in Ukraine? - The Ukrainian Weekly

No. 43Ukraine’s exit polls: one may bemore accurate than the othersby Roman WoronowyczKyiv Press Bureauby Maryna Makhnonosand Bogdana VasylenkoSpecial to The Ukrainian WeeklyMOSCOW, Russia – Russian PresidentVladimir Putin used his birthday as informalreason to demonstrate his unconditionalsupport for Ukrainian Prime MinisterViktor Yanukovych by inviting him andUkraineís President Leonid Kuchma to hisresidence in Novo-Ogarevo outsideMoscow on October 9. Some political scientistssaid the Kremlinís obvious benevolencetoward Mr. Yanukovych may diminishhis chances to win presidential electionsin the end of this month, because itmay irritate Ukrainian voters instead ofstimulating of their sympathies.The fact that Mr. Yanukovych arrived togreet President Putin on his birthday, whichpassed some time ago, during the peak ofhis presidential campaign shows howstrongly Moscow’s political elite wisheshim to become President Kuchmaís successor.Despite the fact that Ukraine’s presidenthas greater importance than the prime minister,what Russian media outlets coveredwas Mr. Yanukovych’s visit, not Mr.Kuchma’s. Russian TV channels showedMr. Yanukovych at an ethnic Ukrainians’forum the day before meeting with Mr.Putin, broadcast parts of his speech, andcarried stories featuring his gestures andquotes with Mr. Kuchma seen only in thebackground. Posters with Mr. Yanukovych’sportrait appeared in some places in Moscowon the eve of the prime minister’s visit.Also, Mr. Yanukovych took a very unusualstep during a meeting with PresidentPutin, that was widely covered in all media:THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 3KYIV – There may now be four exitpolls planned for Election Day inUkraine, but the original one will be themost honest and most accurate, or soasserts Ilko Kucheriv, director of theDemocratic Initiatives Foundation, whichdeveloped the first project.DIF has monitored Ukrainian publicthought for 12 years via the regularnational surveys it performs, and it hasorganized exit polling for every nationalelection, both parliamentary or presidential,since 1998.While DIF now has to deal with threejohnny-come-latelies, Mr. Kucheriv saidthat his organization’s expertise andexperience would assure the accuracy ofits election day predictions.“We have developed our exit pollstrategy to ensure that corruption or violencewill not compromise the quality ofthe results,” explained Mr. Kucheriv.Mr. Kucheriv, 48, who has served asdirector of DIF since its inception,explained that since it had announced itsintention to develop an election day exitpoll – a survey of voters on how theyvoted done immediately after they haveleft the voting precinct – it had retained ade facto monopoly in the endeavor.Then, about a month ago, additionalprojects began to spring up like mushrooms.Ironically, the new exit polls wereannounced after Serhii Tyhypko, campaignmanager for presidential candidatePrime Minister Viktor Yanukovych,expressed distrust for exit polls and questionedtheir reliability. The initiativesalso came after the prime minister himselfin a major faux pas explained that hedidn’t trust exit polling because, “Exitpolling is a new technology. We haven’tyet learned how to manipulate it.”The three alternative exit polls thathave been announced are being organizedthrough forces that support the presidentialcandidacy of Prime MinsterYanukovych or are aligned with governmentstructures, claimed Mr. Kucheriv.He said that one would be conductedby the Fund for Public Opinion, which isheaded by Gleb Pavlovsky, a Russian citizenand the person who guided the publicrelations strategy in the presidentialcampaign of Russian President VladimirPutin. The Institute of Social Researchand the Ukrainian Sociology Centerwould conduct the other two pollingexercises.Mr. Kucheriv said his overriding concernis that the other exit polls, whoseresults could be either simply manipulatedor thoroughly contrived, would beused to diffuse the integrity and believabilityof the DIF poll.“The danger is that the results of thethree others and not our own poll will bewidely publicized,” explained Mr.Kucheriv. “In reality, what could happenis that the results of Gleb Pavlovsky’spoll could be shown on the major channelsto diffuse the impact of our ownpoll.”Mr. Kucheriv has turned to Mr.Pavlovsky and the other two competitorsand asked them to join his consortium ofsurvey firms conducting the DIF poll. Hesuggested that had his three competitorshad accuracy and integrity as their priority(Continued on page 19)The Kremlin demonstratesits support of Yanukovychhe entered the hall after President Putin andsat in the chair to the left of him, neglectingprotocol rules. According to etiquette, theprime minister was to sit next to his president,i.e., next to Mr. Kuchma and acrossfrom Mr. Putin and Russian Prime MinisterMikhail Fradkov. Journalists noticed thatMr. Yanukovych hesitated before choosingthe seat and were totally silent when theyfound him next to Mr. Putin. It was unclearwhether Mr. Yanukovych ignored the protocolby mistake or by choice.Mr. Kuchma tried to discharge the awkwardpause in air, joking that “a change ofterms doesnít affect the sum,” and Mr.Putin supported this idea by modestly saying“I hope.” These incidents were goodreason for the local media to publish agreat variety of stories with one only conclusion:Moscow has placed its bets onMr. Yanukovych and provides him withthe strongest support possible three weeksbefore the nationwide vote in Ukraine.However, some political experts say theKremlin endangers Mr. Yanukovych’s victoryby demonstrating such obvious sympathytoward him. The president of the MoscowbasedInstitute of National Strategy,Stanislav Belkovsky, said a similar situationtook place in Abkhazia, where Moscow’sfavorite candidate lost and the people ofAbkhazia chose the opposition leader.“The same result may happen inUkraine,” Mr. Belkovsky told a newsconference in Moscow on October 12.“Russia should hush its fervor and administrativedesire to support Mr.Yanukovych directly, it should do thismore delicately if it would like not toharm his pre-election path to presidency.”ELECTION WATCHCandidates want troops out of IraqKYIV – Opposition presidential candidateViktor Yushchenko has announcedthat immediately after becoming presidenthe would sign a decree on pulling out theUkrainian military contingent from Iraq,Interfax reported on October 18. “Our servicemenwill be withdrawn from Iraq in aquiet way, without rush,” Mr. Yushchenkosaid. “They will be replaced by politicians,diplomats and businessmen. Ukraine isready to participate in the restoration ofIraq’s economy.” Prime Minister ViktorYanukovych, Mr. Yushchenko’s main rivalin the October 31 election, said at a meetingwith voters on October 18 that he foreseesa gradual pullout of the Ukrainiantroops from Iraq in 2005. Mr. Yushchenkostressed that the contingent cannot be withdrawnimmediately as such a move wouldonly add impetus to international terrorism.(RFE/RL Newsline)Yushchenko on language issueKYIV – Candidate Viktor Yushchenkohas promised that as president he will obligethe state officialdom to speak with citizensin the language in which it is addressed,Interfax reported on October 18. Mr.Yushchenko reportedly signed a draftdecreed protecting citizens’ rights to use theRussian language and languages of othernationalities in Ukraine. The decree foreseesthat in regions inhabited by large groups ofRussians and other minorities, state officialsshould be obliged to know the languages ofthese nationalities and use them for communicationwith citizens. Another draft decreesby Mr. Yushchenko provides for simplifiedprocedures in crossing Ukraine’s borderswith Belarus and Russia for citizens of thesecountries. (RFE/RL Newsline)More polling stations in Russia?KYIV – The Central ElectionCommission is considering a proposal bythe Foreign Affairs Ministry to set up 400election constituencies in Russia for theOctober 31 presidential election, Interfaxreported on October 18, quoting commissionmember Yurii Danylevskyi. Mr.Danylevskyi said the number ofUkrainian voters in Russia will “doubtlessincrease,” but gave no details. Thecommission has so far set up 113 pollingstations abroad, including four in Russia,for an estimated 211,000 voters.Meanwhile, lawmaker Viktor Teren saidin the Verkhovna Rada on October 19that the authorities are planning to set up“additional election constituencies” inRussia in order to provide Prime MinisterViktor Yanukovych with 1 million voteson October 31. There are 36.28 millioneligible voters in Ukraine, according tothe latest data from the Central ElectionCommission. (RFE/RL Newsline)Rada wrangles over election campaignKYIV – Five caucuses of the pro-governmentparliamentary coalition left theVerkhovna Rada session on October 19in protest against what they said is turningthe legislature into a rostrum for“political confrontation,” UNIAN andInterfax reported. Earlier the same daylawmaker Nestor Shufrych from the pro-Yanukovych Social Democratic Party-United caucus said that “today’s productivityof the Parliament is nil,” and proposedthat deputies suspend the sessionand start working in parliamentary committees.Lawmakers from the SDPU andRegions of Ukraine caucuses blocked theparliamentary rostrum and displayedanti-Yushchenko slogans in the sessionhall, accusing him of lying about hisalleged poisoning and suggesting he hasties with the youth organization Pora thathas recently been accused by the authoritiesof terrorism. (RFE/RL Newsline)40,000 students attend Yushchenko rallyKYIV – Tens of thousands of studentsfrom all of Ukraine took part in a rally inKyiv on October 16 to support the presidentialbid of Viktor Yushchenko and passa “no-confidence vote” in the governmentof Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych,UNIAN reported. Mr. Yushchenko calledon the crowd not to believe the pro-governmentmedia’s reports that the result ofthe presidential elections in Ukraine hasalready been determined. “All this is a lie,manipulation of the public opinion, politicalspeculation,” Mr. Yushchenko said.He was apparently referring to recent surveysshowing Mr. Yanukovych to befavored by more people as the favorite inthe presidential race. (RFE/RL Newsline)A warning of “Chestnut Revolution”KYIV – The coalition of parties andorganizations backing the presidential bidof Prime Minister Yanukovych has issueda statement saying that the opposition isplanning to gather half a million supportersof Yushchenko near the CentralElection Commission headquarters onthe night of October 31 in order to launcha “chestnut revolution” in the eventYushchenko loses the presidential ballot,Interfax reported. “We address theUkrainian president with a request totake all possible measures to prevent theimplementation of ‘chestnut-revolutionscenarios’ and to ensure law and orderduring the election process,” the statementreads, in an apparent reference toGeorgia’s Rose Revolution. (RFE/RLNewsline)Christian Council calls for fair electionODESA – The Spiritual Council ofChristian Denominations of southernUkrainian Odesa has called on the residentsof the Odesa region to “treat theelection of the new president responsiblyand critically.” The council approved acommon address to voters at a meeting onOctober 6 in the building of the ChristianOpen University of Economy andHumanitarian Sciences. The counciladvised voters to acquire informationabout the candidates from various sourcesand to be active on election day. Theauthors of the statement, supported by thebishops of the Roman Catholic Church,Ukrainian Orthodox Church – KyivPatriarchate, Ukrainian AutocephalousOrthodox Church (UAOC) and UnitedMethodist Church, as well as representativesof the Evangelical Alliance and pastorsof other churches, reminded theheads of local election headquarters,wards and all responsible for countingvotes: “Manipulating the results of thepeople’s choice is not only an offenseagainst the criminal law, but a majoroffense against God as well.” RomanCatholic Bishop Bronislaw Bernacki ofOdesa and Symferopol affirmed his neutrality:“We are only praying for the electionto go well and for an intelligent personwith respect for the people and thestate to come to power and let the peoplelead better lives. Every person has a heartand a conscience they should listen towhen voting.” Methodist Pastor PetroMartianov, secretary of the council,added: “The church has to worry aboutthe spiritual and moral condition of society.Every person has the freedom tochoose.” (Religious Information Serviceof Ukraine)

4 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Crosses blessed for patriarchal cathedral of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Churchby Roman WoronowyczKyiv Press BureauKYIV – Bishops of the UkrainianGreek-Catholic Church, along with itsleader, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, gatheredat the location of its still unfinishedpatriarchal cathedral on October 11, tobless the crosses that would sit atop thestructure’s five domes.The ceremony came during a week inwhich UGCC bishops from across theglobe were in Kyiv for their annualsynod and as information came to lightthat Pope John Paul II had told theUGCC hierarchy back in June that hewould support patriarchal status for theChurch.In a homily during a liturgical serviceat the construction site, CardinalLubomyr told the 38 bishops, dozens ofclergy and about 1,000 people who traveledto the site on the right bank of theDnipro River that the five crosses andthe cathedral atop which they would sitretained important symbolism for thefaithful of the UGCC, who are spreadacross five of the world’s seven continents.“Today is an unusually importantmoment for the Church. This is not justthe building of another house of worship.Today we are setting a beacon,”explained Cardinal Husar.The leader of the UGCC, who is moreand more often referred to as patriarch ofthe Church, told a story during his homilyabout Soviet pilots stationed at anaerodrome just outside the Ukrainian cityof Chernivtsi, near a Roman Catholicchurch, upon which sat a large cross. Hesaid that the cross had fallen to theground during a storm, but was unexpectedlyordered put back up by officiallyatheistic local government authoritiesafter the pilots at the military base complainedthat without the landmark theycouldn’t get their bearings straight asthey approached the landing strip.“The church that will stand here is ourcommon house of worship for all theUkrainian Greek-Catholics around theworld and all of those who feel a part ofthe living Church,” explained CardinalHusar, who added a moment later that,“The cross atop this church should be abeacon for all of us.”At the beginning of his sermon,Cardinal Husar thanked all those inUkraine and within the diaspora communitieswho had supported with their“prayers and contributions” the effort todirector in Kyiv.The Rev. Petriv explained that financingfor the project had failed to appear inthe amount needed to have completedconstruction on time. He said that thedelay was also due to the complexitiesinvolved in building the architecturallyintricate building.During a press conference on OctoberUGCC to continue to push forward in itsquest for official status from Rome.The cardinal explained that during ameeting between Pope John Paul II andbishops of the UGCC in June, the pontiffhad expressed very overt support for theUGCC’s intentions.“He told us specifically of the needand importance of our wishes and ourCardinal Lubomyr Husar and clergy bless the crosses that will be mounted atop the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic cathedral.build the patriarchal sobor.Yet the amount of those contributions,it seems, was not enough to keep thebuilding schedule on track. Originallythe UGCC had hoped that its patriarchalsobor would be ready for liturgical servicesby the end of this year. That schedulehas now been set back for at least ayear, if not longer, explained the Rev.Oleksa Petriv, UGCC external affairs13, three days after the ceremony beforethe patriarchal sobor, Cardinal Husarwho also holds the title of the UGCC’sarchbishop major, reported that theSynod of Bishops had concentrated itsefforts at this year’s meeting on planningthe appointment of new bishops andreview of the Church’s current organizationaland administrative structure, aswell as on increasing the number of clergy.The head of the UGCC and its nearly6 million faithful explained that drawingand holding priests from among the laitywas a central element of this year’s discussion,which included consideration onhow to instill a desire to become a priest,how to properly train him and then howto care for his spiritual and intellectualneeds afterwards.Cardinal Husar also noted that therewere discussions on how to furtherdevelop the patriarchal structure of thevision for a UGCC with a patriarchalstructure,” explained Cardinal Husar,who added that the pope had said, “Hewould like to be the one to make thatannouncement.”Cardinal Husar said the pope had toldthe bishops that, nonetheless he neededto wait for “the right moment.”The leader of the UGCC also commentedon pre-election troubles inUkraine and underscored that the Churchhe leads does not support any particularcandidate. He pointed out that theUkrainian Greek-Catholic Church onlywishes that the election process would befree and fair, and that the desires of theUkrainian nation would be served.Cardinal Husar also noted that theSynod of Bishops had visited withUkraine’s President Leonid Kuchma inthe Presidential Administration Buildingon October 11 in what he called a courtesycall.A view of the partially built patriarchal sobor in Kyiv.Cardinal Lubomyr Husar and faithful on the construction site.

No. 43THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 5THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNThe Weekly’s questions to the candidatesEDITOR’S NOTE: In late September,The Ukrainian Weekly’s editorial staff prepareda list of questions on a variety ofissues of particular concern to UkrainianAmericans. Preliminary phone calls weremade to the presidential campaign staffsof George W. Bush, John F. Kerry andRalph Nader in order to determine towhom the final list of questions could bee-mailed for the candidates’responses.On October 3 the questions were e-mailed to all three campaigns. In hopesof publishing these responses in ourOctober 24 issue – one that would reachall of our readers before Election DayEDITOR’S NOTE; Sen. Kerry’sresponses were sent to The Weekly alongwith the following preface.I want to thank you for the opportunityto answer questions about my positionsand views regarding Ukraine, but also tocongratulate The Ukrainian Weekly for71 years of journalistic excellence andservice to the Ukrainian-American community.Mnohaya Lita!Sincerely,John F. KerryOn July 28, 2003, HelsinkiCommission Co-Chairman Sen. BenNighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) introduceda resolution in the Senate thatunequivocally calls the UkrainianFamine of 1932-1933 genocide. S. Res.202, whose official title is “A resolutionexpressing the sense of the Senateregarding the genocidal Ukraine Famineof 1932-1933,” was referred to theSenate’s Committee on Foreign Relationsthe same day it was introduced. The resolution,which has the bipartisan supportof 33 senators, has not moved since then.Where would your administration standon this resolution? And, what can bedone to pass this resolution?I was an early co-sponsor and remain astrong supporter of Senate Resolution 202.It commemorates the 70th anniversary ofthe famine-genocide in Ukraine and emphasizesthat an independent and democraticUkraine is the best guarantee to preventsuch a tragedy from taking place again. It isregrettable that the Bush administration hasput up obstacles to Senate action on this resolutionand, as president, my administrationwould be supportive of such a resolution.There have been on-and-off discussionsin the U.S. about various topicsrelated to immigration to this country,both legal and illegal. Please explainhow your administration views thecurrent Diversity Visa program (GreenCard Lottery): should it be continued,be expanded, or be reduced? What areyour feelings about an amnesty for illegalimmigrants who find themselves inthis country? To whom should such anamnesty be offered? Do you supportthe idea of a guest worker programthat would bring workers from abroadto fill jobs for which there are noAmerican takers, for example, homecare aides and nannies from Ukraine?I strongly support responsible reform ofour immigration laws that honors our traditionas a nation of immigrants and makesAmerica safer and stronger. I do not agreewith critics who say that the currentDiversity Visa program should be reduced. Iwill continue the current program. In my(November 2), the campaigns were givena deadline of October 18 by which theyhad to submit their responses.The Kerry campaign submitted itsresponses to most of the questions posed byThe Weekly. The Bush campaign chose toissue a statement, while reserving the rightto respond to The Weekly’s specific questionsin our next issue, dated October 31, eventhough – due to poor postal delivery of second-classmail – that issue may not reach allof our readers before they cast their votes.The Nader campaign did not respond.Below are the unedited submissions ofthe Kerry and Bush campaigns.Responses from Sen. John F. Kerryfirst 100 days as president, I will offer areform bill that allows immigrants to earnlegalization, encourages family reunification,and strengthens our border protectionsso we are safer from those who would harmus. Under my immigration plan, undocumentedworkers who have lived and workedhere for five years, who pay taxes, and whoare successfully screened for security purposeswill have a path to citizenship. I willalso expand opportunities to learn Englishand obtain civic education classes to helpimmigrants assume all of the rights andresponsibilities of citizenship. With respectto guest worker programs, I am open to consideringprograms that help fill jobs not otherwisefilled by American workers.On April 3, 2003, Rep. Sander M.Levin of Michigan introduced in the U.S.House of Representatives bill H.R. 1615,titled “To amend Title 36, United StatesCode, to grant a Federal Charter to theUkrainian American Veterans Inc.” Thebill would grant the UkrainianAmerican Veterans organization a federalcharter. Would this resolution findsupport from your administration? And,what can be done to pass this resolution?The contribution of UkrainianAmerican veterans to the defense of thiscountry and their love of freedom is worthyof the status this Charter confers. Isupport granting a Federal Charter to theUkrainian American Veterans, Inc., andmy administration will work with Rep.Levin and the Congressional UkrainianCaucus to see that this piece of legislationis passed and ready for my signature.Worldwide, at least 600,000 to 800,000human beings are trafficked across internationalboarders each year. According tothe United States government, “it is estimatedthat between 14,500 and 17,500victims of trafficking cross [U.S.] bordersevery year.” According to the Departmentof Justice, U.S. law enforcement has documentedcases of Ukrainian girls traffickedin Los Angeles and Maryland.What should be done to stop the problem,specifically with regard to the issue ofhuman trafficking from Ukraine?We have seen an alarming increaseover the past decade in human traffickingand, sadly, Ukraine has been a country oforigin as well as a transit point for thousandsof victims who are forced into prostitutionand domestic slavery worldwide.A Kerry administration will strengthenefforts to combat human trafficking aroundthe world, and we will work at both thegovernment-to-government level andthrough broader cooperation with internationalorganizations such as theOrganization for Cooperation and Security(Continued on page 30)Submission from Bush-Cheney campaignFollowing is the full text of a submissionsent to The Ukrainian Weekly onOctober 19 by the Bush-Cheney campaign.The contributions to American societyby the Ukrainian American communityhave been significant, and President Bushis proud to recognize their important rolein American society. In acknowledgingthese important contributions, the BushAdministration remains committed to seeingUkraine develop as a stable, independent,democratic and economicallyprosperous country, that is governed bythe rule of law, respects all human life,and actively strives to strengthen peaceand security, and denounce terrorism inthe international community.The people of Ukraine enjoy a rich andcolorful history, but one wrought by hardship,adversity, and rocked by change. Yet,Ukraine remains a hopeful nation. In littleover a decade the Ukrainian people successfullyrecovered from the manacles ofcommunism and are making the painstakingtransition to a market economy.However, there is still more to be achievedif Ukraine is to become a prosperous democraticstate. The United States will workFOR THE RECORD: Kerry and Bushon Russian President Vladimir PutinNow that the three U.S. presidentialdebates are over, The UkrainianWeekly thought it would be worthwhileto publish excerpts of any of thedebates that had to do with Ukraine orits neighbors. We found one substantiveexcerpt that had to do with the U.S.attitude toward Russian PresidentVladimir Putin in view of his recentactions. Following is the text of thequestion posed by Jim Lehrer of thePublic Broadcasting Service during thefirst presidential debate on October 1,and the responses of President GeorgeW. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry.Mr. Lehrer: All right. Mr.President, this is the last questionand two minutes. It’s a new subject,new question and it has to do withPresident Putin and Russia. Did youmisjudge him or are you – do youfeel that what he is doing in thename of anti-terrorism by changingsome democratic processes is O.K.?Mr. Bush: No, I don’t think it’sO.K. and said so publicly. I think thatthere need to be checks and balances ina democracy. And [I] made that veryclear, that by consolidating power in acentral government, he’s sending a signalto the Western world and UnitedStates that perhaps he doesn’t believein checks and balances. And I’ve toldhim that.He’s also a strong ally in the war onterror. He is, listen, they went througha horrible situation in Beslan wherethese terrorist gunned down youngschool kids. But it’s nature of theenemy. By the way, that’s why we needto be firm in resolve in bringing themto justice. It’s precisely what VladimirPutin understands as well.I’ve got a good relation withVladimir. And it’s important that we dohave a good relation because thatenables me to better comment to himand to better to discuss with him someof the decisions he makes. I found thatin this world, that it’s important toto help the people of Ukraine share thisvision to reach their goal.President Bush urged and pushed for theenlargement of NATO to all of Europe’sdemocracies, from the Baltic to the BlackSea, and all that lie between, so that peoplein those countries would have the samechance for security and freedom enjoyed byEurope’s older democracies. Continuedreform within the Ukrainian governmentwill bring that dream to a realization andPresident Bush fully supports these efforts.Ukraine is also to be commended fortheir de-nuclearization. The UnitedStates has been proud to work withUkrainians to pursue a strategy of nonproliferationwhich will bring greatersecurity to the region and ultimately, tothe world.As in Ukraine, America’s leadershipknows that defending the United Statesagainst its enemies is the first and most fundamentalcommitment of the federal government.September 11, 2001, awakenedAmericans to the knowledge that we can nolonger depend on geography to protect usfrom the heinous acts of terrorists. Weexperienced the horror of a brutal attack on(Continued on page 21)establish good personal relationshipswith people so that when you have disagreements,you’re able to disagree ina way that is effective. And so I’ve toldhim my opinion. I look forward to discussingit more with him as time goeson.Russia’s a country in transition.Vladimir’s going to have to make somehard choices, and I think it’s veryimportant for the American president,as well as other Western leaders, toremind him of the great benefits ofdemocracy, that democracy will best,uh, help the people realize their hopesand aspirations and dreams. And I willcontinue working with him over thenext four years.Mr. Lehrer: Ninety seconds, Sen.Kerry.Mr. Kerry: Well, let me just sayquickly that I had an extraordinaryexperience of watching, up close andpersonal, that transition in Russiabecause I was there right after thetransformation and I was probably oneof the first senators, along with Sen.Bob Smith of New Hampshire, formersenator, to go down into the K.G.B.underneath Treblinka [presumably, thesenator meant Lubyanka – ed.] Squareand see reams of files with names inthem. And it sort of brought home thetransition to democracy that Russiawas trying to make.I regret what’s happened in thesepast months. And I think it goesbeyond just the response to terror.Mr. Putin now controls all the televisionstations. His political opposition isbeing put in jail.And I think it’s very important forthe United States, obviously, to have aworking relationship that is good. Thisis a very important country to us, andwe want a partnership.But we always have to stand up fordemocracy. As George Will said theother day, freedom on the march, not inRussia right now.

