Brushfires in Australia damage Ukrainian Youth Association camp ...

INSIDE:• Eastern Ukrainians preserve memory of the Holodomor – page 3.• Canadian opposition leader dismisses Wrzesnewskyj – page 8.• Skiing in Ukraine’s Carpathian winder wonderland – page 13.THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLYPublished by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit associationVol. LXXVII No.7 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009Pirates release Faina and crewby Yuriy OnyshkivSpecial to The Ukrainian WeeklyKYIV – After more than fourmonths in captivity, Ukrainiansailors aboard the MV Fainawere to return home onFebruary 13, marking the conclusionto the longest siege inrecent history by Somali pirates,who have gained global notorietyfor their ransoms at sea.The pirates released the hostages– 17 Ukrainians, threeRussians and a Latvian – onFebruary 5 after one of theship’s owners, Israeli citizenand former Odesa City CouncilDeputy Vadym Alperin, agreedto pay a $3.2 million ransom,which was dropped by parachutesonto the ship.Frustrated relatives blamedthe hostages’ lengthy exile onthe inaction of the Ukrainiangovernment, which placed thenegotiations squarely on theshoulders of Mr. Alperin and anunnamed British law firm rec-ommended by the government’s intelligenceservices.“We were ignored for 133 days, it was abit unusual to hear the president’s greetingsand speeches from [ParliamentaryOmbudsman for Human Rights Nina]Karpachova, who congratulated us on thevictory and that our boys are finally free,”said Olha Hirzheva, the mother of theFaina’s 21-year-old motor mechanic, Artem.“But what have they done for that? Nothing!There is nothing we could thank them for.”Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesmanVasyl Kyrlych dismissed such criticisms,stating that it wasn’t the government’s rolePARSIPPANY, N.J. – Prime MinisterYulia Tymoshenko of Ukraine hasappeared to the world’s richest countriesto help support its economy at this timeof global crisis, reported the FinancialTimes on February 8.The newspaper noted that the primeminister had sent letters to the UnitedStates, Russia, China, Japan and theEuropean Union to seek loans to helpcover a budget shortfall.“We have already received a positiveresponse from some countries, includingRussia,” Ms. Tymoshenko said at theMunich Security Conference over theweekend of February 7-8. “Russia isready to sign such loan agreements.”The Financial Times reported that theprime minister did not say how muchKyiv was seeking to borrow, but thatOfficial Website of Ukraine’s PresidentThe MV Faina arrives in Kenya on February 9after being released by Somali pirates.to get involved in a private dispute.Negotiators came close to releasing thesailors on four occasions, said UkrainianForeign Intelligence Service Chair MykolaMalomuzh, but other pirates and interestedparties spread disinformation that theUkrainians didn’t have the cash or couldambush the ship.Mr. Alperin complained that, after negotiatingwith one pirate, he had to start fromsquare one with another pirate within severaldays.While piracy along the eastern coast of(Continued on page 18)Tymoshenko seeks foreign loansto help support Ukraine’s economythere were reports in Ukraine that suggestedRussia could lend $5 billion (U.S.).President Viktor Yushchenko criticizedthe prime minister for appealing to Russiafor a loan, saying that would makeUkraine too dependent on Moscow.Meanwhile, an International MonetaryFund delegation visiting Kyiv last weekto review the country’s stand-by arrangementwith the fund expressed concernabout Ukraine’s economic outlook. “Theeconomic situation remains difficult associatedwith decline in demand for steelproducts and the sharply reduced accessto international capital markets,” noted astatement released on February 6 byCeyla Pazarbasioglu of the IMF missionto Kyiv.(Continued on page 11)by Matthew DubasPARSIPPANY, N.J. – Brushfireshave devastated many parts of southeasternAustralia, including the Karpatycampground of the Ukrainian YouthAssociation (UYA) of Australia, whichis near the towns of Narbethong,Buxton and Marysville that have beenrazed by the fires.Several weeks prior to the fires, over160 campers were enjoying the end of theseason at the grounds. None of themknew it could have been the last time.Since the fires began, on Saturday,February 7, the community had beenhopeful that its grounds were spared, buta photo posted on the Melbourne UYAwebsite confirmed the worst. Accordingto reports, the kitchen/mess hall wasdestroyed by the fires; some other buildingswere either partially damaged orcompletely destroyed.The campground, purchased in 1963,has hosted local, national and internationalyouth camps, according to the MelbourneUYA Branch. Access to the area remainslimited to authorized emergency personneland, after the extent of the damage is$1/$2 in UkraineBrushfires in Australia damageUkrainian Youth Association campby Pavel K. BaevEurasia Daily MonitorUkrainian Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko survived a no-confidencemotion in Parliament on February 5. Themotion was backed by 203 votes – 23 shortof the number required in the 450-seatchamber to oust the government. It wasanother victory for Ms. Tymoshenko, whoassessed, the UYA will determine whatthe next steps will be.The Melbourne Branch of the UYAsaid it considers itself fortunate that onlythe Karpaty property was damaged,whereas surrounding communities in thestate of Victoria have suffered the lossesof family and friends. The official deathtoll at press time was 181.An appeal to assist the local communitiesaffected by the fires has been mobilizedby the UYA’s Melbourne Branch.Items for donation include: diapers, babywipes, feminine products, body lotions,soaps, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes,nail files, nail clippers, make-up, undergarments,non-perishable goods, pet food,can openers, blankets and linens.Clothing, in particular girls’ sizes 2-9, isin short supply.Donations in the amount of $1,000each were made by Plast UkrainianScouting Organization in Victoria and thePerth Branch of the UYA to the VictorianFire Appeal, coordinated by theMelbourne Branch of the UYA.For more information on how to help,readers may e-mail Andrea Ckuj, ackuj@optusnet.au.NEWS ANALYSIS: Tymoshenkodefeats Yanukovych in Radasurvived a similar motion last December.Ms. Tymoshenko will now stay at least untilSeptember, as Parliament can vote on noconfidencemotions only once in a session.Ms. Tymoshenko’s victory was a crashingdefeat for the Party of Regions ofUkraine (PRU), the main opposition partyled by former Prime Minister Viktor(Continued on page 18)Web-portal of the Ukrainian govermentPrime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko reacts to the unsuccessful no-confidence votein the Verkhovna Rada on February 5.

2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7ANALYSISWho owns the gas in Ukraine’sunderground reservoirs?by Pavel KordubanEurasia Daily MonitorThe gas dispute that left half of Europewithout gas in early January was officiallysettled by accords signed by Gazprom andNaftohaz Ukrainy in Moscow on January 19and 20. The clash, however, is apparently notover. Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash,who owns the RosUkrEnergo gas tradingcompany jointly with Gazprom, has said thathe is suing Naftohaz in the Stockholm arbitrationcourt over 11 billion cubic meters ofgas stored in Ukraine’s underground reservoirs(Inter TV, February 1).Mr. Firtash maintains that the gas belongsto RosUkrEnergo, but Ukrainian PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko insists thatGazprom passed the ownership rights toNaftohaz. Consumers in the EuropeanUnion may suffer again.Ms. Tymoshenko and Russian PrimeMinister Vladimir Putin agreed to cutRosUkrEnergo out of the gas trade betweenRussia and Ukraine. They also agreed tosolve the problem of RosUkrEnergo’s $1.7billion debt to Gazprom through a complicateddeal in which Gazprom paid Naftohazin advance for gas transit to Europe in 2009and Naftohaz paid RosUkrEnergo’s debt toGazprom from that money, soRosUkrEnergo in fact became Naftohaz’sdebtor (Vedomosti, January 22). The problemis that RosUkrEnergo and the Ukrainianprime minister interpreted the settlementscheme differently.The Ukrainian government decidedthat Naftohaz became the owner of thegas that RosUkrEnergo had accumulatedby Pavel K. BaevEurasia Daily MonitorThe annual security conference held inMunich last weekend should have attractedprime attention in Moscow, not least becauseU.S. Vice-President Joe Biden delivered thefirst presentation of the Obama administration’sarms control strategy. In reality, however,the attention was superficial at best;and it was Russian Deputy Prime MinisterSergei Ivanov, who was delegated to confirmthere that Russia was indeed interestedin negotiating some new framework for itsfast shrinking strategic arsenal. Mr. Ivanovassured that the new tactical Iskander missileswould not be deployed in KaliningradOblast anytime soon but offered no explanationfor Russia’s “surprise attack” aimed atthe U.S. airbase in Manas, Kyrgyzstan,which apparently will have to be closed in180 days (RIA-Novosti, www.gazeta.ru,February 7).These maneuvers might appear at crosspurposesbut could make more sense in thecontext of the Russian leadership’s real priority:energy relations with Europe.Moscow has inflicted a great deal ofdamage to these relations by escalating thegas quarrel with Ukraine until it reached acomplete shutdown of pipelines, and it doesnot seem to have any regrets about thatblunder.The first step in minimizing the consequenceswas made in talks with BulgarianPresident Georgi Parvanov last week, whichresulted in an agreement on direct tradebetween Gazprom and Bulgargaz and, morein the huge underground storage facilitiesin western Ukraine. By Tymoshenko’sinterpretation, Naftohaz bought the 11billion cubic meters of gas stored byRosUkrEnergo for $1.7 billion, whichequals $154 per 1,000 cubic meters, muchlower than the $360 price that Gazpromis charging Ukraine in the first quarter of2009. Ukraine, therefore, should be usinggas from the reservoirs for the time beingrather than buying expensive Russian gas.Ms. Tymoshenko forecast that the averagecost of gas for Ukraine would be$228, based not only on the expectationthat Russian gas would become cheaperdue to a drop in the world oil price butalso calculating that most of the gas usedin the first quarter of 2009 would costUkraine $154 rather than $360 (ZerkaloNedeli, January 31).Mr. Firtash refused, however, to letNaftohaz take the cheap gas from the reservoirs.Ukrainian Customs Service chiefValerii Khoroshkovskyi said that he wouldtreat the gas in question as the property ofRosUkrEnergo in accordance with the customsdeclarations (Inter TV, January 24).Mr. Khoroshkovskyi explained later that theaccord between Gazprom and Naftohaz onRosUkrEnergo’s debt settlement had beensigned only by a representative of Gazprombut not by a representative of Mr. Firtash,which is a legal requirement of Switzerland,the country where RosUkrEnergo is registered.This, according to Mr.Khoroshkovskyi, meant that Naftohaz’s earlierobligation to pump this gas toRosUkrEnergo’s customers in Europe(Continued on page 22)Putin retains the initiativein the gas dialogue with Europeimportant, on compensation for the interruptionof deliveries in January (VremyaNovostei, February 6; Nezavisimaya Gazeta,January 26). Such deals are definitely moreattractive for Bulgaria, hard hit by the financialcrisis, than any attempt to sue Gazpromfor breaking its contractual obligations.The next step was more complicated.European Commission President JoseManuel Barroso brought no fewer than ninecommissioners, including EnergyCommissioner Andris Piebalgs, to Moscowon February 6 for wide-ranging talks, firstwith President Dmitry Medvedev and thenwith Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. At thejoint press conference afterward, Mr. Putinresolutely dismissed the discussions about“rule of law” that Mr. Barroso had held withMr. Medvedev, asserting that Russia had itsown view on “problems with freedom” andthat mutual recriminations would only hinderthe really important energy discussions(Kommersant, February 7).One particular point in the discussions onenergy concerned Russia’s request for continuingEuropean Union monitoring of thegas transit system in Ukraine, since Mr.Putin expects new problems there, despitehis cordial agreement with Ukrainian PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko. She delivered aspirited defense of Ukraine’s reputation inMunich and argued that building pipelinescircumventing that “wonderful” transitcountry was a “crazy idea” (RIA-Novosti,February 7).Mr. Putin, however, scored an important(Continued on page 22)President cites non-transparent talksKYIV – President Viktor Yushchenkohas said he is unhappy about “non-transparenttalks on the provision of a $5 billion(U.S.) loan by Russia to Ukraine.” He saidthis at a February 10 meeting of theNational Security and Defense Council onurgent measures on ensuring Ukraine’senergy security. Mr. Yushchenko said he isindignant that the talks were held withouthis consent, whereas its participants focusedon the consideration of the question ofreturning Ukraine and Russia to the socalled“zero variant” of the distribution ofassets and liabilities of the former SovietUnion. He said that he has a document containinga technical task given to theUkrainian delegates sent to Russia. “Thedocument was signed by the vice ministersof foreign affairs, energy and finance.Clause No.11 [of this document stipulates]prospects for ratifying an agreement on the‘zero variant,’” Mr. Yushchenko said. Hepointed to the agreements reached by formerUkrainian and Russian presidents,according to which Ukraine, as part of supportingthe “zero variant” of the distributionof assets and liabilities of the former SovietUnion, should receive property in thosecountries that were in the greatest need ofbuildings for diplomatic, commercial, militaryand other offices. Moreover, theseagreements foresaw the return of around$700 million (U.S.) by Russia’sVnesheconombank to Ukraine. These werethe funds of companies and private individualswhose currency accounts became frozenon the bank’s balance after the collapseof the Soviet Union. If the UkrainianParliament ratifies an agreement on the“zero variant” in its pure form, as insistedby the Russian side, Ukraine will then getnothing. (Ukrinform)Tymoshenko challenges NSDCKYIV – Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko strongly refuted the accusationsthat President Viktor Yushchenko madeagainst her at the February 10 meeting of theNational Security and Defense Council(NSDC). She said she had nothing to dowith the so-called “technical mission” of theUkrainian delegation to talks in Moscow onallocation of a $5 billion (U.S.) credit if theNEWSBRIEFSTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY FOUNDED 1933An English-language newspaper published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc.,a non-profit association, at 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054.Yearly subscription rate: $55; for UNA members — $45.Periodicals postage paid at Parsippany, NJ 07054 and additional mailing offices.(ISSN — 0273-9348)The Weekly:UNA:Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 644-9510 Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 292-0900Postmaster, send address changes to:The Ukrainian WeeklyEditor-in-chief: Roma Hadzewycz2200 Route 10 Editors: Matthew DubasP.O. Box 280Zenon Zawada (Kyiv)Parsippany, NJ 07054The Ukrainian Weekly Archive: www.ukrweekly.com; e-mail: staff@ukrweekly.comThe Ukrainian Weekly, February 15, 2009, No. 7, Vol. LXXVIICopyright © 2009 The Ukrainian WeeklyADMINISTRATION OF THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY AND SVOBODAWalter Honcharyk, administratorMaria Oscislawski, advertising managerMariyka Pendzola, subscriptionsVerkhovna Rada ratifies the “zero variant”agreement with Russia on the division of theformer Soviet property. “I would nevermake a single step toward ratification ofzero deals, or a loss of the gas transportationsystem,” Ms. Tymoshenko told the press.She emphasized that if the NSDC passes adecision on the wording of the draft resolution,she is ready to appeal it in court. Ms.Tymoshenko said she was referring to thewish of the NSDC to revise the Ukraine-Russia gas contracts and actually returnRosUkrEnergo to the natural gas market.According to Ms. Tymoshenko, the contractssigned guarantee Ukraine’s energysecurity for 10 years and make it unnecessaryto grovel at Russia’s feet to ask for specialprices and terms for Ukraine. The primeminister said that, in accordance with thecontracts signed, Ukraine has the lowest2009 gas price after Belarus, and the bestcorrelation of transit tariff and process gasprice. (Ukrinform)Lytvyn: power struggle is obstacleKYIV – The signing of the associationagreement between Ukraine and theEuropean Union might be postponed, atleast until completion of the 2010 presidentialelections, if Ukrainian politicians fail tostop fighting each other, Verkhovna RadaChairman Volodymyr Lytvyn told the pressin Brussels on February 10. After his talkswith EU High Representative for CommonForeign and Security Policy (CFSP) JavierSolana, Mr. Lytvyn stressed that a majorappeal of Mr. Solana to Ukraine was for areturn to political calm and implementationof reforms needed for the country’s democraticdevelopment. Mr. Lytvyn also notedthat in his talks with Mr. Solana he said thatit is unlikely that the principal political playersin Ukraine would reconcile and consolidatetheir positions. This divisiveness maybe an obstacle to concluding an associationagreement between Ukraine and the EU.“Here, in the EU, the stand is quite clear,and in the present conditions Ukrainian politiciansand officials must decide what ismore important for them: development offurther relations with the EU or internalquarrels,” he underscored. (Ukrinform)(Continued on page 14)(973) 292-9800, ext. 3041e-mail: ukradmin@att.net(973) 292-9800, ext. 3040e-mail: adukr@optonline.net(973) 292-9800, ext. 3042e-mail: ukrsubscr@att.net

