NEWSBRIEFS

Sentsov registers for military service

Ukrainian filmmaker and former Kremlin political prisoner Oleh Sentsov has registered for military service. In a Facebook post on December 10, Mr. Sentsov, 43, posted a picture of a military identification card that says he is an army reservist. “Since I’m a resident of Kyiv, I went and registered for military service. Now, I’m an army reservist,” he said. “The military registration and enlistment offices are obviously dingy-looking, but the people inside are really nice.

Trump warns Russia on election interference, urges resolution to conflict in Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov against any “attempts to interfere” in U.S. elections and “urged Moscow to resolve the conflict with Ukraine,” the White House said of their meeting in Washington.
Mr. Trump on December 10 emphasized supporting “effective global arms control” that includes not only Russia, but also China, the White House said.
He also asked Russia for support on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to ensure the denuclearization of North Korea.

U.N. General Assembly calls on Russia to withdraw military forces from Crimea

The United Nations General Assembly on December 9 called on the Russian Federation to withdraw its military forces and end the occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
“The U.N. General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution urging the Russian Federation, as the occupying power, to withdraw its military forces from Crimea and to end its temporary occupation of Ukrainian territory without delay,” the Ukrainian Mission to the United Nations said on Facebook.
The resolution calls upon all member states to cooperate with the United Nations “to encourage and support efforts to put an end to the Russian occupation of Crimea as rapidly as possible and to refrain from any dealings with the Russian Federation regarding Crimea that are inconsistent with this aim.”

Red lines and relief: Mixed feelings in Ukraine after Zelenskyy-Putin talks in Paris

Much hype preceded the Paris meeting of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, the first face-to-face talks between the current leaders of Ukraine and Russia on the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Many Ukrainians feared Mr. Zelenskyy would make major concessions to Mr. Putin, particularly with European leaders eager for progress toward peace looking on.
But the modest agreements reached seemed to leave little room for concerns of “capitulation” to Moscow, making for a mix of relief at that result and disappointment about the obstacles that still loom large in a country torn by a five-year war in its east.

Ihor A. Shust, community leader and international banker, 87

PHILADELPHIA – Ihor Alexander Shust, a Ukrainian community activist and a former senior vice-president of Wells Fargo, died peacefully at home on November 20 after a long illness. He was 87.
Born in Ukraine in 1932, he came to the United States as an adolescent and settled in Philadelphia. He graduated from Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, and subsequently completed the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management at Harvard School of Business.

Kremlin pulls out of Geneva Convention cited against Russia’s actions in Ukraine

Recently, the Russian Duma passed and President Vladimir Putin signed a law withdrawing Moscow’s 1949 signature on the Geneva Convention concerning the defense of the civilian population during international armed conflicts, a convention the United Nations has accused Russia of violating on Ukrainian territory by changing the ethnic mix in Crimea. (The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties and three additional protocols.)
Russia’s withdrawal from this convention means that the United Nations cannot formally condemn Moscow for the violation of the rights of civilians during war by acting on the accusations the U.N. has made.

UNA CELEBRATES 125 YEARS: A snapshot from history, 1950

Seen above, at the 22nd Regular Convention of Ukrainian National Association, which was held on May 22-27, 1950, in Cleveland, are the newly elected members of the UNA Supreme Assembly, at their first post-election meeting. Elected to the new Supreme Assembly were: Supreme President Dmytro Halychyn, Supreme Vice-President Joseph Lesawyer, Supreme Vice-Presidentess Genevieve Zerebniak, Supreme Secretary Gregory Herman, Supreme Treasurer Roman Slobodian (who are seen at the head of the table), Supreme Auditors Dmytro Kapitula, Stephen Kuropas, Walter Hirniak, Walter Kossar and Ambrose Kibsey, and Supreme Advisors Dmytro Szmagala, John Romanition, John Wasylenko, John Kokolsky, Peter Kuchma, Walter Didyk, Nicholas Dawyskyba, Taras Shpikula, Olena Shtogryn, Anna Wasylowska and William Hussar. Also in the photo are Svoboda Editor-in-Chief Luke Myshuha (partially hidden) and The Ukrainian Weekly Editor Stephen Shumeyko.

Preserving our heritage

The front page of our December 1 issue carried a news story that is of major significance for the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities. The story by Jurij Dobczansky of the Library of Congress and the Shevchenko Scientific Society and Andrew Fedynsky of the Ukrainian Museum-Archives of Cleveland (who is also one of this newspaper’s columnists) was about the sixth conference of the Ukrainian Heritage Consortium of North America held at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. The UHCNA was described as “a voluntary group that coordinates the exchange of information, fosters friendships and cooperation among Ukrainian cultural heritage institutions and professionals in the United States and Canada.” The consortium brings together leaders of museums, libraries and archives; it originally held annual meetings, but now meets biennially, with the next such gathering scheduled for 2021.

Dec. 16, 2015

Four years ago, on December 16, 2019, Gen. Wesley Clark (U.S. Army, ret.), former NATO supreme allied commander, Europe, was interviewed by Diane Francis of The Atlantic Council about the situation in Ukraine and its broader impact.
Gen. Clark stated: “We should have given defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine. If we’d given them defensive weapons, many lives could have been saved. There are major human consequences here.”
Echoing Gen. Clark’s statements, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, who was acting chair of the U.N. Security Council, bluntly stated on December 11, 2015, “Russia continues to arm, train, support and fight alongside separatists in eastern Ukraine.”

Ukraine at center of politics in U.S.

Dear Editor:
For Ukrainian Americans, it’s no exaggeration to say that these are remarkable times. Our ancestral homeland finds itself at the center of U.S. domestic politics in a crisis involving the highest levels of our government. Regardless of our views about these developments, it’s reasonable to be concerned about the impact this crisis will have on America’s longstanding bipartisan support for Ukraine. Therefore, we must speak out to prevent a reduction in this vital assistance.