6 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43MP Mark re-introduces Ukrainian and Chinese redress legislationOTTAWA – On October 12 in theHouse of Commons, Member ofParliament Inky Mark (Dauphin-SwanRiver-Marquette) re-introduced hisPrivate Member’s Bill for the UkrainianCanadian Restitution Act, as well as theChinese Canadian Recognition andRestitution Act.Mr. Mark’s bill on Ukrainian redresscalls on the federal government “to recognizethe injustice that was done to personsof Ukrainian descent and otherEuropeans who were interned at the timeof the first world war and to provide forpublic commemoration and restitution,which is to be devoted to education andpromotion of tolerance.”“In 1993, Jean Chrétien, leader of theby Anatoli W. MurhaWARREN, Mich. – Public service isnothing new for Andrey Duzyj. As anactive community leader and city ofWarren resident for 35 years, Mr. Duzyjis on the campaign trail for a seat on theMacomb County Board ofCommissioners. Situated in southernMacomb County, Warren is Michigan’sthird largest city.Mr. Duzyj’s extensive background ofservice, both in current and past positions,have included chairman, vicechairmanand secretary of the WarrenPlanning Commission, member of theTax Increment Finance Authority Boardof Directors for the City of Warren,member of the Michigan Society ofPlanning Officials representing the Cityof Warren, and member and guide of theMichigan-based Blind SkiersAssociation.Warren is home to many UkrainianAmericans. Mr. Duzyj currently serves aspresident of the Board of Directors of theUkrainian Future Credit Union, and is amember of the Board of Directors of theUkrainian Cultural Center, both based inWarren. Mr. Duzyj is married to DorisLiberal Party, wrote in a letter that hewas in favor of not only acknowledgingthe internment operations but also providingrestitution to those who were heldunjustly. It is long past time for theLiberals to follow through on this promise,”Mr. Mark stated.Mr. Mark’s other bill, the ChineseCanadian Recognition and RestitutionAct calls on the federal government topublicly recognize the circumstances surroundingthe collection of a “head tax”from Chinese immigrants and the passingof the Exclusion Act in 1923. The legislationwould also see that some of themoney collected from Chinese immigrantswas returned. In turn, the moneywould be put into an educational founda-Andrey Duzyj of Warren runsfor County Board of Commissioners(née Nachwostach). Both are members ofSt. Josaphat’s Ukrainian CatholicChurch. The couple has three children,Christina, Mykola, and Melanie.If elected on November 2, Mr. Duzyj,a Democrat, will represent District 1 ofMacomb County on the Board ofCommissioners. The Macomb CountyBoard of Commissioners serves as thelegislative, administrative and policymakingbody for Macomb County. TheBoard is composed of 26 Commissionerswho are elected every other year for atwo-year term from 26 districts of nearlyequal population.Endorsed by the Detroit Free Pressand The Detroit News, Mr. Duzyj isdescribed as follows, “He has a pragmatic,clear-eyed business sense along with areal passion to use government toimprove people’s lives.” “Warren residentshave been very supportive thusfar,” says Mr. Duzyj, “and, if elected, Ilook forward to serving their interests onthe Macomb County Board ofCommissioners.”For more information, please contactthe Committee to Elect Andrey Duzyj,26511 Wexford, Warren, MI 48091, tel.(586) 757-7304, or anduz1@aol.com.Highlights from the UNA’s 110-year historytion to promote racial harmony.“Today, there are over 1 millionCanadians of Chinese descent. The sacrificesand achievements of their forefathersmust be acknowledged and commemoratedin a proper manner,” the MPexplained.Just prior to the 2004 federal election,candidates from all federal partiesendorsed this legislation, with membersof the Conservative Party, the BlocQuebecois, and the NDP supporting itunanimously.“These bills bring to the forefront twoof the darkest moments in Canada’s history.After years of delays and excuses,they deserve to be dealt with. It is thisLiberal government’s responsibility tomake amends for past injustices,” Mr.Mark concluded.Commenting on this latest developmentin the longstanding issue of redress,Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, research director ofthe Ukrainian Canadian Civil LibertiesAssociation, said: “Mr. Mark has consistentlybeen the most articulate and committedsupporter of justice for Canadiansof Ukrainian heritage in the House ofCommons. He has now re-introduced aby Andrew NynkaPARSIPPANY, N.J. – The ArizonaRepublic, a daily newspaper that claims acirculation of nearly half a million,endorsed candidates for a number of stateand national political posts in the UnitedStates in an article printed on October 8.The newspaper put its weight behindUkrainian American Oksana KurowyckyKomarnyckyj, who is running for a seatagainst three other candidates in thestate’s House of Representatives.In an editorial headlined “You can’tgo wrong,” the newspaper wrote:“Oksana Komarnyckyj (pronouncedko-mar-nit-ski) is less politicallyschooled than the others. But she has anintriguing resume and compelling per-A special yearlong feature focusing on the history of the Ukrainian National Association.In 1966, speaking during the opening session of the Ukrainian NationalAssociation’s 26th Convention about the events of the previous four years thathad affected the Ukrainian community, UNA Supreme President JosephLesawyer stated:(Continued on page 21)private member’s bill, the UkrainianCanadian Restitution Act, asking that itbe given unanimous consent by all of theparties represented in Parliament.”“Given that the Conservative Party ofCanada, the New Democratic Party ofCanada, the Bloc Quebecois and evenmany members of the Liberal Party ofCanada endorsed Bill C 331 just beforethe last federal election, we are hopefulthat our calls for recognition, restitutionand reconciliation will finally be heard,”Dr. Luciuk noted.He added: “One lone survivor ofCanada’s first national internment operations,Mary Manko Haskett, remains alive.How remarkable it would be if thisCanadian woman, interned while still achild at the Spirit Lake camp in northernQuebec, could bear witness to the honorablesettlement Mr. Mark’s initiative wouldsecure. The entire Ukrainian Canadiancommunity, as represented by the UCCLA,the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation ofTaras Shevchenko and the UkrainianCanadian Congress, wish Mr. Mark successin the House of Commons with Bill C 331,and we call upon all MPs to support it, asdoing so is only right and just.”Komarnyckyj’s candidacy receivesendorsement of Arizona Republicsonal history. She’s an attorney who hasbeen specializing in business formation.She has taught business practices inUkraine. She volunteers at the OsbornSchool District Educational Foundation.In short, she might bring to the legislaturea different kind of experience thatwould be useful. She is our other choicein a well-qualified field that would makedemocracy smile,” the newspaper wrote.The editorial also said: “Residents ofcentral Phoenix’s legislative District 15are fortunate. Quite frankly, no matterwho is elected to represent them in thestate Senate and House ofRepresentatives, they will be well-served.... But Republicans have fielded threemoderate, appealing newcomers in Senateaspirant Andrew Smigielski and Housecandidates Tara Roseler and OksanaKomarnyckyj. The state Republican caucuscould use the intelligence and commonsense these three display.”The Arizona Republic also wrote, in aseparate article, that “three of the fourHouse candidates in central Pheonix’sDistrict 15 have something in common.They switched political alliances.” Thenewspaper said, “The fourth candidate inthe November 2 House race, OksanaMaria Komarnyckyj, 43, is an attorneyand a Republican who hasn’t changedher political affiliation.”In addition to the Arizona Republic,Ms. Komarnyckyj has been endorsed bythe Phoenix Law EnforcementAssociation, the Neighborhood ActivistsInter-Linked Empowerment Movement,the Arizona State Dental Association, theArizona Multihousing Association andthe Arizona African-AmericanRepublican Committee.Of the endorsements, Ms.Komarnyckyj said they give “legitimacyto the campaign,” and they show “the factthat a Republican can win in aDemocratic district.” She said she wasstill campaigning door-to-door with herfamily and said that her parents, who wereflying in from New York, were expectedto join her campaign in the coming week.Ms. Komarnyckyj said she expects towatch the election results as they comein on November 2 in her home, surroundedby family and friends.

No. 43THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 7Ottawa radio program host’s secret to success: she connectsby Christopher GulySpecial to The Ukrainian WeeklyOTTAWA – When Irena Bell volunteeredto produce and host Ottawa’s firstUkrainian-language radio program onthe city’s first multicultural station lastfall, she did what she is renowned fordoing to determine the best time slot forher show. She connected.Relying on the e-mail list she uses to distributeOttawa’s monthly Ukrainian eventscalendar, which she also prepares, Ms. Bellsent messages to about 200 recipients, askingthem when they would like to listen toUkrainian music and current events.Within 36 hours, she had 40 replies.Basing its decision in part on theresponses, the station chose the breakfasthour on weekends.Thus, when CHIN Radio Ottawa (CJLL)97.9 FM was launched last November, thehourlong “Ukrainian Program” made itsdebut at 8 a.m. on a Saturday (repeated atthe same time on Sunday).Now, the show is not only heard onthe radio on weekends, but is alsoplayed live over the web at www.chinradio.com/ottawa.asp.No one in Ottawa’s Ukrainian community– estimated at over 17,000 people– has ever had that kind of reach.While she underscores her role inachieving that, Ms. Bell, former host of the“Ukrainian Profile” Ottawa communitycable-television series, couldn’t be happier.“What I enjoy about the program isjust being able to highlight events andpeople, many of whom are involved ininteresting activities that not a lot of peopleknow about.”She’s featured interviews with NataliaCmoc, who was involved in archaeologicaldigs in Ukraine; Mykola Ryndzak, whoIrena Bell, host of Radio Ottawa’s“Ukrainian Program.”but Halyna Koryan, a relatively recentarrival from Ukraine who also freelancesfor Radio Canada International’sUkrainian-language service, conductsmost of them.The “Ukrainian Program” also haspermission to run RCI interviews and hasdone so with such celebrities asUkrainian opposition politician YuliaTymoshenko and Ukrainian Canadianpop star Chantal Kreviazuk, as well asUkrainian members of the world-famous,Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil.Rounding out the 40-percent spokenwordcontent of the “Ukrainian Program”are features – many of which are inEnglish – that focus on unique Ukrainiantraditions, from Christmas celebrations tomarking midsummer night’s festivities(Ivan Kupalo).The rest of the show is music, whichranges from the traditional to the contemporary,and covers the gamut of establishedand emerging recording artists.Where else in Ottawa would radio listenershear this year’s Euro-Vision songcontest winner, super-hot Ukrainian divaRuslana, the Ukrainian rock bands OkeanElzy and VV, or the British-based bookThe Ukrainians?On this side of the Atlantic, the“Ukrainian Program” also has a healthyselection of Canadian talent, includingEdmonton-born jazz pianist John Stetch,Winnipeg vocal sensation Alexis Kochanand her group Paris to Kyiv, Toronto’spolkameister Ron Cahute, and such upand-comingOttawa artists as VictorKosenko and the rock band Ukrainia.Ms. Bell also involves members of thecommunity on the show.Zustrich, a newly formed group ofUkrainian Canadian federal civil servantsTHINKING ABOUT VOTING FOR BUSH? THINK AGAIN!Ukrainian Americans care about the future of both the United States and Ukraine.have made an appearance, as have membersof the Ottawa branch of PlastUkrainian Scouting Organization, whosang songs to mark the 25th anniversaryof the death of Ukrainian composerVolodymyr Ivasiuk for whom the groupis named.Last Christmas young children attendingUkrainian school in the capital cameon and filled the show with carols andYuletide poems. “Months after, any ofthe kids who saw me, wave,” says Ms.Bell. She’s made an impact.Seniors without access to the Internetthank her for giving them access to informationabout the homeland andUkrainian Canadian activities that theyotherwise wouldn’t receive.Though CHIN doesn’t measure itsaudience, word through the grapevinehas the “Ukrainian Program” on manycar radios as people drop their kids off toUkrainian school or head for the shoppingmalls on Saturdays or church onSunday mornings.“I know non-Ukrainians listen, too,”Ms. Bell is quick to add.Regardless of the number, the fact shereceives feedback from listeners is a significantachievement, considering thatthe Ottawa market has more radio stations,on a per-capita basis, than anywhereelse in Canada.Ms. Bell’s show also joins a sizablelist of over 10 Ukrainian radio programsacross the country. And, they are nowstarting to network.Long-time producer-host PauletteMacQuarrie, who runs “Nash Holos” inVancouver (www.nashholos.com),recently set up a Yahoo discussion groupon the Internet for colleagues to stay inwas involved in the Chornybyl clean-up;Irena Makaryk, a University of OttawaEnglish professor whose English-languagebook, “Shakespeare in the UndiscoveredBourn: Les Kurbas, Ukrainian Modernism,and Early Soviet Cultural Politics,” wasrecently published by the University ofToronto Press; and Mykola Maimeskul,Ukraine’s new ambassador to Canada.The “Ukrainian Program” has alsopresented a chat with Emil Baran, a formerCanadian diplomat with theEmbassy in Kyiv, and his wife, Olena,about their forthcoming three-year sailingtrip around the world. The showplans to provide updates on the journeyas the couple report back via e-mail.Ms. Bell does some of the interviews, (Continued on page 19)Why not George Bush• The Bush administration has blocked the Famine-Genocide resolutionin Congress in the face of Russia’s objections, showing theirutter contempt for Ukrainians and historical truth.• Bush’s interest in Ukraine is limited to how many Ukrainian troopsare sent to Iraq.• Bush looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin and saw a man he cantrust. Putin has endorsed George Bush in this election. How can wetrust Bush?• Bush is the first president in 70 years to create a net loss in jobs - amillion and a half private sector jobs not replaced.• In three years, Bush turned a projected $5 trillion surplus into a $3trillion deficit. Four more years of the same trend will have ourchildren and grandchildren paying that debt for decades to come.• Bush has done nothing about porous borders, porous ports, renewingthe assault weapons ban, and our overextended armed forces,making us less safe, less secure.• The Bush administration has alienated our friends, united our enemies,and turned its back on fledgling democracies.• Bush lied about Iraq’s possession of WMD’s, connection to Al-Qaeda, and Iraq being an imminent threat to the U.S. Now, he hasno exit strategy for our military.Why John Kerry• Kerry was an early co-sponsor of S. RES. 202 ‘Expressing the senseof the Senate regarding the genocidal Ukraine Famine of 1932-33’,demonstrating his concern and respect for issues important to theUkrainian American community.• Kerry will reverse the Russo-centric policies of the current Bushadministration and restore the ones of the last Democratic one whereUkraine was a close ally and became the third largest recipient of U.S.assistance.• Kerry will restore the fiscal discipline of the previous Democraticadministration with equitable, pro-American-jobs, rather than favorthe-richtaxation policies.• Kerry will protect our environment from self-serving, crony-basedcommercial exploitation.• Kerry will repair the damage done to America’s reputation around theworld and restore unity to the transatlantic alliance.• Kerry will strengthen our borders and ports, and provide the necessaryresources to our military forces.• Through the use of alliances such as NATO, training of Iraqi securityforces, the design and implementation of a reconstruction programthat brings more benefits to the Iraqi people and opening of the contractbidding process to other countries, John Kerry will make the creationof a stable and secure environment in Iraq our immediate priority inorder to lay the foundations for sustainable democracy.“ As President, I will continue to build on the strong partnership between the United States and Ukraineby supporting its independence and full participation in the transatlantic community.” – John KerryVOTE FOR JOHN KERRY ON NOVEMBER 2.HE’S THE MAN YOU CAN TRUST.Paid for by the Ukrainian Americans for Kerry, DC, Maryland and Virginia chapters, who are solely responsible for its contents.

8 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLYOct241999Our voices, our votesReaders of this newspaper have seen that our recent issues have contained anextraordinary number of letters related to the U.S. presidential election. They’ve beenfrom supporters of the Democratic candidate, Sen. John F. Kerry; the Republicanincumbent, George W. Bush; and even from supporters of third-party candidates –one each from readers who say they’ll vote for Ralph Nader and Michael Badnarik.Bravo to our readers for sharing their views. They’ve demonstrated how muchUkrainian Americans are concerned about what the next U.S. election will bring.Frankly, it’s been an interesting couple of weeks as we received and read these letters,and prepped them for publication. Most of the time we succeed in fixing thegrammatical errors and spelling mistakes, like Busch instead of Bush, but sometimeswe miss, leaving in place a letter-writer’s incorrect rendering of the last name of theLibertarian candidate (see our correction on the letters page). And there were a numberof commentaries on the U.S. elections as well, including side-by-side opinions,“Why John F. Kerry?” and “Why George W. Bush?” written, respectively, by twolong-time contributors to The Weekly, Dr. Bohdan Vitvitsky and Dr. Myron Kuropas.We try our best to leave the writers’ ideas intact, while deleting anything libelousor patently false. We must underscore that the editorial staff’s opinions have nothingto do with the selection of opinions published on this newspaper’s pages. Perhapssometimes we are a little too permissive in what we allow to be published, but weprefer to err on the side of free speech. In fact, we’ve rejected only one submissionthat had to do with the U.S. elections, and that was because it was written under apseudonym by a person unknown to the editorial staff. (Pseudonyms can be allowedonly in certain circumstances, e.g., the writer’s life would be in danger if his identitywere known, and only when the editor-in-chief is aware of the person’s identity.)Some of our writers have been honest in revealing their affiliations with one campaignor another; some have not. Whenever we learned that a person was involvedwith a particular campaign we inserted that information in the interest of full disclosure.Some writers, however, apparently had a less formal affiliation with a campaign(that was not revealed by our research) and chose not to reveal that to us orour readers, thus ignoring what we consider to be the rules of fair play.For the record, we published all the letters we could get in, within reason, aseach week’s deadline came. And we tried to publish the letters in the order inwhich they were received here at The Weekly. (We thank our readers for theirpatience if their particular letter did not make in into the paper immediately.)The many letters and commentaries we published have clearly shown thatUkrainian Americans are no longer a “one issue” community. Long gone are the dayswhen a candidate could show up at a community function and declare simply that heor she is a supporter of freedom for Ukraine, or merely submit to our newspapers acanned statement about his/her concern for developments in our ancestral homeland.Besides serving as a forum for diverse opinions, another of this newspaper’sgoals before the election was to provide useful information to our readers aboutthe U.S. presidential candidates, particularly as this election is projected to be aclose one. That’s precisely why The Weekly’s editors drew up a list of questionson issues of concern to Ukrainian Americans (beyond the issues that concern allAmericans, like jobs, the economy, Social Security, health care, social issues,etc.) and approached the three principal presidential candidates’ campaigns fortheir responses. The results of our work appear on page 5: responses from Sen.Kerry and a submission from President Bush (nothing from the Nader camp).And, we ask our readers to “stay tuned” as next week we hope to share theanswers of President Bush.And, then, Dear Readers, we urge you to get out there and vote on November 2.Turning the pages back...Exactly five years ago, on October 24, 1999, The UkrainianWeekly published an editorial about Ukraine’s presidential electiontitled “The voice that matters.” Following are excerpts fromthat editorial about an election in which incumbent LeonidKuchma faced his main rival, Petro Symonenko (Communist Party), as well as OleksanderMoroz (Socialist Party), Natalia Vitrenko (Progressive Socialist Party), Yevhen Marchuk(aligned with the predominantly leftist Kaniv Four group) and eight other candidates.“Months ago, as the presidential election season began, President Leonid Kuchmaforetold that the 1999 presidential contest would be a nasty affair. It is not for us todecide here whether it was premonition or planning that led him to make such aremark, but his warning has proved true. ...“Even before the campaign season began, the information airways were bought up bythose who would be president and mostly by representatives of one who is. A televisioninformation blackout on opponents of President Kuchma followed, which has lifted a bitlately, coincidentally or not, after rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Councilof Europe filed a damning report citing incursions on freedom of the press and freedom ofspeech in Ukraine... That was preceded by the ghastly attack against candidate NataliaVitrenko, who clings stubbornly to second place in pre-election surveys – polls, it must besaid, whose validity are doubted by many. ... most recently, on October 19, Kyiv experienceda police-state-like atmosphere as state militia and other law enforcement bodies wenton the alert against a perceived threat of imminent and widespread civil disturbance. ...“Although a second round of voting in mid-November is almost inevitable, accordingto the experts, a week hence the political wailing and ravings of the candidates asthey attack each other should subside somewhat. Mercifully, the time will come forthe Ukrainian voter to speak. That, in the end, is the only voice that matters. We canonly hope they do vote and make an informed decision.”Source: “The voice that matters,” editorial, The Ukrainian Weekly, October 24,1999, Vol. LXVII, No. 42.IN THE PRESSUkraine’s presidential electionExcerpted below are several commentariesand editorials pertaining toUkraine’s presidential election that wererecently published by major newspapersin the United States and beyond.“A Crucial Choice for Ukraine,” bySen. John McCain (R- Ariz.), TheWashington Post, October 19:“... In August I traveled to Ukraine totalk to government officials and oppositioncandidates. What I found was asense that Ukraine was moving backward,not forward, on the road to democracy.Not only were the reports of intimidationagainst the opposition widespread,but there was also a pervasive expectationthat the October election – and thesecond-round runoff three weeks later —will be rigged by the government. ...“I believe that, if offered the choice,most Ukrainians would choose a futuretied to the West. But many Ukrainiansbelieve that they have been denied thisvery choice: While the West’s doorseems closed – neither NATO nor theEuropean Union has offered Ukrainemuch hope of joining their organizationsanytime soon – Russia’s is always open.It would not be surprising if Ukrainianleaders increasingly aligned their country’sambitions with those of theirRussian neighbors. As ZbigniewBrzezinski wisely remarked, withUkraine subordinated, Russia automaticallybecomes an empire.“So it is incumbent upon both theWestern democracies and the governmentof Ukraine to reassess where thingsstand today. The Ukrainian governmentmust end its siege of democracy andmake the courageous choice to hold free,fair elections. ...“Ukrainian officials must understandthat more than their country’s future is atstake in this election. Their reputationsand their ability to conduct business arealso at risk. If the oppression continuesand this presidential election is stolen,the United States and Europe shouldinstitute visa bans against those responsible.These would not merely limit theability of these officials to go skiingabroad; the visa bans would handicaptheir ability to conduct business inEurope and the United States. TheWestern democracies should also considerimplementing other targeted penalties.If Ukraine’s leaders wish to take theircountry further in the direction ofBelarus, then they will be increasinglytreated by the world like the leader ofBelarus – an international pariah.”“East or West: Ukraine’s electioncould alter relations with Russia andEurope,” by Chrystia Freeland, StefanWagstyl and Tom Warner, FinancialTimes, October 12:“... the principal contenders are ViktorYanukovich [Yanukovych], the toughmindedprime minister, and ViktorYushchenko, a former central bankerwho also served briefly as prime ministerand now leads Our Ukraine, the mainopposition party.“The choice is stark. Mr. Yanukovichis backed by Mr. [Leonid] Kuchma, thepresidential administration, the regionalgovernors, the security services, thebiggest television networks and most ofUkraine’s business oligarchs. Mr.Yushchenko’s supporters are liberals,nationalists and others united mainly intheir desire to drive Mr. Kuchma and hisassociates out of power.“Both men talk earnestly of pursuingUkraine’s relations with Russia and withthe European Union. But in practice, Mr.Yanukovich has support from VladimirPutin, who has privately ordered his oligarchto back Mr. Yanukovich. Mr.Yushchenko enjoys more favor in thewest.“Mr. Yanukovich stands for continuity.Mr. Yushchenko for change. Mr.Yanukovich is for an oligarch-dominatedeconomy. Mr. Yushchenko is for openmarkets. Mr. Yanukovich is, by instinct,an authoritarian while Mr. Yushchenkowants to foster democracy. As HryhoriyNemyria, head of the InternationalRenaissance Foundation, a liberal thinktankbased in Kiev [sic], says: ‘Thechoice is consolidating autocracy or consolidatingdemocracy.’“A win for Mr. Yanukovich wouldstrengthen Russia’s influence in theregion and represent a big advance forthe authoritarian ideas that dominate theformer Soviet Union. A victory for Mr.Yushchenko would show that democracycan survive in the unhospitable terrain ofRussia’s borderlands. ...”“Back in the USSR,” editorial, WallStreet Journal, September 21:“... The West can’t afford to mincewords in Ukraine. As in the 1990s, thestrategically located country today againis a ‘keystone in the arch’ – in the wordsof Ukraine expert Sherman Garnett – inany Western strategy to stabilize theregion. In Belarus, dictator AleksanderLukashenko [Alyaksandr Lukashenka]will proclaim himself virtual presidentfor life in next month’s laughable “elections.”All five Central Asian countriesand all but Georgia in the Caucasus areautocratic. Mr. Putin fits right in with thisretro-Soviet crowd.“Economic and military might givesthe U.S. leverage, while the EU can offertrade ties – perhaps even membershipone day. The Kremlin was livid whenGeorge W. Bush criticized Mr. Putin lastweek. The U.S. needs to fill the void inthe public debate. The silence of theGerman and French leaders was deafeningin Moscow.“A clean result next month wouldbuild on recent economic gains and makeUkraine more politically mature. AUkraine as an example for its cousins inthe ex-USSR would be a win-win foreveryone – and a welcome bit of goodnews from that part of the world thisyear.“More Straight Talk,” editorial, TheWashington Post, September 17:“President [George W.] Bush at lasthas spoken out publicly against VladimirPutin’s dismantling of democracy inRussia, despite his personal bond withthe Russian president and his administration’sinterest in preserving him as anally in the war on terrorism. For that wecommend Mr. Bush, who has taken astep toward backing up his rhetoric about‘defending freedom’ around the world.And we have a follow-up suggestion: Mr.Bush should also talk about Belarus andUkraine, two European neighbors ofRussia where popular aspirations forpolitical freedom are colliding with Mr.Putin’s neo-Soviet project. ...“Compared with efforts regardingRussia, the resources devoted by theUnited States to these two countries arepitifully small. A handful of U.S. officialshave visited Ukraine and pressed(Continued on page 31)