No. 7THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 3Eastern Ukrainians fight to preserve the Holodomor’s memoryby Zenon ZawadaKyiv Press BureauZenon ZawadaValentyna and Oleksander Ksionzenko and Memory Charter Chair AndriiLevchenko (right) have recruited the diaspora in building a monument, Harvest ofDespair, to the Holodomor victims of the Myrhorod district in the Poltava Oblast.KHARKIV, Ukraine – In an independentand democratic Ukraine, Prof. VolodymyrKalinichenko would not have expected to beattacked by Russians and Communists.Yet on St. Nicholas Day in 2006, a holyday when gifts are traditionally exchanged,Kharkiv Communists and Russian chauvinistsstormed past security and swarmed Dr.Kalinichenko’s office, taunting him and violentlykicking the locked doors to breakthem open.“It seemed as though I was living in theKharkiv of 1936, not 2006,” said Prof.Kalinichenko, chair of the history departmentat Karazin National University inKharkiv.Indeed, 75 years later, the evidence of theHolodomor’s catastrophic devastation uponUkrainian society and spirituality is stillapparent.About a quarter of the native populationin eastern Ukraine was murdered, only to bereplaced by Russians, Belarusians andSovietized Ukrainians (“malorosy” as Prof.Kalinichenko refers to them) who eitherhave no affinity for Ukrainian culture andspirituality, or view it with contempt.No one has a harder time establishing thehistorical truth about the Holodomor thanthose ethnic Ukrainians in eastern Ukrainewho managed to preserve their cultural identityor somehow regain it.That includes Luhansk Holodomor crusaderIryna Mahrytska, who produced afilm, “Zakliattia Bezpamiati” (TheDamnation of Non-Remembrance), whichlocal officials tried to censor and their hiredjournalists smeared.Meanwhile, the patriots of Myrhorod inthe Poltava Oblast have struggled against ahostile Russian mayor to establish aHolodomor monument at their town’s railwaystation, where nine mass graves arebelieved to exist.What placed Dr. Kalinichenko at the topof the Kharkiv Communist hit list was hiswritings on the Holodomor, particularly hisforeword to “Stolytsia Vidchayu” (Capitalof Despair), the best work examining theHolodomor in the Kharkiv Oblast written byTamara Polischuk of the village of Valky.In his writings, Dr. Kalinichenko statedwell-established facts of the Holodomor –that in place of the ethnic Ukrainians whowere targeted and starved to death, theBolsheviks brought in Russians andBelarusians to settle their homes.The Kharkiv Communists, led by lawyerYurii Shekhovtsov, view reporting such historicalfacts as criminal, alleging that Prof.Kalinichenko intended to “incite interethnichostility” and citing specific excerpts.“Demobilized soldiers of the workerpeasantRed Army and Russians were sentto settle the deserted villages,” Prof.Kalinichenko wrote. “Military hardware andescort was provided for their transfer fromrailroad stations, where they were treated tofood and buffets.”“Ukraine’s Russification was discussed,”he wrote. “The settlers systematically avoidedwork, ignoring physical labor, demandingmanagement responsibilities. Not havingfound their Klondike in Ukraine, the newlyarrived colonizers scattered. Only those whogained their desired managing positionsremained in the Ukrainian reservations,some of whom to this day consider themselvesoverseers of Ukrainians.”An avid admirer of Joseph Stalin, Mr.Shekhovtsov successfully defended theSoviet dictator’s record at a public mocktrial held in Moscow. And, in a November2006 challenge published in the KharkivCommunist newspaper The Red Banner,Mr. Shekhovtsov offered to defend Stalinagainst the professor’s allegations of genocideat a similar mock trial.“If you are confident in your righteousness,invite the above-mentioned ‘witnesses,’upon whose testimonies you conferredthe status of ‘document’ in your reviews,”Mr. Shekhovtsov wrote in a flier distributedto Kharkiv University students. “Ipromise to interrogate them with the passionof an investigator not indifferent to allkinds of lies, but adhering to the rules ofproper tone.”Dr. Kalinichenko ignored the challenge,knowing a spectacle was being set up. Whathe didn’t expect was a violent protest thatinvolved more than 50 activists from theCommunist Party of Ukraine, theProgressive Socialist Party of Ukraine andthe Russian Bloc standing outside his officefor a half-hour, kicking and punching hisdoor, demanding that he face them.“Our security is retired prison guards,” hesaid. “Many of them sympathize with theCommunists, and they let them through.”The so-called security at the university eventuallydragged the protesters away, but thepressure didn’t end there.Within weeks, Mr. Shekhovtsov filed acriminal complaint against Dr. Kalinichenkowith the Security Service of Ukraine inKharkiv, which referred it to the oblast prosecutor’soffice, which subsequently dismissedthe matter. Mr. Shekhovtsov alsofiled a criminal complaint against Ms.Polischuk, which also was dismissed.Though it was acceptable to research theHolodomor during the 1990s, the subjectbecame politicized once Viktor Yushchenkobecame president, unhesitatingly called itgenocide and sought to bring global recognitionof the nation’s catastrophe, Dr.Kalinichenko said.Having a nationally conscious Ukrainianin power exposed the Russian chauvinismthat plagues eastern Ukraine. “There is avery high percentage of people here who,for whatever reason, don’t like Ukraine,” hesaid. “They don’t want to know her. Thisincludes ethnic Russians and thoseUkrainians whom I call malorosy, who losttheir national consciousness, speak Russianand think like Russians, or even worse.”Ms. Mahrytska confronts such chauvinismon a daily basis in Luhansk – particularlyfrom the Party of Regions, whichcontrols the State Oblast Administration ledby Oleksander Antipov, who was appointedby President Yushchenko.In order to reach a wider audience thanwith her books alone, Ms. Mahrytska produceda documentary film on theHolodomor in the Luhansk Oblast, accepting$2,760 from the State OblastAdministration on the condition she workwith its appointed film director. Sureenough, the director surrendered the nearcompletedfilm to his higher-ups at the StateOblast Administration, who convenientlyedited all the materials that cast local officialsin a bad light, particularly in revealingthe ignorance of average Luhansk residentsabout the Holodomor.They returned the film to Ms. Mahrytskaafter she raised hell with the PresidentialSecretariat, leaving her with just severalweeks to re-edit it in time for the annualHolodomor commemoration on the thirdSaturday of November.Once again, the diaspora pitched in torescue a Holodomor project in Ukraine, thistime in the form of a $10,000 donation fromthe Buduchnist Credit Union in Toronto,which was organized by the UkrainianWorld Congress and Christine Bidiak.On November 22, 2008, the 95-minutedocumentary “The Damnation of Non-Remembrance” was broadcast on the oblasttelevision station Irta, which typically showsprograms glorifying the Soviet Union andfilled with Ukrainophobic propaganda.During the broadcast, local Party of Regions(Continued on page 10)Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) advisor Volodymyr Viatrovych (left) and Dr.Vasyl Danylenko, director of the SBU archives, edited “Pavlohrad Uprising in1930: Documents and Materials,” which they presented on February 10.Dr. Volodymyr Kalinichenko, chair of the history department at KarazinNational University in Kharkiv, was ambushed by Communists and Russianchauvinists in his own office because of his writings on the Holodomor.

4 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7Amount Name City$500.00 U.S.-Ukraine Business Washington, DCCouncil$162.85 Ingert Kuzych Springfield, VA$150.00 Oksana Zakydalsky Toronto, ON$125.00 T. Kobziar Ithaca, NY$120.00 William Gural Springfield, NJ$100.00 L. Bihun Silver Spring, MDBarbara ChupaNew York, NYYuriy and IrenaNorth Potomac, MDDeychakiwskyM. Farion Chicago, ILA. Holynskyj Chicago, ILM. Hrycelak Park Ridge, ILM. Korlatowych Strongsville, OHB. Kurylko Darien, CTAndrei KushnirBethesda, MDA. Maluca Dundas, ILL. Peleschuk Stamford, CTD. Pishko Chatham, NJNeonila SochanMorristown, NJG. and R. Temnycky Manlius, NYUACC Inc.New York, NY$75.00 W. Mohuchy Nutley, NJM. Stremba Baltimore, MD$60.00 S. Malachowsky Redondo Beach, CAO. Weseley Stockton, CA$55.00 Daria Zachar Redondo Beach, CA$50.00 A. Bach New York, NYL. Baltarowich Warren, MIR. Cybriwsky Philadelphia, PAP. Dent Danbury, CTO. Denysyk Morris Plains, NJR. Hiszczynskyj Topeka, KSB. Hlushewsky Harrison, NYA. Kushnir Bethesda, MDM. McGrath Franklin Square, NYM. Mostovych Silver Spring, MDPeter MyskiwPhoenix, AZAndrew and Renata Armonk, NYNychkaS. Olynyk Washington, DCJ. Stecura Middleburg Hgts., OHWalter Tupyckyj Cheektowaga, NYA. Wynar Ravenna, OH$45.00 Sviatoslav Bozhenko San Francisco, CAHelen LozikMcKees Rocks, PAZdanna SkalskyGaithersburg, MD$35.00 John Y. and Ulana Sos Pawtucket, RI$30.00 B. Buchynsky Glendora, CAJohn Cherniawsky Astoria, NYA. Dydyk-Petrenko Ashton, MDMichael and Kathryn Johnson City, NYKowalczikIrena NychayBayonne, NJRoman OlijnykRadnor, PAW. Petryshyn Sarasota, FL$25.80 Orest Cap Winnipeg, MB$25.00 R. Badynskyj Phoenix, AZZ. Balaban Farmington, CTL. Balahutrak Houston, TXC. Bonacorsa Belleville, NJL. Buniak Fayetteville, NYJ. Cherniawsky Long Island City, NYR. Chomiak Washington, DCGeorge ChomynWeston, ONC. Chraplyvy Matawan, NJD. Chromowsky Little Egg Harbor, NJL. Cloherty S. Boston, MAA. Craig Edina, MNT. Danysh Greenwich, CTU. Diachuk Rutherford, NJM. Durbak Chicago, ILM. Dushnyck Brooklyn, NYD. Dykyj Forest Hills, NYI. Gawdiak Columbia, MDA. Gural Manchester, NJAnna HarmatyChatham, NJB. Hayda Rutherford, NJM. Hnateyko Clifton, NJA. Hladky Randolph, NJA. Jakubowycz Brecksville, OHS. Jakubowycz Brick, NJO. Karawan Inverness, ILO. Kashuba Kildeer, ILRoman Kernitsky Colts Neck, NJL. Keske Woodland Hills, CAIrene and LisaAnnandale, NJKobyleckyj (in memoryof Peter Kobyleckyj)D. Kolcio Arlington, VATatyana Koropeckyj-Cox Gainesville, FLJohn KoshikarPisgah Forest, NCN. Kowal Riverside, CTJ. Krupinski Scranton, PAI. Kucewicz Wheaton, ILM. Kulas LaGrange, ILC. Kuzmowych Great Falls, VAW. Lechman Lafayette, INJ. Leshko Northampton, MAThe Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund: JanuaryB. Losten Stamford, CTMichael Lotocky Huntington Beach, CAN. Lysyj Austin, TXJ. Mazuryk Danville, CAE. Melnitchenko Owings, MDRoman MelnykToronto, ONA. Motyl New York, NYRichard and Ludmilla Silver Spring, MDMurphyP. Myskiw Phoenix, AZS. Nachesty Northampton, PAI. Nowak Milwaukee, WIN. Olesnycky Cuddebackville, NYT. Pastuszek Swarthmore, PAA. Pidwerbetsky Randolph, NJJ. Plaskon Linden, NJJ. Pluta Wallingford, PAR. Podpirka Whitestone, NYM. Polanskyj Matawan, NJP. Rabchenuk Salem, MAC. Schmotolocha Thousand Oaks, CAJ. Semkiw Boiling Springs, PAP. Senyshyn Clifton, NJOrest ShegdaSt. Catharines, ONP. Shylo Eheeling, ILN. Sluzar North Port, FLL. Smarsh Astoria, NYE. Stakhiv Fairfax Station, VAE. Stakhiv Fairfax Station, VAG. Stawnychy Kinnelon, NJZ. Stawnychy Kinnelon, NJJohn StoikoDearborn, MIJohn TerleckyAnsonia, CTO. Temnycky Clifton, NJA. Traska Keedysville, MDP. Wasylkevych Cary, NCMichael Wawryshyn Toronto, ONI. Yevich-Tunstall Annandale, VAZ. Zachar W. Bloomfield, MIR. Zastawsky Newington, CTH. Zyruk Wilmington, DE$20.00 R. Bilak Kenosha, WID. Cisyk Staten Island, NYB. Fedun Chardon, OHN. Firko Huntington Valley, PAIgor KowalConcord, MAAndrij Leshchyshyn Columbia, MDM. Lomaga Wethersfield, CTM. Mychalczak Manlius, NYAndrij PanasBudd Lake, NJP. Romanyshyn Arvada, COR. Rudnyk-Mackenzie Los Angeles, CAA. Tomko Short Hills, NJYaro ZajacEast Hanover, NJA. Zelisko Hinsdale, IL$15.00 B. Chuchra Arnold, MDZ. Clem Jacksonville, FLA. Goot Moretown, VTP. Hawrylciw Ludlow, MAAndrew Horbachevsky Yonkers, NYO. Korz Rancho Mirage, CAMary Kramarenko East Windsor, NJJerry KucShokan, NYR. Kucil Rochester, NYS. Lule Glen Ellyn, ILLydia MotykaGainesville, FLChrystyna Nebesh Parma, OHMarkian Onuferko Jenkintown, PAB. Onufreiczuk Watchung, NJJurij and Marta Ozga Naperville, ILO. Polon Penn Yann, NYEugene RepetaWarren, MIArnold Rudakewych Lorton, VAPeter StefanowWorcester, MAN. Sygida East Hanover, NJM. Tymiak North Port, FLGregory Woloszyn Forest Hills, NY$12.50 S. Dutkewych and Alexandria, VAUrbanovych B.$10.00 W. Adamshik Perth Amboy, NJO. Ariza Palmetto Bay, FLG. Balynsky Sea Girt, NJLesia BekerskyWhitesboro, NYAlexandra Borregaard Millsboro, DEBrotherhood of St. Aliquippa, PANicholasJ.P. CapNaples, FLA. Cherney Oradell, NJO. Chypak Wayne, NJV. Czartorysky Brooklyn, NYM. Dragan Dobbs Ferry, NYJ. Fedorko Rutherford, NJA. Galonzka Walpole, MAW. Gerent North Port, FLS. Golub Minneapolis, MNB. Hlynsky Vienna, VAM. Holowinsky E. Greenwich, RIA. Holuka Flushing, NYA. Klufas Bridgeport, CTM. Koropeckyj Baltimore, MDS. Krawczeniuk Jersey City, NJS. Krawczeniuk Jersey City, NJN. Kropelnyckyj Warren, MILaryssa KurupaMorristown, NJT. Krupa Morristown, NJJ. Kuc Shokan, NYP. Kulynych Yonkers, NYTheodore KuzioGranby, CTM. Laszyn Hamilton, NJZenon Lishchynskyj Parkland, FLA. Lukachik Middle Village, NYB. Malaniak Glendale, CAEli MatiashAliquippa, PAR. Melnyk Indianapolis, INJ. Momot Brookhaven, PAG. Mutlos Hicksville, NYL. Mykyta Raleigh, NCJ. Oberyszyn Jamaica, NYM. O’Hara Long Island, NYMaria OharenkoRedondo Beach, CAL. Pastuszek Sudbury, MAJ. Panchuk Chicago, ILT. Petrasz Chicago, ILB. Podoliuk Hicksville, NYH. Prytula Brighton, MII. Rishko Bridgewater, NJG. Sawchak Rydal, PAE. Serba Mouth Laurel, NJC. and K. Skuza Tewksbury, NJL. Slobidsky Elkhorn, NER. Slysh Raleigh, NCI. Sochan Woodcliff Lake, NJE. Stakhiv Waldwick, NJI. Stock Arlington, VAG. Sydorak Hillsborough, CAJohn Szpyhulsky Iselin, NJIhor TomkiwToronto, ON$6.00 N. Holian Bay Village, OH$5.00 M. Artymiw Philadelphia, PAH. Bobylak Clifton, NJJurij CikaloPompton Plains, NJAndrij CybykWoodside, NYB. Duchnycz Newark, NJLarissa Dolinsky Westfield, NJJaroslav Dutkewych Alexandria, VAR. Folis Villas , NJMary GabodaBelvidere, VTIvanna Hankewycz Yonkers, NYAlana HanksWashington, DCMichael and Alice Pittsburgh, PAHaritanMerle and Bonnie Toledo, OHJurkiewiczWilliam Kataryniak Bayonne, NJMaria KodelskyKailua, HIH. Kowalchek West Newton, PAChester KucEdmonton, ABMykola and Nadia Sterling Heights, MILawrinL. Leshchyshyn Columbia, MDY. Lisovenko Brooklyn, NYJerry LosowyHammond, INP. Lutwinick Sunrise, FLChrystyna Lysobey Cherry Hill, NJM. Matychak Whitestone, NYPeter Nakoneczny Glen Spey, NYR. Nestorowicz Warren, MIE. Ostapiuk South Haven, MNL. Pakula Dearborn, MIE. Podolak Lehighton, PAJurij PodolakSilver Spring, MDA. Psiuk Kennett Square, PAE. Pyk Orland Park, ILY. Shcheglov East Elmhurst, NYStephania Tatchyn Timonium, MDM. Trenza Carle Place, NYG. Tysowsky Amherst, NYOksana Weremijenko Doylestown, PA$2.50 P. Hrycak Cranford, NJTOTAL: $7,504.65Sincere thanks to all contributors toThe Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund.The Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund is the only funddedicated exclusively to supporting the work of thispublication.This month’s report includes donations toThe Ukrainian Weekly Press Fund that were sentin response to the Ukrainian National Association’s2008 Christmas card mailing.

