGTON – Yaro T. Kulchyckyj of the U.S. Department of State was among the 18 U.S. civil servants selected for the White House Leadership Development Program (WHLDP) for 2018-2019.
The WHLD Program helps build the next generation of leaders in the executive branch. Its aim is to strengthen enterprise leadership across the government by providing senior level federal employees with expanded perspective and skillsets to address challenges facing the country. It is sponsored by the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the President’s Manage­ment Council (PMC), and supported by the Performance Improvement Council (PIC).

NEW YORK – The Executive Committee of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the largest representation of Americans of Ukrainian descent, has appointed Ihor Dlaboha to be the editor-in- chief of The Ukrainian Quarterly.
Mr. Dlaboha is a lifelong journalist having worked at The Ukrainian Weekly, Svoboda and The National Tribune. He also was an editor at American trade and business publications. In the course of his career, Mr. Dlaboha was also general manager at the Ukrainian Broadcasting Network.

KERHONKSON, N.Y. – Miss Soyuzivka 2020 Anastasia Hanafin (center) is seen above with first runner-up Sofia Pitula (left) and second runner-up Karolina Polivantseva. Ms. Hanafin, who hails from New York, is a student at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. The annual Miss Soyuzivka pageant took place on August 10 during a sold-out weekend at Soyuzivka Heritage Center. The judges were: Sandra Lemekha, Dr. Borys Mychalczak and Roman Hirniak. The new Miss Soyuzivka was crowned during the dance featuring the band Udych. Maya Lew, Soyuzivka’s front office and events manager, organized and oversaw the Miss Soyuzivka contest this year.

WASHINGTON – Anastazia (Ana) Kohout, an Illinois native with spina bifida whose competitive swimming career has cast her in the spotlight, wants people to see her individuality before her disability.
Ms. Kohout recently completed a summer fellowship with Respectability, a nonprofit that fights stigmas and advances opportunities for people with disabilities. With the skills and confidence she gained this summer, Ms. Kohout will lead empowerment training for women with disabilities when she returns to Beloit College this fall.