No. 43THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 9COMMENTARYIs Ukraine a failed state?by Hryhoriy TsipkaIs Ukraine a failed state? This unmentionablethought has crossed the minds ofmany people in the past month as theywatch the sleaze and dirty tricks in theongoing Ukrainian presidential electioncampaign reach unprecedented levels.The viciousness with which theYanukovych/Kuchma/Putin team – andnobody should have any doubts that theyare a team – attack Viktor Yushchenkomakes Watergate look like an amateurishshoplifting attempt at the local drugstoreby a 10-year-old.By now who wins is meaningless, sinceUkraine, as such, is the big loser. PresidentLeonid Kuchma with the help of his criminalizedlaw enforcement bosses, corruptSecurity Service and compliant mediamanagers have done all in their power todiscredit Ukraine as an independent state.With the help of Russian PresidentVladimir Putin’s teams of roving “politicaltechnocrats” sent into Ukraine as a sort ofSonderkommando to wreck havoc andspread disinformation, the election processhas been successfully nullified.All that is needed now is to declare anex-con president and to have him ride intoKyiv on a white Russian tank as Mr.Kuchma’s grandson greets him with breadand salt at the Golden Gates of the city.Somehow, at a distance, the Georgiansolution of a mass uprising is beginningto seem like the only reasonable way topreserve Ukrainian independence. This iswhat Mr. Kuchma is betting on and isactively provoking. He wants to seeheads roll on the streets in a battle thatwould pit west against east so that he andhis water-carrier Yanukovych could stepin as the blessed peacemakers.But even this will not happen since theUkrainian masses are too busy trying tomake a buck and too stoned to care. Thefight has been taken out of them by 10years of relentless criminality that hasstolen from them their sense of civic prideand belief in the democratic process.How did it come to this juncture? Howis it that a nation which overwhelminglyvoted for independence and a better lifewas hijacked by a group of slick conmenfrom Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk withtheir western Ukrainian sidekicks in tow?The first mistake was made by LeonidKravchuk when he permitted the pro-Russian Communist Party of Ukraine tore-legalize itself. The second mistake waswhen the Rada allowed former membersof the Communist Party of the SovietUnion to stand for office. These first mistakeswere then capitalized on by a seriesof appointments of men who would besitting behind bars in any civil society tohigh posts by President Kuchma. Beforeanyone realized, the country was controlledby the wicked and greedy, on topof whom sat the grand wizard, the medicineman of Ukraine, a guitar-playing,Hryhoriy Tsipka is the pseudonym of aUkrainian journalist living in CentralEurope.whisky-sipping, foul-mouthed “good oleboy” – Leonid Kuchma.From that moment on everything elsethat followed was predictable: the murderof Heorhii Gongadze, the attempt tosell Iraq the Kolchuha, the wiretaps, dirtytricks and scams. Then came the rip-offschemes in the oil and gas business thatenriched the greedy and their protector,the medicine man. Ukraine began resemblingCuba under Batista, where organizedcrime used the island like al-Qaedaused Afghanistan. Ukraine became asanctuary for criminals.The best thing that happened toKuchma and Co. was when Mr. Putinwas elected president of Russia. WithEurope afraid to touch Ukraine with a10-foot pole and the Americans distractedby their fanatic hunt for weapons ofmass destruction, divine providence sentPresident Putin to President Kuchma.It was a partnership made in heaven.They understood each other perfectlywell. Mr. Putin knew how Mr. Kuchma’smind worked since he himself was intimatelyfamiliar with bribery and corruption– first in St. Petersburg, where heparticipated in a scheme know as theSPAG affair involving organized crime,then as president when he became theRussian overseer of Saddam Hussein’selaborate “oil voucher” scheme in whichhundreds of millions of dollars in bribeswere paid by the dictator to Mr. Putin’sclosest allies and most intimate advisorsin return for political protection at theUnited Nations. The only question thatneeds to be answered is did Mr. Putin’smen pay the boss for protecting them?The Putin-Kuchma partnership producedthe Single Economic Space, theOdesa-Brody pipeline pumping inreverse, the election of Mr. Kuchma ashead of the CIS and so on. Mr. Kuchma,as the late Rodney Dangerfield mighthave said, was finally getting somerespect. But in order for the partnershipto really rock and roll, Mr. Putin wasinsisting that they cut to the chase – stopthe petty pretences and the “fig leaf independence”of Ukraine and join forces.This was music to the ears of Messrs.Kuchma and Yanukovych and the mob.Why not form one common syndicate, acriminal empire stretching from theCarpathian mountains to Kamchatka?For some time a number of expertsbelieved that Ukrainian criminal clanssupported independence for one expedientreason: to avoid being controlled byMoscow which would step in and takeover their scams. But Moscow, madethem a gentlemanly offer: Why not stealtogether and we’ll both make moremoney? How could they refuse?This, then, is what the non-elections ofOctober 2004 are all about. They weredesigned not to allow Mr. Yushchenko torestore some semblance of dignity andlegality in Ukraine, but to allow Ukraineto embark upon a new, higher step on theevolutionary ladder toward its transformationinto an off-shore holding companyowned by Russia Ltd.The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries ona variety of topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and UkrainianCanadian communities. Opinions expressed by columnists, commentatorsand letter-writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinionsof either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian NationalAssociation.Letters should be typed (double-spaced) and signed; they must be originals,not photocopies. The daytime phone number and address of the letter-writermust be given for verification purposes.PERSPECTIVESBY ANDREW FEDYNSKYUkraine mattersAndrew Fedynsky is a member of theSteering Committee of UkrainianAmericans for Kerry-Edwards.“So that’s the agenda for my visit toUkraine next week,” Al Gore told about15 Ukrainian American leaders at a 1988meeting in the Old Executive OfficeBuilding next to the White House. “Now,what am I missing?”Michael Sawkiw, head of the UkrainianNational Information Service and now presidentof the Ukrainian Congress Committeeof America, spoke up: “This is great, Mr.Vice-President, but you can’t go to Ukrainewithout mentioning the Famine.”“Okay,” he said, “but tell me more, particularlywhether there’s a common denominatorwith Chornobyl.” And so we toldhim, and for 10 minutes he listened. A weeklater, the vice-president wove the Famine-Genocide into the speech he gave in theshadow of the devastated nuclear reactor.Vice-President Gore’s trip to Ukraine wasone of dozens that top Clinton administrationofficials took, along with an equal numberof reciprocal visits to America on thepart of Ukrainian officials. And those werejust the tip of the iceberg, as a people onceclosed off completely became America’snew best friends. So why the Clinton administrationfocus on U.S.-Ukrainian relations?President John F. Kennedy characterizedthe Cold War as a “long twilight struggle.”Indeed it was, one administration handingoff responsibility to another. For more than50 years we maintained a military stand-offat the Iron Curtain in Europe and the DMZin Korea, all the while playing a grim gameof cat-and-mouse with the Soviets in all theworld’s oceans and the skies above, reachingall the way to the moon. There was alsoa vast diplomatic and cultural component.Every hour of every day, we beamed ourmessage over the Voice of America andRadio Liberty, and people believed. Wemaintained libraries, distributed magazinesand books, and welcomed cultural ambassadors.We worked with our NATO allies. Itcost trillions of dollars and countless lives,but in the end, the investment paid off. Thetime came when the energies of long-submergednations burst to the surface and theSoviet behemoth was defeated.Call it nationalism, if you like; it wasthe key to victory and Ukraine was central.Quite simply, the demise of the “evilempire” and Ukraine’s independencewere one and the same phenomenon.President Bill Clinton, having inherited ahistoric triumph in the Cold War, did notwant to lose the peace. He understood,that by merely remaining independent,Ukraine contributes to American security.But that’s not the end of Ukraine’s contributionto America. When the Soviet Unionfell, Ukraine became the world’s thirdlargest nuclear power. All the weapons wereaimed at the United States and its allies. Byagreeing to dismantle this fearsome arsenal,President Leonid Kravchuk did more toenhance world peace than just about anyone.For that he deserves the Nobel Prize.The disarmament deal with Ukraine hasbeen a real bargain for the United States,particularly compared to what’s happeningin Iraq, where we’ve spent $120 billion andlost more than 1,000 young men and womenwith no end in sight, all to deny Iraq nuclearweapons they never had in the first place.With Ukraine, no one died getting ridof nukes. Instead, the country sought andwas given American guarantees for political,military, economic and diplomaticsupport. Ukrainians, who had enduredterror, famine and war, live in a dangerousneighborhood: Russia’s just acrossthe border. Vice-President Gore’s visit toKyiv and Chornobyl in July 1998 waspart of the bargain to assure the countryof America’s support.Unfortunately, the commitment toUkraine doesn’t appear to have survivedinto the Bush administration. Even before9/11, President George W. Bush, enthusedover meeting President Vladimir Putin,steered American foreign policy in aRusso-centric direction. That’s endured,despite Putin’s systematic dismantling ofRussia’s nascent democratic institutionsand ominous signs that the country isreverting to its natural proclivities, seekingto dominate areas it considers its historicspace, including Ukraine. President Bushhas yet to address these alarming developments.Scrupulously, he’s avoided meaningfulcontact with Ukraine – even withmembers of the Ukrainian American community.Blocking the Senate Famine resolutionbecause Russia doesn’t like the word“genocide” is particularly offensive, notonly because it flies in the face of truth, butalso because of what it portends for thebroader issue of U.S.-Ukraine relations.In justifying America’s stance towardRussia and Ukraine, some have argued thatthe world changed so fundamentally after9/11 that our priorities can no longer includeUkraine. Well, that’s half right; the worldhas changed, but our priorities are still securityfor the nation and stability in the world.Belief that a reconstituted Russian empirewith nuclear, chemical and biologicalweapons would be any more accommodatingto American interests than the SovietUnion, is naïve. Allowing that to happentruly would amount to winning the war andthen, a generation later, losing the peace. Allthe sacrifice and investment in the “longtwilight struggle” will have been for naught.Should Ukraine continue to drift intoRussia’s sphere of influence, Americanefforts to stop other countries from developingnuclear weapons, beginning with Iranand Korea would also be affected. Bothcountries’ development programs are real. Ifthey succeed, other countries will no doubtpursue nuclear programs of their own.To keep Iran and Korea from obtainingnuclear arms, the next president will haveto apply a mix of sanctions and incentives,diplomacy and defense. Yet how crediblewill it be if America, having extendedincentives and guarantees to Ukraine inreturn for disarming, fails to honor thosecommitments from one administration tothe next? By creating the impression thatAmerica is discarding Ukraine, the Bushadministration sends the signal thatAmerica takes countries seriously only solong as they pose a threat.Ukraine’s democracy is foundering,held back by the resistance of vested interestsand Russian interference in its internalaffairs. But there is also a vast sectorof Ukrainians who want their country tosucceed by remaining independent anddemocratic. If America has the tools tobring democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan,we can certainly help to empower thosewho can set Ukraine back on course. Afteryears of benign neglect, it’s time Americabegan to play that role again. When youvote on November 2, do consider carefully.And remember, Ukraine matters –much more than you think.

10 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43LETTERS TO THE EDITORA reader’s votefor John F. KerryDear Editor:I guess after reading Myron Kuropas’slatest column (“Wealth, power and privilege”)we can surmise that only conservativeRepublicans are allowed to bewealthy and influential in American politics.However, unlike Dr. Kuropas, I amdelighted Sen. John Kerry has five housesand is married to a billionaire. It maylevel the playing field a bit.Perhaps, as Dr. Kuropas notes, Sen.Kerry has “never run a business, met apayroll nor administered anything.” I justwish the readers of The UkrainianWeekly were provided with details ofPresident George W. Bush’s brilliantbusiness career.Finally, Dr. Kuropas bangs out thetired old “culture war” slurs againstsame-sex marriage, etc. to smear theDemocrats. I write from the belly of theliberal beast of San Francisco, where lastFebruary I had the privilege to interviewin the driving rain outside City Hallnewly married gay and lesbian couples.Let me assure you they also, just as Dr.Kuropas, believe in “the sanctity of theAmerican family.” After all, these couplesare trying to create a family andwhy should they, just as one daughter ofthe current vice-president, be deniedtheir rights in this worthy endeavor?We must be grateful for Dr. Kuropas’smany years of public service to theUkrainian American community throughhis anti-defamation and Famine educationefforts. However, he has stumbledbadly in these forays into election commentaryand his increasingly frantic fulminationsagainst Sen. Kerry and theDemocratic Party cannot obscure thedomestic and foreign policy failures ofthe current administration.Peter BejgerSan FranciscoA suggestion:elect Boris DanikDear Editor:Elect Boris Danik – only because it’sbecome an embarrassment to read TheUkrainian Weekly. Between MyronKuropas’ constant shilling for theRepublican Party and perpetual apologiesfor the Bush administration’s senselesspolicies in the rest of the paper, I’mafraid The Weekly’s become a one-note,right-wing rag. In this election year, theWeekly is somehow fine with the neoconagenda. Only Mr. Danik’s eloquent,informative letters shine a welcome lightinto the slanted muck. To which I’d liketo add a few (non-partisan) words.When Dr. Kuropas distorts history inorder to slam Sen. John Kerry, as in thelast few issues (October 3 and 10),it’s beyond irresponsible. References tothe so-called “evil Vietnamese” fail toacknowledge U.S. arrogance in that war,which Mr. Kerry addressed then – withgood reason. I suggest Dr. Kuropas viewthe excellent Errol Morris film “The Fogof War” and listen to McNamara comeclean about that whole debacle. Also, Isuggest a thorough perusal of PulitzerPrize-winning, “A Bright Shining Lie,”by Neil Sheehan. Oh, and “The PentagonPapers.” Ho Chi Minh came to Americafirst and we turned him away. “Americanmoral fiber”?! Please...Oh, by the way Dr. Kuropas, GeorgeW. Bush is a wealthy Yale graduate, too.And he lives well because, well, his parentshave made him rich – every businesshe’s run has been unsuccessful. Hey– just like Mr. Kerry!Unlike Mr. Bush, I read the newspapers,and I refuse to vote for a guy whodoesn’t. Because the price of democracyis vigilance.Remember that on November 2.Andrew CherneyLos AngelesA clarificationon Reserve serviceDear Editor:Permit me as a 31-year veteran of theU.S. Army Reserve who just retired lastyear with the rank of master sergeant, toadd a clarification to the ongoing debateon the presidential candidates’ militaryservice. A reservist/guardsman isrequired to earn a minimum of 50 retirementpoints per year. There are timeswhen he earns much more than that,based on his active duty time.As Taras Wolansky correctly notes inhis letter (October 10), George W. Bush’smilitary records clearly show that healways made more than the minimum,especially in his early years when he performedextensive active duty. In fact Mr.Bush logged 336 flight hours on the F-102 jet fighter in 1972 alone. It is not atall unusual for a reservist/guardsman tooccasionally skip his monthly weekendduty if he has enough retirement pointsfor the year or if he makes up the losttime by performing administrative dutiesat a different time.Once a reservist/guardsman receiveshis annual statement of retirement pointsand verifies that it is correct, there is reallyno need to keep detailed records of thecompleted year for the next three decades.Similarly, in the civilian world, once anemployee receives an accurate annualstatement of earnings from the SocialSecurity Administration, there is no needfor him to keep that year’s weekly paystubs for the next 30 years. To expect thatemployee to recall in 2004 why he hadsome absences in 1972 is just as ridiculousas to expect a reservist/guardsman toexplain in 2004 why he may have had abrief lapse in his duties back in 1972,especially if he had earned the requirednumber of points for that year.The liberal media’s unsuccessfulattempts to find fault with PresidentBush’s military service culminated in the“Memogate” scandal, where a crude forgerywas blindly accepted by a [Dan]Rather-biased CBS in a desperateattempt to smear the president.In contrast, the same media eagerlyembraced Sen. John F. Kerry’s “reportingfor duty” slogan. However, too manyliving veterans have stepped forward,tarnishing his medals (the ones heclaimed to throw away, then denieddoing it). Even so, the fact remains thatboth men were honorably dischargedfrom the service. The problem with Sen.Kerry is his sworn testimony beforeCongress, branding all American servicemenin Vietnam as war criminals at atime when American POWs were beingtortured in North Vietnam. The words ofSen. Kerry and other leftists of that timewere then used against the POWs bytheir Communist captors. In the words ofSir John Harrington: “Treason doth neverprosper, what’s the reason? For if it prosper,none dare call it treason.”Leo IwaskiwPhiladelphiaWhy I’m votingfor John F. KerryDear Editor:In his October 3 column, MyronKuropas wrote that the GOP-controlledForeign Relations Committee is blockingSenate Resolution 202 on the UkrainianFamine-Genocide, because of pressurefrom Turkey, which fears that such a resolutionwould pave the way for a similarresolution regarding the Armenian genocide.As much as I respect and admireDr. Kuropas for his many years of brilliantcontributions on UkrainianAmerican issues, in this case, I feel he issimply wrong, perhaps more influencedby his position as an organizer forUkrainian Americans for Bush-Cheneythan by the facts.Although Turkey may not be thrilledby such a resolution, the killer voice onS. Res. 202 comes from the Bush WhiteHouse itself. As Ranking Member of theSenate Foreign Relations CommitteeJoseph Biden told The Ukrainian Weeklyearlier this year, the White House isblocking the Famine-GenocideResolution in deference to Russia, aboveall. Trying to shift the blame to Turkey(does that make it OK?) is just suckerbait. This is just one more small favorthat President George W. Bush has electedto deliver to Russian PresidentVladimir Putin after their infamousmeeting at Mr. Bush’s ranch inCrawford, Texas, when Mr. Bush lookedinto Mr. Putin’s eyes and liked what hesaw.My deep concern is that PresidentBush saw himself in President Putin’seyes. I am concerned that they agreednot to hinder each other as they try todivide the world between them. Thiswould explain the mealy mouthedU.S.A. response to Russia’s attack on theIsland of Tuzla and the midnight switch(or back stab) on the Odesa-BrodyPipeline – just two of a long litany ofdisappointments in the Bush-Cheneypolicy on Ukraine.The Bush administration’s only interestseems to be keeping Ukrainian troops inIraq. Beyond that, Russia has a blankcheck to do what it wants. I am concernedthat another four years of this blank checkwill see the destruction of Ukraine as aviable independent nation. Ukraine willnot survive another term of Bush-Cheneyrule in Washington. That’s why I’m votingfor Sen. Kerry for president.Charmian CarlLos AngelesThe letter-writer is a member ofCalifornia Ukrainian Americans forKerry-Edwards.A reader’s reasonsto not elect BushDear Editor:One of the comments l received inresponse to my opinion about PresidentGeorge W. Bush (letter, September 6)suggested that Sen. John Kerry is a goodcandidate for president. Sen. Kerry has ashot at unseating Mr. Bush and, if elected,will most likely “not mislead us intowar”; will scrap Mr. Bush’s tax cuts forthe upper class (doing so will revive theeconomy and cut the deficit, as it didwhen Bill Clinton took similar action in1993); stop the environmental devastationperpetrated by deregulated industrialpolluters, and halt the Republican assaulton Social Security. That is huge.A third-party candidacy of RalphNader helps re-elect President Bushbesides providing schadenfreude (feelgoodfrom mischief). Although in tunewith Mr. Nader more than with Sen.Kerry, I would rather take what Sen.Kerry can deliver, instead of enjoying therighteous satisfaction of voting for Mr.Nader and watching America goingdown the tubes under Mr. Bush.For some, prognosticating which candidatefor U.S. president may be best forUkraine seems to be the main factor incasting their vote. Such prognoses have a50-50 chance of being wrong, except inrare cases of a flash warning, as in the“Chicken Kiev” fiasco.Occasionally the Ukraine line isstretched even when its connection to aU.S. candidate for president is rather tenuous.For instance, Dr. Jaroslaw Sawkain his letter (October 3) lambasts theIMF as bad for Ukraine, and will vote forMr. Nader, no fan of the IMF. The IMF’srelevance for Ukraine today is rather academic,pro or con. Dr. Sawka also findsfault with the Republicans for peripheralreasons, and is dismissive of Sen. Kerryfor reasons based on false disparagementof Kerry’s Vietnam service in Dr. MyronKuropas’s column (September 12).It is now common knowledge that theKerry Vietnam smear campaign wasfinanced in the heart mof Texas by aHouston tycoon Bob Perry, a major contributorto Republican campaigns.Benjamin L. Ginsberg, the legal adviserto the veterans group that was used as aconduit to pay for advertisements condemningSen. Kerry was serving at thesame time as national counsel for theBush re-election campaign, and wasforced to resign in the aftermath. But thepresident personally refused to distancehimself from the group.This scam was widely condemned bySen. John McCain among others, aVietnam veteran himself who was a victimof a similar “am-Bush” – in theRepublican primary election campaign inyear 2000, and by former Sen. MaxCleland of Georgia, a Vietnam War tripleamputee shamelessly savaged by rightwingactivists in his failed re-electionbid. But Dr. Kuropas, true to his form,apparently could not resist pasting thesame smear on Sen. Kerry in his column,after the mainstream media backed off.Dr. Sawka, in general, has validinsights about Ukraine, which appear tobe his main focus in the U.S. electioncampaign. My point is that election of theU.S. president affects our lives and ourchildren’s lives as Americans in a veryreal sense, whereas splitting hairs aboutits fallout on another country (when thereis no pressing connective issue) canbecome an end in itself. Although Ukrainecan expect no favors from the Bushdynasty, President Bush is not nearly asbad for Ukraine as he is for America.Boris DanikNorth Caldwell, N.J.CorrectionLast week’s issue (October 17) carried aletter to the editor written by a supporter ofthe Libertarian candidate for U.S. president,Michael Badnarik. The candidate’s last namewas misspelled as Bednarik.The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes lettersto the editor. Letter-writers must provide adaytime phone number and mailingaddress for verification purposes.Pleasenote that a daytime phone number isessential in order for editors to contact letter-writersregarding clarifications orquestions.