No. 7by Matthew A. RareyCHICAGO – As news about the globaleconomic crisis turned darker by the day,the voice of reality seemed to scold theUkrainian Catholic Education Foundationfor embarking upon its most ambitiousfund-raising tour ever: banquets to benefitthe Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU)to be held on four consecutive Sundays infour U.S. cities in October and November2008, followed by additional events inCanada.After months of preparation by UCEFstaff working with host committees ineach city, however, the die was cast andthe show had to go on.“Through the grace of God movinghearts to give generously, I’m so glad toreport that the returns exceeded even ourmost ambitious expectations,” reportedDaniel R. Szymanski Jr., executive directorof the UCEF. Over $400,000 wasraised in New York City, $90,000 inChicago, $74,000 in Detroit and $50,000in Cleveland.The faithful support of many patrons –including such stalwart friends as theUkrainian American credit unions, parishesand sundry foundations – will helpUCU and the Church in Ukraine weatherthe global economic storm that is wrackingUkraine’s already shaky economy.“It was gratifying, though not unexpected,to see the outpouring of supportfor UCU from the Greater ClevelandUkrainian community,” said Dick Russ,co-master of ceremonies at the Clevelandbanquet on October 26. “The heartfeltwelcome given by Father Borys[Gudziak] was an expression of the deeplove and commitment the local communityhas always had for Ukraine, for ourbeloved Ukrainian Catholic Church, andespecially for the students at UCU whoare so earnestly working for the benefit ofboth Church and country.”Like many benefactors, Mr. Russ’ supportof the UCEF is a family affair: Hiswife, Christina, also served on the hostcommittee; his younger son, Stefan, astudent at Franciscan University, helpedoperate the audio-visual system; and hiselder son, Andrij, attended the final event– in Warren, Mich., on November 16 –along with several of his fellow Jesuitnovices from the seminary in Detroit.These young men in Roman collars listenedattentively to news about the vitalityof the Church in Ukraine, the maintopic of the table’s dinner conversation,in fact. Andrij Russ plans to obtain bi-ritualfaculties, allowing him to celebratedivine liturgy as well as say mass.“I’m encouraged by the interest of somany young people here in the U.S.,”noted his father, Mr. Russ, well known inCleveland as general manager of the localNBC news affiliate. “I think they recognizethe struggles their contemporaries inUkraine are facing and want to find waysto support them.”Father Gudziak, rector of UCU, wasprincipal speaker at all the events, whichranged in attendance from 150 to over200 friends of UCU. He was joined inChicago and Detroit by two of the university’salumni, who also visited communityand church groups to informally relatethe good news happening in Lviv: AndriyKurochka, a young relative of recentlyretired Msgr. Stephen Hrynuck whoworks in UCU’s development office, andSister Jelena Herasym, founding prioressof the Redemptorist Order in Lviv.Unfortunately, one prominent guestspeaker had to cancel at the last minute.THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 5Fall fund-raisers benefit the Ukrainian Catholic UniversityMatthew A. Rarey (rarey@ucef.org) iscommunications specialist at theUkrainian Catholic EducationFoundation.The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor ofthe influential religious journal FirstThings and a member of the UCEF’sAdvisory Council, had welcomed theinvitation to share the podium with FatherGudziak in New York City.“I look forward to supporting the nobleenterprise that is UCU and being with myfriend Father Borys once again,” saidFather Neuhaus. A leading voice in ecumenicaldialogue and a staunch supporterof the cause of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Father Neuhaus visitedUCU several years ago and attended asobor and synod of the UGCC in Lviv.The night before the event, however,Father Neuhaus’s secretary called to saythe priest had taken ill. Two months later,he passed away after a short bout with avery virulent form of cancer.“At UCU, sisters can fully realize alltheir knowledge and spiritual gifts andthen put them to use in their monastic lifeas well as their pastoral service to Churchand society,” Sister Jelena told supportersin Warren. “Though not all students willbecome theologians or historians or socialpedagogues, they will bring this educationof the spirit… which they acquired at UCUinto Ukrainian life. This is how we willhelp change our country for the better.”After finishing her talk, Sister Jelena,an accomplished vocalist and musician,sang sonorous hymns, lovely and almostmagical. Not a few tears were shed in thehushed room.“It was so beautiful. I don’t know, shejust rocked,” remarked Roman Pylypczak,a 21-year-old UCEF supporter whofilmed the event in Chicago. Mr.Pylypczak, a university student, also producedthe video documentary about UCUthat was shown at all the events to criticalacclaim. “In future documentaries aboutUCU, I would love to add clips of hersinging and playing the guitar,” he commented.Many, including the rector himself,agreed that Sister Jelena’s angelic singingwas a charming change from FatherGudziak’s hoarse voice, afflicted by adogged cold imported from Ukraine.His message, however, rang clear.“We already have 600 graduates. Theygo into the world with God’s inspiration,full of competence and the sense of theirown dignity and freedom. … I am happyto have such graduates, including some200 priests and the first women to haveearned degrees in theology in the entire1000-year history of Christianity in theirown land,” he said“These are special people who areready to go against the mainstream… tohelp their nation overcome differentobstacles,” Father Gudziak continued.“To help them accomplish this, and tonurture more young leaders like them,we… are constantly fulfilling our goal ofbeing an open academic communitywhere the Eastern Christian way of life isvital and where young people are nurturedto become leaders in the moral,intellectual, cultural, political and economicarenas of Ukrainian life. ““To continue making this miracle cometrue, we humbly pray for your continuedgenerosity in these difficult times. MayGod bless you,” Father Gudziak concluded.As proven by the results of the UCEF’sfall 2008 tour, which continued to generatereturns into the new year, FatherGudziak’s appeal was answered with generousaffection.* * *Further information about UCU (inEnglish and Ukrainian) is available on theuniversity’s website at www.ucu.edu.ua.(Continued on page 19)Sister Jelena Herasym with several of the volunteers who helped make the benefitluncheon in Michigan “the warmest event with the closest feeling of communitythat the UCEF has ever hosted,” according to benefactor Lubomyr Hewko.UCEF Executive Director Daniel R. Szymanski Jr., with Father Borys Gudziakand Bishop Innocent Lotocky, OSBM, whose $6,000 donation added extra windin the sails of the Windy City’s fund-raiser.UNIS plans March 25-26Ukrainian Days in Washingtonby Michael Sawkiw Jr.Ukrainian National Information ServiceWASHINGTON – Following previoussuccessful “Ukrainian Days” in thenation’s capital, the Ukrainian NationalInformation Service (UNIS) is onceagain organizing this advocacy programin Washington on March 25-26.The intent of Ukrainian Days is topromote the concerns of the UkrainianAmerican community, as well as toestablish better relations with communitymembers’ elected representativesin Congress. Briefing papers on varioustopics will be supplied to all the participantsof Ukrainian Days by the UNIS.The Ukrainian Days agenda will consistof several parts. On Wednesdaymorning, March 25, UNIS will organizepresentations by U.S. government officialsand non-governmental organizations(NGOs). Of particular interest will be adiscussion about the topics of concern tothe community, including U.S. assistanceto Ukraine; energy security for Ukraine;NATO enlargement; continued advocacyof the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933;as well as, the overall context of U.S.-Ukraine relations.On Thursday morning, March 26,participants of Ukrainian Days will participatein a breakfast meeting withmembers of the CongressionalUkrainian Caucus (CUC), an officiallyregistered group within the U.S. Houseof Representatives that is interested inenhancing relations between Ukraineand the United States.Evening receptions are also beingplanned for both days in order for theUkrainian Days participants to have achance to acquaint themselves with othersin Washington who follow U.S.-Ukraine relations.Throughout the two-day event, participantsof Ukrainian Days will meetwith their respective members of theHouse of Representatives and Senate inorder to communicate to them the issuesthat concern the Ukrainian Americancommunity and establish closer communicationswith their offices.For further information about participating,as well as hotel accommodations,readers may contact the UkrainianNational Information Service at202-547-0018 or unis@ucca.org.

