Month: April 17, 2020 4:58 am

KYIV – Every year on April 12, Plast, the largest and oldest Ukrainian youth organization, celebrates the anniversary of the first Plast Oath, which is considered the date Ukrainian scouting was formally established. Under the current conditions of the coronavirus quarantine, members of Plast – National Scouting Organization of Ukraine did not cancel the celebration, but instead opted to go online. On the day before the historic date, April 11, Ukrainian scouts simultaneously across the country marked the 108th anniversary online. More than 9,000 people joined the 11-hour broadcast via the Internet. The four largest branches of Plast in Ukraine – Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv – all played a part in the program.

“The plan was that I would lead the organizers’ team for Plast Oath Day in Kyiv,” said Bohdan Hultai, coordinator of the online national celebration. “However, by the time event planning began it was March and it was clear that there was no possibility to carry it out as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. Preparations were frozen. Ivan Bratsyun, the head of Kyiv’s Plast branch, suggested organizing the event in an online format. We decided to demonstrate… that despite the quarantine, we are still together,” Mr. Hultai added.

Russian-Ukrainian relations, increasingly tense since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, plummeted to a new low after Russia’s forcible absorption of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and subsequent invasion of the Donbas. On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Sevastopol, home of the country’s Black Sea Fleet, and delivered a rousing patriotic speech commemorating the sixth anniversary of Russia’s “reunification” with Crimea (Kremlin.ru, March 18). The following day, likely not coincidentally, the Security Service of Ukraine (known as the SBU) agents arrested a Ukrainian from Mykolayiv on espionage charges of seeking information on advanced Ukrainian naval technology to sell to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) (Ssu.gov.ua, March 19).

It is not surprising that the SBU would uncover a spy for Russia in Mykolayiv, which for decades housed the most advanced shipyards in the Soviet Union. Interestingly, Mr. Putin had obliquely addressed the issue of purported Russian espionage in his March 18 Sevastopol address. The Kremlin leader asserted that, after Russia’s acquisition of Crimea, Western powers had been “provoking a spy mania”; however, he insisted, “there has not been nor will there be any [Russian] spying. Unfortunately, we are seeing this, spy mania, in certain partner countries…” (Kremlin.ru, March 18). The recent SBU operation, nevertheless, seems to belie Mr. Putin’s pious assertions.

Ukraine reports 4,161 COVID cases

The Ministry of Health reported on April 16 that Ukraine has confirmed 4,161 cases of COVID-19. The ministry said 116 people have died and 186 have recovered. Two days earlier, Ukraine had reported 392 new cases of coronavirus over the past day, bringing the total number to 3,764, according to information released by the Public Health Center. The Public Health Center also said on April 14 that some 39,084 tests have been conducted in Ukraine to detect new coronavirus infections. A total of 2,145 people in the country are undergoing treatment at home under doctors’ supervision, while 1,368 people have been hospitalized, including 59 children. (Radio Svoboda, Ukrinform)

While the whole world copes with the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic responsible for COVID-19, Moscow has been attempting to take advantage of the situation. Under the pretext of helping them tackle a “common misfortune,” the Kremlin hopes, at a minimum, to pressure Western countries into easing sanctions and accepting the Russian annexation of Crimea. As a maximalist goal, Moscow wants to use the crisis to set in motion a redivision of the world.

One of the first steps in implementing this strategy was the attempt, made earlier this month by Moscow and its allies, to draft a United Nations resolution on lifting international sanctions under the pretext of combating coronavirus. The document was called the “Declara­tion of Solidarity in the Fight Against Coronavirus” and, in addition to general platitudes about the need for states to cooperate with each other and with the World Health Organization (WHO), it urged countries to “abandon trade wars and unilateral sanctions bypassing the U.N. Security Council.” The U.N. General Assembly rejected the version proposed by Moscow, however, instead approving a resolution titled “Global Solidarity to Fight the Coronavirus Disease 2019”.

OTTAWA – April 2020 marks the five-year anniversary of the passing of Motion M-587 by the House of Commons, recognizing April as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month in Canada.

On this occasion, a coalition of advocacy organizations, including the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC), the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), the Humura Association and Romanipe issued the following statement on April 14.