No. 43THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 11CONFERENCE ADDRESSES: “Ukraine’s Transition to a Stable Democracy”Ukraine and the culture of democracyFollowing is the text of the speechdelivered by James Sherr, ConflictStudies Research Center, DefenseAcademy of the United Kingdom, at theconference “Ukraine’s Quest for MatureNation Statehood – Roundtable V:Ukraine’s Transition to a StableDemocracy” on September 13. The text isfrom the October 5 release of the ActionUkraine Report.Is Ukraine a democracy? This simplequestion is not so simple to answer, and itis impossible to answer with a “yes” or“no.” The short answer is that Ukraine isa new and flawed democracy: limited inscope and legitimacy, oligarchic,unhealthy and now under strain.But it is a democracy with long-termpromise, and the promise stems from thefact that Ukrainians as a people are quitedemocratically minded, certainly by comparisonto their eastern and northernneighbors. Today, ordinary Ukrainians donot believe that they are living in ademocracy, and that is a good thing. It isone of several indications that citizensput a value on democracy, that they havea set of standards about it, and they knowthat the current state of affairs does notmeasure up to them.There is also promise in the attitudesof a large number of Ukrainians who arenot ordinary. Not only in the VerkhovnaRada, but in any number of state structures– not just the Ministry of ForeignAffairs, but the Cabinet of Ministers,presidential administration and armedforces – one also meets respectable numbersof individuals who are democraticallyminded, and whilst this includes peoplewho are inclined to support the opposition,it also includes people who arenot. This crossing of political lines is ofcritical importance, because it means thatthere is an evolutionary path forward forUkraine. It means that whilst the growthof civic instincts is sharpening the dividebetween state and society, it is also creatingpoints of friction within the state anda dynamic of evolution inside it.Will an undemocratic presidentreverse this dynamic or will he simplyretard it? Perhaps we will have a chanceto see. If we can be optimistic about thefuture, we also need to be realistic aboutthe present, and the present is defined bya well-entrenched and increasinglyaggressive status quo. Can the characterof this status quo be explained purely bythe interests of people in power? Or is itsendurance and “maturation” not equally aresult of a misunderstanding of how ahealthy democratic political order differsfrom Ukraine’s – and why it is needed inthe interests of the country?Today there are a number of misunderstandingsand, paradoxically, the democraticWest has contributed to them. Thisis because, with some distinguishedexceptions, Western governments andinternational organizations have tendedto emphazise the mechanics of democracyrather than the culture of democracy.Free elections and a free press aremechanics of democracy: very importantmechanics, but they are neither the coreof democracy nor the soul of it.“Democracy” describes a relationshipbetween the state and society, and the keyto this relationship is the character ofinstitutions. Even if elections are “freeand fair,” there will be no real democracyif state and public institutions continue tobehave in an arrogant, autocratic, arbitraryand self-serving manner. If they do,the vast majority of people will continueto feel that their country is not theirs.The fundamental problem in Ukraineis the gap between state and society. Inmore commonplace terms, it is the powerlessnessof ordinary people. This powerlessnessis something that is experiencedon a daily basis – or, at least, onany day when people have to deal withan institution, a “structure of power,”even if it is local or small. This, too, wasthe core problem of the Soviet Union.Since the Soviet collapse, some thingshave improved, some things have worsened,and much has remained the same.In Ukraine today there has been some,but far too little, devolution of politicalpower. There has also been little devolutionof economic power. To a distressingdegree, the networks of privilege thatexisted before are the networks of privilegethat exist now. Some of the exceptionsare not very flattering to the post-Soviet order: criminal networks, whoonce operated apprehensively and in theshadows but who, despite being termed“shadow structures,” now operate withimpudence and near impunity. And on theother end of the spectrum, there is thedecline in privilege of the very peoplewho under the old system deserved it: thescientifically, technically and intellectuallyskilled – skilled, that is, in every artexcept finance.To be sure, there has also been realprogress. In recent years, there has beensolid economic growth (albeit less thanofficial statistics suggest), there has beenthe emergence of a real (but still vulnerable)middle class, a surge of propertyownership (but without firm contractualrights) and signs of honest (but hamperedand harassed) entrepreneurship. Yet,Ukraine remains a country of people whofeel alienated from their political order.The West has been slow to face theserealities, and for several critical years, itdamaged its standing by appearing topraise any practice pursued in the nameof profit, privatization and the free market.With good reason, many people inUkraine have failed to see the differencebetween privatization and plunder, orbetween free markets and rigged markets.Therefore, we should not be surprised bythe fact that Western ideas are not dominatingdiscussion. We need to change thediscussion.If the relationship between state andsociety is the core issue, then institutionsare the bridge between them. What kindof institutions does Ukraine need?First, Ukraine needs institutions thatoperate within a culture of authorityrather than a culture of power. Authorityis power that is codified and limited tolegitimate and openly articulated purposes.And it is not codified by the authoritiesthemselves, but by the people’s electedrepresentatives. Today, all manner of“authorities,” beginning with the “militsia,”have become very entrepreneurialwith the powers they have. That is notauthority, but it’s abuse.Second, Ukraine needs institutions thatoperate within a proper framework oflaw. A system of “codified arbitrariness”(to quote the French authority FrançoiseThom) is not law. Laws derive from acoherent and comprehensible legal systemfounded on Hart’s principle: “theunity of primary and secondary rules.”And law enforcement must be separatefrom politics. This means that the institutionswhich enforce the law must bepolitically neutral. In the United States,as in Ukraine, no one likes the tax authorities.But they trust the tax authoritiesirrespective of which political party orinterest is in power.Third, Ukraine needs institutions thatoperate within conditions of transparency.At its most elemental level, transparencyis the ability to see. This meansthe ability to see who people are. WhenUkrainian citizens vote for a Communist,Socialist or a member of Nasha Ukraina[Our Ukraine] to sit in Parliament, theyexpect them to advance the programes ofthese factions and not appear insideanother faction within weeks of taking uptheir seats. Today, not only in politics butin business, there is very little ability toknow who people are. During the nextmajor privatization, try asking who theleading contenders are – who are the realowners? what is their citizenship? Whatare their resources? Where are theyinvested? – and see what kind of answersyou get.But transparency also means the abilityto know what decisions are taken,where they are taken, by whom they aretaken and, preferably, why. Was theMelitopol accident in May (whichdestroyed an enormous quantity of munitionsand millions of dollars in property –and which, by a few months, precededthe dismissal of Ukraine’s minister ofdefense) really an accident or the resultof a decision? To be sure, Ukraine hashad bigger scandals than Melitopol.After nearly all of them, it has provedimpossible to answer these basic questions.Without credible facts, rumorsbecome credible, even the most incrediblerumors, particularly if they are basedon conspiracy. People who put their trustin conspiracies rarely put their trust inother people. It is unlikely that such peoplewill “pull together at a crucialmoment.”The absence of transparency not onlyproduces an absence of accountability,which is essential to democracy, but cynicism,which is poisonous to it. It alsothreatens national security, and this wasclearly stated by the authors of the 1997National Security Concept and re-echoedby the authors of the 2003 Law on theFoundations of National Security. Thegood news is that these are official documents.But they won’t have a practicalinfluence until someone implants thenotion that information, like air, is a“public good” rather than a strategiccommodity and an instrument of power.Ukraine’s political culture is not comfortablewith this notion. Nor is its businessculture, which operates less according tothe conventions of Western competitivenessthan according to the conventions of“finansovaya-informatsionnaya borba”(financial-informational struggle). Thislast point leads to two areas that arerarely discussed when democracy is discussed.The first, indeed, is the culture ofbusiness. Today, there are two cultures ofbusiness in Ukraine, and two cultures ofbusiness are drawing a line acrossEurope. In one a business transaction isdesigned to benefit both buyer and seller.In the other, it is part of a Darwinian relationship,a form of bor’ba za vlast’ (thestruggle for power). In the latter, businessnorms are conspiratorial: inbred, collusive,opaque to outsiders and based uponnetworks rather than markets – networksthat straddle the spheres of business, politicsand, far too often, crime. Thesenorms are not only a threat to democracyand Ukraine’s EU integration prospects,but to good business.Two examples will suffice. When theblue-eyed genius of Russian capitalism,Anatolii Chubais, became chairman ofUnited Energy Systems, he discoveredthat this vast enterprise – by any reckoningone of the largest in the world – didnot possess a budget. He should not havebeen surprised. If there is no budget, howdo you know who is making money, whois losing money, who is wasting it, andwho is stealing it? A friend of mine workingin another large Russian business, colocatedin Ukraine, had this to say: “Wehave three tiers of management: juniormanagement, who are insecure; seniormanagement, who are involved in highpolitics (and whom we never see) andmiddle management. And what they do issteal.”Some years ago, another friend negotiatedwith the regional authorities to leaseland for development. Not surprisingly,the negotiations were difficult and protracted,but at last a contract was concluded.Over the next year, he investedmost of his capital in this enterprise, andthe following year his business becamevery profitable. At that point, the veryauthorities who had so carefully negotiatedevery detail of his contract told himthat it was invalid. They presented himwith a list of the “laws” he had supposedlyviolated and threatened to issue criminalcharges unless he transferred the landback to them. Since that point he hasspent a third of his time negotiating, athird of his time in court and a third ofhis time in hospital. Who can have faithin entrepreneurship if entrepreneurs endup in these straits? Who can have faith inpolitical rights if no economic rightsexist?The second area that tends to beignored in discussions of democracy isthe culture of administration. It, too,tends to be authoritarian, compartmentedand opaque. In most advanced democracies,the administrative culture valueshierarchy, but it also values two antidotesto it.The first antidote is the devolution ofauthority and initiative: the so-called“bottom-up” culture. The second is anemphasis on horizontal integration, bothwithin institutions and between them: inshort, the opposite of the “administrativevertical” exalted in Russia and, veryoften, in Ukraine. Both depend on thesharing of information. This is what asenior British general meant when heexplained to a group of Ukrainian generalshow he made a decision: “I communicateone level up, one level down, onelevel to the left and one level to theright.”By “communicate,” he meant that helistened before giving instructions andthat he made recommendations before hissuperiors gave instructions to him.Do these practices not explain why themost motivated and productive Westerninstitutions are lean and why so manyUkrainian institutions are underproductiveand overstaffed? Can a democraticpolitical system co-exist with an authoritariansystem of administration? Yes itcan, and there are examples to prove it.But the co-existence creates an incongruityin a country’s authority structurewhich is damaging to democracy.Finally, there is the area we dare notignore, Ukraine’s force structures: notjust the armed forces, but the SecurityService, Interiornal Affairs forces, borderservice, customs and, of course, police.To transform these structures – to trainpeople according to today’s values ratherthan yesterday’s, to inculcate decentnorms of professionalism, to make theseprofessionals feel they are part of society– it is necessary to respect those who tryhold onto their professionalism inadverse circumstances, and it is necessaryto understand the work that they do.Governments of former dissidents inCentral Europe have often failed to dothis, and the result is that these most(Continued on page 23)

12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Rada majority stages walk-outby Roman WoronowyczKyiv Press BureauKYIV – Verkhovna Rada ChairmanVolodymyr Lytvyn accused members ofthe crumbling majority coalition inParliament of succumbing to the manipulationsof pre-election strategies onOctober 12 and contributing to the politicalchaos that has descended upon the countrytwo weeks before election day.“When will you stop letting yourselvesbe manipulated by your handlers?”asked a frustrated Mr. Lytvyn.As he spoke, members of the six parliamentaryfactions that make up theremnants of the majority – Regions ofUkraine, the Social Democratic Party-United, Democratic Initiative, LaborUkraine, the National Democratic Partyand the Party of Industrialists andEntrepreneurs – abandoned the sessionhall, stating that they would not be backuntil after the presidential election.Earlier, the remnant of the majority coalitionhad adopted the often-used tactics of theopposition: surrounding the main microphoneand presidium dais at the front of thehall to paralyze the work of the legislativebody, which they did for several hours whilecalling for a parliamentary recess untilDecember 7-10, when the newly electedpresident will have been sworn in.The unique situation – with the majorityworking to paralyze the body it ostensiblycontrols – occurred in the final week ofparliamentary work before the presidentialvote. It marked a widening rift betweenRada Chairman Lytvyn, who has increasinglydistanced himself from the formerlypro-presidential and now pro-Yanukovychmajority coalition that he helped found andwhich elected him chairman in 2002.Mr. Lytvyn expressed his frustrationwith the way the Parliament had becomeeven more politicized in the last monthsprior the national vote than even the mostcynical predictions had forecast. Hevoiced his opinion that the parliamentarymajority no longer exists as a united force.He added that those lawmakers closest toPrime Minister Viktor Yanukovych wouldlike to see the Parliament dismissed soonafter their candidate is elevated to head ofstate so that a new body – one that wouldbetter reflect the new president’s ownphilosophies and aims, might be electedMr. Lytvyn told the deputies that theyshould keep in mind that in such a scenariomany of them might not be re-elected,inasmuch as some studies indicate thatvoters could throw out 70 percent of them.“You need to consider your perspectives[for the future],” Mr. Lytvyn noted.The majority coalition, which had heldtogether for more than two years, principallyover the issue of political reform and loyaltyto President Leonid Kuchma, disintegratedrather quickly after the former failed tomuster the votes needed for passage and thelatter came to the end of his term in office.The parliamentary session hall wasawash in politicized banners mostly aimedat National Deputy Viktor Yushchenko,the prime minister’s main opponent in thevote scheduled for October 31. Most ofthe banners, hung by the members of themajority, expressed disdain for Mr.Yushchenko. Only one, hung by the membersof the candidate’s Our Ukraine coalitionshowed support. It read simply,“Yushchenko – the People’s President.”The pro-Yanukovych forces demandedthat Mr. Yushchenko apologize for “misleadingthe country into believing that hehad been poisoned” after he became ill witha mysterious ailment, which doctors inVienna have still not been able to diagnose.A team of biological warfare experts isawaiting the results of tests to determinewhether a bacteriological agent may havepoisoned Mr. Yushchenko.With the demand of his legislative forceunsatisfied, the majority’s coordinator,Stefan Havrysh, who is also an official onthe Yanukovych campaign team, submitteda request from two of the majority factionsthat a 30-minute recess take place. It laterturned out that this was an effort to organizea vote to have the Verkhovna Radastand in recess as the majority wanted.Mr. Lytvyn summarily rejected theproposal, noting that one of the two factions,the Social Democrats-United, hadnot registered for that day’s session and,therefore, could not demand a recess.“No, one of the factions that submittedthe request is registered today, but theother is not. Therefore, no, you mustrewrite the request,” responded Mr.Lytvyn to the request of the majoritycoordinator, eliciting outrage among thelawmakers from the majority, who thencharged to the front of the session hall.Mr. Lytvyn said the majority was playingout the two-pronged scenario that manypolitical observers earlier had suggestedmight occur within the Rada in order tomanipulate the elections: first, the legislativebody would become overtly and unacceptablypoliticized before election day;then, it would be deemed “unable to function”by the “powers that would be” anddismissed by the president.“The attempt to place a lock on theParliament will not succeed,” he said.Baltimore voters organize for Ukrainian electionby Oleh VoloshynSpecial to The Ukrainian WeeklyBALTIMORE – Registration ofUkrainian voters in the upcoming presidentialelection by election committee officialsfrom the Embassy of Ukraine in the UnitedStates took place on Saturday, October 16,in Baltimore at the Selfreliance FederalCredit Union building.In all, 95 persons have registered to votein Baltimore in an effort to save a trip toWashington for the mandatory registrationbefore the vote, in accordance with therecently changed election law of Ukraine.The initiator of this unprecedented event,Xrystyna Horbachevska, persuaded theboard of directors of Selfreliance Baltimore,as well as officials at the Embassy ofUkraine, to conduct the registration.Over 170 members of the Ukrainiancommunity in Baltimore expressed theirdesire to vote in Baltimore and requestedthat a voting station be opened here – butthis number did not justify such an openingas far as the Embassy was concerned.The two parties were able to meet in themiddle, when it was agreed to conductthe registration by Embassy staff inBaltimore, and that free transportationsponsored by Selfreliance would be providedto Washington on election day.According to Ivan Korz, the creditunion’s president, one-third of creditunion membership are new membersrecently arrived from Ukraine: GreenCard lottery winners, religion-basedimmigrants, visitors, scientists and workingvisa holders. “We are part of Ukraine,by heart, by soul and by birth. It wasright thing to do for us, because we arehoping for change, and for a better futurefor Ukraine,” he said.On Sunday, October 31, several buseswill travel to Washington from 2345Eastern Ave. in Baltimore for voting in thepresidential election. For more informationreaders may call (410) 327-9841.Over 2,300 election observersin Ukraine, with more on the wayby Roman WoronowyczKyiv Press BureauKYIV – More than 2,300 internationalobservers were already working inUkraine on October 20, with up to another1,000 expected in the country in the 10days before to the October 31 vote. Theirjob was to review the current electoralprocess and observe the vote on electionday to assess to what extent the presidentialvote in Ukraine – in a campaignalready filled with many ugly moments –would be free and fair.As the international monitors arrived,leaders in their home countries were issuingwarnings to the state leadership inKyiv that if vote manipulation and falsificationsoccur, this could lead to direconsequences for the country, includingsanctions.Meanwhile, the respected Committeeof Voters of Ukraine in its last reportbefore election day stressed on October19 that 20 percent of voting precincts inthe country were effectively or literallynot working.“They were supposed to be workingby October 1 to allow voters to reviewthe ballots and to make sure that they andtheir families were properly listed on therolls,” explained Ihor Popov, head of thecivic organization.Mr. Popov said that part of the reasonfor the failure to open the votingprecincts could be traced to a large problemthe precinct electoral commissionswere having in filling commission positions.He said people were reluctant totake a job that undoubtedly could bestressful on October 31.The head of the civic organization alsosaid that there are extensive problemswith the accuracy of the voter rolls, whereevidence suggested that up to 5 percent ofthe names of the lists were inaccurately orfalsely listed, while another 2 percent hadnot been properly removed, whichamounts to more than 2 million ofUkraine’s 36.2 million eligible voters.He gave as an example a precinct inthe city of Melitopol, where CVU monitorsfound that soldiers of two militarybases were registered to vote eventhough the bases no longer existed. Alsoin Melitopil, 205 people on the rolls nolonger lived in the precinct, 146 did notlive at the address that was given in therolls, 16 were long dead and 28 who didlive in the precinct were not registered.The CVU has prepared nearly 10,000election day observers to monitor thevote throughout all of Ukraine’s oblastsand raion villages, as well as in moreremote villages, where most expertsbelieve the ability to falsify the votecount would be easiest. The CVUobservers would be registered as journalistsfor the CVU newspaper, TochkaZoru, because again this year, as in theprevious elections, the Verkhovna Radarejected a proposal to have representativesof civic organizations act as electionobservers – even while the internationalcommunity had pressed it to do so.The CVU observers will join some600 observers from the Organization forSecurity and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE), which will have the largestinternational election-monitoring contingent.The Commonwealth of IndependentStates already has an extensive observergroup on the ground in Ukraine, as doesRussia, which has sent representativesfrom its State Duma.Additional representatives from manyother official and non-governmentalorganizations of many Western countrieswill be on hand also as official electionsobservers, including teams from theUnited States, Canada, the Netherlands,Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Armenia, Georgia, Germany and GreatBritain. Among the other organizationssending observer groups are: the Councilof Europe, the National DemocraticInstitute, the International RepublicanInstitute, Freedom House, the internationalhuman rights group For FreeElections, the Ukrainian World Congressand the Ukrainian Congress Committeeof America.Yet, even as the monitors arrived, theirforeign governments were voicing theirgravest concerns on the ability ofUkraine to pull off a free and fair presidentialelection.The U.S. Embassy released a statementon October 14 via RichardBoucher, spokesman for the U.S.Department of State, expressing thoseconcerns.“We are deeply disappointed that thecampaign to date has fallen short of internationalstandards. The disruption ofopposition rallies, muzzling of independentmedia, misuse of ‘administrativeresources,’ and other serious violationscast doubt on the Ukrainian government’scommitment to its democraticobligations,” he said.A day later, the European Union’sVice-President of the EuropeanParliament Janusz Onyszkiewiczdeclared in Kyiv that if internationalobservers were to judge the elections tobe unfair or if they were deemed invalid,the EU would take “appropriate measures.”The deputy head of the presidentialadministration, Vasyl Baziv, responded tothe threats coming from the West by notingon October 15 that the West wasexpressing a high level of interest in theUkrainian elections because of the“unprecedented openness of the state andits preparedness to cooperate with a largenumber of international observers andorganizations.”Mr. Baziv underscored that state officialshad taken steps “to secure the freewill of citizens” and to make sure thatviolence did not occur during the elections.“Any attempts to unilaterally influencethe election process in Ukraine, whereverthey may come from, do not whatsoeverpromote normal conditions for the electionprocess,” warned Mr. Baziv, accordingto Interfax-Ukraine.The presidential administrationspokesman also noted that authoritieswere checking allegations by representativesof the presidential campaign teamof Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovychthat supporters of presidential candidateViktor Yushchenko, his main opponent,were preparing for street violence onelection night should their candidate sufferdefeat.Meanwhile, President Leonid Kuchmadismissed as “fantasy” rumors that stateauthorities were preparing to introduce astate of emergency in Ukraine beginningon October 28, when Ukraine would celebratethe 60th anniversary of victoryover Germany in World War II. A militaryparade is planned for Kyiv that daywith Russian President Vladimir Putinscheduled to be present.To ensure the peace during the elections,the Ministry of Internal Affairsannounced that it had assigned 200,000state militia officers and cadets to patrolthe offices of the country’s 225 territorialcommissions and 33,485 electionprecincts a round the clock from October29 to November 2.

No. 43Two Luhansk students detained, then expelledfor political theater lampooning Yanukovychby Tatiana MatychakSpecial to the Ukrainian WeeklyKYIV – Two students of LuhanskNational Agrarian University (LNAU)were detained on September 18 by localstate militia and expelled from the universitytwo days later for campaigningagainst presidential candidate and PrimeMinister Viktor Yanukovych. The incidentwas another on an ever-increasinglist of charges of the illegal use of administrativeresources by the Yanukovychcampaign in the final days before thepresidential election in Ukraine.The two individuals, OleksanderKirilov and Kostiantyn Kosenko, nowex-students, said on October 12 during apress conference in Kyiv that they weredetained and then kicked out of the universityfor doing a parody of the currentprime minister.During what has become a traditionalpre-election concert organized in Luhanskby local authorities in support of thestanding prime minister’s presidentialcampaign, on September 18 two studentsof LNAU did a parody of Mr.Statement byKM FoundationFollowing is the full text of thestatement on police tactics used atthe National University of KyivMohyla Academy which wasreleased on October 19 by the U.S.-based Kyiv Mohyla Foundation.The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation ofAmerica condemns the unlawfulactivities of a group of Ukrainianmilitia, which occurred on Sundaymorning, October 17. A group ofuniformed and armed militiademanded to enter the premises ofthe University of Kyiv MohylaAcademy in order to locate allegedlyundocumented foreigners conductingbuilding repairs, and then to inspectthe premises. Security personnel ofthe university refused entry to themilitia and contacted the university’sthree vice-presidents, who came tothe scene within minutes. The university’spresident was away on travelat the time of the incident.Confronting the militia, the university’sFirst Vice-President M. Brykdemanded to see documentationauthorizing such an inspection, butmilitia officials were unable to producelegal documents, claiming theirinstructions from superiors were verbal.Several deputies of the UkrainianParliament were called and came tothe scene, where they also demandedto see proof of the militia’s legalauthority to search academygrounds. Again citing “verbal ordersfrom their superiors,” the militiaentered and confiscated internalpassports of several workers. Due tothe insistence from the members ofParliament present at the academygrounds, the militia finally left. Theworkers’ passports, which were inproper order, were returned later inthe day.In a statement issued by the universitythe same day, the event wassummarized as follows:“In evaluating the circumstancesand motivation of this surprise inter-(Continued on page 26)THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 13Yanukovych on the city’s main squarebefore the concert. They put on traditionalprisoners’ garb, and using prison jargonand mannerisms said that they, too, wantedto be president as a rap beat played inthe background. Behind them, a bannerproclaimed, “I, too, want to be president.”The statement was full of spellingerrors. The prison garb and the misspellingswere a spoof of Mr.Yanukovych’s criminal past and his penchantfor misspelling Ukrainian words.Within several minutes of the beginningof their performance, as Mr. Kirilovexplained, they were detained by the police,beaten and imprisoned for two days.“The policemen did not immediatelytell us the reason for our detention,” saidMr. Kosenko, “but we are sure that itwas a political one.”The state militia post of the LeninDistrict in Luhansk, where the ex-studentswere held, told The Weekly thatthe two students were charged with“petty hooliganism,” because they haddisturbed the organization of the concert.They were made to pay a fine of 51 hrv.The chief at the police station denied thatany beating had taken place.At their press conference in Kyiv20,000 students...(Continued from page 1)The All-Ukrainian Students’ Councilbrought thousands of Ukrainian studentsfrom many regions of the country toKyiv to express their desire for changeaccording to members of Student Wave,the imitative group that organized theevent. Student Wave, in turn, was organizedby the youth coalition of OurUkraine in order to protect students’rights and in support of the Yushchenkocandidacy.Mr. Yushchenko’s campaign said in apress release dated October 14 that theidea for the public rally before theNUKMA, considered the foremost institutionof higher learning in Ukraine, hadbeen spurred as well by “the huge pressureput on students by state authoritieson the eve of the election.”Students began arriving in Kyiv on themorning of Saturday, October 16, and bythe afternoon four separate columns, representingstudents from the eastern, western,northern and southern oblasts ofUkraine, were marching from four differentareas of the city to the downtownarea, where they joined together for aunited march down the Khreschatyk –Kyiv’s main thoroughfare – and then tothe Podil district and KontraktovaPloscha (Contractors Square) locateddirectly before the NUKMA complex,where the meeting and rally took place.As the students walked the streets ofKyiv, they carried orange flags and woreorange bandanas tied around their heads,arms and legs, emblazoned with theYushchenko campaign slogan “Yes!”They marched behind banners imprintedwith political slogans like “Studentsagainst obtuse and heavy objects!” andothers with the names of the oblasts anduniversities from which they hailed. Allthe while they chanted “Yushchenko!”Some passers-by seated at sidewalkcafes and in cars blocked by the marchingcolumns, expressed solidarity andsupport for the students and Mr.Yushchenko’s campaign by waving orhonking their horns and returning thechant “Yushchenko!” The studentsresponded by giving them YushchenkoStudents say explosive devices discoveredduring militia raid were planted by authoritiesby Roman WoronowyczKyiv Press BureauKYIV – Ukrainian state militia officialssaid on October 15 they had discovered anexplosive device at the offices of a relativelynew and unknown student group,located not far from where a large studentdemonstration in support of presidentialcandidate Viktor Yushchenko took placethe next day. Two student activists werearrested and charged with being terrorists.The members of the group who werein the office and members of the OurUkraine faction in Ukraine’s Parliamentwho were present as the bomb search wasconducted stridently maintained that nobomb was found other than what the lawenforcement officials themselves planted.They said it was yet another attempt todiscredit organizations and individualstied to the Yushchenko campaign.“This event was ordered, and there is nosubstance to the charges, which we willprove in court. It was obvious the militiawas carrying out orders,” stated TarasStetskiv on October 16. He was one of severallawmakers who arrived on the sceneafter the students in the office called to tellhim that state militia officials were present.Law enforcement officials said theyhad evidence that the group, which calls“Yes!” bandanas as a sign of appreciationfor their solidarity.“My mood has started to rise herebecause to be in Donetsk before theseelections is terrible,” said MykhayloZhylin, a student at Donetsk NationalUniversity. “Only here have I seen somany people showing support for our candidate.”Before Mr. Yushchenko addressed thecrowd, several student representativesspoke about the problems they hadencountered with local authorities in tryingto get to Kyiv to express their supportfor their presidential choice. A studentfrom the Vinnytsia Oblast explained thatstate militia prevented students at oneuniversity from leaving their dorms thenight they were to leave for Kyiv.Another student organizer said that inDnipropetrovsk a university rector – whowas authorized to do so by PrimeMinister Viktor Yanukovych, Mr.Yuschenko’s chief competitor for thepresidential seat – sent for students andthreatened them if they should travel toKyiv.Mr. Yushchenko, who looked muchhealthier after his most recent round ofmedical treatment, started his address bypaying his respects to the university studentsof Sumy, his hometown, whoprotested during the summer againstcombining three universities into one. Henoted that it was an example of how studentactivism could bring results.He also noted that pressure from stateauthorities was being felt particularly bythe students who were part of the ChystaUkraina (Clean Ukraine) and Pora (It’sTime) movements, as well as the StudentWave initiative.“In this country we don’t have anyproblems with our resources or mineralwealth or industry. There is a single problem– it’s a problem with the authorities,”Mr. Yushchenko asserted.He called the current authorities banditsand expressed assurance that hisnation and his students would make theright choice on Election Day.“On October 31 you will see a differentcountry, a different authority, anauthority that you will not be afraid of,that you will respect because it will workitself Pora, which means It’s Time, mayhave had links to a Serbian student organization,that had led violent demonstrationswhich resulted in the downfall ofSerbian President Slobodan Milosevic.The Procurator General’s Office statedon October 18 that it had not excludedthe possibility that members of the studentorganization were also responsiblefor the explosion that rocked a local marketin Kyiv in August in which one persondied and several were injured.Four Pora members, speaking during apress conference in Kyiv on October 21,acknowledged that they had consulted onhow to promote student activism withformer members of the Serbian studentgroup Otpor, which today is a member ofthe Serbian non-governmental organizationthe Center for Non-ViolentResistance. They also freely admitted tohaving been in contact with the Georgianstudent group Khmara.Ukrainian Border Guard officials andthe Security Service of Ukraine have maintainedthat they denied Aleksander Marich,a worker for the human rights groupFreedom House, re-entry into Ukraine aftera visit to his home in Belgrade, eventhough he held a valid Ukrainian visa,(Continued on page 26) (Continued on page 26)for this nation and this country,” said Mr.Yushchenko.The presidential candidate said thatamong his first steps as a president hewould include redress of social problemspertinent to students and youth, includingraising by a factor of 10 initial maternityleave payment, and also higher studentstipends, better compensation for youngspecialists and the shortening of requiredmilitary service.The crowd responded several times tothe presidential candidate’s words withchants of “Yushchenko!” and “Freedomcan’t be stopped” – the latter the rally’sofficial slogan.“Viktor Yushchenko is the only personwho can change the power system. AndUkraine will finally get a chance todevelop normally,” said Mykola Kireevfrom Nizhyn State PedagogicalUniversity in the Chernihiv Oblast, whocame to express support for Mr.Yushchenko along with 500 other studentsfrom his oblast.After Mr. Yushchenko’s speech, organizersread resolutions that came from thestudent meeting. The daylong rally endedwith a concert by two of Ukraine’s mostfamous groups, V.V. and Okean Elzy,which toward evening drew even morepeople, including many who weren’tready to support Mr. Yushchenko.“First, I came to see the concert, andthen to listen to Yushchenko,” said IrynaKorobko, a Kyiv student. “I’m not aYushchenko supporter. To my mind, hewould not be the best president forUkraine.”Nonetheless, Mr. Yushchenko andmost of his supporters are sure of his victory.“I give you my word that if only onecell of my body was unsure of our victoryon October 31, I wouldn’t be here withyou,” Mr. Yushchenko asserted.Although the event was aimed at students,people of all ages were present,beginning with babies in their parents’arms and ending with the elderly.“My heart belongs here, with Mr.Yushchenko. That’s why I came,” saidKyiv pensioner Lyudmyla Makarivna. “Ilove him very much, and I’m sure he willwin. And I’m sure that we will live better.”