6 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLYEstablishing historical truthThe Ukrainian Weekly was born out of the need to tell the English-speakingworld about the Holodomor, a genocide devised by the government of the SovietUnion to kill millions of Ukrainians in the winter of 1932-1933.To commemorate the 75th anniversary of one of the greatest catastrophes inhuman history, The Weekly’s Kyiv bureau examined the Famine-Genocide on amore intimate level, focusing the spotlight on those Ukrainians who are at the forefrontof raising awareness and establishing the historical truth. For, while mostUkrainians are familiar with names like Joseph Stalin and Lazar Kaganovich, andconcepts like dekurkulization and collectivization, it’s the specific policies andinstances, such as the confiscation of millstones to grind grain or excessive taxation,that will enable us to better understand what happened in the 1930s.The 18-part series, which revealed the efforts of average Ukrainians, most livingon meager incomes, to establish the historical truth, proved both inspiring, as wellas disheartening.We became familiar with the efforts of patriots in the Poltava and Zhytomyroblasts to establish Holodomor monuments, undaunted by the indifference andopposition of evil government officials. We bore witness to the present-day persecutionHolodomor truth-tellers face such as Iryna Mahrytska in Luhansk and Prof.Volodymyr Kalinichenko in Kharkiv, face in eastern Ukraine. We learned about theunfathomable depths of evil pursued by the Stalinist regime and the millions ofCommunists, of various nationalities, who “were just following orders” – snatchingevery last crumb and seed from households, executing and beating starvingpeasants for trying to feed themselves, and indoctrinating schoolchildren to informon their parents.We learned the instrumental role that the diaspora has played in financingresearch efforts. Retired New Yorker Marian Kots proved a single person can makean immense difference in this world by financing numerous critical Holodomorpublications in Ukraine. Without his support, many valuable books would neverhave seen the light of day, including Tamara Polischuk’s “Stolytsia Vidchayu”(Capital of Despair), Dr. Petro Yaschuk’s “Portret Temriavy” (Portrait of Darkness)and the Holodomor bibliographic index produced at the Gorky library in Odesa.Mr. Kots is a true Ukrainian hero.Unfortunately, Holodomor research is desperately underfinanced and lackingsupport in Ukraine. There are so many stories that still need to be told, and notenough money to put them onto paper or even video, for that matter. Just as troublingis the lack of research to establish the names of victims and the casualty rate.Most oblasts estimated casualties for the National Book of Memory of HolodomorVictims that fall far below the actual death toll.Some names will never be known, because records were destroyed, either deliberatelyor accidentally. But just as Yad Vashem continues to pursue its mission ofnaming every Jewish victim of the Holocaust, Ukrainian researchers must keep tryingto establish the names of each Holodomor victim while the remaining witnessesare still alive.President Viktor Yushchenko deserves enormous praise for his efforts to raisethe Holodomor to the forefront of Ukrainian consciousness, offering unprecedentedmoral support for Holodomor scholars and researchers. It would be unreasonable,however, to ask the government to earmark funds for Holodomor research whenthe salary of civil servants, soldiers and government workers are among the lowestin Europe.Ukraine’s mega-millionaires and billionaires ought to begin financingHolodomor research and commemoration efforts. It’s disgraceful that averageUkrainians have to rent out their own apartments and live with their children (asZhytomyr resident Zoya Tereschuk did for four years) to raise funds for a monument,while mega-millionaires do nothing for Ukraine’s historical heritage. As anexample of their “concern,” the same weekend that Ukrainians were commemoratingthe Holodomor in November last year, billionaire Victor Pinchuk was openinga Holocaust exhibit in New York called “The Shooting of Jews in Ukraine.”Recognizing the unlikelihood of their assistance (many of Ukraine’s wealthiestwere hard-line Communists, don’t speak Ukrainian and aren’t ethnicallyUkrainian), it remains the responsibility of the Ukrainian diaspora to continue tofinancially support Holodomor efforts. The Buduchnist Credit Union’s funds forMs. Mahrytska’s documentary “The Damnation of Non-Remembrance,” as well asthe wide-ranging support for the Myrhorod monument, are perfect examples of thediaspora continuing to make a difference in Ukraine.After all, if we don’t do it, there aren’t many others who can or will.Feb.11999Turning the pages back...Ten years ago, on February 17, 1999, the Verkhovna Radavoted 310-39 to strip former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenkoof his legal immunity to allow him to face domestic charges ofembezzlement and concealment of foreign income. Mr.Lazarenko was accused of embezzling more than $1 million instate property while holding various government positions from 1993 to 1997.Last-ditch efforts to escape responsibility by Mr. Lazarenko – who also faced money-launderingcharges in Switzerland – included a heart condition brought on by“intense political pressure.”The Constitution of Ukraine states that at least 301 deputies must support the liftingof a deputy’s parliamentary immunity for the vote to take effect. The request to lift Mr.Lazarenko’s immunity came from the Procurator General’s Office. According to theCriminal Code of Ukraine, Mr. Lazarenko faced up to 15 years in prison.In December 1998 Swiss authorities detained Mr. Lazarenko when he attempted to(Continued on page 17)NEWS AND VIEWSRemembering John Updikeby R.L. Chomiak“You ought to write about Updike andUkraina.” This was my wife’s suggestion,as we – surrounded by January 28 newspapers– were reading obituaries of JohnUpdike. All the major dailies had them, onthe front pages, because of the stature ofthis great 20th century American writer.And the 21st, too: I had read a short storyby Updike in a magazine about a monthago, and his novel “Widows of Eastwick”came out late last year.I knew what my wife meant: November1966 in New York. In those days manydiaspora Ukrainians were interested in publicizingUkraine, which by Moscow’sdesign was a submerged nation. Any mentionin the Western media of Ukraine orUkrainians would be copied, mailed anddiscussed among Ukrainians. This wasnever to Moscow’s liking. Moscow did notwant any publicity for Ukraine, unless itwas something negative, like the collaborationwith the Nazis. Curiously, Gen. AndreyVlasov, who organized a whole Russianarmy for Adolph Hitler, was almost nevermentioned by the Soviet agit-prop (agitationand propagada) masters.Dmytro Pavlychko and Ivan Drach, twoleading Ukrainian poets at that time, cameto New York from Kyiv as members of theUkrainian SSR delegation to the UnitedNations General Assembly in September of1966. Whether Moscow liked it or not,Ukrainian SSR – a charter member of theU.N. – had to have a delegation at theGeneral Assembly session. In addition tocareer diplomats and government officials,U.N. member-states also include culturalfigures in their delegations. Messrs.Pavlychko and Drach were such publicmembers of the Ukrainian SSR delegation.One day, early in the session, I was sittingin the press section of the GeneralAssembly hall when I recognized Messrs.Pavlychko and Drach as they entered totake their seats in the back. (I was an editorof the Digest of the Soviet Ukrainian Pressat the time and was pretty familiar with theleading figures of Soviet Ukraine frommedia photos and articles.) I leaned overand introduced myself to the two delegates.Soon we were meeting at the U.N. headquartersand various places in and aroundNew York.In the evening of our first meeting wedined at a restaurant with several membersof the New York Group of young Ukrainianémigré writers. They dropped everythingand on a very short notice came to meetUkrainian writers of the post-Stalinist generation– the “generation of the sixties” asthey became known – who wrote in arefreshing style and had some familiaritywith the Western literary scene.In those days some Ukrainian culturalfigures learned Polish just to read “forbiddenliterature.” They could travel to Polandmuch easier than to Western Europe orAmerica. And in Poland they could read,for example, John Stuart Mill and JamesJoyce in Polish translation, because theirworks were published there in the early1960s. Not in Ukraine, though. Just thinkhow upset the Soviet rulers would havebeen if a Ukrainian from Ternopil orKrasnyi Luch read the English philosopherMill’s book “On Liberty.” But Polish workersat that time could buy “On Liberty,” inPolish, in a Polish book store. Maybe thatwas why Poland had student protests in the1960s and Solidarity in 1980s.I had seen in a Soviet Ukrainian magazinea photo and a story about my favoriteAmerican writer, John Updike, visitingKyiv. He was on one of those StateDepartment cultural exchange tours of theUSSR. I suggested that Messrs. Pavlychkoand Drach should try to meet him whilethey were in New York since they had hostedhim in Kyiv a few months earlier. Therewas a photo of a mob scene at the WritersUnion reception with Updike in the middle.The two Ukrainian wrtiers turned downmy suggestion, with a note of wistfulness.They knew better. Their contacts in the U.S.would be carefully orchestrated and theydidn’t want to do something that mightcause them to be sent back home before theGeneral Assembly session ended. That wasalways a danger in those days. (I knew aSoviet journalist who came to Columbia asan exchange student for a year. He wasimpressed by New York supermarkets andby large apartments. [He thought our onebedroomapartment on half a floor of a NewYork brownstone was large!] He spokeEnglish and kept talking about these wondersof New York. After the first semesterhe was sent home and told me why.)But, after a few weeks in New York,after several poetry readings arranged byus, the non-Communist diasporans (“bourgeoisnationalists” in the parlance of Soviethigh priests of morality), Mr. Pavlychkoasked me if I could try to arrange a meetingwith Updike. “Now you tell me,” I thought.This was around Thanksgiving Day and wehad just seen a huge exhibition of SalvadorDali’s paintings that simply shook them up.The General Assembly session, I knew,would end in three or four weeks and theUkrainian poets would be gone. But I toldthem I would try.I wrote a letter to Updike care of theNew Yorker magazine, with which he wasassociated his entire writing career. Withina very short time, four or five days, Ireceived a reply from Updike, who said heremembered Messrs. Drach and Pavlychkofrom Kyiv, that he would like to meet withthe Ukrainian writers, but that he was workingon a novel at the time and could notcome to New York. He would welcomethem in Ipswich, Mass., if they could comethere, he added.Now I turned to networking (although 40years ago this term was not used). I calledProf. Omeljan Pritsak at Harvard (this wasbefore there was a Harvard UkrainianResearch Institute and endowed chairs inUkrainian studies). Prof. Pritsak then was inHarvard’s Turkic studies department. Buthe needed no convincing. He said he wouldarrange an invitation from HarvardUniversity for Messrs. Pavlychko andDrach, since Ipswich, where Updikeworked, was nearby.That’s why my wife used such a boastfulphrase as “Updike and Ukraina” (with itsvisual, if not aural alliteration) – becausewe pulled it off. At that time SovietUkrainian diplomats in New York wouldnot know how to begin to show off theircultural leaders, and, moreover, theywouldn’t try, because they knew thatMoscow wouldn’t approve.At that time, though, such Russian writersas Andrey Voznyesensky and YevgeniiYevtushenko were toasted by the limousineliberals of New York’s Upper East Side andby beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg atColumbia University on the Upper WestSide. Those were Russians; these wereUkrainians. And this is yet another reasonto shout “Slava Ukrayini – nezalezhniy!”Now, writers and artists, computer programmersand scholars from independentUkraine are regularly invited to spend ayear on an American campus or at thinktankssuch as Washington’s KennanInstitute.But 40 years ago, despite the Russianpolicy of keeping Ukraine under wraps,we managed to put our men on a pedestal,(Continued on page 19)

No. 7THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 7LETTERS TO THE EDITORAre there DVD’sof Tkacz pieces?Dear Editor:Several years running now, I’ve read,with great interest, of Virland Tkacz’s“astounding and brilliantly executed”multi-act stage pieces based on Christmas/Winter Solstice traditions from Ukrainianlands (most recently in the January 18issue).Googling her name as well as the productiontitle, “Still the River Flows...,” yields lists of sites. Overwhelming,actually.In several hits, I was not able to determinewhether any of these annual winterproductions have been captured on DVDsand offered for purchase. To save myselffrom getting bug-eyed with Internet overexposure,I ask The Ukrainian Weekly’sreadership: Does anyone know whethersuch DVDs exist? Is there any sales-contactinformation?Folks in the provincial wildernessbeyond the Five Boroughs of New YorkCity may have no other opportunity toenjoy what brilliance Ms. Tkacz has managedwith old stock material.In advance, “diakuyu!”Matthew-Daniel StrembaBaltimore, Md.Vladimir Putinlost the gas warDear Editor:The gas war is over. It lasted twoweeks and ended with utter defeat forVladimir Putin’s Russia. The gas flowsagain from Russia to Ukraine and fromUkraine to Europe at the maximumcapacity the pipelines can carry. With theWe welcome your opinioncommodity market collapsing, Russianeeds foreign currency badly – and a lotof it. So the natural gas once again flowswestward from Russia.Prime Minister Putin chose the worstpossible moment for his gas adventure.With commodity prices in free fall acrossthe globe and the world economy inshambles, January was not a good time tostart an economic war – especially whenyour income is derived primarily fromselling oil and gas abroad and you producehardly anything in consumer goodsto keeps your economy going. “It’s theeconomy, stupid” as one of our formerpresident’s slogans proclaimed.The Christian Science Monitor, in itsJanuary 8 editorial “Putin, pipe down onUkrainians,” wrote: “The Kremlin strongmanis hoping energy prices rebound beforethe masses realize that the house that Putinbuilt may be a house of cards. If he’s wrong,he’ll also have himself to blame.”And it is indeed a “house of cardseconomy” that Mr. Putin’s Russia operateson. I saw this on Sakhalin Islandwhere Russian passengers were returningfrom a ferry trip to Hokkaido Island. Theywere carrying used and recapped tires,and selling them in a parking lot. And Isaw it on the sidewalks of Vladivostokwhere vendors were selling consumergoods brought from China. So much forRussian consumer goods. And I saw italso at marine cargo terminals in St.Petersburg, where raw materials werepiled up on docks for shipment to theWest to generate badly needed foreigncurrency to pay for imported consumergoods from Japan and China.It was indeed unwise for PrimeMinister Putin to start a gas war with allthat bluster and belligerence in such hardeconomic times and given Russia’s marginaleconomic base. The outcome of thewar was quite predictable.The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a varietyof topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities.Opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and donot necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, theUkrainian National Association.Letters should be typed and signed (anonymous letters are not published). Letters areaccepted also via e-mail at staff@ukrweekly.com. The daytime phone number and addressof the letter-writer must be given for verification purposes. Please note that a daytime phonenumber is essential in order for editors to contact letter-writers regarding clarifications orquestions.Please note: THE LENGTH OF LETTERS CANNOT EXCEED 500 WORDS.1933 issues neededIhor LysyjAustin, TexasThe Ukrainian Weekly is searching for originalissues of this newspaper published in 1933 in orderto scan them for our digital archives.If you have original copies of newspapersfrom 1933, please contact the editorial staff at973-292-9800, ext. 3040, or staff@ukrweekly.com.faces and placesby myron b. kurpoasFaces and Placesby Myron B. KuropasLuba Markewycz did it!Art work depicting the Holodomor by Romana Halay, 13, of Lviv.Luba Markewycz lives in the UkrainianVillage. A multi-talented Chicago publicschool teacher (now retired), Luba hastaught English in Ukraine every summersince 1992.Ms. Markewycz is also a photographerwhose original photos of Chornobyl wereexhibited at the Lviv Polytechnic Institute,the National University of Ostroh Academy,and Chicago’s Ukrainian National Museum.Since 1972 Ms. Markewycz has spent alot of time hanging around Chicago’sUkrainian Institute of Modern Art. She wasonce the vice-president and then the president;she currently chairs the educationcommittee.A recent project for Ms. Markewyczinvolved children in Ukraine commemoratingthe Holodomor through art. In her mind,“one of the best ways to honor the memoryof all the lives lost, and to keep it alive forgenerations to come, is to make certain thatour children know what happened.”Ms. Markewycz’s belief took her to 20schools in Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Odesa,Chernivtsi, Kharkiv, Uzhorod, Stryi, andRymarivka. She met with principals, teachersand students (primarily grades 7 to 11),distributed art materials, asked students toreflect on the Holodomor and to create theirimpressions.Students “had to find a means in thedepth of their minds and hearts to renderthat understanding on paper,” she explained.The result was some 400 pieces of art workand 40 pieces of written work consisting ofpoems, essays and interviews withHolodomor survivors.That was only the beginning. The artwork became part of an exhibit titled“Holodomor Through the Eyes of a Child:The Famine Remembered,” at the UkrainianInstitute of Modern Art in Chicago. Choiceshad to be made regarding which pieceswould be displayed. “I agonized over why Ididn’t choose this or that piece of work,”Ms. Markewycz said. “Each and everypiece of art had to be photographed and cataloguedbecause I felt that every child’sname should be in the catalogue, if notevery piece.” A total of 186 pieces werefinally selected for the exhibit.Local artist Liaila Kuchma designed theexhibition catalogue. Ms. Kuchma andStano Grezdo mounted the exhibit, whichopened on November 23, 2008. Local clergyand the consul general of Ukraine,Oleksander Gwan, participated in the opening.Students from local Ukrainian Saturdayschools read the poems and essays ofUkraine’s children, while pupils led byNadya Ilkiv provided background musicduring the readings. It was an emotionalmoment for all. “I felt as if all of the paintingswere gossamer threads that I broughtover from Ukraine to America,” Ms.Markewycz told me. Students from localpublic schools and many other non-Ukrainiansvisited the exhibit, which closed onJanuary 18.Funding for Ms. Markewycz’s projectwas provided by Selfreliance UkrainianAmerican Federal Credit Union, theHeritage Foundation, the ChicagoDepartment of Cultural Affairs and theIllinois Arts Council. The UkrainianGenocide Famine Foundation, U.S.A., provided$1,000, which Luba portioned off tothe artists, some 10 to 15 hrv per child.Just because we Ukrainians commemoratedthe 75th anniversary of the Holodomorin 2008, doesn’t mean our responsibilitieshave ended. True, we took a giant step forwardlast year, but we need to keep themomentum going. Today, every consciousperson in the world knows about theHolocaust. Why? Reminders. Constant,unending reminders.Ms. Markewycz’s exhibit is a reminder,an important Holodomor reminder. She didit. You can too. All the heavy lifting hasbeen done. Ms. Markewycz would like totake the exhibit, which is easily put up anddismantled, to other Ukrainian cultural centers,museums and church halls in NorthAmerica this year. Think about it. WillUkraine’s child artists exhibit in your neighborhood?Will non-Ukrainians see it?Ms. Markewych exemplfies the power ofone in our communtiy. She deserves oursupport. She is an enthralling individualwho loves to talk with one and all. You canreach her at 312-863-9519. Call her andcongratulate her for her imaginative project.Better yet, invite her to bring her inspiredproject to your city. Her bags are packed.Call her now and keep the Holodomor ballrolling. You won’t regret it.The catalogue is available for $20 plus$2.95 shipping and handling from theUkrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 W.Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL, 60622.Myron Kuropas’s e-mail address iskuropas@comcast.net.

