Month: July 30, 2021 5:48 am

KYIV – Ukraine is jumpstarting a new diplomatic initiative to muster international support for efforts to end Russia’s occupation of the Crimean Peninsula on the eve of the 30th anniversary of its renewed independence.

KYIV – An overhaul of the nation’s domestic counterintelligence agency, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), along with changes in the military’s top brass, took place over the past week.

KYIV – A top U.S. State Department official said the United States supports Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s goal of curtailing the power of tycoons, but cautioned that the path to achieving this “is difficult.”

Combat ships lined the Neva River in St. Petersburg and crowded the harbor of the nearby Kronstadt naval base on July 25 for the parade marking the 325th anniversary of Russia’s navy, the Military-Maritime Fleet (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot – VMF). It was only the sixth such Navy Day spectacle to date. In 2017, Russian President Vladi­mir Putin decided that the annual May 9 Victory Day parade in Red Square in Moscow was not enough to convincingly demonstrate the full might of the Russian Armed Forces.

The announcement on July 21 of the agreement between the United States and Germany allowing for the completion of Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project comes at a time when Russia is undertaking a full-scale effort to manipulate the European gas market, deplete European gas storages and send prices skyrocketing.

The following proclamation was issued by U.S. President Joe Biden on July 16.
From the founding of our nation to today, through the crucibles of war and the struggle of successive generations, America has strived to uphold the ideals of freedom and democracy upon which our country was built and expand the ability of people around the world to freely exercise their rights.

The chairs of foreign affairs committees representing eight national parliaments released the following statement on July 29.
We, the chairs of foreign affairs committees of our respective national parliaments, are deeply disturbed by the decision of the United States and Germany on Nord Stream 2, which entails resuming completion of works on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The following statement was issued by members of the European Parliament on July 27.
BRUSSELS – The U.S.-Germany agreement over Nord Stream 2 is not a European agreement, but an attempt by the two countries to improve their bilateral relations and change the situation from very bad to bad.

PARIS – Devoid of the usual fanfare that accompanies the opening of a new business, Alina Wolf simply opened the door of her restaurant Oranta on July 1 and welcomed wandering visitors to try traditional Ukrainian borshch, varenyky and potato pancakes in the heart of the city.

Officials from the United States and Russia met in Geneva on July 28 to discuss strategic nuclear stability, and to specifically find agreement on reducing their respective nuclear arsenals. Experts on the issue believe the two countries account for roughly 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Thirty-five years ago, in the August 3, 1986, issue of The Ukrainian Weekly, readers were informed about Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s decision to withdraw six regiments (roughly 6 percent of the estimated 120,000 stationed troops: one tank regiment, two motorized rifle regiments, three anti-aircraft units and all of their equipment) from Afghanistan by the end of 1986.

By profession I am a historian who was raised and educated in the United States, and who has taught the history of Ukraine for over four decades at the University of Toronto in Canada. I come to you, then, as someone who has developed a professional and personal love and appreciation for the rich cultural heritage that your ancestors created on this beautiful land called Ukraine.