14 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Observers concerned...(Continued from page 1)Ukrainians in Russia and chairman of theUkrainians of Moscow, said that even ifonly 400 precincts were establishedthroughout Russia, that would leave openthe possibility to gather 2,000 to 3,000votes in each precinct. Mr. Semenenkoquestioned why so many precincts wereneeded when no more than 20,000Ukrainian citizens reside beyondMoscow and its outlying areas, whichmeant that no more than several dozenUkrainian citizens would be available toutilize the polling station, even if alldecided to vote.The Association of Ukrainians inRussia is an umbrella organization thatcoordinates the work of more than 80regional Ukrainian organizations.Mr. Semenenko’s colleague, VasylAntoniv, head of the Moscow-basedUkrainian language organizationSlavutych, said he hadn’t heard and didn’tsee an objective reason for such anincrease in voting stations.“These are the fourth presidential electionsin Ukraine and those [living inRussia] with Ukrainian passports earlierhad no problems voting at the sixprecincts that were established eachtime,” explained Mr. Antoniv.Markian Lubkivskyi, spokesman forCredit Card Ticket Orders Accepted On LineMeet Ukrainian Catholic University RectorFr. Borys Gudziak, Ph.D.November 14, at 1:00PMin ChicagoUkrainian Catholic Bishop Richard Seminack of the Chicago Eparchy invites the publicto a Rector’s Luncheon for Fr. Borys Gudziak. The luncheon is to benefit the universityand will be held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Chicago, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., onSunday November 14 at 1 p.m. Tickets are available for $25.00 per person, thoughadditional gifts are encouraged. To order tickets or for further information, contact theUkrainian Catholic Education Foundation, (773) 235-8462Designate Ukr. Cultural Center 11/14/04 In Comments Sectionwww.chi-cash-advance.com/sforms/appeal228/contribute.aspCan't attend?Those who are unable to attend but would like to make a contribution can send checks tothe Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL, 60622or donate online at: www.chi-cash-advance.com/sforms/appeal228/contribute.asp.www.ucu.edu.uathe Ministry of Foreign Affairs ofUkraine, announced on March 12 that inresponse to calls from Ukrainians abroadthe number of polling stations located inforeign countries where Ukrainiansreside would increase by 114 precinctsover the levels of previous elections.Mr. Lubkivskyi noted that Russian,Vietnamese and Italian officials hadalready agreed to open additional pollingprecincts on their territories, although thenumbers had not yet been specified.Moldovan officials had given the okayfor a polling station in the region of theself-declared Trans-Dniester Republic,where many Ukrainians still live.To allay fears of vote fraud and falsification,the Foreign Affairs Ministryspokesman noted that 1,457 Ukrainian citizenswould work at the elections commissionsabroad, including 153 official representativesof the presidential candidates.There is concern, however, that the openingof precincts abroad could give thosecounting the results of the October 31 votethe ability to manipulate the election results.The complaints have included charges thatmanipulation could occur by withholdingthe right to vote to Ukrainian citizens residingin areas abroad whose vote might notresult in benefit to the pro-government presidentialcandidate. Others have voiced concernthat by saturating specific countrieswith precincts, the count in support of certaincandidates could be boosted.One Ukrainian citizen residing inCleveland questioned in a letter to TheUkrainian Weekly why the decision toconsider a voting precinct for that U.Scity, which has its own honorary consuland a large Ukrainian population, came solate, effectively giving reason to doubtthat Ukrainian citizens residing in or nearthat city would have the right to vote. Anoverwhelming number of Ukrainians livingthere today are from the westernregions of Ukraine and in all likelihoodwould support National Deputy ViktorYushchenko rather than his main competitor,Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.In Russia, the matter is more complicated,inasmuch as the Russian governmentand President Vladimir Putin haveeffectively expressed their endorsementfor the presidential candidacy of theUkrainian prime minister. What hasincreased concern over how fairly ballotsfrom Russia would be counted is theinexplicable rise in polling stations andthe seemingly secretive manner in whichthe additional polls are being organized.“We received information from theKobzar Ukrainian organization ofBashkorstan that they had obtained informationfrom the [Ukrainian] Embassythat they would have 11 voting precincts,even though the number of Ukrainian citizensthere does not exceed 2,900,”explained Mr. Semenenko of theAssociation of Ukrainians in Russia.www.ucef.orgMr. Semenenko explained further thatwhen he contacted the Embassy of Ukrainein Moscow he could not get a definitiveanswer on how many new precincts wouldbe added and where they would be located.He noted that the idea of 650 additionalprecincts, or even 420, which was the latestnumber he had heard, was absurd.“We see no reason for 400 or even200 election precincts,” explained Mr.Semenenko, who noted that his organizationhad formally turned to bothUkraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairsand the Central Election Commission tolimit the number of polling stations.Mr. Semenenko said he believed thatno more than 1,000 Ukrainians living inMoscow would vote and pointed out thatonly 100 or so had officially turned tothe Ukrainian Embassy to request votingballots.“I talk to them and have asked many ofthem whether they will vote and theanswer is invariably no,” Mr. Semenenkosaid. “Either they are scared, or are notlegally registered, or do not have time. Butimmediately the thought arises: their electionballots will be filled out for them.”Two main contenders...(Continued from page 1)after he had utilized his authority as headof government to raise pensions by some30 percent at the end of September.In Sumy, speaking before a crowd ofwar veterans, Mr. Yanukovych continuedto show the extent of his largesse byannouncing that disabled World War IIveterans who years ago had been promisedspecially outfitted automobiles –some 30,000 veterans in all – wouldfinally receive them, and within days.It was a day full of gift giving for PrimeMinister Yanukovych who also presentedcomputers to several schools and ambulancesand medical equipment to hospitals.While Mr. Yanukovych has effectivelyused the government budget to gain popularitywith the voting public, his moveshave also caused him some problems. Thehike in pensions has resulted in an increasein consumer prices, most notably in thecost of meat and other food commodities.To offset the potential political damage,the Yanukovych government initiated apublic relations campaign through thenews media to explain that the meat pricehikes were a direct result of price increasesin Poland, caused there by the EuropeanUnion’s membership requirements.In Nizhyn, a town outside ofChernihiv, Mr. Yanukovych said onOctober 18 that he would introduce pricecontrols to restrain inflation and limitprofit taking by commodity sellers whohe said had unjustly raised prices afterthe increase in pensions. He promised toput the businessmen “in their place.”“We will limit profitability for all whoraised prices and trade charges, and willcontrol the situation on the markets,” Mr.Yanukovych stated in Nizhyn.Mr. Yanukovych also took advantageof the opening of a fourth reactor at theRivne nuclear power station, which hadbeen years in the building and in the centerof much debate with the EuropeanUnion over how it should be funded. Hetold workers and guests that he wouldnow lead the move to turn Ukraine into anet exporter of electricity.Without the benefits of governmentlargesse and administrative resources,Mr. Yushchenko could only offer promisesto his voters in the final days of campaigning.He continued to maintain thathis administration would govern honestlyand stop corruption, and would workto increase the well-being of society. Healso went out of his way to appeal to thevoters from eastern Ukraine by stating(Continued on page 26)

No. 43by Omelan TwardowskyEAST HANOVER, N.J. – The 80thanniversary celebrations of the UkrainianAthletic-Educational AssociationChornomorska Sitch culminated here atthe Ramada Hotel on October 2.The jubilee program consisted of twostages. The first was a series of jubileesports events: the chess championship ofthe Ukrainian Sports Federation of theU.S.A. and Canada (USCAK); theUSCAK-East soccer championship hostedby Sitch; and the USCAK swimmingand tennis championships held atSoyuzivka. In the summer months therewas also a three-week jubilee trainingTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 15Ukrainian Athletic-Educational Association Chornomorska Sitch celebrates 80th anniversaryBaptist Ukrainian Catholic Church inWhippany, N.J.During the dinner, the festive programproceeded as planned. Short speecheswere delivered by Omelan Twardowsky,the president of Chornomorska Sitch, inUkrainian and by Andrew Panas, ayoung Sitch activist, in English.In his speech, the Sitch presidentreferred to this celebration as unique, asvery few diaspora organizations havemanaged to remain active into such anadvanced age. “The fact that our Sitchchapter is the only one in Americaamong the multitude of Sitch chaptersthat were active in 1930s that hasremained active to this day should beSelf Reliance staffers receive thanks for their support from Sitch representativescamp for Ukrainian youth at theChornomorska Sitch Sports School.The jubilee celebrations were toppedoff with a banquet and ball attended bysome 200 guests, including representativesof other Ukrainian sports organizations, aswell as individual sports activists.This stage of the celebration wasintroduced by younger Sitch memberswho co-chaired the Jubilee Committee –Yaroslav Twardowsky and Greg Serheev,who spoke respectively, in Ukrainian andEnglish. They greeted all present andthen asked them to honor the memory ofthe departed Sitch members with amoment of silence. They also introducedthe two masters of ceremonies, alsoyoung Sitch members, RomanHolowinsky and Stephen Kolodiy.The Rev. Leonid Malkov of the St.John the Baptist Ukrainian CatholicChurch in Newark, N.J., conducted theprayer. Also present was the Rev. MitredRoman Mirchuk of the St. John theRecipients of Sitch awards presented during the 80th anniversary banquet.Award recipient Gene Chyzowych (center) with MCs Roman Holowynsky (left)and Stephan Kolodiy.credited to the Sitch founder and its firstpresident, Ivan Hrynyk, a veteran of theUkrainian War of Liberation, a formerofficer of the Ukrainian Galician Army,who adopted for this chapter a very flexibleand dynamic doctrine,” Mr.Twardowsky underscored.In addition to intensive work withUkrainian youths in the field of physicalculture and sports, Sitch throughout itshistory has devoted significant attentionto Ukraine, on behalf of which it has conductedboth charitable work and politicalactivity as was appropriate at a giventime.Since the time of Ukraine’s independence,Sitch leaders have made importantcontributions toward the processes of therebirth and the Ukrainization of sports inUkraine. The organization Americans forHuman Rights in Ukraine, which wascreated by leading Sitch activists, hascarried out numerous political actions atdiverse political forums for the good ofUkraine, Mr. Twardowsky continued.Over the decades, young Sitch membershave successfully represented theUkrainian name in the American sportsworld. The hundreds of trophies, cupsand certificates that adorn the Sitch homein Newark, as well as the USCAKSection at the Museum of the SportsWomen supporters and activists of Sitch receive awards in recognition of their support.Glory of Ukraine in Kyiv, attest to thefact that Chornomorska Sitch has boastedof such Olympians as Zenon Snylyk(in soccer) and Ron Karnaugh (in swimming),both of whom represented theU.S. in the Olympics.Members of Sitch also took part inthree Ukrainian Olympiads in the U.S.:in 1936, 1988 and 2000, as well as twoInternational Free Olympics in Canada.In conclusion, the Sitch presidentnoted the positive development that anew generation of Sitch members hasstarted to take over the baton from theolder activists. He expressed his hopethat they will guide Chornomorska Sitchto its centennial.Next on the program was the recognitionof distinguished officers and athleteswho have been active in the last fiveyears, as well as the medalists of theOlympiads mentioned above. Jubilee(Continued on page 20)

16 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Works of composer Bohdana Filts to be performed in New York and WashingtonNEW YORK – The works of contemporaryUkrainian composer and musicologistBohdana Filts, laureate of the ViktorKosenko (2003), Lev Revutsky (2003) andthe Mykola Lysenko (1993) prizes, will bepresented in the United States for the firsttime in two upcoming concerts this fall: inNew York on Sunday, November 7, at theUkrainian Institute of America and inWashington at The Ukrainian Embasssy onThursday, December 9.The New York concert, titled “AnAfternoon with Composer BohdanaFilts,” will offer a program of art songsto words by Ukrainian poets, works forpiano and violin, as well as Ukrainianfolk and ritual songs in arrangement bythe composer. Featured performers willbe Oleksandra Hrabova, soprano;Oleksander Abayev, violin; and MarynaRohozhyna, piano. (The concert begins at3 p.m. Donation: $15. Tickets may beobtained by sending a check payable toUIA-MATI, 2 E. 79th St., New York, NY10021 or by calling (212) 288-8660.)* * *Ms. Filts is one of Ukraine’s most popularcontemporary composers, whose styleis deeply rooted in national traditions. Thetonal and rhythmic characteristics ofCarpathian folklore, transmitted throughthe composer’s own lyrical perception ofthe world and modern compositional techniques,give her works a distinctivemelodic quality that is highly appealing inits freshness of harmonic effects.The composer works in various genres:symphonic (Piano Concerto in A Majorand “Verkhovynska Rapsodiya” [HighlandRhapsody]), instrumental, choral, vocalsolos and children’s songs. She is perhapsbest known for her vocal works, whichdisplay her great gift for melody and masterlyability to make use of the expressivepossibilities of the human voice.Ms. Filts is the composer of more than50 romances and songs, a number of vocalcycles, and 17 vocal ensembles (trios andduets) to words by such Ukrainian poetsas Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko,Oleksander Oles, Volodymyr Sosiura,Pavlo Tychyna, Maksym Rylskyi andDmytro Pavlychko, among others, as wellas more than 30 arrangements ofUkrainian folk songs.The composer’s large body of choralwork – more than 150 – written mostlyfor children’s and youth choirs, includesuch popular works as “Liubymo ZemliuSvoyu” (We Love Our Land), which hasbecome a standard part of the repertoireof most children’s choirs.Ms. Filts was awarded the ViktorKosenko Prize for her significant contributionto the field of children’s music asauthor of three collections of choralmusic for children: “Zhyva Krynytsia”(The Wellspring), which includes twochoral cycles on words to the poetry ofLina Kostenko as well as compositionsset to the poetry of Lesia Ukrainka,Teodora Savchynska and MykolaSynhaivsky; “Svite Tykhyi” (A PeacefulWorld), comprising sacred music basedon canonical texts and additional compositionsset to words of various poets; and“Sontse v Zhmentsi (The Sun in the Palmof Your Hand), which offers seven choralworks set to the poetry of Y. Fyshtyk.Ms. Filts is also the author of numerousworks for the piano (including such cyclesas “Zakarpatski Novelety” [TranscarpathianNovelettes] and “Muzychni Prysviaty”[Musical Dedications]), violin, and chamberensembles. Her children’s pieces for thepiano have been published in numerous collections,including in Canada and theUnited States.A concert dedicated to the work of thecomposer was held in Kyiv under theaegis of the Ministry of Culture ofUkraine at the Philharmonic Hall onDecember 16, 2002, in celebration of the70th anniversary of the composer’s birth.* * *Ms. Filts was born in 1932 in YavorivBohdana Filtsin the Lviv region. Her father, MykhailoFilts, was a prominent Galician lawyerand civic and cultural activist; her mother,Yaroslava née Rudnytska, was ateacher at the pretigious Sisters Servantsof St. Basil the Great Women’s Academyin Lviv and the Lysenko Institute ofMusic in Yavoriv, of which the Filtseswere founders. Her maternal grandmother,Olha Rudnytska, was the cousin ofthe famed opera singer SolomiyaKrushelnytska.With the invasion of western Ukraineby Soviet forces in 1939 and subsequentStalinist repressions, including the persecutionof Ukrainian intelligentsia,Mykhailo Filts was arrested by theNKVD and sent to a labor camp inPechora. He died during his term; hisplace of death is unknown. In 1940 hiswife and three of their four children,were deported to Kazakstan, whereBohdana’s mother died of hunger. Theorphaned Bohdana and her two sistersreturned to Lviv in 1945, where theywere taken in and brought up by hermaternal uncle, Nestor Rudnytsky, andhis wife, Hanna.Bohdana Filts completed the LvivMusic School, studying piano with I.Krykh (1951) and later graduated fromthe theoretical (1956) and composition(1958) departments of LvivConservatory, where she studied withcomposer Stanislav Liudkevych.She earned her graduate degree in1962 from the Institute of Fine Arts,Folklore and Ethnography of theAcademy of Sciences of the UkrainianSSR in Kyiv, where she studied with LevRevutsky. That same year she became anassociate of this institute and remainssuch in a senior position to this day.She is the author of five monographs,including “Fortepianna Tvorchist V.S.Kosenka” (The Piano Works of V. S.Kosenko, 1965), “Khorovi ObrobkyUkrainskykh Narodnykh Pisen” (ChoralArrangements of Ukrainian Folk Songs,1965), “Ukrainskyi Radianskyi Romans”(The Ukrainian Soviet Romance, 1970),and “Harmonia Solospivu” (The Harmonyof the Vocal Solo, 1979) and of numerousstudies and articles about Ukrainian music.A member of the Composers’ Unionsince 1961, she is especially active in thefield of music education and appreciation,as well as adjudication.Ms. Filts bears the title of MeritedWorker in the Arts (1999) and is a laureateof the All-Ukrainian Composers’Competition “Spiritual Psalms” (2001).Two recent publications on the composerand her work include: “BohdanaFilts: Tvorchyi Portret” (Bohdana Filts:A Creative Portrait, 2003) by MariaZahaikevych, and, “Art Songs to theWords of Shevchenko by Bohdana Filts”(2004), with O. Smoliak, editor. Includedin the book is the composition for solovoice “Syritka” (An Orphan), which hasbecome one of the most popular of thecomposer’s works.The works have appeared as publicationsof Aston press, Kyiv-Ternopil.Church designs by Radoslav Zukexhibited at Embassy of UkraineWASHINGTON – A traveling exhibition of modern Ukrainian churchesdesigned by Radoslav Zuk opened September 16 at the Ukrainian Embassyof Ukraine. The monthlong exhibit, organized by The Washington GroupCultural Fund in cooperation with the Embassy, features photographs anddrawings of nine of his Ukrainian churches in North America – including theone adjacent to Soyuzivka – as well as a church under construction in Lvivand Prof. Zuk’s plans for the expansion of the National Museum of UkrainianArt in Kyiv. The architect launched the exhibit with a lecture on the stylistictransformation of Ukrainian architecture. In the photo above, he is accompaniedby two Washington-area architects, Larysa Kurylas (left) and UlanaBaczynskyj, who helped organize the event.– Yaro BihunMusical culture in southern Ukrainediscussed at Shevchenko Societyby Dr. Orest PopovychNEW YORK – Performances of bothclassical and folk music in contemporarysouthern Ukraine were demonstratedwith the aid of videorecordings, and theircultural context was discussed by thehusband-and-wife duo of Dr. JaropolkLassowsky and Dr. Hanna Chumachenkoat the Shevchenko Scientific Society(NTSh) building here on September 18.The program was introduced by NTShpresident Dr. Larissa ZaleskaOnyshkevych.Dr. Lassowsky, a professor of music atClarion State University in Pennsylvania,who is also a violinist, conductor and composer,has recently returned from his stintas a Fulbright fellow at the Kherson StateUniversity in sourthern Ukraine, where hetaught music history and the application ofcomputers to music. He also conductedthree different orchestras in Kherson. Inhis lecture, Dr. Lassowsky shared with theaudience his recent experiences there.Kherson, a city of about 400,000 inhabitants(comparable to Pittsburgh) is home tothe Kherson Regional College of Music,attended by some 800 students (not part ofthe university). Although this college is richin tradition, dating back to MykolaLysenko, Dr. Lassowsky said he detected acertain lack of confidence there, based on aself-perception of provincial status. Findingthis attitude unjustified, Dr. Lassowskychallenged the students to prepare and performthe famous Fifth Symphony byBeethoven. With Dr. Lassowsky as the conductor,the college orchestra, consisting of60 students and five faculty members,managed this novel, (for them) task justfine, as demonstrated by the video excerpts.Another piece performed by the collegeorchestra was Mykola Lysenko’s overtureto the opera “Natalka Poltavka,” as orchestratedby Dr. Lassowsky. The NTSh audiencewas treated to an unabridged versionof the overture on video, as it was playedat a concert in Kherson before some 1,200listeners, with Dr. Lassowsky conducting.The conductor-composer was rewardedwith well-deserved applause both inKherson and here. Also shown were examplesof vocal performances by the studentsand faculty, which attested to the highlevel of competence at the KhersonRegional College of Music.In addition to conducting the collegeorchestra, Dr. Lassowsky appeared alsoas guest conductor with two local professionalensembles, the KhersonPhilharmonic Orchestra and the KhersonChamber Orchestra. Of the excerpts oftheir performances, particularly memorablewas the “Elegy” composed by Dr.Lassowsky in memory of Mykola Kulish,the Ukrainian playwright who was murderedby the Communists in 1937. Mr.Kulish was a native of the Khersonregion and Dr. Lassowsky got the inspi-(Continued on page 20)