8 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7NEWS AND VIEWS‘Blood and Belonging’: Ignatieff removes Wrzesnewskyj from shadow Cabinetby Myroslava OleksiukTORONTO – Liberal OppositionLeader Michael Ignatieff on January 22announced his shadow Cabinet, removingBorys Wrzesnewskyj, member ofParliament for Etobicoke Center, from theposition of critic for citizenship, immigrationand multiculturalism, and not naminghim to any position in the shadowCabinet.Since his election in 2004, UkrainianCanadian Borys Wrzesnewskyj has beena very active member of the Parliamentand has been a longstanding advocate forthe Ukrainian community and, for thatmatter, for other communities as well,including the Sudanese, Somali, Polish,Croatian and Italian communities.However, the issue here is Mr.Ignatieff, who has a history of differencesand an enduring problematic relationshipwith the Ukrainian community. Mr.Wrzesnewskyj’s removal from the positionof critic for citizenship, immigrationand multiculturalism seems to once againunderline the fears the Ukrainian communityhas had concerning Mr. Ignatieff,which originate from Mr. Ignatieff’s writingsin his book “Blood and Belonging”(1993).Even after Ukraine attained independencein 1991, for the sixth time in itshistory, Mr. Ignatieff questionedUkrainians’ claim of a national identityapart from Russia. “I feel like declaringmy basic prejudices on arrival,” he writes.“Isn’t nationalism just an exercise inkitsch, in fervent emotional insincerity?Especially so in Ukraine. It has been partof Russia for centuries.”“Into this inauthentic void streamsnationalist emotionalism,” he continues,“striving to convince them that therealways was a Ukrainian nation; that it hasbeen suppressed for centuries; that it hasat last found its freedom, and so on. Thereality is different.”Where have we heard this sentimentexpressed more recently, although moresuccinctly? Ah yes, in Sochi on April 4,2008, when President Vladimir Putintutored President George W. Bush onMyroslava Oleksiuk of Toronto is editorof e-POSHTA Internet weekly.Supporters of Borys Wrzesnewskyj who traveled to Ottawa from Toronto to witness his swearing in when he was first electedin 2004. The number of votes he received placed him seventh out of the 135 Liberals who were elected across CanadaUkraine’s genesis: “Ukraine is not even anation!”What prevents the former professor,Mr. Ignatieff, and Mr. Putin from takingthe opportunity to incorporate new datainto their wisdom banks? Why do theyrefuse to revise their positions when in2004 they observed a people’s nationalspirit, as Ukrainians traveled from allparts of Ukraine to the capital, Kyiv, tostage the Orange Revolution inIndependence Square? The demonstratorswere immovable even when rumors flewof Russian tanks and planes crossing theborder into Ukraine. Indeed, this broughtout more supporters for, in fighting forfree elections, Ukrainians understood thatthe “shield against its enemies is its ownidentity, vigorously asserted and framedby a commitment to democratic values,”as articulated by Ukrainian-born Sovietdissident, political prisoner and IsraeliCabinet Minister Natan Sharansky in“Defending Identity” (2008).Mr. Ignatieff guides us to the answer tohis inability, on this subject of Ukrainians,to think rationally and act justly in Bloodin Belonging: “My difficulty in takingUkraine seriously goes deeper than justmy cosmopolitan suspicion of nationalistseverywhere. Somewhere inside, I’m alsowhat Ukrainians would call a GreatRussian, and there is just a trace of oldRussian disdain for these ‘little Russians.’The first scholar and political analystto react to the news of Mr.Wrzesnewskyj’s removal was TarasKuzio. “Borys Wrzesnewskyj is an energeticand committed Ukrainian Canadianwho has accomplished a lot in a shortperiod of time in the CanadianParliament,” he noted. “His removal fromthe shadow Cabinet undermines theLiberal Party’s professed allegiance todiversity and inclusiveness, and throws adark shadow over Michael Ignatieff’ssupport for traditional Liberal values.”“Ukrainian Canadians need to uniteand refuse to be treated as second-classby a new Liberal leader who has repeatedlyshown in his past behavior a contemptfor Ukrainians. If Mr. Ignatieff continuesto treat Ukrainian Canadians insuch a manner, the Ukrainian Canadiancommunity should bring home to theLiberal Party the realization thatUkrainian Canadians have a choice in ademocracy – that is, to vote for alternativepolitical parties. Ukrainian Canadiansshould bring this message home by unitingwith other ethnic communities whohave suffered from Russian oppression,”Dr. Kuzio underscored.Dr. Kuzio’s suggestion will find resonanceamong many Canadians who donot regret that the Soviet Union fell apartand do not support an orientation thataligns itself with the regrets of Mr. Putin,Russia’s current prime minister and formerpresident, who famously said in anaddress to the nation on April 25, 2005:“The collapse of the Soviet Union wasthe greatest geopolitical catastrophe ofthe century.”FOR THE RECORD:A letter to IgnatieffFollowing is the text of a February2 letter sent by Prof. Lubomyr Luciukof Kingston, Ontario, to LiberalOpposition Leader Michael Ignatieff.Dear Dr. Ignatieff:I was very disappointed to learn thatyou have removed Mr. BorysWrzesnewskyj from his position asLiberal critic of government multiculturalismand Canadian heritage policies.Over the course of several yearsI have found myself to be increasinglyimpressed by Mr. Wrzesnewskyj’sintelligent, determined and effectiveleadership. He has certainly been verywidely appreciated for this work withinCanadian Ukrainian circles, particularlywith respect to the redress issue,which you personally affirmed yourcommitment to. As such, your recentdecision to demote him – particularlygiven the concerns with which manymembers of our community haveregarded some of your writings andpublic statements on Ukraine – is nowfueling renewed angst about yourintentions with respect to ourcommunity’s interests. May I recommendthat you either reinstate Mr.Wrzesnewskyj to his previous role orafford him an even more responsibleone so that he can continue to serveour country well.Visit our archive onthe Internet:www.ukrweekly.com

No. 7THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 9NEWS ANALYSIS: The Russian-Central European gas conflict continuesby Roman KupchinskyEurasia Daily MonitorFebruary 6While the Ukrainian-Russian gas conflictappears to have been resolved, itsfallout is still reverberating throughoutCentral Europe.In Poland, RosUkrEnergo (RUE), theSwiss based middleman that was droppedfrom the Ukrainian-Russian-CentralAsian gas trade on January 20, has failedto meet its contractual obligations to supplythe Polish oil and gas distributioncompany Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe iGazownictwo (PGNiG) with 7 millioncubic meters of gas per day. The Polishbusiness daily Puls Biznesu reported onJanuary 29 that PGNiG was consideringsuing RUE for breach of contract.According to Kommersant of January28, RUE failed to meet deliveries becauseon January 20 Naftohaz Ukrayiny boughtRUE’s $1.7 billion debt from Gazpromand then took possession of 11 billioncubic meters (bcm) of RUE’s gas inUkrainian underground storage facilities,effectively preventing the export of thisgas to RUE’s clients.Poland imports 76 percent of its annualconsumption of 14 bcm of gas, and 90percent of this comes from Russia andCentral Asia. In 2006 PGNiG signed athree-year contract with RUE to buy 2.3bcm of Central Asian gas per year. Theremaining 6.2 bcm was contracted forwith Gazprom Export, a 100 percent subsidiaryof Gazprom headed by GazpromDeputy CEO Alexander Medvedev.Mr. Medvedev, however, is also a memberof the RUE coordinating committee,along with two other Gazprom deputyCEOs who jointly represent Gazprom’s 50percent ownership of the company.The mystery of this arrangement iswhy Gazprom created the scheme allowingGazprom Export to compete withRUE in sales to Poland and other markets.Why did it allow two privateUkrainian entrepreneurs, Dmytro Firtashand Ivan Fursin, to make hundreds ofmillions of dollars for a number of years,thus depriving Gazprom of substantialprofits and the Russian budget of cash?Polish Prime Minister Donald Tuskwas quoted by the UNIAN news serviceon January 28 as saying that he intendedto raise this matter with Russian PrimeMinister Vladimir Putin at the WorldEconomic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Mr. Tusk apparently is concerned byGazprom’s demand that Poland lower itstransit fee for Russian gas going toEurope via the Yamal-Europe pipeline, ascompensation to Gazprom for deliveringthe 7 million cubic meters a day that RUEcould no longer provide.The conflict over RUE and gas suppliesto Poland from Russia did not beginin 2009, however. On August 9, 2006, thePolish daily Rzeczpospolita reported thatPGNiG was on the verge of dropping itscontract with RUE over a dispute involvingnew Gazprom demands – some wouldcall it blackmail. Gazprom was apparentlyinsisting that if Poland wanted to con-tinue receiving cheap gas (most likely ofCentral Asian origin), it would have togive Gazprom access to the managementof the Polish section of the Yamal-Europepipeline as well as the right to operate inthe Polish domestic market.The Russian portion of the pipeline isowned and operated by Gazprom. TheBelarusian section is owned by Gazpromand operated by Beltransgaz, the Belarusstate-owned pipeline company that is 25percent owned by Gazprom. The Polishsection is owned and operated byEuRoPol Gaz S.A., a joint venture ofPolish PGNiG and Russia’s Gazprom(each with 48 percent of the shares) andPolish Gas-Trading S.A. (4 percent).RUE was apparently being used by theKremlin to pressure the Poles into acceptingRussian gas hegemony, and this tactichas now been resurrected by PrimeMinister Putin and President DmitryMedvedev of Russia.Although RosUkrEnergo was excludedfrom the Gazprom-Naftohaz scheme, itstill has a number of active contracts withother European countries, includingRomania and Hungary.In Hungary, RUE has been deeplyinvolved in selling gas to Emfesz, a companyestablished by Mr. Firtash in 2003when he was secretly heading Eural TransGas, the predecessor of RUE. Emfeszoperates on the Hungarian domestic marketand is currently the second largest gasimporter in Hungary, supplying 3 bcmannually (www.emfesz.hu).If Emfesz can no longer obtain gasfrom RUE, Hungary will stand to losebillions of dollars and the current governmentof Ferenc Gyurcsany, which hasdogmatically supported Russia’s gas strategy,will have to explain why it supportedMr. Firtash’s fly-by-night scheme. Werebribes distributed to members of theGyurcsany government by Russian andpro-Russian companies to allow Emfeszto remain in business or was permissionfreely given? Interestingly enough, in2005 the European Commission statedthat the “independent character of Emfeszwas questionable” (EU Regulation No.138/2004). This was apparently ignoredby the Hungarian government in its rushto please the Kremlin.RUE is also under contract to supply1.5 bcm of gas to Romania (Kommersant,January 28). Will it be able to meet thiscommitment or will Gazprom be facedwith a slew of new lawsuits for nonperformance?The consequences of RUE’s shady roleare becoming more evident daily. Mr.Putin put together a crooked scheme; andtogether with Dmitry Medvedev, AlexeiMiller, Leonid Kuchma, Mr. Firtash,Semen Mogilevich and scores of others,he has defrauded the Russian andUkrainian people and denied them theservices they deserve from their electedofficials.The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permissionfrom its publisher, the JamestownFoundation, www.jamestown.org.COMMENTARY: The gas wars, Russian lies and European interestsby Oksana Bashuk HepburnIt is widely believed that had Ukrainerejected interest in NATO membership orallowed political quarrels of the last twomonths to replace pro-Ukraine’s PrimeMinister Tymoshenko with pro-Russia’sViktor Yanukovych, Russia would nothave been harassing it or threateningEurope by turning off gas supplies.Furthermore, Russia’s nasty behavioris designed to recoup some of its lost petro-dollarsand address the concern that itsenergy advantage may be curtailed. Thus,Russia is resorting to deception and briberyto get its way.Here’s why.Russia has benefited handsomely fromthe energy boom, allowing the state to rebuilda substantial war machine, provideassistance to Communist states like Cubaand Venezuela, and win wars against littleChechnya and, most recently, Georgia.Although there’s been little improvementto Russian lives – mainly to oligarchs incenters like St. Petersburg and Moscow –its wealth spawned influence, includingmembership in Group of Eight, and theability to call the shots on Ukraine’smembership in NATO.The fall of 2008, however, broughtchange. The global economy tanked, andthe sky fell on energy prices. SuddenlyRussia was poorer and less powerful. Oneway to recoup losses was to exert pressureon Ukraine, a thorn in Russia’s sidesince the Orange Revolution and a keyelement in the energy sector as its pipelinescarry most of Russia’s gas toEurope.Despite two energy agreementsbetween both countries’ presidents andprime ministers – setting a price of $192Oksana Bashuk Hepburn, a politicalcommentator and editor of the bilingualquarterly Nasha Doroha, has served frequentlyas an elections monitor.per 1,000 cubic meters of gas – as temperaturesfell, Russia insisted Ukrainepay outstanding debts immediately or elseit would receive no more gas. Ukraineobliged, but Russia demanded repaymentof penalties too. The matter being beforean international tribunal, Ukraine refused.Russia then raised prices to $210, then$250, then $450, then $470. And thenRussia turned off the taps.Then Russia lied. It stated that as a reliablepartner it had not turned off the gas –it was Ukraine that had stopped transmitting.Then Russia changed its story. Yes, ithad turned off the gas because Ukrainewas siphoning off energy. PresidentDmitry Medvedev and Alexei Miller ofGazprom, proclaimed publicly thatUkraine was a thief. Ukraine denied thisand called for international monitors. Atfirst Russia refused, then agreed – but onlyif its conditions were met.The conditions were unilateral andposed a danger not just to Ukraine but toEurope. Bowing to them would haveencouraged Russia’s continued outrageousbehavior and further destabilizationof the globe in these precarious times.Russia’s one-sided conditions demandedthat only Russian and European Unionrepresentatives comprise the inspectionteam, and that the monitoring be restrictedto Ukraine’s pipeline. There was to beno monitoring of Russia’s delivery at thesource. Germany’s Chancellor AngelaMerkel participated in negotiating theseterms. Keeping in mind that her predecessor,Gerhard Schroeder, joined Gazpromshortly after leaving his post, it is not surprisingthat Germany hoped to get awaywith a position favoring Russia.Ukrainians know this. Their countryhas been sold out before by Western powersdetermined to placate Russia at itsexpense. The centralization of the formerSoviet Union’s nuclear power in Russia’shands is an excellent, if troubling, example.So is much of the media’s coverageof the gas war.Despite some well-earned criticism ofRussia, much international coverage, particularlytelevision, has been transmittedfrom Moscow with accompanying bias.Thus, Ukraine’s concern about the onesidednessof monitors was justified. OnJanuary 10 Prime Minister Tymoshenkoinsisted that the process must be fair andbalanced; she demanded that Russia’s gassupply be included in the monitoring process,and that Ukraine have equal representationon the monitoring team.In this latest gas war Russia lied anddemonstrated again that as far as its politicalor economic ends are concerned, theends justify the means. Russia underscoredits aim of exclusive control of theentire gas system –production, refinement,distribution – that had been diversifiedduring Soviet times. Hence Russia’sattacks on Georgia and now on Ukraine(where Russia also aims to exert politicalcontrol), both key to such control.But time is working against Russia. Inaddition to lower gas prices and talk inEurope of supply diversification, thereare rumors that relations between Russiaand key producers – Kazakhstan andTurkmenistan – are strained. It must actnow, therefore, or lose the advantage permanently.In this latest gas confrontationRussia is waiting for the other side –Ukraine and EU – to blink.Ukraine’s interests in the gas war needto be fiercely protected. Its interests areall of Europe’s interests and, ultimately,that of the entire globe.Making contact with The WeeklyReaders/writers who send information or queries to TheUkrainian Weekly are kindly asked to include a daytimephone number and a complete mailing address. Please notethat a daytime phone number is essential in order for editorsto contact correspondents regarding additional information,clarifications, questions, etc.Want to seeyour name in print?Then why not become a correspondent ofThe Ukrainian Weekly in your community?We welcome submissions from all our Ukrainian communities, no matterwhere they are located. Let the rest of us know what you’re up to in yourcorner of the Ukrainian diaspora!Any questions? Call The Weekly, 973-292-9800, ext. 3049.

