Teaching and surviving during the COVID-19 pandemic

On Friday, March 13, 2020, New Jersey schools announced that the following Monday all schools would be closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At first, everyone expected a two-week closure. However, the school closure was extended and St. John’s Ukrainian Montessori Preschool in Newark, N.J., had to close until the summer.

Ukraine’s 1991 independence: aspirations, dedication and the sacrifice of millions

For many reading this column – certainly those of the older generations – 1991 is a year that is embedded in our consciousness. After seven decades of brutal oppression under the Soviets – occupation, war, famine, and Gulags – Ukraine achieved independence. Thirty years later, it remains independent, and, despite the serious external and internal challenges, Ukraine is here to stay.

UOL hosts 74th annual convention online, elects new national executive boards

SOMERSET, N.J. – The 74th Convention of the Ukrainian Orthodox League held its annual convention virtually via Zoom on July 24. The convention was originally planned to be hosted by the UOL chapter of St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Philadelphia, but due to pandemic precautions it was moved to an online, single-day format.

NEWSBRIEFS

U.S. appoints NS2 energy adviser
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has appointed former diplomat Amos Hochstein as senior adviser on energy security with a focus on measures to “reduce the risks” posed by the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline and support energy security in Eastern Europe.

Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies clash as fugitive former judge Chaus is detained

LVIV – Detectives from the National Anti­corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on August 3 said they detained former Kyiv Dnipro District Judge Mykola Chaus after the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) alleged that the fugitive justice, whose whereabouts had previously been unknown, contacted them from a village in the west of the country.

UAB issues statement urging renewed White House commitment on Ukraine

The following statement was released on August 3 by Ukrainian Americans for Biden. It was signed by members of the Ukrainian Americans for Biden Steering Committee, among them: Chrystia Balko Slywotzky, Orest Deycha­kiwsky, Marta Farion, Andrew Fedynsky, Irene Jarosewich, Khristina Lew, Ulana Mazurkevich, Adrian Slywotzky, Mark N.V. Temnycky, Halyna Traversa and Tania Vitvitsky.

Sen. Menendez, chairs of European foreign affairs committees issue joint statement opposing Nord Stream 2

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and counterparts from Estonia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Lithuania issued a revised joint statement on August 2 in opposition to the recent agreement between the United States and Germany to allow completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Tokyo 2020

The 2020 Summer Olympics will come to a close on August 8. While these Games will certainly be remembered as much for various displays of outstanding athleticism and sportsmanship, they will also be remembered as the Games that were held under extremely difficult circumstances for athletes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

August 10, 2008

Thirteen years ago, on August 10, 2008, Ukraine threatened to prevent Russian warships that moved to blockade Georgia’s Black Sea coastline from returning to their Crimean base in Sevastopol, Ukraine. The move came following the five-day war between Georgia and Russia (August 8-12) that saw Russian armed forces pry two regions – South Ossetia and Abkhazia – from Georgian control.