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Box 280,Parsippany, NJ 07054;or call (973) 292-9800.REAL ESTATEéksana MieleSales AssociateLooking to buy a home or a business?Call Oksana today for a freeconsultation and a free CMA.cell: (848) 203-6370office: (732) 549-0008 x 241ARE YOU SELLINGYOUR BUILDING?CALL US FIRST!We buy 6-60-unit bldgs.Charles PodpirkaJRC Management LLC(718) 459-1651OPPORTUNITYApex PropertiesEARN EXTRA INCOME!The Ukrainian Weekly is lookingfor advertising sales agents.For additional information contactMaria Oscislawski, AdvertisingManager, The Ukrainian Weekly,(973) 292-9800, ext 3040.Authorities crack down...(Continued from page 2)University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy tolocate Pora supporters, but officials refusedto allow them in without a search warrant.These pre-emptive actions against theopposition were part of a failed attemptto disrupt last weekend’s student rally inKyiv. Some 20,000 students fromthroughout Ukraine rallied in support ofMr. Yushchenko’s candidacy(razom.org.ua/album/152/).In a related action, Ukrainian BorderTroops prevented Aleksandar Maric, afounding member of Otpor, from enteringthe country. The Security Service ofUkraine and Foreign Affairs Ministry haverefused to provide an explanation, especiallyas Maric had a one-year multi-entry visa.Otpor has been training Pora membersunder the auspices of the CitizenParticipation in Elections in Ukraine(CPEU) program run by Freedom House,the National Democratic Institute and theInternational Republican Institute, andfunded by the U.S. Agency forInternational Development. Otpor hadalso been cooperating with the Znayu (IKnow) civic education and electionyouth group (znayu.org.ua).Presidential spokesman Vasyl Baziv hasargued that the action taken against Otpor isboth legal and in the interest of Ukrainiannational security (Interfax-Ukraine, October15). But, as Freedom House pointed out,the CPEU program is legally registeredwith the Ministry of Justice and “operatesin full compliance with Ukrainian laws”(freedomhouse.org). Such “learning acrossborders” is an “integral and accepted part ofprograms” used to encourage democratizationthroughout the world, according to aFreedom House press release.This is certainly how the oppositionunderstands U.S. assistance programs. ButUkrainian authorities are visibly paranoidabout the threat of a Serbian or Georgianstylepopular revolution occurring inUkraine to protest election fraud. Oneweek before the arrests and deportations,the pro-presidential camp had clamoredfor the National Security and DefenseCouncil to take tough action against oppositionplans to undertake mass civil disobedience(Ukrainska Pravda, October 7).Valeriy Pustovoitenko, head of thegroup coordinating political parties thatsupport Mr. Yanukovych, warned thatregional organizations of his ownPeople’s Democratic Party throughoutUkraine were reporting that “certainforces are preparing for disturbances onelection night in all of Ukraine’s regions”(Ukrainska Pravda, October 13).Our Ukraine National Deputy TarasStetskiv retorted that opposition and civicgroups are merely attempting to ensure asfew violations as possible on election day,given the laxity of law enforcement bodiesand election officials. The Yushchenkocampaign also issued a statement claimingthat the authorities were losing controlof the situation and were not confident ofMr. Yanukovych’s victory (razom.org.ua).This was admitted by presidential adviserMikhail Pogrebynsky, who said, “Wehave a situation whereby the bigger partof the authorities’ team does not believe intheir success.” He added that there was awidespread “feeling that the authoritieswill lose” (glavred.com, October 6).Emphasizing their concerns, OleksanderMilenin, vice-minister of internal affairsand head of Kyiv’s police, leaked to theFinancial Times (October 19) the existenceof a new “ninja” police unit “trained in specialmeasures.” He also claimed that “newmeans” had “been approved by the HealthMinistry” and were available to suppressprotests. These developments emboldenedMr. Milenin to say that “There won’t beany revolution here” in Ukraine.

No. 43Ottawa radio...(Continued from page 7)touch with one another. The group hopesto meet one day for a huddle to shareideas and strategies.Though she’s the new kid on the blockand a neophyte when it comes to radio,Ms. Bell has the mettle to help makesuch a mini-conference happen.Industry and a zest for life are in hergenes.Born in Krakow as her parents werefleeing Communist Ukraine at the end ofthe second world war, she spent her earlyyears in Germany, where the family livedin one room above a dairy.Before they arrived there, her father,the late Jaroslaw Zajszlyj, who hadobtained a degree in agronomy fromKrakow’s prestigious JagiellonianUniversity, served as director of theSilskyi Hospodar agricultural association,which also promoted Ukrainiannational awareness.In 1951 the Zajszlyjs left for Canadaand settled in Montreal, where they onceagain shared a single room. Eventually,Ms. Bell’s mother, the late Olha Nahirna,who had worked as her husband’s secretaryin Ukraine, ran a grocery store. Thefamily of the three lived at the back.After completing high school inQuebec in a system where graduates aremuch younger than their Canadian counterpartsin other parts of the country, IrenaZajszlyj obtained her teacher’s diploma.At the tender age of 18 she wasplunked into a school and handed a classof 35 pupils, 30 of whom were ItalianUkraine’s exit polls...(Continued from page 3)they would have eagerly joined in a single,extensive effort – especially since most ofthe survey companies with a national reachwere already working on the DIF poll. Mr.Kucheriv said that thus far the three otherprojects had declined his offer.To assure that the exit poll remains freeof corruption and manipulation, DIF and itspartners in the project instituted a multi-leveledstrategy. First, the consortium of fiverespected survey organizations with nationwidereach – consisting of DIF, Socis, theRazumkov Center for Economic andPolitical Research, the Kyiv InternationalInstitute for Sociology (KMIS) and SocialMonitoring – agreed to divide the pollingresponsibilities among themselves.To check and balance one another, eachof the five groups would essentially conductits own exit poll, presenting the samequestion to 12,500 voters each (50,000 intotal) in all oblasts of the country to developa representative sample of the demographicmake-up of Ukraine. The five separateresults would then first be comparedto determine that they were more or lesssimilar and within the margin of error.Then the five results would be combinedinto one very large sample, allowingthe margin of error to be reduced toless than 1 percent and making for a highlevel of accuracy.While admitting that anything couldbe possible in the current pre-electionatmosphere in Ukraine, Mr. Kucherivunderscored that the five companies,which are competitors in the marketplace,would not find it in their best interestto produce compromised or fixed pollresults because they also had to worryabout their public image and need toretain a trust factor if they expected tocontinue to do business.Mr. Kucheriv pointed out that all themembers of the exit poll project had alsoagreed to live by international codes ofethics, one by the World Association ofPublic Opinion Research and another oneby ESOMAR, an international businessTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 19and “about 10 of those didn’t know aword of English, including Mario at theback who was 17,” recalled Ms. Bell.Soon, however, she would begin a journeyfilled with serendipity and connections.After three years of teaching, Ms. Bellreturned to school and received a bachelor’sdegree in English literature from LoyolaCollege (now called Concordia University)in Montreal, and a bachelor’s degree inlibrary science from the University ofToronto, where she worked as a librarian atthe College of Education Library.There she met English-born geologistand volcano expert Keith Bell, who waspursuing post-doctoral studies afterreceiving his doctorate from OxfordUniversity.They married in 1971 and soon afterwardsmoved to Ottawa when Mr. Bellwas hired as a professor at CarletonUniversity.Ms. Bell, meanwhile, landed a job atthe National Library, where she worked insubject cataloguing. Within two years shewas brought on board to a new division,called the Multilingual Biblioservice,which distributed written works in 32 languagesto libraries across Canada andserved as a model for similar programs inthe United Kingdom and Australia.Ms. Bell served as assistant chief until1995, when the division closed and itsfunction was devolved to the provinces.That year the University of Ottawa inaugurateda Chair of Ukrainian Studies andwas in search of a coordinator to run theoffice and organize conferences and lectures.A long-time community organizer, whohad served two terms as president of thewatchdog organization for economic andsocial marketing.Additionally, DIF agreed to cooperatein a project of the Institute of MassInformation, which received a grant fromthe International Renaissance Foundationto research and monitor all public opinionpolling during the presidential campaign,including exit polls, to make surethe process was objective. DIF also hasallowed independent international auditorsfrom Poland and Russia to pick andprod the process right up to and throughElection Day. Finally, the consortium hasgiven the Union of Journalists and theSociological Association of Ukraine openaccess to all its informational materials.“We want to be maximally transparentand public,” explained Mr. Kucheriv.The DIF director said that after thegroup’s experience in the Mukachiv mayoralelections this year, in which at leastone of their surveyors was threatenedwith violence, they had developed a specificstrategy for their workers shouldthey encounter problems. Those gatheringthe data in the presidential exit pollwould have the option of moving toanother pre-fixed voter precinct shouldthey meet with threats or should attemptsbe made to impede their work.This year’s exit poll is being funded by adonor’s club of eight foreign embassies,Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark,Ireland, the United Kingdom, the U.S. andCanada; and four international foundations,the Charles S. Mott Foundation, the SorosFoundation, the Eurasia Foundation and theNational Endowment for Democracy.Mr. Kucheriv said that he would liketo have the Russian Embassy becomepart of the club as well, but had yet toreceive an answer from AmbassadorViktor Chernomyrdin.The DIF director said the first preliminaryexit poll on the results of theOctober 31 presidential vote would beposted on the consortium’s website at8:01 p.m. Ukrainian time (1 p.m. EST)on election day. The final results wouldbe on the site two hours later. The exitpoll website is: www.exitpoll.org.ua.Ukrainian Canadian Professional andBusiness Association (UCPBA), vice-presidentof the Ukrainian Canadian CongressOttawa branch, and recipient of the OttawaUCPBA’s first Filip Konowal LifetimeAchievement Award for long-term volunteerservice to the community, Ms. Bellwas the obvious choice for the job.And, she’s still at it.Amid her part-time duties at the university,the silken-voiced, fluently bilingual(Ukrainian and English) radio personalityhas to, as producer, also findadvertisers (she has a few loyal supportersfrom Ottawa’s Ukrainian community)for the “Ukrainian Program.” Thenthere’s all the prep work of scouringOttawa for Ukrainian community currentevents and news, and listening to the latestUkrainian music CDs that is requiredto broadcast exciting and fresh radio.“Being connected in the communitycertainly helps,” she said.But Ms. Bell is of that erudite and rarebreed whose curiosity of the world is contagiousenough that she could easily slipbehind a microphone, start talking andmesmerize her audience – about, perhaps,the 10-month course in fine arts she completedat Christie’s in London in the early1980s while her husband was on sabbaticalpursuing a diploma in gemology.Getting enrolled in the Christie’scourse was itself a challenge.Ms. Bell had to first travel to NewYork for an interview and convince theelite of the world-famous art house sheMAY WE HELP YOU?had the right stuff.“The course was meant to build upsome loyalty among a clientele who havelarge art collections,” explained the elegant-lookingblonde.“I told them I was interested in Africanand Byzantine art, neither of which theysaid they covered. But I said I want to putthings into context and it turned out that Iused phrasing that one of the interviewershad used in a children’s book he had justwritten. So I lucked into saying somethingthat was similar,” she recalled.Once accepted, Ms. Bell joined agroup of about 120 students.“One-third were Brits with a lot ofmoney, another third were titledEuropeans like dukes and so forth, andthe other third were rich Americans andAsians. I was the token proletariat,” shelaughed. “You couldn’t joke about havinga Renoir hanging over your mantlebecause these people had them.”Socializing with greyhound racetrackowners, women who had Mercedes-drivingchauffeurs deliver their lunches, andbarons who had as many castles as thefingers on her hand, Ms. Bell also got tovisit country estates with massive privateart collections and to see London’s finestexhibits up close behind the velvet rope.Saucer-eyed at times by the opulence surroundingher, Ms. Bell still managed toleave an impression in her inimitable style.“I made friends with Americans andEuropeans who didn’t mix too much.” Onceagain, she had connected.To reach The Ukrainian Weekly call (973) 292-9800,and dial the appropriate extension (as listed below).Editorial – 3049, 3063, 3069; Administration – 3041;Advertising – 3040; Subscriptions – 3042; Production – 3052

20 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Dr. Hanna Chumachenko and Dr. Jaropolk Lassowsky.Musical culture...(Continued from page 16)ration for this composition by visitingMr. Kulish’s native village. In appreciation,the Kherson Philharmonic accordedDr. Lassowsky the title of resident composerand guest conductor.In the future, Dr. Lassowsky said he isplanning for Kherson a comprehensiveprogram of presentations of Lysenko’sworks, orchestral as well as choral.Popularizing Ukrainian music in Ukrainemay sound paradoxical, but it is necessary,concluded the speaker.Next to speak was Dr. Chumachenko, aphilologist specializing in Ukrainianethnography and folklore, and a professor atKherson State University, a position she hasretained even after emigrating to the U.S.During her husband’s visiting professorshipthere, she taught in its graduate division.As an ethnographer, Dr. Chumachenkoprefaced her musical presentation by firstproviding the necessary ethnoculturalcontext. She showed videos of the landscapesand houses along the southernbanks of Dnipro River, related what kindof people – mostly fishermen and vegetablefarmers – live there and sharedsnippets of their experiences under communism.Although there is some localKozak tradition in the region, most of thepopulation of southern Ukraine hadmigrated there from other regions ofUkraine – Poltava and Vinnytsia werementioned – and even from as far awayas the Carpathian mountains. This diversityis reflected in their music and attire,Dr. Chumachenko noted.Subsequently, she showed a videofrom a festival of folk music at HolaPrystan, near the delta of the Dnipro,where many village ensembles showedoff their songs and dances – a mélange ofspring songs, songs of the Ivan Kupalorituals and others. Renowned among thefolklore ensembles is a women’s singinggroup called Oleshshya from the villageof Kardashynka in the Kherson region,which has appeared at folk festivals elsewhereas well. Featured also were jocularcontemporary songs about present-daysituations. At folk festivals it is notuncommon for the audience to join in theperformance. Dr. Chumachenko summedup by observing that the folk music ofsouthern Ukraine reflects its people’s “artof survival.”Dr. Lassowsky said he was very gratefulfor the enthusiastic cooperation of allthe institutions he worked with during hisUkrainian Athletic...(Continued from page 15)medals were presented to: MyronStebelsky, Alexander Napora, Dr. OrestPopovych, Omelan Twardowsky,Nicholas Hordynsky, Wasyl Ciurpita, Dr.Oleh Kolodiy, Roman Pyndus, BillVincent, Walter Hywel and EugeneChyzowych.Also awarded were the following athletesand members of the governingboard: Yaroslaw Twardowsky, Mr. Panas,Mr. Serheev, Stephan Kolodiy and MarkHordynsky.In the category of the benefactors ofSitch, jubilee awards were presented to theSelf-Reliance Ukrainian-American CreditUnion in Newark-Parsippany; the NewarkChapter of the Self-Reliance Society; andOrest Fedash, executive general manger ofthe Ramada Hotel in East Hanover, N.J.Also honored were the followingmedalists from the Olympiads mentionedabove: Andrew Bakun, Marian Hamulak,Bohdan Kucyna, Yaroslaw Twardowsky,Mr. Panas and Mr. Serheev in soccer;Zenia Matkiwsky-Olesnycky in tennis;Dr. Popovych in chess; and DariaTwardowsky-Vincent in volleyball.Also honored were the ladies – thestay in Kherson: the Kherson RegionalCollege of Music (Director Olena Lypa,Vice-Director Natalia Drobot, OrchestraDirector Dmytro Siryi); Kherson StateUniversity (Rector Yuriy Belyaev, Vice-Rector Oleh Mishukov, Dean of theSchool of Arts and Culture, MykolaLevchenko); the Department of Cultureof the Kherson Regional Administration(Vasyl Ryleev, chairman); Director of theKherson Philharmonic Yuriy Ivanenko;the Kherson Philharmonic OrchestraHilea (Music Director and ConductorYuriy Kerpatenko).wives of the Sitch activists who over theyears have supported their husbands intheir Sitch work or those who performedcarious duties for the society themselves;Lesia Stebelsky, Anna Twardowsky, OlaNapora, Daria Rudakewych, SlavaHordynsky, Luba Lapychak-Lesko,Taissa Turiansky, Anna Chyzowych,Bozhena Olshaniwsky, Olenka Kolodiy,Stefka Brencyh, Yevhenia Markus, AdiaFedash, Ms. Twardowsky-Vincent,Natalka Sygida and Tiffany Twardowsky.In the course of the banquet, the guestswere greeted by Mr. Stebelsky, president ofUSCAK; Marko Howansky, president ofSUM Krylati, Yonkers; Taras Kozak, headof the Sports Section of Tryzub,Philadelphia; and Volodymyr Hnatkiwsky,delegate of the Carpathian Ski Club (KLK).A greeting from the executive of theUkrainian Fraternal Association was readby Mr. Napora; Dr. Kolodiy offeredgreetings on behalf of the Verkhovynaresort. Written felicitations came fromthe Ukrainian National Association, aswell as Sen. John Corzine, New JerseyState Sen. Ronald Rice, Essex CountySheriff Armand Fontura, New JerseyGov. James E. McGreevey and others.The celebrations ended with a jubileeball to the sounds of the Luna orchestraconducted by Oles Kuzyszyn.

No. 43Highlights from the UNA’s...(Continued from page 6)“The Shevchenko monument project[the monument was dedicated in 1964],Cardinal [Josyf] Slipyj’s return to freedom[1962], and our political successes [in therealm of U.S. support for Ukraine’s independence]all bordered on the sensational.But this was not all that was happening.“In community after community, aboom was on in improving our physicalfacilities for making life more pleasantand productive. Cathedrals, churches,colleges, schools and community centerswere being constructed or planned. InPhiladelphia, construction was started ontwo cathedrals, Catholic and Orthodox.Colleges were constructed or expanded inStamford, Conn., Winnipeg, Canada, andFox Chase, Philadelphia. New churchesin dozens of cities, ranging in cost from$50,000 to over a million dollars, werebeing built or planned. Parochial schoolsto accommodate all elementary full-timeclasses were built. Luxurious nationalhomes and modern community centerswere completed in cities stretching fromone end of the continent to the other.“In the more populated areas, organizationsencompassing all strata of ourcommunity life increased their ranks.Professional groups such a doctors, engineers,lawyers, journalists, educators andartists became more directly and activelyinvolved in community affairs. Studentassociations and youth leagues expandedtheir activities and constantly kept strivingto develop a stronger youth participationin community life. Women’s soci-Submission from Bush...(Continued from page 5)our own soil, and with this experience camea better realization of the struggles borneevery day by the people across the ocean –in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Wedeveloped an even stronger determination todefeat terrorism and to eliminate the threat itposes to free people everywhere. As theworld’s most powerful nation, PresidentBush believes that the United States has aspecial responsibility to help make theworld more secure. The Bush administrationrecognizes Ukraine’s continued supportas we seek to defeat a ubiquitous enemy,and condemns the assertion of John Kerrythat America’s only allies in the war on terrorin Iraq are a “coalition of the coercedand the bribed.” President Bush trulybelieves that “our allies deserve the respectof all Americans, not the scorn of a politician.America is grateful, and America willnot forget their contributions.”The partnership between Ukraine andthe United States was first formed by theCold War and is strengthened by ourcommitment to winning the war on terror.Built on a foundation of strong leadershipby President Reagan to protectEastern Europe, President Bush has reinforcedthe policies of freedom anddemocracy in Eastern and CentralEurope in the new century.In establishing a partnership for peace,Americans reached out across to Centraland Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and weare pleased to see that many Ukrainiansare meeting our efforts. President Bushcontinues to appreciate the contributionsof Ukraine and the Ukrainian Americancommunity here in the United States andwill continue to work to build peace andprosperity that will benefit all.* * *Due to the notification process of the specificquestions outlined in the questionnaire,we ask that we respectfully reserve the rightto provide detailed answers to the requestedquestions next week for The UkrainianWeekly released on the 31st [of October].Where:THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 21eties continued their educational andsocial programs at a stepped-up pace.Every group was on the move. ...“It was against this backdrop that ourassociation, the largest Ukrainian fraternalsociety in the word, carried on itsorganizational work for the past fouryears. It would seem that with so muchgoing on in our Ukrainian communitythere would be little difficulty in maintaininga steady and rapid growth inA “Georgian scenario”...MEET THE RECTOR OF THEUKRAINIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY!St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York CityWhen: Saturday, November 65 p.m.: Divine Liturgy concelebrated by Bishop Basil Losten andFr. Borys Gudziak, RectorUkrainian Catholic University, Lviv6:30 p.m.: Rector’s DinnerSt. George School Auditorium,215 E. 6 th StreetAdmission to dinner:$100.00 (additional gifts encouraged)(Continued from page 2)law enforcement bodies for “serving thecriminal authorities” as well as intimidatingand staging provocations against democraticforces and supporters of Mr.Yushchenko’s presidential bid. “We willfight for human rights and will not giveup,” Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenkosay on behalf of their campaign coalition,Power of the People. “Also, we reserve theright to a civic protest, within the frameworkof the legislation in force and theUkrainian Constitution.”The reaction of the authorities to the statementwas immediate. “The Internal AffairsMinistry pledges to forestall a change ofpolitical power in the country through civildisobedience actions after the presidentialelection on October 31,” ITAR-TASS quotedVice-Minister of Internal Affairs MikhailKorniyenko as saying. “There will be noGeorgian scenario in Ukraine.”There were also more threatening, andsimultaneously enigmatic, warnings fromthe Internal Affairs Ministry. “Therewon’t be any revolutions here,” theOctober 19 issue of the Financial Timesquoted Kyiv police chief OleksanderMilenin as saying. “We are ready for theunexpected. We even have our ninjas – arecently formed subdivision – trained inspecial measures. We have also newmeans, which for now I won’t speakabout. I’ll only say that their use has beenapproved by the Health Ministry. I assureyou, the health of citizens won’t suffer.”Meanwhile, the police have embarkedon a campaign of arrests targetingUkrainian student activists who supportMr. Yushchenko’s presidential ambitions.Tax deductible checks should be made out to:The Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation (UCEF)Send ticket requests by October 30 th to:St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church, 30 East 7 th Street, NewYork, NY, 10003 Phone: 212-674-1615membership. Actually in some ways wewere hampered in our organizationalduties because so much time and energywas expended on extracurricular affairs.“Nevertheless, I personally feel thatwe will benefit in the long run becausewe are building our community life on asolid base that will help us carry on ourtraditions and culture for generations tocome. Under such circumstances theUkrainian National Association will continueto forge ahead.Source: Introductory remarks by UNASupreme President Joseph Lesawyer atthe opening session of the UNA’s 26thConvention in Chicago on May 16, 1966,“Minutes of the 26th Regular Conventionof the Ukrainian National Association.”The border used for this special feature isreproduced from a UNA membership certificatedated 1942.On October 16, some 20,000 studentsfrom all over Ukraine turned up for apro-Yushchenko rally in Kyiv, duringwhich they passed a mock “no-confidencevote” in Prime MinisterYanukovych’s Cabinet. On October 18,police arrested 15 students in Chernihiv;all of those arrested had participated inthe Kyiv rally the previous day. OnOctober 19 a pro-Yushchenko studentactivist was arrested in Poltava.The atmosphere of the presidentialcampaign in Ukraine has becomeincreasingly tense in the wake of theOctober 19 disappearance of the presssecretary for the Yushchenko regionalcampaign headquarters in Mykolayiv.The press secretary claimed via mobilephone to have been kidnapped – apparentlyby plainclothes police – after whichthe contact with him was lost.Fr. Gudziak is a native of Syracuse and now the spiritual successor ofMetropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and Patriarch Josyf Slipyj as rector ofUCU. He will share the dream and the reality of our Church’s majoreducational institution. Bishop Basil Losten heartily encourages all togreet and support Fr. Gudziak.For those who are unable to greet Fr. Gudziak personally, donationscan also be sent to the:The Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation,2247 West Chicago Ave.,Chicago, IL, 60622.Phone: 773-235-8462.