10 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7NEWS AND VIEWS: Verkhovna Rada interns meet in KyivThe interns of the Verkhovna Rada meet with Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program Director Ihor Bardyn (center).by Ruslana KostinaKYIV – Canada-Ukraine ParliamentaryProgram (CUPP) Director Ihor Bardyn metrecently with the 2008-2009 interns of theVerkhovna Rada.The Verkhovna Rada internship programis sponsored by the Association of formermembers of the U.S. Congress in cooperationwith the University of Indiana and wasstarted in 1995. Both the CUPP and Radaprograms are similar in that both are housedand function within the structures ofParliament, of Ukraine and Canada, respectively.The key difference between the programsis that the Rada interns complete their internshipby working, in most cases, with thevarious committees of Verkhovna Rada.CUPP interns work directly with individualmembers of the Canadian House ofCommons. CUPP was the first program ofassistance to Ukraine by the Diaspora inCanada, and was established upon agreementwith the Speaker of the CanadianParliament, John Fraser, in 1990. The firstCUPP Interns arrived in Ottawa in the springof 1991. In the fall of 2009 the House ofCommons will welcome participants of the27th internship program.The meeting, held on November 25,2008, took place in the Great Hall of theVerkhovna Rada’s Committees Building onHrushevsky Boulevard opposite theVerkhovna Rada.Attending the meeting was MarynaRudenko, director of the Verkhovna RadaProgram; Prof. Stephen Velychenko, Chairof Ukrainian Studies at the University ofToronto, who is currently teaching at theNational University of Kyiv-MohylaAcademy under the Yaremko LectureshipProgram of Katedra Foundation; LuciaHicks of the CUPP Program SelectionCommittee; CUPP 2009 CoordinatorsRuslana Kostina, a graduate of MykolaivUniversity of Shipbuilding who is currentlycompleting graduate studies at Haugesund/Stord University in Norway, and OleksanderPankiv, a graduate of the University of Lviv,Faculty of Law.Mr. Bardyn spoke about the 18-year historyof CUPP, the achievements of someCUPP graduates and the possibility of linkingthe two internships in a joint program.He also urged the Verkhovna Rada interns toquestion the political culture of theirParliament and its practices, and to encouragethe interns to compare the work of theirParliament with that of other more establishedParliaments in order to improve thegovernance of the country.He encouraged the Rada Interns to pursuegraduate studies abroad and to seek outother opportunities for internships withEuropean institutions and governing agencies,and bring this experience back to theirhomeland.The meeting concluded with a lengthyquestion and answer session over tea andcoffee.“We are very pleased that the meetingwith Ihor Bardyn was the first meeting ofthis year’s VR Internship Program,” saidMs. Rudenko, coordinator of the VerkhovnaRada program. “It was extremely interesting(Continued on page 19)Eastern Ukrainians...(Continued from page 3)officials called the station and orderedGeneral Director Volodymyr Tkachenko tonever show the film again, Ms. Mahrytskasaid.On the eve of the broadcast, both Ms.Mahrytska and her film were smeared in thelocal media. Afterwards, the State OblastAdministration “ended all contact with me,”she said. “They thought I couldn’t do thefilm without them. The general director wasa brave man for showing it, and I don’t evenknow if he still has his job.”For all her struggles, Ms. Mahrytska saidthe rewards are worth it. Walking in herneighborhood, she overheard two womendiscuss the film. “They taught us that thosescum were heroes – (Stanislav) Kosior,(Yona) Yakir, (Klyment) Voroshylov,” Ms.Mahrytska overheard.To this day, a Luhansk city block bearsthe name Yakir, who commanded SovietUkrainian army divisions during theHolodomor, while the city center is adornedwith the statue of Voroshylov, the Sovietmilitary hero in whose honor Luhansk wasnamed Voroshylovhrad until 1990.“It was great to see people react positivelyto the film’s message,” Ms. Mahrytskasaid. “The film broke stereotypes that theHolodomor didn’t happen in Luhanskbecause its residents were never exposed tothis information.”While the residents of Myrhorod in thePoltava Oblast are largely aware andrespectful of the Holodomor’s devastationon their city and district, MayorOleksander Pautov of the Party of Regionsisn’t much interested. Although he recentlyestablished monuments of a jolly Kozakand Mykola Hohol in the city center, localactivists with the Memory Charter civicgroup didn’t bother asking him for aHolodomor monument.Myrhorod has two churches for its40,000-plus residents (compared to sevenbefore the Holodomor), both under theMoscow Patriarchate. When the UkrainianOrthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate askedMr. Pautov, an ethnic Russian, for land tobuild a church, the mayor agreed, offeringan exorbitant, unaffordable price.“On the one hand, I am a maximalist, buton the other hand, I am realistic,” said AndriiLevchenko, the chair of Memory Charter. “Iknow the mercantile thoughts of our mayor.He would have put such a price on it as tomake it impossible, which is what he isdoing with our Ukrainian OrthodoxChurch.”What Mr. Levchenko realized was thatone of the town’s most tragic sites duringthe Holodomor, its railway station, wasbeyond the mayor’s control. That landbelonged to UkrZaliznytsia, the nation’srailway monopoly.Based on the testimonies of severalMyrhorod survivors of the Holodomor, Mr.Levchenko and other researchers concludedthat nine mass graves containing tens ofthousands of corpses lie underneath andaround the train station.These Holodomor victims came toMyrhorod from surrounding villages in adesperate bid for food at the nearbyVynohradov Mill, which was processing thecorn and grain that had been confiscatedfrom them.“The burial brigades dug graves at therailway because it was convenient and awayfrom the city center,” Mr. Levchenko said.Despite numerous letters to city, oblastand state officials, the Memory Charterreceived no moral support from the government,so it turned to Bishop Fedir of thePoltava Eparchy of the Ukrainian OrthodoxChurch – Kyiv Patriarchate. “Without yourblessing, this matter will fail,” Mr.Levchenko told the spiritual leader, whogave the monument project his blessing.The monument’s construction consists ofseveral phases; the first, already completed,is a 10-foot granite silhouette of theOrthodox cross at the monument’s base. Atemporary wooden cross stands atop thefour-tiered concrete foundation, to bereplaced by a sculpture of a woman, herarms extended in Christ-like crucifixion,looking sorrowfully at the sky.“It will have a symbolic appearance,crucified on the shackles of our captivity,our enslavement, which the whole worldrecognizes as an unprecedented catastropheof the Ukrainian people,” Mr.Levchenko said. “She prays to the sky forrescue … because the earth betrayed her.She is degraded, offended and betrayedbut not conquered, because she is Ukraine.She will live as long as the sun shines, andthe sun shines eternally.”A massive water tower overlooking themonument will be painted to depict a candle.Meanwhile, the fence in the monument’sbackground depicts a vibrant, idyllicUkrainian countryside “with certain characteristicsof Ukrainian natural wealth – God’sideal where Ukrainians lived,” Mr.Levchenko said.Once the monument was envisioned, theMemory Charter needed permission fromKyiv.Realizing he needed to recruit someheavy hitters to his cause, Mr. Levchenkohopped on the Internet and made attempts tocontact diaspora organizations, drawing theattention of Mykola Mischenko’s UkrainianGenocide Famine Foundation U.S.A. andthe Ivan Bahriany Foundation, both based inChicago.They learned that Vice Prime Minister forHumanitarian Affairs Dmytro Tabachnyk,notorious for his derisive comments aboutUkrainian culture, was going to attend afinancial forum in Chicago in December2006. The diaspora leaders made an offerthat Mr. Tabachnyk apparently couldn’trefuse, and the order came from Kyiv to theMyrhorod railway station director to allowthe monument.“Tabachnyk was awaiting funds fromthese folks, so he couldn’t turn them down,”Mr. Levchenko said. “The events coincided,and we managed to force him. If he weren’tin Chicago, we might not have a monumentunder way.”Construction began in April 2007, and$12,000 of the needed $27,000 has beenraised from 2,500 donors. Among the contributorswere Myrhorod residents, includinglocal activists Oleksander and ValentynaKsionzenko; Oleksii Konowal and IvanDerkach of Chicago; and Olha Matula of theSisterhood of St. Olha and LiudmylaMurphy (nee Ksionzenko) of Washington.Mr. Levchenko urges any other interesteddonors to contact him, or the Ksionzenkos,through their relative, Ms. Murphy.Ukrainian dissident legend LevLukianenko, chair of the HolodomorResearchers Association, and nationalistleader Oleh Tiahnybok, have already visitedthe monument-in-progress. Mr. Mischenkowill arrive for its dedication when it is finallycomplete and restores historical memoryin a corner of the train station once coveredin garbage and weeds.“They [the victims] were robbed, lookingfor rescue, and instead found their final restingplace and last breath of life,” Mr.Levchenko said. “The place reflects thetragedy, and we will honor this as the placewhere the casualties lie.”Kyiv researchers are also playing a criticalrole in reviving eastern Ukraine’s memory,on February 10 presenting “PavlohradUprising 1930: Documents and Materials,”a 380-page book published this month bythe Ukrainskyi Pysmennyk publishing houseand the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).While much is finally known of the infinitesuffering imposed on the Ukrainianpeople, unable to defend themselves becauseof Soviet gun control laws, researchers arebeginning to offer the public more informationon the citizens’ revolts in the years leadingup to the Holodomor.In April 1930 villagers throughout thePavlohrad district of the DnipropetrovskOblast could no longer tolerate the Sovietgovernment’s violent brutality and attemptedan uprising. They formed alliances withpeasants in neighboring districts as well.“This event refutes separate assertions onthe Ukrainian people’s submissive acceptanceof the government’s policy, which ledto the massive destruction of the populationby hunger, and directs scholars toward fundamentalwork on the anti-Soviet movementin Ukraine during the 20th century,” said Dr.Vasyl Danylenko, the director of the SBUarchives who compiled the extensive collectionof Soviet documents related to theuprising.Largely deprived of weapons and poorlyorganized, the few hundred villagersinflicted 30 casualties in the battles ofApril 5 and 6, while incurring 13 lossesthemselves. As a result, 360 insurgentswere arrested, and 210 were swiftly prosecuted,receiving prison sentences of threeto 10 years. Another 27 were executed bygunfire, while 19 were freed.“From the example of the Pavlohraduprising we see how organized, spontaneousand uncoordinated actions on thelevel of instinctual self-defense werenipped in the bud in Soviet Ukraine,” Dr.Danylenko said. The government, heunderscored, “used unbelievably fiercemeasures to completely exterminate thisfreedom-loving national spirit on a geneticlevel.”