“As we collectively face the Covid-19 pandemic, we are reminded of the importance of solidarity and unity during these difficult times. Time and again, our history has proven that during times of uncertainty and despair, those who are the most vulnerable often face the most challenges.

Following is the full text of the open letter from the American Association for Ukrainian Studies regarding budget cuts following the formation of the Stabilization Fund.

TO: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhii Marchenko, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, Interim Minister of Culture Svitlana Fomenko

As American scholars of Ukraine, we appeal to you in defense of Ukrainian cultural and scholarly institutions that are disproportionately threatened by the proposed budget cuts following the formation of the Stabilization Fund.

If there’s one thing we know about Russia and its mendacious leader, it’s that you can never take anything they say at face value. Recently, Russia tried to pull a fast one at the United Nations. At the General Assembly, Russia sponsored a draft resolution whose ostensible topic was the raging coronavirus pandemic. According to an Associated Press story, the resolution called for U.N. solidarity at this time of worldwide crisis and urged an end to trade wars, protectionist practices and unilateral sanctions without U.N. Security Council approval (please do recall that Russia has veto power on the Security Council).

Russia’s resolution had the support of the Central African Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and Ukraine were opposed.

Last year, on April 25, 2019, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a sweeping language law that elevated the status of Ukrainian in nearly every facet of life.

A solid majority of 278 lawmakers voted for the bill that makes Ukrainian the sole language in all government activities and for officials while performing official duties.

The law also ensured Ukrainian dominance in the public sphere of media, culture and education. However, the law does not apply to private communication or language used in religious ceremonies.

Paschal Letter of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine

God-Loving Pastors, Honorable Monastics and all Faithful Children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Beyond the Borders of and in Ukraine:

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

“And now go quickly, tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead and He is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see Him.” (Mt.28:7&10)

It is with these words of joy through the lips of an angel that God announces the Resurrection of His Only Begotten Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the women who had come to see His Tomb. The entire Orthodox world today celebrates the Feast of Feasts, the new Passover of Salvation, and thus joyfully glorifies the Source of Life – the One Risen from the Tomb, Christ our Lord.

Shortly after the collapse of the USSR, the CIA rated Ukraine as the most likely to succeed and prosper in the post-Soviet era. Indeed, all the objective indicators were there: a highly educated population, unrivaled agricultural potential, a wide and diverse array of industry, an abundance of natural resources, temperate climate, and a strategically favorable location between the Occidental and Oriental worlds

But, in the short term, Ukrainians would have to survive a very difficult transition while the economy ground to a halt. All assets in Ukraine, other than small private homes and tiny plots of adjacent land, had been owned by “the people” (i.e., the government), and Soviet authorities never envisioned or provided for any other possibility. So the first order of business was to print up and distribute to “the workers” shares of ownership in the plants where they had been working, and to the farmers, portions of the land which they had worked “collectively.”

RYE BROOK, N.Y. – The Ukrainian American Youth Association (UAYA) hosted its 56th annual Debutante Ball at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook, N.Y., on February 22. Over 800 guests gathered to celebrate as 15 young women made their formal debut into the Ukrainian American community.

The UAYA Debutante Ball, under the auspices of the National Executive Board, is a longstanding tradition among UAYA members of the Northeast. The event has its roots in European court custom and was adopted in the mid-20th century by Ukrainian American diaspora organizations. This year’s debutantes joined the ranks of nearly 900 young women who have taken part in this rite of passage over the past half century.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – Six debutantes were presented at the Plast Cleveland chapter’s Debutante Ball, which was held on February 15 at the Embassy Suites Hotel Cleveland-Rockside.

This year’s debutantes hailed from Ohio and Canada, with escorts from Ohio and New York. Presented at the ball were: Talya Dolban, escorted by Darien Kulchytsky; Emily Polatajko, escorted by Nicholas Jarosewich; Melanie Polatajko, escorted by Andrew Lisowsky; Sophia Rakowsky, escorted by Roman Jakubowycz; Sofia Zunt, escorted by Paul Williams; and Adrianna Zura, escorted by Daniel Rakowsky.