22 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43

No. 43NEWSBRIEFS(Continued from page 2)Chernomyrdin told a roundtable meeting“Russia and Ukraine: Prospects ofCooperation in the Banking Sector,” theBBC reported. On the initiative of theRussian Club in the Ukrainian capital,bankers of the two countries discussedmeasures to step up business cooperationin creating a free trade zone and solvingthe problems of deposit insurance, moneytransfers and legal unification. GennadyMelikyan, deputy chairman of the CentralBank of Russia, who attended the forum,said Mr. Chernomyrdin’s initiative was illtimed.“At this time, Russia and Ukraineare not ready for that,” he stressed. In hisopinion, a smaller problem should be settledfirst: the problem of money transfersbetween Russia and Ukraine. Accordingto Mr. Melikyan, tens of thousands ofUkrainians working in Russia have tosend U.S. dollars to their families. (BBC)Kuchma denies rumors of emergencyTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 23KYIV – President Leonid Kuchma onOctober 15 described as “mere fantasy”the rumors claiming that the militaryparade in Kyiv on October 28 will beused as an excuse to bring troops to thecapital and introduce a state of emergencybefore the October 31 presidentialballot, Interfax reported. Mr. Kuchmasaid the parade, which is intended to celebratethe 60th anniversary of the liberationof Ukraine from German invaders,will feature no other military hardwareexcept one World War II-era tank. “It isour duty to pay tribute to those who gaveUkraine and the nations of the world anopportunity to live in peace for manyyears,” the president added. Commentingon dirty techniques used in the presidentialelection campaign, Mr. Kuchma saidthey “exceed the framework of humandecency.” (RFE/RL Newsline)PM blames profiteers, opponentsKYIV – Prime Minister ViktorYanukovych charged on October 14 thatprofiteers and “some political forces”wishing to destabilize the situation on thefood markets are responsible for recentfood-price hikes in Ukraine, Ukrainianmedia reported. Mr. Yanukovych reportedlyordered that the law enforcementbodies intervene and keep food prices incheck. Meanwhile, National Deputy PetroPoroshenko of the Our Ukraine bloc saidthe primary reason for the price hikes isMr. Yanukovych’s recent decision to raisepensions for more than 11 million peoplein Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)EU states urge stronger ties with UkraineBRUSSELS – Eleven European Unioncountries have called for stronger relationswith Ukraine and underscored the need fora more uniform EU policy toward Russia,a diplomatic source said. The nations fromthe north and east of the 25-nation blocwho met on Sunday, October 10, agreedon “the need to develop contacts withUkraine” and that pro-European politicalforces in the country should be strengthened,the source said. Participants includedthe three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia andLithuania – northern EU membersDenmark, Finland and Sweden, and thefour Visegrad Group countries, the CzechRepublic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia,plus Austria. The talks which took theform of an informal dinner held before anEU foreign ministers’ meeting also agreedit necessary to give a “European perspectiveto Ukraine” so that it moves closer tothe EU. (Action Ukraine Report)LEAGUE OF UKRAINIAN VOTERS – LUVKnowing the mistakes made byPresident George W. Bushin foreign and domestic affairs,it is time for a change!Vote for John Kerry for PresidentandBattle resumes for constitutional reformKYIV – National Deputies OleksanderMoroz and Stepan Havrysh have submitteda draft bill to the Verkhovna Rada proposingthat constitutional-reform Bill No.4180 be adopted in its entirety, RFE/RL’sUkrainian Service reported on October 13.The bill, which was approved in the firstreading by the Verkhovna Rada in June,proposes transferring a significant part ofpresidential powers to the Parliament andthe prime minister. The ConstitutionalCourt ruled on October 14 that the billdoes not contradict the Constitution ofUkraine. To become law, the constitutional-reformbill must be approved by a twothirdsmajority (at least 300 votes) in thesecond reading. (RFE/RL Newsline)Art from collection...(Continued from page 17)collectors include V. Sechyshyn, Oslo(270 works); Ye. Sumyk, Neptune City,N.J., (75 works); and Ye. Dovhan,Montreal (28 works).Among Hryshchenko’s theoreticalwritings are: “O Sviaziakh RusskoiZhivopisi s Vizantiei i Zapadom”(Russian Painting and Its Ties withByzantium and the West, 1913); and“Russkaia Ikona kak IskusstvoZhivopisi” (The Russian Icon asPainting, 1917).His memoirs include the following:“Deux Ans à Constantinople (Two Yearsin Constantinople, 1930, includes 40reproductions of his watercolors;Ukainian edition, 1961, without reproductions);“L’Ukraine de Mes JoursBleus” (The Ukraine of My Blue Days,1957; Ukrainian edition, 1958); “MoyiZustrichi i Rozmovy z FrantsuzkymyMysttsiamy” (My Encounters andConversations with French Artists, 1962;English edition, 1968); and “Roky Buri iUkraine and the culture...Natysku” (Years of Storm and Stress,1967).Monographs of Hryshchenko’s artworks include: P. Kovzhun,“Hryshchenko-Gritchenko” (Lviv, 1934);Jean René, “Alexis Gritchenko: Sa vie,Son Oeuvre” (Alexis Gritchenko, HisLife, His Work, Paris, 1948); andRaymond Charmet et al., “AlexisGritchenko” (Paris, 1964).Hryshchenko enjoyed a long and distinguishedcareer spanning more than 60years. The artist’s travels deeply influencedand to a great degree affected thestyle of his work. Initially an enthusiastof cubist painting, with its characteristicallygeometric forms and initially limitedcolor palette, he changed his style to avibrant expressionism, in which reality ornature is transformed to communicate aninner vision.His watercolor paintings convey theimmediate expression of a visual experience,rendered in muted, at times bright,diaphanously transparent colors.Hryshchenko died in Vence, France,on January 28, 1977.(Continued from page 11)democratic of people have contributed tothe democratic deficit in their countries.Governments must also provide theseservices with money. This is not an alternativeto spending money on social welfare.It is part of social welfare. If militsionery(police) are paid wages inconsistentwith life, it is inevitable that theywill cheat rather than die. Here as elsewhere,the goal is not to “eliminate corruption”– a goal which is as unrealisticin Britain as it is in Ukraine. The goal isto create a state of affairs in which corruptionis a matter of choice, rather thana matter of survival. If the state cannotafford to fund force structures, somebodyelse will, and democracy, welfare andnational security will suffer.In conclusion, the point is not to criticizethe world, but to change it. We willnot change it unless we recognize thatinstitutions matter. Perhaps they mattermore than presidents. Institutional cultures,subcultures, resources andresourcefulness have broken the power ofpresidents, no matter how fairly electedor popular.So, if there is a proper election inUkraine and the opposition succeeds inwinning it, only the first challenge willhave been surmounted. The more seriouschallenge will be to hold power and notsimply hold office. The worst scenariofor Ukraine is not that [Viktor]Yushchenko loses the election. Far worseis that he wins and then fails. This, too,may be decided by cultural factors.The current authorities are not theproduct of a democratic culture, but aLeninist culture. The opposition mightconsider this an amoral culture, but itwould be perilous to despise it. Leninistsunderstand organization, time-keeping,planning, pragmatism and power. Let ushope that enough members of the oppositionunderstand the same.The views expressed above are theauthor’s and not necessarily those of theU.K. Ministry of Defense.John Edwards for Vice-PresidentThey deserve your support on November 2, 2004For Executive Board of LUVWalter BodnarBozhena Olshaniwsky

24 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43

No. 43THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 25Ukrainian American Veterans present scholarships for 2004Markian Andrew Hadzewycz Juliana Sophia Wynohradnyk Marta Natalie Kunynskyj Victor William Cannuscioby Dr. Nicholas SkirkaYONKERS, N.Y. – The UkrainianAmerican Veterans (UAV) held their 57thannual convention on Saturday,September 18, in Dedham, Mass. AnnaKrawczuk was elected the national commander,becoming the first woman everto hold this position since the inceptionof the UAV in 1948.The installation of newly electedNational Executive and Ladies AuxiliaryBoards was guided by Past CommanderEugene Sagasz.Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of theUkrainian Congress Committee ofAmerica, was the keynote speaker andspoke about the significance of unitingall Ukrainian organizations under oneumbrella.Each year at the convention theUkrainian American Veterans organizationannounces and awards scholarshipsto college students who are descendantsof Ukrainian American Veterans. One ofthe requirements is to write an essay (400to 500 words) about a current militarytopic. The topic this year was “What roleor strategy should the United States takein its continued efforts in the war on terrorism?”Four students were selected asrecipients of the 2003-2004 scholarshipawards.Markian Andrew Hadzewycz, a historymajor from Morristown, N.J., whoattends Drew University, received $400for writing the best essay. The best essayaward is made possible by the NationalLadies Auxiliary. The other three recipientswere awarded $300. Juliana SophiaWynohradnyk of Stony Point, N.Y.attends Sacred Heart University inFairfield, Conn., where she is majoring incommunications. Marta NatalieKunynskyj of Detroit attends WayneState and is majoring in physical therapy.Victor William Cannuscio of West PalmBeach, Fla., attends Palm BeachCommunity College and is studying tobecome a professional pilot.The UAV sent congratulations to allthe recipients and wished them continuedsuccess in their college careers.Students interested in applying for theUAV Scholarship Awards should fill outan application, write an essay on thisyear’s military topic, and send a photograph.Applications are available on theUAV website: www.uavets.org.To be eligible for a UAV scholarship,applicants must be descendants ofUkrainian American Veterans and be fulltimematriculated college students in adegree program. Moreover, students fromaccredited trade schools or institutions thathave degree programs are eligible. Studentscan apply while in their senior year in highschool, as college attendance can be verifiedbefore the award is given in the fall.Applications are accepted from Novemberthrough August for each year. Additionally,(Continued on page 31)VOINOVICHfor U.S. SenateVote Tuesday November 2nd for George V. VoinovichExperience We Can TrustGeorge Voinovich consistently supported the independence and self-determination ofUkraine. He actively supports the development of a free market economy and internationaltrade with Ukraine.Senator Voinovich supports and recognizes the vital importance of private parochialschools, like St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral School in Parma, Ohio. TheState of Ohio leads the country in terms of state support for our private schools.Senator Voinovich led the fight to preserve the Ukrainian radio program onCleveland’s public radio station.Senator Voinovich has appointed Ukrainian-Americans to senior administrationpositions and various state boards and commissions and judgeships.Endorsed by the Ukrainian Civic League and the American Nationalities Movement“You show me someone who is proud of their ethnic heritage, and I’ll show you a great American”Paid for by the Voinovich for Senate Campaign Committee

26 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Two Luhansk....(Continued from page 13)Messrs. Kirilov and Kosenko cited severalreasons for their acts of September 18. Theysaid they wanted to express their distrust ofthe current Ukrainian political establishment;to prove that officials of their universitywere subordinate to the local politicalauthorities; and to determine whether themilitia would adhere to the laws on suchpublic displays, which are not illegal.Their prison detention was followedby expulsion from the university. Mr.Kirilov claimed that the reason was thatthey had supported Mr. Yushchenko.“The dean told me, ‘You will beexpelled if you do not take down the portraitof Yushchenko in your dormitoryroom,’ ” explained Mr. Kirilov. “Thatthreat was followed by a series of othersby professors and vice-rectors.”Vice-Rector for Academic PerformanceVadym Matveev responded to the assertionsmade by the students by noting that:“Our educational establishment supportsthe candidacy of Mr. Yanukovych. That isthe reason we try to persuade our studentsof the advantages he brings. However, wedo not threaten them and do not useadministrative methods.”Valerii Rudenko, the dean of theVeterinary Faculty where Mr. Kirilovstudied, said his student was expelledbecause of his habit of missing class.“I am not a truant,” Mr. Kirilov counteredat the press conference. “I am an Astudent and I was preparing to graduatewith honors.”Mr. Kirilov was a member of theRegional Student Council and winner ofthe regional Student Leader contest theprevious year. That is why, he said at thepress conference, he was quite sure hewould not be expelled from the university.When Messrs. Kosenko and Kirilovdiscovered that they had been expelledand evicted from the dormitory, theyasked Mr. Putintsev to talk to LNAURector Valentyna Tkachenko and to figureout the true reasons for their expulsion.Anatolii Putintsev, head of theYushchenko campaign in the LuhanskTwo main contenders...(Continued from page 14)that he would simplify procedures forborder crossings into Russia and Belarus,and underscoring that had no intention ofignoring the needs of the Russian-speakingportion of the Ukrainian citizenry.But while Mr. Yanukovych was on theground distributing government gifts, Mr.Yushchenko was too often quite literallystuck in the air in Ukraine trying to find aplace to land his campaign plane.On October 19 the plane that was carryinghim back to Kyiv from a campaignappearance in Luhansk was denied approvalto land at Boryspil Airport due to inclementweather, although it was a partly sunny day.The campaign team then decided to flydirectly to their campaign stop of the nextday, the city of Zaporizhia, but was turnedaway at that airport as well. Apparently theweather there had turned bad, too. Theyfinally landed in Lviv, on the other side ofthe country from where they had started.On October 20 Mr. Yushchenko’s planewas again not allowed to land near a campaigndestination, this time at the airportoutside Mariupol. The plane was finallycleared for arrival in Donetsk, which resultedin a two-hour commute by car back toMariupol to meet with voters in that city.Mr. Yushchenko received bad news ofanother sort on October 19 when anAustrian Appeals Court rejected his claimthat his medical records from his treatmentat Rudolfinerhaus Clinic in Viennashould not be made available to Ukraine’sProcurator General’s Office. Vienneseregion, who has become a consultant forthe two students in their fight to get reinstatedat the university, said that theschool authorities are now scared.“As soon as Ms. Tkachenko’s secretarytold her about my issue, the rector ran outthrough another entrance,” he explained atthe press conference. “She became frightenedby the possible sequences.”The next day the ex-students and Mr.Putintsev came to the university togetherand took a person with a video camerawith them. Vice-Rector Matveev metthem in the entranceway with securityguards and refused to let them in.“You will not come in, because you havecome to campaign for Mr. Yushchenko,” hesaid – words that were caught on tape.Then, Mr. Mateev told the securitymen to take the threesome out by force,an act that also was caught on tape andshown during the press conference. Mr.Kosenko said that after the incident hisuniversity group was disbanded and hisfriends were now being threatened.LNAU Rector Tkachenko refused tocomment on any of the issues related tothe circumstances in which the two studentsnow find themselves.Mr. Kirilov said he assumed the rectorhad to act in such a way because there waspressure being brought to bear on her bylocal authorities. When Mr. Yushchenkotraveled to Luhansk on October 17 duringhis pre-election campaign, he appealed tothe oblast chairman to help the students,which he explained at a campaign rally onTeatralna Square in the city. The local prosecutoris currently looking into the matter.Nevertheless the situation at the universityremains strained. Most of the professorswho told The Weekly that they do not supportthe position of the LNAU officialsregarding the students, nonetheless said theydid not want their names cited in the press.One professor who wished to remainunidentified said that at the last meetingwith the academic body on October 18,the rector said: “Yanukovych has tobecome the president. If Yushchenko getspower, civil war will break out. TheYushchenko campaign team is pressuringme, but I will get what I want.”police had earlier confiscated the documents,including test analyses for possiblechemical poisoning. Afterwards, Mr.Yushchenko said that he would makepublic all his medical documents from theAustrian hospital so that the Ukrainianlaw enforcement agency could not misinformthe public about the true results.Meanwhile Mykola Melnychenko, thenotorious former member of PresidentLeonid Kuchma’s security detail until hefled to the West after revealing that hehad digital recordings implicating theUkrainian president in the murder of aUkrainian journalist, said on October 19that he would reveal more recordings,these containing conversations betweenMr. Kuchma and Mr. Yanukovych.Mr. Melnychenko said the new fragmentsof recordings were from July2000, when Mr. Yanukovych was thechairman of the Donetsk Oblast. Theyinvolved conversations in which the currentpresidential candidate asks for permissionto form “a political force in theUkrainian Parliament from Donetsk”because the Communist national deputies“to whom he paid money did not alwaysfollow his orders.”Mr. Melnychenko also noted that inthe recordings Mr. Yanukovych tells theUkrainian president that “all newspapersare under control” in Donetsk and disobedientjournalists were “being backedagainst the wall.”The former security service employeesaid he would turn the recordings over tothe Verkhovna Rada through NationalDeputy Hryhorii Omelchenko.Students say...(Continued from page 13)because they had linked him to both theGeorgian and Serbian student groups.The four Pora members, however, saidtheir aim was not violent uprising but toorganize student activists in an anti-Yanukovych campaign.“Beyond our heartfelt belief that weare right, we carry no other weapons,”explained one of the members of Pora.The female student, who did not wish toidentify herself, noted that the majorityof Pora members are female.She also said that some 150 of its membershad been detained in the last fourmonths since the organization began toactively develop its campaign and disseminateanti-Yanukovych propaganda. Somehad been charged, albeit falsely, said theunidentified Pora member, with carryingcounterfeit money or having bomb-makingequipment in their possession. Pora wasorganized in Lviv in March of this year.Another Pora member at the pressconference said that law enforcementofficials had confiscated another explosivedevice in the organization’sChernihiv office on October 19, whichshe maintained had also been a plant.The incident in Kyiv began the eveningof October 15 when a state militia squadcar arrived at the Pora offices in the Podildistrict of Kyiv, not far from the NationalUniversity of Kyiv Mohyla Academy,where some 10,000 students would gatherin support of Mr. Yuschenko’s presidentialcandidacy the next day.According to Yevhen Zolotariov, aPora activist who was present, at first thelaw enforcement officers said they wereresponding to a report of a fight in thebasement of the offices, reported MolodaUkraine. When the students would notopen the office doors, the officers thenchanged their story and said they had tocheck a dangerous situation with an electricalshort circuit in the building, Thestudent activists still refused to allow themilitia officers to enter, but then higherranking officials arrived and somehow aspare key appeared and entry was gained.Now citing a bomb threat, the statemilitia called in a team of experts withsearch dogs and went through the premisesbut found nothing. Mr. Zolotariovexplained that next a state militia generalnow present on site ordered Berkut specialforces to clear the office of all thosepresent, including the group of nationaldeputies from Our Ukraine and other lawmakerswho were part of the entourage.When a group of unidentified plainclothedindividuals conducted a secondStatement by...closed-door bomb search, the explosivedevice was discovered, allegedly in atrash can in the main room, which Mr.Zolotariov maintained had already beensearched twice before.The national deputies from Our Ukrainepresent at the scene noted that it was strangethat the five-story building was evacuated ina haphazard and laconic way, with the buildingresidents not forced to leave their premisesbut told that they could leave if theywished to do so. They also observed thatdozens of law enforcement officials freelyentered and exited a building that couldsurely have contained other bombs if onehad already been discovered. NationalDeputy Stetsko added that he was denied arequest to have fingerprint tests done on theexplosive device in his presence.Two Pora activists were arrested at thescene of the incident and charged the followingday with conspiracy to perform terroristacts and membership in an illegal militaryformation, reported Interfax Ukraine.Subsequently, the state militia also arrestedYaroslav Hodunok, owner of WesternService, the company that leased the officeto Pora. Mr. Hodunok, ironically himself aformer militia officer, is also a member ofthe Ukrainian National Party, which is partof the Our Ukraine coalition. Mr. Hodunokwas jailed in the detention facility of theSecurity Service of Ukraine while the intelligenceagency’s anti-terrorist divisioninvestigated his involvement with Pora.Two days after the incident, and theday after the large pro-Yushchenko studentrally held before the university, statemilitia officers entered the compoundand buildings of the National Universityof Kyiv Mohyla Academy unannouncedand proceeded to search the premises,ostensibly in pursuit of illegal aliensworking on a remodeling project takingplace within the university’s buildings.University officials said that the lawenforcement officials could not producedocuments authorizing their search. Theydropped the effort only after lawmakersfrom Ukraine’s Parliament arrived, butnot before they had confiscated severalpassports, which were later returnedwithout incident.The university issued a statement thesame day noting that: In evaluating the circumstancesand motivation of this surpriseintervention of the militia at the Universityof Kyiv Mohyla Academy it is clear that thedemands of the militia to inspect the entirepremises of the university were unfounded.There were no direct written orders givenfor the entry, and there were no legal directivespresented, which leads the administrationof the university to conclude that thisact was one of provocation and harassment,aimed to discredit the university.”(Continued from page 13)vention of the militia at the University ofKyiv Mohyla Academy. ... it is clear thatthe demands of the militia to inspect theentire premises of the university wereunfounded, there were no direct writtenorders given for the entry and there were nolegal directives presented, which leads theadministration of the university to concludethat this act was one of provocation andharassment, aimed to discredit the university.”The university’s statement states thatthe incident took place the day after a studentrally in support of Viktor Yushchenko,the opposition candidate for president, inthe city’s central square. The rally hadbeen attended by a large number of KyivMohyla Academy students, many of whomspoke openly about the Ukrainian government’sattempt to thwart their rally.The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation ofAmerica fully supports the position ofthe Kyiv Mohyla Academy’s administrationin questioning the militia’s legalauthority to enter the university without aproper warrant and in rejecting the militia’sentry. The foundation fully agreeswith the manner in which the administrationof Kyiv Mohyla Academy opposedunlawful police actions. The foundationjoins with other members of the world’sacademic community to condemn andprotest such illegal acts on the part of themilitia to disrupt and prevent free andopen political discourse, which is a centralrequirement for an independent universityand a democratic Ukraine.The Kyiv Mohyla Foundation ofAmerica is a non-profit organization thatsupports the development of Kyiv MohylaAcademy as a world-level university.Ambassador William Green MillerCo-Chairman, KM FoundationBorys I. TarasyukCo-Chairman, KM FoundationIhor WyslotskyPresident, KM Foundation

No. 43Fraud is feared...THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 27(Continued from page 1)after the Tatars. Prime Minister ViktorYanukovych’s election team collectedmore than 560,000 signatures fromUkrainians living in Russia and planned tosubmit these, together with signatures collectedin Ukraine, to the Central ElectionCommission by the mid-September deadline.The initiative group that collected thesignatures claimed, “Yanukovych has thehighest support within the Ukrainian diasporain Russia, among Ukrainian citizenswho live on Russian territory” (UkrainskaPravda, September 13).The opposition began to question the signaturesfrom Russia, and it is not clear ifMr. Yanukovych ever submitted them. Inaddition, doubts surfaced about the 562,000Ukrainians who allegedly signed, as only200,000 Ukrainians living in Russia are registeredto vote (Vysokyi Zamok, September16). According to the Central ElectionCommission there are only 215,000 votersregistered to vote abroad, although it is notclear if this includes the 200,000 Ukrainianregistered voters in Russia.Ukrainian election regulations do notpermit the collection of signatures outsideUkraine, as such signatures can only becollected at the request of proxies. But,there are no proxies registered abroad. Ifthe Ukrainian Embassy or Consulates inRussia collected the signatures, it was illegal.If it was undertaken by Russian stateagencies, as many in the Ukrainian oppositionsuspect, “This raises even more questions”(Vysokyi Zamok, September 16).A new Russian-language newspaper,Chas Ukrainy, began publication inSeptember, and is directed toward the largenumbers of Ukrainians living in Russia.Not surprisingly, it has not attempted to beobjective and came out in support of Mr.Yanukovych. Mr. Yushchenko, on the otherhand, was described as “anti-Russian,”“pro-Western,” “a threat to existing agreements”and “likely to lead to a split inUkraine” (Ukrainska Pravda, September 2).Chas Ukrainy is not registered as a newspaperin Russia, so there is no informationabout its financing.On October 8, a congress of Ukrainiansin Russia was held in Moscow with theobvious patronage of the Russian authorities.Participants included DmitryMedvedev, head of the Russian presidentialadministration, Moscow Mayor YuriLuzhkov and Russia’s Ambassador toUkraine Viktor Chernomyrdin. The congress,again not surprisingly, came out insupport of Mr. Yanukovych. Yosyp Kobzon,one of the congress organizers, called uponUkrainians to not vote for Mr. Yushchenko,as this would lead to “at a minimum destabilizationand at a maximum to civil war”(temnik.com.ua, October 11).The congress itself appears a rathermurky event. The ruling council of theFederation of National-Cultural AutonomyUkrainians in Russia as well as the Unionof Ukrainians in Russia, which consists of80 organizations from the Ukrainian diasporain Russia, denounced the congressand condemned the attempt to mobilize allUkrainians living in Russia on behalf ofMr. Yanukovych. The statement by bothumbrella groups was later supported by theRepublican National-Cultural Center ofUkrainians in the Bashkir autonomousrepublic, the Union of Ukrainians inMoscow and the Moscow-based UkrainianCultural Center Slavutych.The actual number of Ukrainians livingabroad, or even in Russia, is impossibleto determine. Official and unofficialfigures range from as low as 2 million toas high as 8 million. Most Ukrainians areabroad “temporarily,” although thisabsence could last many years.Often family members remain behindand vote for them using their domestic passports,also left behind. Former President andSocial Democratic Party–United factionleader Leonid Kravchuk, himself fromwestern Ukraine, claimed he witnessed votersshowing five or six passports in the2002 elections. “They voted for themselvesand those who had left those parts in searchof jobs. You can guess whom they voted for[Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine]. Such tricksworked in 2002, but they won’t work in2004,” Mr. Kravchuk predicted (ZerkaloUkrainian Ski Association is organizing a SKI TRIP toClub Med – Crested Butte, ColoradoMarch 26 - April 2, 2005• Roundtrip airfare on Continental – Newark-Houston-Gunnison• Roundtrip airport transfers• 7 nights slopeside all-inclusive lodging: ski-in, ski-out• Lift tickets, lessons included• Gourmet dining, all meals, including snacks are included• Full open bar including premium alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks• All tips, gratuities, taxes and membership fees$1,599.00 per person for 1 st and 2 nd in room. $1,099.00 for 3 rd and 4 th in room.$300.00 deposit is due by October 25, 2004. Credit cards accepted. Formore information, please call Lesia Kozicky at Dunwoodie Travel Bureau,Ltd., 125 Corporate Blvd., Suite 300, Yonkers, NY 10701(914) 969-4200 (800) 550-4334 email: Dunwoodie@vacation.comUKRAINIAN BUILDERS OF CUSTOM HOMESWEST COAST OF FLORIDATRIDENT DEVELOPMENT CORP.• Over 25 years of building experience• Bilingual• Fully insured and bonded• Build on your lot or ours• Highest quality workmanshipIhor W. Hron, President(941) 270-2411Nedeli, September 11-17).To block proxy votes, the authorities areplanning to send 4,000 eastern Ukrainian“observers” to western Ukraine to halt arepeat of what they claim was fraudulentvoting in the 2002 elections. Their presencecould spark violence and confrontation onelection day (Lvivska Hazeta, October 7).Lou Luzniak, Executive V.P.(941) 270-2413Zenon Luzniak, General ContractorServing North Port, Venice, South Venice and area