No. 7by Maria KulczyckyCHICAGO – St. Nicholas CathedralSchool extended a warm welcome to theentire community on Sunday, January 25,when it held an open house as part ofCatholic Schools Week in Chicago.A strategic campaign had beenlaunched weeks earlier, with posters andleaflets announcing the event in stores,libraries, financial institutions, coffeehouses, supermarkets and churches.Church bulletins, newspaper ads and webannouncements were part of the promotion,supplementing a direct mailing to3,000 families in the surrounding area. Avideo commercial was created and postedon YouTube.On an unseasonably cold day, with thestreets covered in snow, multi-coloredballoons festooned the school building towelcome visitors. Members of the administration,faculty, staff, students, alumniand parents were present to tell the storyof a school with a distinguished historyand an enviable record of excellence ineducation.Located in the heart of the UkrainianVillage and conveniently accessible to theLoop, the school has provided not only asuperior learning environment, but also aTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 11St. Nicholas Cathedral School rolls out the welcome matfirm foundation in Ukrainian languageand culture with an understanding of thetraditions of the Byzantine rite as practicedin Eastern Churches. St. NicholasCathedral School has been a full-dayschool for more than 70 years, withnumerous school clubs and an extendedafter-school. It has offered Ukrainianstudies for interested youth since 1906.Many Ukrainian community leaderstook their first academic steps at St.Nicholas. Alumni include the nation’scurrent assistant surgeon general, twoOlympians, a state senator, two state representatives,as well as many physicians,lawyers, educators, journalists and otherprofessionals, who are the mainstay ofthe Chicago and the Ukrainian communityin the United States.The focus at St. Nicholas is to providea solid grounding in academics with anemphasis on discipline, character, integrity,values and an appreciation of culturaldifferences within a nurturing educationalenvironment. Graduates are accepted,often with scholarships, at the area’s topprivate and public schools. Many go on towin scholastic honors.“We continue a long tradition of soundeducation enriched by our cultural heri-Student Ambassadors Yuliana Nalysnyk (class of 2009) and Khrystyna Vatseba(2009), Principal Maria Klysh-Finiak (1968) School Board member and formerpresident of DeVry University Oleh Skubiak (1964) and his wife, Luba (1967),welcome visitors to St. Nicholas School’s open house.tage,” noted Principal Maria Klysh-Finiak(class of 1968) “Our students score aboveaveragein standardized tests in each gradelevel. We raise the academic bar at St.Nicholas to challenge our students.”St. Nicholas offers an early childhoodprogram (accredited by the NationalAssociation for the Education of YoungChildren) for 3- and 4-year-olds in additionto the standard kindergarten andgrade 1 through 8 elementary school curriculum.An after-school program makesit convenient for parents commuting fromthe suburbs who work in the Loop (aboutone mile from the school) to pick up childrenafter the workday.“For Ukrainian families in particular, thisis a very effective way to provide aUkrainian education within an outstandingacademic program,” explained the VeryRev. Bohdan Nalysnyk, rector of St.Nicholas Cathedral. “We have invested(Continued on page 18)Bishop Richard Seminack, Family School Association President JacquelineOwerko (class of 1983) and Rector Bohdan Nalysnyk at the open house.The girls’ varsity volleyball team stages a scrimmage in the school gym for visitors.Tymoshenko seeks...(Continued from page 1)The IMF mission also stated, “Thesharper-than-expected contraction in economicactivity requires a recalibration ofeconomic policies. In particular, the IMFteam and the authorities have discussedpotential revisions to the program’s balancedbudget target for 2009, taking intoaccount the availability of financing.”Discussions are ongoing “on appropriatefiscal measures, monetary and exchangerate policies, and measures to strengthenconfidence in the banking system,” theIMF said.Several days later, on February 10, TheWall Street Journal reported that the IMFwas likely to suspend loan payments toKyiv. “Ukraine is failing to meet theterms of its loan deal with the IMF, andlikely won’t get the next installment thismonth, according to a person close totalks between the fund and the governmentin Kiev [sic],” wrote the Journal’sAlan Cullison.The story also pointed out that an IMFmission left Ukraine last week without anagreement that would have allowed furtherdisbursements of loan tranches andquoted Ms. Pazarbasioglu as saying, “furtheractions, including structural fiscalmeasures, are needed for us to recommendcompletion of the review.” Ukrainehad received $4.5 billion, the first trancheof the $16.5 billion stand-by loan fromthe IMF, in November 2008.Petro Poroshenko, head of the NationalBank Council, reacted to the news bysaying that Ukraine’s failure to receivethe next tranche of the IMF loan “willhave devastating consequences for theentire European economy.” An AssociatedPress story reported that European bankshave major stakes in Ukraine’s financialinstitutions and that Europe relies onUkraine for steel and grain exports, aswell as the transit of Russian natural gas.In the United States, State DepartmentActing Spokesman Robert Wood wasasked on February 10 whether the U.S.would come to Ukraine’s aid with financialsupport. After stating that the U.S. is“a strong supporter of Ukraine’s IMF program,”Mr. Wood said, “Ukraine is animportant partner for the United States.We’d have to take a look at the request,should one come in.”In Europe, according to BloombergNews, a group of six banks is pressingthe European Union to organize financialaid for countries to its east, includingUkraine and Romania.Among the signs that Ukraine’s economyis in deep trouble: Ukraine’s currencyhas lost about 40 percent of its value in2008, the gross domestic product isexpected to decline by 5 percent in 2009,and the annual inflation rate now standsat more than 20 percent.FOR THE RECORD: Statementby head of IMF mission to UkraineWASHINGTON – A mission fromthe International Monetary Fund (IMF)headed by Ms. Ceyla Pazarbasioglu hasbeen holding discussions withUkrainian authorities regarding the firstreview of Ukraine’s stand-by arrangementwith the fund.Ms. Pazarbasioglu issued the followingstatement on February 6 on the statusof discussions.“Since the adoption of the IMFsupportedprogram, the global economicenvironment has deteriorated markedly.Ukraine’s economy has not been excludedfrom this process. The economic situationremains difficult associated withdecline in demand for steel products andthe sharply reduced access to internationalcapital markets. While the economicoutlook for Ukraine has becomemore uncertain, the underlying dynamismof the economy and a consistentimplementation of sound policies shouldallow a gradual resumption of growth.“The authorities have responded tothese challenges. The currency hasundergone a large adjustment, which hasimproved the outlook for Ukraine’sexport industries. The current accountdeficit has started to narrow and, despitethe currency depreciation, inflation hascontinued to decline. The diagnosticphase of the bank recapitalization programhas been completed, and its effectiveimplementation should help restoreconfidence in the banking system.“The sharper-than-expected contractionin economic activity requires arecalibration of economic policies. Inparticular, the IMF team and the authoritieshave discussed potential revisionsto the program’s balanced budget targetfor 2009, taking into account the availabilityof financing. The ongoing discussionsare focusing on appropriatefiscal measures, monetary and exchangerate policies, and measures to strengthenconfidence in the banking system.“Significant progress has been madein discussions on fiscal, monetary andexchange rate policies, and on measuresto strengthen confidence in the bankingsystem, but a few issues remain outstanding.Discussions between theUkrainian authorities and fund staff onthese issues will continue in the comingweeks, and we expect the mission toreturn soon to complete discussions.”

12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7

No. 7by Victoria Varvariv MarkowiczFor our second winter holiday season inUkraine, my daughter, my husband and Ispent four nights, five days in December2008 at the lovely ski resort of Bukovel inthe Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine. Wetook a direct train from Kyiv, reserving thewhole wagon’s compartment, and were inIvano-Frankivsk 12 hours later. It was thenanother two hours by car to Bukovel.Bukovel is said to be Ukraine’s firstworld-class resort with 14 ski lifts on beautifulslopes covering 50 kilometers. Its baseelevation is almost 900 meters above sealevel, making it the second highest ski resortin the Carpathian Mountains afterDrahobrat.The slopes accommodate all levels ofskiing and snowboarding experience. Thereis a nice ski shool for children, and lessonsfor adults are also available. Night skiing isTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 13TRAVELS: Skiing and shopping in Ukraine’s Carpathian winter wonderlandanother possibility – this can be very“romantic.” The resort has snow-makingmachines that can provide “fresh snow,” nomatter what the weather forecast is.Bukovel visitors can rent what they needfor skiing, and items that can be purchasedat the one and only pricey boutique includeski clothing, gloves, goggles and sunglasses.The resort provides the option of buying skilift passes for a variety of time periods,including mornings or afternoons (halfdays),a day or for several days. There isalso a small grocer, pharmacy and ice skatingrink open daily and in the evenings inBukovel.Last year, we made reservations at theresort’s Bukovel Hotel and were pleased.Breakfast was in the Restaurant Kozachok,housed in the hotel’s reception “main” building.This year we noticed that the hotelcapacity, composed of many log buildings,had expanded during the past year as a resultof new construction. We were unhappy withour room this year because of its distancefrom the main building and our favorite skislope. Last year we were next to the mainbuilding. As a result, I insisted on anotherroom and, after some persistence on mypart, we were offered a room at the newShelter Hotel located right by our favoriteski lifts/slopes.We were delighted with our room at theShelter Hotel even though we had to pay anupgrade. My husband and I had a doublebed, and there was a very comfortable “foldout”in the adjoining room for our daughter,Maryna. We had a huge bathroom with tub,telephone, shower, sink and WC, and in ourroom there was a large flat screen TVmounted on the wall, a CD player and amini-bar. In addition, there were two tinybalconies from which I could observe mydaughter and husband on the slopes. Thesemini-balconies also doubled as a “refrigera-Victoria Varvariv Markowicz, thedaughter of Olena Kozar Warvariv andthe late Constantine Warvariv, is a firstgenerationUkrainian American born inNew York City. An artist, she holds a B.A.in art history (American University,Paris), an M.A. in aesthetics and a doctoratein fine arts (both from theUniversity of Paris, Pantheon- Sorbonne).She has exhibited her works at over 50group and individual exhibitions inEurope and North America. She is marriedto fellow Ukrainian American JohnMarkowicz, who was the U.S. Defenseand Army attaché in Slovakia in1997-2000, and since then has workedfor a U.S. defense contractor providingmilitary transformation assistance bothto the Slovak and Ukrainian armed forces.Ms. Varvariv now resides in Kyiv withher husband and daughter, MarynaIvanna, who attends sixth grade at theKyiv International School. (Continued on page 22)Maryna and John Markowicz at the Bukovel Ski Resort.A view of the Bukovel Ski Resort.A snowy day in the Carpathians.

14 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7Run your advertisement here,in The Ukrainian Weekly’sCLASSIFIEDS section.MERCHANDISECLASSIFIEDSTO PLACE YOUR AD CALL MARIA OSCISLAWSKI (973) 292-9800 x 3040SERVICESOR E-MAIL ADUKR@OPTONLINE.NETPROFESSIONALSFOR SALEFor sale in Kerhonkson: Brick raisedranch on 1.24 acres. 4 bed 3.5 bath,large living/dining room w hdwd flrs.Upstairs/downstairs kitchens, deck,family room, office, laundry, garage. Bigclosets, 1 cedar. (2656 sq.ft.)$245,000. 607-273-2919OPPORTUNITYEARN EXTRA INCOME!The Ukrainian Weekly is lookingfor advertising sales agents.For additional information contactMaria Oscislawski, AdvertisingManager, The Ukrainian Weekly,(973) 292-9800, ext 3040.WANT IMPACT?Run your advertisement here,in The Ukrainian Weekly’sCLASSIFIEDS section.NEWSBRIEFS(Continued from page 2)Tymoshenko at Munich conferenceKYIV – Ukraine’s Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko said at the 45th MunichSecurity Conference on February 7 that “thetime is ripe for great, large-scale agreementsand serious work” due to the global financialdownturn. She said that only through jointefforts is it possible to overcome the falloutfrom the global financial slowdown. Ms.Tymoshenko said one should speak not onlyabout the responsibility of states’ leaders –in particular, those of powerful states – fordevelopments in their countries, but theirresponsibility for the financial and economicposition all across the globe, as all countriesare interconnected. (Ukrinform)Calls for Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih republicKYIV – Calls for the creation of the socalledDonetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic, whichwere issued in Donetsk, might be a politicalprovocation caused by national and foreignopponents to Ukraine’s authorities. “Thenon-governmental organization, called theDonetsk Republic, which supports therevival of the Soviet republic of Donetskand Kryvyi Rih, including several southeasternUkrainian regions, is a marginal andsmall organization that exists only thanks tosupport from pro-Russian forces in Ukraineand abroad,” said the director of theDonetsk-based Institute for Social Studiesand Political Analysis, Volodymyr Kipen.He added that this separatist movement hasalways stepped up its activities at the startof powers struggle in Ukraine and at signsof the worsening of the country’s economicsituation. Mr. Kipen said that provocativeactions by separatists could be part of thestreet protests announced by the Party ofRegions against the policies of the governmentled by Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko. (Ukrinform)Both sides say ICJ verdict is fair…KYIV – Ukraine’s President ViktorYushchenko and his Romanian counterpart,Traian Basescu, have confirmed that thetwo countries accept the verdict on demarcationof the continental shelf and exclusiveeconomic zones of Ukraine and Romania inthe Black Sea announced by theInternational Court of Justice (UCJ) at TheHague as fair and definitive. The two presidentsspoke about this by phone, the presidentialpress service reported on February5. Mr. Yushchenko noted that the judgmentputs an end to the intricate aspect of bilateralrelations and de facto means the removalof this problem from the agenda of mutualrelations between Ukraine and Romania. Atthe same time, he underlined that the courtruling opens new possibilities for fruitfulcooperation in all areas of bilateral relations.Messrs. Yushchenko and Basescualso dwelled on preparations for an officialvisit of the Romanian president to Ukraineon February 25-26 and the holding of thesecond meeting of the Ukraine-Romaniajoint presidential commission. Mr.Yushchenko said that the signing, duringthe Romanian president’s visit to Ukraine,of an intergovernmental agreement on localborder movement rules will further promotedevelopment of contacts between the residentsof the border regions of Ukraine andRomania. (Ukrinform)…Ukraine’s rep at ICJ concursKYIV – The judgment of theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) in TheHague on demarcation of the continentalshelf and exclusive economic zones ofUkraine and Romania (relative to Serpent’sIsland) is fair and legal, Ukraine’s envoy tothe ICJ, Ambassador VolodymyrVassylenko, announced at a briefing onFebruary 5. “The decision is fair, legal, it isbased on the international law andannounced by the U.N. main judicial agency,and no one can doubt its fairness. At thesame time, one should not speak aboutdefeat of one or another party. This is a victoryof the common sense,” the ambassadorsaid. Commenting on the judgment, Mr.Vassylenko said that the court satisfied theclaims of neither party. Ukraine’s ViceMinister of Foreign Affairs OleksanderKupchyshyn underlined that with thisdelimitation line the court demarcatedexclusive economic zones of Ukraine andRomania in the ratio of 2:1 in favor ofUkraine, with Ukraine receiving a largerwater area to explore and extract oil andgas. The diplomat also said that Ukrainekept 21 developed fields out of 24. “Thisnow opens huge opportunities for practicalexploitation of these fields. We should notnow speak about who has lost and who haswon. We have to start working there,” heunderscored. (Ukrinform)46,000 became Ukrainian citizensKYIV – The Ukrainian president’s commissionon citizenship this year considereda package of statements from 891 individualson acquiring and relinquishing Ukrainiancitizenship. The commission decided togrant Ukrainian citizenship to 425 people,while 343 individuals decided to relinquishit. In 2008 Ukrainian citizenship was grantedto 45,873 people and 5,456 relinquishedtheir citizenship. In 2008 Ukrainian citizenshipwas granted in the highest numbers toRussians (32 percent), Armenians (17 percent),Azerbaijanis (8 percent) andMoldovans (7 percent). All of the new citizenshave a certain degree of education(higher education, 26 percent; specializedsecondary education, 19 percent; and secondaryeducation, 51 percent). Applicantsfrom 49 countries obtained Ukrainian citizenshiplast year. (Ukrinform)Nazar and Anastasia most popularKYIV – Nazar and Anastasia were themost popular names during the registrationof newborn babies in Ukraine in 2008,according to the press service of the JusticeMinistry. The list of the most popular malenames includes Danylo, Maksym,Vladyslav, Mykyta, Artem, Kyrylo, Ihor,Illia, Andriy, Bohdan, Denys, Dmytro,Yaroslav, Oleksander and Volodymyr. Themost popular female names are Angelina,Alina, Daria, Diana, Kateryna, Maria,Natalia, Sofia, Yulia, Viktoria, Yelyzaveta,Anna, Veronika, Uliana, Oleksandra andKhrystyna. Yelisey, Ioann, Hordii, Erast,and Demian were among the most popularSlavic names in 2008. Foreign names werealso very popular for newborn children.Boys were named Dominic, Herman, Mark,Robert, Felix, Oscar, Adrian, Harold andJan, while girls were named Nicole, Sabina,Camila, Liana, Beata, Evelina, Dominica,Emma, Sabrina, Vanessa, Michelle, Annette,Carmelita and Isabella. (Ukrinform)NBU takes over two more banksKYIV – The National Bank of Ukraine(NBU) took Bank Kyiv under temporaryadministration on February 9 and NadraBank the next day. The central bank earliertook Prychornomoria Bank, UkrPromBank,Natsionalny Kredit Bank andPromInvestBank under temporary administration.The media reported earlier that BankKyiv recently had not paid deposits or intereston them to its clients. Bank Kyiv is oneof Ukraine’s medium-sized banks, whileNadra Bank is one of the country’s largest.(Ukrinform)Rare plants and animals smuggledKYIV – Each year, the profit from thesmuggling of rare plants and animals inUkraine is about $200 million (U.S.),reported Volodymyr Boreiko, director ofKyiv’s ecology culture center. Birds ofprey, ginseng, monkeys, boas, crocodiles,tropical butterflies, big parrots and other(Continued on page 15)