28 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43UKRAINIAN-AMERICANS FOR KERRY-EDWARDS/2004A NATIONWIDE COMMITTEE TO ELECT THE NEXT PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENTON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 NDOUR VOTES WILL BE FOR JOHN KERRY & JOHN EDWARDSJohnKerryforPresidentTIME FOR A CHANGE!JohnEdwardsforVicePresident• John Kerry has a knowledgeable foreign policy team who share his commitment to Ukraine’s independenceand prosperity.• John Kerry was among the first to co-sponsor the Senate Resolution on the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine• John Kerry, as president, will continue the practice of John Kerry the candidate and consult the Ukrainian-American community on U.S.-Ukraine issues and policy.• John Kerry will rescind the blank check George Bush issued to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.• John Kerry will work to resolve issues important to Ukraine such as NATO and European Union membership,World Trade Organization, Jackson-Vanik.Honorary Former Congressman David Bonior (Mich.) National Julian Kulas, ChairmanNational Congressman Maurice Hinchey (New York) Officers: Andrew Fedynsky, Vice ChairOfficers Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) Mary Wasylyk, Secretary-TreasurerFormer state representatie Myron Kulas (Illinois)Congressman James R. Langevin (Rhode Island)State representative Peter Wasylyk (Rhode Island)State Leadership Committees:California:Connecticut:Illinois:Maryland:Peter BorisowCharmien CarlEugenia DallasBohdan FutalaIhor HunkoMyroslava KosykhDr. Marika KuzmaIryna KwasnyPaul MicevichRoman SolchanykMarko TarnawskyDr. Andrew Ripecky & FamilyOrest DubnoRoma HaydaMs. Anneliese JuergensenDaria JuergensenJulian KulasMyron KulasGeorge PanczyszynIhor GawdiakNatalie GawdiakMassachusetts: Stephen KosteckiOlga Kun-SantosWalter MajkutStephanie MajkutMary WasylykMichigan:Missouri:New Jersey:New York:The Honorable David BoniorAlexander FedynskyMr. Peter JarosewyczMr. Eugene HrycakMs. Maria ProskurenkoMr. Stephan WelhaschWalter BodnarBoshena OlshaniwskyAnna KrawczukThe Honorable Maurice HincheyYuri HreshchyshynHanya KrillJulian KytastyIvan OleksynMax PyziurNadia ShmigelOhio:Pennsylvania:Rhode Island:WashingtonD.C.:Wisconsin:Al BaldwinGeorge BilokonskyWalter BubnaAndrew FedynskyDr. George KalboussThe Honorable Marcy KapturElaine WoloshynPeter CzuczmanUlana MazurkiewyczAndre MichniakThe Honorable James LangevinThe Honorable Peter N. WasylykDr. Oles LomackyDr. George RipeckyjPLEASE JOIN US ON NOVEMBER 2 ND AND VOTE FOR JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENTPaid for by Ukrainian-Americans for Kerry-Edwards/2004

No. 43Plast golf outing raises funds to supportUkrainian scouting organization’s activitiesby Oleh SkubiakCHICAGO – The PobratymyFoundation hosted the sixth annual PlastOpen at the Renwood Golf Club in RoundLake, Ill., on Saturday, September 11. Theevent attracted 72 men and womengolfers for the tournament and over 100participants at the post-tourney festivities.As in previous years, the proceedsfrom this very successful and enjoyableevent will be dedicated to support theongoing activities of Plast UkrainianScouting Organization. Proceeds from lastTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 29Kuritza;• longest drive (female) – OlyaPopowych; and• closest to the pin – MarionAbramiuk.Congratulations also were given alsogo to Vince Piagentini, a member of themen’s winning team, who scored a holein-oneon the eighth hole of the course.The Pobratymy Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, was establishedin 1992 by members of the PlastPobratymy fraternity for the purpose ofThe winning women's team: Olya Popowych, Christine Hryhorczuk, RoxolanaTymiak-Lonchyna and Katrusia Saldan.year’s event were donated to the VovchaTropa and Pysanyi Kamin campgroundsand the Plast chapter in Sambir, Ukraine.Using a scramble format, participantsenjoyed 18 holes of golf on a beautifulfall day and afterward joined family andfriends at Self-Reliance Resort down thestreet for awards, camaraderie, music,supporting the developmental activitiesof Plast. The Pobratymy Foundation islimited to making contributions to Plastand other 501 (c) (3) organizations thatsupport the stated purposes of the fraternity:to renew and strengthen Plast; toencourage excellence and self-improvement;to encourage identification andThe winning men's team: Vince Piagentini, Ron Gillespie, Volodymyr Kosohor,and Nick Semitka.steaks and refreshments.The following prizes were awarded:• best men’s team score – RonGillespie, Volodymyr Kosohor, VincePiagentini, Nick Semitka;• best women’s team score – Dr.Christine Hryhorczuk, Olya Popowych,Katrusia Saldan, Dr. Roksolana Tymiak-Lonchyna;• longest drive (male) – Dr. Georgecooperation among Ukrainian youth; andto inform others about Ukraine.Plast Chicago and the PobratymyFoundation expressed thanks to all volunteersand the individual and corporatesponsors for their generous contributionsto the event.The seventh annual Plast Open isscheduled for September 10, 2005, at theRenwood Golf Club.

30 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Responses from Kerry...(Continued from page 5)in Europe (OSCE), the European Union(EU) and the International Organization forMigration (IOM). We will put trafficking onour bilateral agenda with Ukraine and lookfor opportunities to assist the Ukrainiangovernment to identify and go after thoseindividuals and criminal groups involved inthis despicable trade. Finally, a Kerryadministration will work with the Ukrainiangovernment to develop programs in Ukrainethat raise public awareness and understandingof the dangers posed by traffickers, aswell as those that help the victims of humantrafficking return to the native countries andreceive the counseling and assistance theyneed to move ahead with their lives.On March 13, 2003, Rep. BobSchaffer (R-Colo.), who was a co-chairmanof the Congressional UkrainianCaucus, introduced legislation in theHouse of Representatives to permanentlylift U.S. government traderestrictions against Ukraine based onprovisions in the old Jackson-VanikAmendment that restricted trade withcountries that did not allow free emigration.The law, a vestige of the ColdWar, has yet to be retracted in the caseof Ukraine, even though it is commonlyagreed that no such restrictions exist inthe country today. Where would youradministration stand on this issue?And, should Jackson-Vanik restrictionsstill apply to Ukraine? Where do youstand on granting Ukraine PermanentNormal Trade Relations status?I will conduct a comprehensive reviewof all of our trade agreements and policiesin my first 120 days in office. I willvery seriously review our current tradestance towards Ukraine to determinewhether or not it is still appropriate.Ukraine has been stymied, for variousreasons, in its efforts toward integrationwith the West. Would your administrationbe inclined to help Ukraine join theWorld Trade Organization, theEuropean Union and NATO? Wouldyour administration be willing to takeon the role of an advocate for Ukraine’smembership, as Poland has done?Ukraine’s liberation 13 years ago wasa victory for democratic forces after threequarters of a century of communist rule.Today, Ukraine is a strategically importantcountry in the heart of Europe and isan important ally for the United States.Unfortunately, for far too long now, theBush administration, with its short-sightedand Putin-centric policies, has effectivelyturned its back on Ukraine. I rejectsuch one-sided policies and vow toreverse course to build a strong andvibrant partnership with Ukraine, one thatwill actively support Ukrainian democracy,as well as Ukraine’s full participationin the trans-Atlantic community.For over a decade, I have been an advocateof NATO expansion. I supported thefirst two rounds of NATO expansion and Iam committed to maintaining the strength ofthe NATO alliance. In a Kerry administration,America will give careful considerationto each and every proposed new member.I applaud the expansion of theEuropean Union in recent years whichhas served to unite former foes under acommon calling. As president, I wouldfully respect the processes that theEuropean Union employs to evaluatepotential new members.In FY 2004, Ukraine received$143.47 million in foreign aid. Underyour administration, how much foreignaid could Ukraine expect toreceive from the U.S.? What types ofprograms would your administrationsupport for Ukraine and its people?I believe deeply in the critical role thatU.S. foreign assistance plays around theworld. As president, I will carefully reviewall of America’s foreign aid commitmentsin light of the needs of the recipient countryas well as America’s own security, economic,political and humanitarian priorities. Thereaders of The Ukrainian Weekly and allfriends of Ukraine can be assured that U.S.assistance to Ukraine will receive thoroughconsideration under a Kerry administration.There are a number of ways in whichU.S. assistance can benefit Ukraine. Today,for example, Ukraine has an increasinglyacute AIDS crisis with an estimated250,000 of its citizens now HIV-positive.As the author of the most comprehensiveHIV/AIDS bill ever to pass the Senate anda proven fighter to expand funding forAmerican bilateral and global AIDS programs,I understand that the HIV/AIDSepidemic has implications for the life anddeath of millions of men, women and childrenacross the globe, as well as for globalsecurity. I have proposed a comprehensiveplan to combat the global spread ofHIV/AIDS, which includes doubling U.S.funding to fight AIDS, tuberculosis andmalaria to $30 billion by 2008.Millions of people in Ukraine continueto suffer the ill effects of theChornobyl nuclear disaster. Vast areashave been contaminated, hundreds ofthousands of people are ailing, includingchildren suffering from birthdefects. How would your administrationhelp Ukraine and its people dealwith the aftereffects of Chornobyl,whose 20th anniversary will be markedin 2006?EDITOR’S NOTE: Sen. Kerry did notanswer this question.In general, what would your administration’spolicies be toward Ukraine?What would define U.S.-Ukraine relationsunder an administration headed byyou? What do you believe should be therole of the U.S. in helping Ukraine proceedon the path toward full democracy?EDITOR’S NOTE: Sen. Kerry did notanswer this question.* * *EDITOR’S NOTE: Sen. Kerry appendedthe following comments on Ukraine’spresidential election, though a question onthat topic was not posed by The Weekly.As Ukraine prepares for its upcomingpresidential elections, Ukrainians have theopportunity to demonstrate the power ofdemocracy in Eastern Europe by selectingtheir future leader through free and fairelections that reflect the will of the people.I am concerned about developments inUkraine in the lead-up to election day.There is a consistent pattern of governmentabuse and intimidation against oppositionpolitical candidates and their supporters.While Ukraine is at a critical turningpoint, the Bush administration has done toolittle too late to challenge the Ukrainian governmenton these democratic reversals andto work with the European community toformulate a common approach to supportdemocracy in Ukraine. In these remainingdays before the Ukrainian election, PresidentBush should challenge the Ukrainian leadershipto ensure that all candidates are grantedequal access to state media.In addition, the Bush administrationshould work with the Organization forSecurity and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE) to significantly increase thenumber of international observers sent toUkraine for the elections, and to ensurethat they remain available in the likelyevent that a run-off election is necessaryat the end of November.Ukraine’s gifted, diverse society iscapable of continuing on the path its citizenschose in 1991, if given a fair choicein free elections. A Kerry administrationwill never compromise the commitmentof the United States to an independentand democratic Ukraine.

No. 43THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004 31Virsky Ukrainian Dance Companyto perform in Morristown in Novemberby Ika Koznarska CasanovaMORRISTOWN, N.J. – Therenowned Virsky Ukrainian DanceCompany, a premiere professional dancetroupe known for the virtuosity and technicalbrilliance of its choreography, willappear here at the Community Theater onSaturday, November 13, at 8 p.m.Conceived of as a celebration of thespirit of a people through dance, the companyof more than 80 dancers, who are professionallytrained in ballet, as well as traditionalfolk dance, presents a diverse programthat draws on Ukraine’s rich heritage.Founded in 1937 by Ukrainian balletmaster and choreographer Pavlo Virsky,whose choreography still forms the essentialcore of the repertoire, the company has beendirected by Myroslav Vantukh since 1980.By combining brilliant ballet techniquewith traditional Ukrainian folkdance, Virsky, who headed the ensemblefrom 1955 to 1975, created a companythat gained worldwide acclaim of audiencesand critics alike, for its technicallysuperb and innovative choreography.Virsky attributed the style of the companyto “the close ties we (Ukrainians)have with our national folk art and withthe achievements in classical dance whichis part of our heritage ... Both elementsare combined in our approach so that weUAVeterans...(Continued from page 25)students may reapply for the scholarship.The Ukrainian American Veteransexpressed thanks to all those who madedonations to the scholarship fund tomake this program possible. A specialthank you was extended to the UAVNational Ladies Auxiliary for raising anddonating $500 each year.Organizations and/or individuals wishingto make a tax-exempt donation to theUkraine’s presidential...(Continued from page 8)for free elections – but Mr. Putin has metwith Mr. Kuchma 10 times this yearalone and recently asserted that relationswith Ukraine were ‘the first priority’ ofhis foreign policy.“Yet the Bush administration can stillhave an influence. It can promote the formationof a contact group of neighboringmay always maintain the highest level oftechnique together with a harmoniousbeauty of presentation” (Kyiv, 1966).Virsky noted that the operative principleinforming his work was not the simplecopying of ethnographic patterns ofUkrainian folk dance but rather theenrichment of existing forms “by meansof creative interpretation.”Mr. Vantukh, as Mr.Virsky’s disciple,sees his main objective as the preservationand development of folk choreographicart. Apart from such signature Virskypieces as “My z Ukrainy” (We’re fromUkraine) and “Zaporozhtsi” (ZaporozhianKozaks), as well as such playful andhumorous works as “Povzunets” and“Under the Cherry Tree,” and the lyrical“Verbychenka” (The Weeping Willow), theconcert program will include new danceschoreographed by Mr. Vantuch that havebecome part of the troupe’s repertoire.Tickets for the performance range inprice from $30 to $42. Tickets, includinggroup discounted tickets, for the eventmay be purchased online at www.communitytheatrenj.org,at the CommunityTheater box office, 1100 South St., or bycalling (973) 539-8008. Box office hoursare Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.Please call the box office to confirm pricingand availability.UAV National Scholarship Fund shouldsend contributions to the NationalScholarship Officer, Nicholas Skirka, 109Windsor Terrace, Yonkers, NY 10701.Applications for the scholarshipshould also be sent to this address. Foradditional information, readers may e-mail n.skirka@worldnet.att.net or call(914) 965-3707.The National Scholarship Committeeconsists of John Tkachuk, PeterOlijarczyk, Bohdan Mykitschak andRussel Olijarczyk.countries, such as Sweden, Poland andSlovakia, to support the cause of democracy;it can work with the EuropeanUnion to press for international electionobservers, and make it clear that a riggedelection will bring a united and firmresponse. Finally, Mr. Bush can saydirectly to Ukrainians and Belarusans[Belarusians] that he supports realdemocracy for their countries – and thatin that respect, he differs with Mr. Putin.”PREVIEW OF EVENTS(Continued from page 32)and sale of paintings and prints by OrestPoliszczuk. Vividly flowing figures andvibrant colors are the signature style of theartist whose work has been exhibitedthroughout the U.S. and Canada. An openingreception with the artist will be heldon Saturday, November 13, at 7 p.m.Admission: $10 (includes refreshments).The exhibit/sale will be held at theUkrainian Catholic National Shrine of theHoly Family, 4250 Harewood Road NE.For more information contact TaniaTerleckyj, (703) 271-9672.Sunday, November 14CHICAGO: Bishop Richard Seminack,Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago,invites the public to a Rector’s Luncheon forthe Rev. Dr. Borys Gudziak, rector of theUkrainian Catholic University in Lviv. Theluncheon, which is to benefit the university,will be held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center,2247 W. Chicago Ave., at 1 p.m. Tickets:$25 per person; additional donations areencouraged. Tickets may be ordered by contactingthe Ukrainian Catholic EducationFoundation, (773) 235-8462.Saturday, November 20PARMA, Ohio: The Ukrainian BanduristChorus and the Ukrainian Museum-Archives invite you to enjoy the afternoonwith friends watching one of college football’sbest rivalries on the big screen: theUniversity of Michigan Wolverines vs. theOhio State University Buckeyes. Join us atnoon-5 p.m. at St. Andrew’s UkrainianCatholic Church, Upper Back Hall, 7700Hoertz Road. A $40 donation includes openbar, hor d’oeuvres, etc. Proceeds from theevent go to assist the programs of theUkrainian Bandurist Chorus and theUkrainian Museum-Archives. For ticketreservations contact Nick Schidowka, (216)534-4777 or nschidowka@bigfoot.com.Visit www.bandura.org for more details.

32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004No. 43Soyuzivka’s DatebookOctober 29-31, 2004Halloween Weekend with children’scostume parade, costume zabavaand moreNovember 5-7, 2004Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization,Orlykiada WeekendNovember 12, 2004Kripplebush Fire Company BanquetNovember 21, 2004Ellenville Co-op Nursery SchoolAuctionNovember 25-28, 2004Thanksgiving Weekend PackagesAvailableDecember 4, 2004Accord Fire Company BanquetDecember 11, 2004Ulster Correctional FacilityChristmas PartyPREVIEW OF EVENTSSaturday, October 30NEW YORK: The Shevchenko ScientificSociety invites the public to a presentationof the book “Pro Vchora i Siohodni”(About Yesterday and Today, Lviv-NewYork, 2003) by Olha Kuzmowycz, journalistand writer since 1981, editor andcolumnist at the Ukrainian-language newspaperSvoboda. The program will includereadings from the book by Ivan Bernadsky,merited artist of Ukraine and director ofthe Ukrainian Studio of Drama, New York;remarks by the author; and introductoryremarks by Vasyl Makhno. The presentationwill take place at the society’s building,63 Fourth Ave. (between Ninth and10th streets) at 5 p.m. For additional informationcall (212) 254-5130.NEW YORK: The Ukrainian MedicalAssociation of North America, New YorkMetropolitan Chapter, in cooperation withthe Self Reliance Association of AmericanUkrainians, New York Branch, will hold acommunity-based lecture, featuring Dr.Viktor Gribenko who will speak on thetopic “Rehabilitation Medicine – Joint andSpine Problems.” The event will takeplace at 98 Second Ave., at 2 p.m.Admission is free; refreshments will beserved. For further information contact Dr.Ihor Magun, (516) 766-5147.PHILADELPHIA: The UkrainianFederation of America invites the public toa meeting with Taras Kuzio, visiting professor,Institute for European, Russian andEurasian Studies, Elliott School ofInternational Affairs, George WashingtonUniversity, who will speak on the topic of“Presidential Elections in Ukraine.” Thepresentation will be held at 3 p.m. at theUkrainian Educational and CulturalCenter, Alexander B. Chernyk Gallery,700 Cedar Road, Jenkintown, Pa.Admission: $10, adults; students, free. Formore information call (610) 539-8946.NORTHVILLE, Mich.: Continuing itsoutreach program, the Ukrainian BanduristChorus will showcase its program ofUkrainian folk and sacred music at WardEvangelical Presbyterian Church, 40000Six Mile Road, at 8 p.m. For tickets, callWard Presbyterian (248) 374-5928 or visitwww.bandura.org for more details.Sunday, October 31WASHINGTON: The ShevchenkoScientific Society, Washington, D.C.,Branch, and the Ukrainian Academy ofArts and Sciences group present a lectureby Taras Kuzio, visiting professor,Institute for European, Russian andEurasian Studies, Elliott School ofInternational Affairs, Geroge WashingtonUniversity, on “Ukraine’s 2004 Elections:Dead Souls or a Democratic Polity?” Thelecture will take place at Holy FamilyUkrainian Catholic National Shrine, 4250Harewood Road NE, at 1:30 p.m. (metro:Brookland/CUA). The lecture will be inEnglish, with bilingual discussion.Admission is free; contributions are welcome.For further information call (301)230-2149 (evening) or (202) 5134-1822(day).Monday, November 1CAMBRIDGE, Mass.: The HarvardUkrainian Research Institute will host alecture by Hiroaki Kuromiya, professor ofhistory, Indiana University, on the topic“The Political Leaders of Ukraine, 1938-1989.” The lecture will be held in theHURI Seminar Room, 583 MassachusettsAve., at 4-6 p.m. For additional informationcontact the institute, (617) 495-4053or huri@fas.harvard.edu.Thursday, November 4MONTCLAIR, N.J.: An exhibition ofsculpture by George Thaddeus Saj titled“Head Games” will open at the MontclairPublic Library, 50 South Fullerton Ave., aspart of the Studio Montclair “Meet theArtist Series.” The solo exhibit, featuringover 40 works, will be on view throughNovember 29. An artist’s reception and agallery talk will take place at the LibraryGallery at 6-8 p.m., with a presentation bythe artist at 7 p.m. Library hours: Monday,Wednesday, Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.;Tuesday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday andSaturday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1-5p.m. Admission is free. For further informatione-mail studio@georgesaj.comSaturday, November 6NEW YORK: Bishop Basil Losten,Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford,will host a dinner for the Rev. Dr. BorysGudziak, rector of the Ukrainian CatholicUniversity (UCU) in Lviv. The UCURector’s Dinner, which is to benefit theuniversity, will be held at 6:30 p.m. at St.George School Auditorium, 215 E. SixthSt. Admission: $100; additional donationsare encouraged. Tax-deductible checksshould be made out to the UkrainianCatholic Education Foundation (UCEF).Ticket requests should be made byOctober 30 and sent to St. GeorgeUkrainian Catholic Church, 30 E. SeventhStreet, New York, NY, 10003.EAST HANOVER, N.J.: The UkrainianNational Women’s League of America,Branch 75, invites the public to their annualfall dance, the theme of which will be“Going Down Memory Lane.” The dancewill be held at the Ramada Inn, 130 Route10 (westbound) starting at 9 p.m., withmusic by Tempo. Advance tickets: $35;$40 at the door; admission includes entertainmentprogram, canapes and VienneseTable. For table reservations and moreinformation call Slavka Hordynsky, (973)376-7956. Part of the proceeds from theevening will go to The Ukrainian Museumin New York.SOUTH BOUND BROOK, N.J.: AUkrainian Fall Festival will be held at theUkrainian Cultural Center, 135 DavidsonAve., at 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. The festival willfeature music and performances by AllaKutsevych, Inna Sydorak, the Obriy FolkDance Ensemble and the Barvinok DanceGroup. There will be children’s activities, afood court and a raffle, as well as tours ofthe center’s museum. The marketplace willfeature amber and beaded jewelry,Ukrainian embroidery, crafts, ceramics,pysanky, glass art, scarves, CDs, DVDs,videos, t-shirts and athletic gear. The marketplaceoffers a great opportunity toacquire unique gifts and do one’sChristmas shopping early. Festival admission:$5, adults; free for children. For moreinformation contact Raisa Chejlyk, (908)647-6211 or raisachejlyk@yahoo.com.ADVANCE NOTICESunday, November 7CHICAGO: The Parish Council of St.Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedralinvites the public to its “grand opening” ofthe newly constructed elevator in thecathedral’s auditorium at 2250 W. CortezSt. Please join us in celebrating anothermilestone in the history of the parish. Aspart of the progrm, at 9:30 a.m., there willbe an official welcoming of MetropolitanConstantine and Archbishop Vsevolod,followed by a hierarchical divine liturgy at10 a.m. At noon, the blessing and grandopening of the elevator will take place andwill be followed by a luncheon and program.Proceeds are designated for the elevatorproject. Donation $50. For reservationscontact Oksana Tschaikowsky, (847)256-4299.Saturday-Sunday, November 13-14WASHINGTON: The Ukrainian NationalWomen’s League of America, Branch 78,invites the public to a two-day exhibition(Continued on page 31)