No. 7NEWSBRIEFSTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 15(Continued from page 14)plants and animals enter Ukraine as “grey”contraband, via illegal contracts with zoos,as well as by charter flights from tropicalcountries. Although Ukraine in 1999 ratifiedthe Convention on International Tradein Endangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora (CITES), only 2 percent to 5 percentof such “live commodities” are detainedon Ukrainian borders, and over 90 percentof rare animals and plants freely passthrough customs, Mr. Boreiko noted.According to ecologists, Kyiv’s zoo marketalone annually trades about 400 grayparrots and 150 monkeys whose sale isforbidden by CITES. Mr. Boreiko alsonoted that damage is caused not only tothe economy of Ukraine, but also to itsnatural resources, due to the illegal exportfrom Ukraine, primarily to Europe andRussia, of valuable timber, rare earlyplants, insects, snakes, lizards, frogs, ediblesnails, etc. Experts from EcoLaw-Kyivattributed the situation to problems withdomestic laws, particularly the absence inthe relevant article of the Criminal Code ofUkraine of a specific list of rare species.Moreover, the customs officials lack specialtraining and registers to detect specieson the CITES lists. Ecologists are urgingthe government and Parliament to settlethe problem, proposing the creation of anagency to stop illegal business with livecontraband in Ukraine. (Ukrinform)Essay contest: “I Am Obama”KYIV – Within the framework of celebratingits fifth anniversary, the DipcorpusInternational Relations Politologists League,jointly with the information-resource centerof the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and theAmerican Library, summed up results ofthe essay competition titled “I Am Obama:10 Steps in Foreign Policy.” The competitionwas held between December 22, 2008,and January 20 of this year – inaugurationday for President Barack Obama. The competition’sjury, consisting of experts of theDipcorpus League, recognized 10 essays aswinners. A work by Ivan Horodensky, astudent of the international relations departmentat Lviv’s Ivan Franko NationalUniversity, earned first place. Almost all thewinners of the competition wrote that thefirst steps for President Obama in the realmof foreign policy should be the following:looking for new ways of fighting terrorismand a way out of the economic crisis, settlementof problems with Iraq and Iran, andproviding assistance in ending confrontationsin the Gaza Strip. Another task for Mr.Obama should be to help end racial andreligious discrimination. The winners’essays will be published in the mass mediaand on a website specially created by theDipcorpus League. (Ukrinform)Ukraine’s oldest wood churchKYIV – A noted researcher of Ukraine’swooden churches, Vasyl Slobodian from theUkrZakhidProektRestavratsia Institute basedin Lviv, has established that St. NicolasCathedral, located in the village of StaraSkvariava, Zhovkiv district of the Lvivregion, is the oldest wooden church inUkraine. The researcher revealed a carvedinscription on the church’s north wall withthe date of 1508. The unique church is nowundergoing restoration and will be turnedinto a museum. The structure will beequipped with a fire prevention system. Theiconostasis from the church is also unique: itis the only preserved example of the prayerand holiday row of icons of the mid-16thcentury. Local authorities announced plansto consider the possibility of establishing aMuseum of Art Monuments of the 16th centuryincluding the Skvariava iconostasis inthe wooden church of St. Nicholas.(Ukrinform)Tilie Kuzma Decykwas born June 2, 1916, in Chicago, Illinois to Agnes and Dmytro Kuzma. Shetook her nursing degree at St Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago and in 1943joined the US Army Nurses Corps where she served in New Orleans, Wales andParis. Tillie rose to the rank of captain and was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, WW II medal, and a Bronze Star to EAMETheater Ribbon, having participated in the establishment of the first Allied fieldhospital after the Allied invasion at Normandy and the first Allied hospital in Parisfollowing the liberation of Paris.After WW II, Tillie returned to Chicago and continued her nursing career in theVeteran’s Administration and completed her bachelor of science degree atDePaul University and master of science at the University of Chicago.She married Walter Decyk in Chicago in 1950, and they had two daughters,Roxanne and Christine.Tillie served as a role to model to health professionals and to women, pursuingher career as a psychiatric nurse, nursing educator and hospital administrator atthe VA Hospital in North Chicago. Following her retirement from the V.A. in 1972,she continued teaching nursing at Lake Country Junior College. She also servedas president of the Lake County Red Cross and was active in other civic organizationsin Waukegan, Illinois.Tillie and Walter moved to Sun City Arizona in 1983 where they founded theUkrainian Club of Sun City. Following Walter’s death in 1993, Tillie served as thepresident of the club for more than 10 years and was active in other organizationsincluding the World War II Nurses Club and the Women in Armed ForcesMemorial. She was a lifelong advocate for recognition of the contribution ofwomen in the military and appreciation for the nursing profession.Tillie is survived by her daughters Christine Decyk of Chicago, Illinois andRoxanne Decyk of The Hague, Netherlands.

16 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7THE ARTS: Pianist Roman Rudnytsky completes concert tourYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Globetrottingconcert pianist Roman Rudnytskyrecently returned home after completing anumber of concert trips during the fall of2008.His most recent one was in Thailand,where he did a tour in the second part ofNovember 2008 with recitals in Bangkok,Nakhon Ratchasima (the second- largestcity), and Chiang Rai in the far north.This tour was organized by the binationalcenter American University Alumni,which has branches all around Thailand.The tour concluded on November 26,2008, but Mr. Rudnytsky remained inThailand until December 15 as he becameone of the approximately 400,000 travelersstranded and unable to fly out ofThailand due to the occupation and closureof the two Bangkok airports by politicalprotesters who were trying to topplethe government of then-Prime MinisterSomchai Wongsawat.Earlier in the fall, Mr. Rudnytsky didseveral tours organized by U.S.Embassies. One was in the Caribbean,where he played recitals on the islands ofAntigua, St. Kitts, and Nevis; this wasorganized by the US Embassy inBarbados. Then he traveled to Belgium,where he played two recitals in Brusselsand also in the Flemish towns of Hasselt,Genk, and Izegem. He also conductedmaster classes in the latter.In mid-October 2008, Mr. Rudnytskytraveled to Venezuela, where he playedrecitals in the cities of Merida andMaracay, and performed as soloist withthe Orquesta Sinfonica del Zulia of thecity of Maracaibo. He performed withthem the Rachmaninoff Concerto No.3 inD minor, Op. 30 – considered by many tobe perhaps the most difficult piano concertoin the standard repertoire.Mr. Rudnytsky will be playing in anumber of countries during 2009. So far,these include performances in Honduras(late February-early March), Britain(March and May), Honolulu (mid-April),and his 16th Australian tour (mid-May tomid-August), which will be his largestone there to date, as it already encompassesover 40 concertsLater in the year he will be on tour inColombia and Venezuela, and will playseveral recitals aboard P&O’s cruise shipOceana (Southampton to Barbados).Currently pending are several engagementsin several countries throughU.S. Embassies.Mr. Rudnytsky has now played concertsin over 90 countries. He remains amember of the music faculty of the DanaSchool of Music at Youngstown StateUniversity.Olena Onufriv,artist from Lviv,exhibits in ChicagoCHICAGO – The Ukrainian NationalMuseum of Chicago is hosting an artexhibit by visiting artist Olena Onufriv ofUkraine. This is the artist’s first exhibit inthe United States.Ms. Onufriv is a graduate of the IvanTrush College of Decorative and AppliedArt in Lviv and the Lviv Academy ofArts. Her work has been shown at LaGaleria in Toledo, and Galeria Nova Ruain Lugo, Spain; Galleria Apt+ in Kassel,Germany (2004); Vuosaari House inHelsinki, Finland (2005); as well as atexhibits in Turkey and Poland in 2006.The largest collection of her works maybe found at the Hyatt Hotel in Kyiv.The Chicago exhibit will showcasesome of her lovely landscapes capturedon canvas, ranging from colorful sundrenchedpaintings to sublime views. Ms.Onufriv belongs to a generation of youngUkrainian artists who started working inthe 1990s.The exhibit, which opened on Friday,February 6, will continue throughFebruary 28.The Ukrainian National Museum islocated in the heart of the UkrainianVillage, at 2249 W. Superior St. inChicago. Hours: Thursday throughSunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Mondaythrough Wednesday by appointment only.Admission: adults, $5; children under 12,Free. Parking is available beside themuseum. For driving instructions visit themuseum’s website at www.ukrainiannationalmuseum.orgMAY WEHELP YOU?To reach The UkrainianWeekly all (973) 292-9800,and dial the appropriateextension (as listed below).Editorial – 3049, 3088Production – 3063, 3069Administration – 3041Advertising – 3040Subscriptions – 3042

No. 7THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 17Continuum presents “Illuminating Ukraine: Virko Baley and the Avant-Garde”NEW YORK – Continuum, the adventuresomenew music performance ensembleled by Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs,this year celebrates the prodigiousUkrainian American composer and musicalactivist Virko Baley on the occasionof his 70th birthday with a concert of hisworks, including several premieres, andthose of major Ukrainian composers hehas championed.Artists performing at the February 22concert at New York’s Merkin ConcertHall include Rachel Calloway, mezzosoprano;Moran Katz, clarinet; DavidGresham, bass clarinet; Tom Chiu, violin;Stephanie Griffin, viola; Claire Bryant,cello; Cheryl Seltzer, piano; and JoelSachs, piano and conductor.The program will include works by thefollowing composers:• Mr. Baley (born 1938) – “Palm of theHand” for clarinet, violin and piano(world premiere); “Song Without Words”for cello and piano (world premiere);“Dance Without Words” for clarinet andpiano (New York Premiere);“Klytemnestra” for mezzo-soprano, clarinet,violin, cello and piano (New Yorkpremiere of second version, written forContinuum);• Valentin Bibik (1940-2003) – PianoSonata No. 4;• Leonid Hrabovsky (born 1935) –“Hlas II” for bass clarinet;• Alexander Shchetynsky (born 1960)– “Music in Memory of Valentyn Bibik”for clarinet, cello, piano (world premiere);• Valentin Silvestrov (born 1937) –“Epitaphium (L.B.)” for viola and piano.Of special note is “Klytemnestra,” setto a text by Ukrainian poet OksanaZabuzhko, that explores the complicatedand intense emotions and desires ofAgamemnon’s queen as she awaits hisvictorious return from Troy. Mr. Baleyexperienced the horrors of World War II,and the domination of his native country,Ukraine, by the foreign powers. Thesechildhood experiences are perhaps presentin this monumental work, where loveand lust are eclipsed by murder.Mr. Baley emigrated to the UnitedStates in 1949, and received both B.A.and M.A. degrees from the Los AngelesConservatory of Music and Arts (nowCalArts.) He has written a variety of compositionsfor orchestra, chamber groups,solo instruments and vocal arrangements.He was co-producer and composer forYuri Illienko’s film, “Swan Lake: TheZone,” that won two top awards at the1990 Cannes International Film Festival.He is Distinguished Professor of Music atthe University of Nevada and until 1995,served as the founding music director ofthe Nevada Symphony.Grants and commissions have comefrom the National Endowment for theArts, John F. Kennedy Center for thePerforming Arts, National SymphonyOrchestra of Washington, the Project1000-Winnipeg Symphony, the CaliforniaE.A.R. Unit, Continuum, the NewJuilliard Ensemble, the ClevelandChamber Symphony, Nevada Symphonyorchestra and the Nevada State Councilon the Arts. He is completing his firstopera, “Red Earth: Hunger,” themed onthe Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 inUkraine.Ukrainian music is now prominentamong the music of other nations, andnative composers’ music best expressesthe richness of their heritage. ValentinBibik was a leading figure in the musicallife of Kharkiv, an industrial center thatboasts a lively musical tradition, with amajor opera house and two orchestras.Bibik mobilized interest and performancesof modern American music. He taughtcomposition at the Kharkiv Conservatoryand was secretary of the Composers’Union. Mr. Bibik has composed ninesymphonies, the opera “Flight,” majorworks for chorus, concertos with pianoand other solo instruments, seven pianosonatas, and chamber and vocal works.Valentin Silvestrov, one of the mostimportant figures of the rich Europeannew-music world, was a pupil at the KyivConservatory of Borys Liatoshynsky, the“father” of Ukrainian experimentalism,and is considered one of the leading representativesof the Kyiv avant-garde.Despite being awarded the KoussevitzkyPrize in 1967, Silvestrov’s music metwith no response in his own country. Oneof his earliest champions was Mr. Baley,a longtime advocate of contemporaryUkrainian music in general and Mr.Silvestrov’s, as well as the other threecomposers on this program, works in particular.His music is now featured inmany festivals in Ukraine and the rest ofEurope, performed by major symphonicand chamber ensembles and generouslyrepresented on CD. A DVD of his music,filmed by an Estonian documentary studio,is being released.Alexander Shchetynsky’s compositionsrange from solo instrumental to orchestral,choral pieces and opera, and havebeen performed by internationallyacclaimed artists and ensembles at festivalsand concerts in Europe and America.New Juilliard Ensemble audiences heardhis “Face to Star” in 2004. He organizedseveral contemporary music festivals inUkraine and Russia, and founded the concertseries, “New Music in Kharkiv.” Afrequent lecturer on Ukrainian music, heserves on the Art Council of the Contrastsfestival in Lviv, the most prestigiousinternational contemporary music festivalin Ukraine. Two CDs of his music havebeen released in the United States andFrance. He now lives in Kyiv.Leonid Hrabovsky also attended theKyiv Conservatory as a composition studentof Liatoshynsky. After winning firstprize in the 1959 All-Soviet-Union competition,he received national recognition.Mr. Hrabovsky taught at the KyivConservatory and wrote music for Kyivfilm studios. Now living in the New Yorkarea, he was composer-in-residence at theUkrainian Institute of America. His musicdisplays an exterior of tremendous varietyand inventiveness, but is united by themeticulousness of its construction.Continuum has enjoyed a long associationwith Mr. Baley, performing his musicaround the world, including works writtenfor the ensemble and a Baley retrospectivein 1998. Continuum has recordedtwo of his compositions, “OrpheusSinging” and “Dreamtime Suite No. 1,”on the CD “Orpheus Singing”(Cambria-1087). The members ofContinuum have performed together for43 years and have forged a strong musicalconnection with the Ukrainian composerson this program.Virko BaleyThe recipient of the Siemens internationalaward for distinguished service tomusic and four ASCAP-Chamber MusicAmerica Awards for AdventuresomeProgramming, Continuum has given over125 different retrospective concerts inNew York City, individual concerts devotedto the century’s foremost composersand to major topics. Continuum hasrecorded on Naxos, Musical HeritageSociety, Nonesuch, Bridge, CRI,Capstone, Cambria/Troppe Note, TNCand New Albion, and has been broadcaston national and European television andradio.The concert “Illuminating Ukraine:Virko Baley and the Avant-Garde” willtake place on Sunday, February 22, at 2p.m. at Merkin Concert Hall at KaufmanCenter, 129 W. 67th St. Tickets – $20;$10 for students and senior citizens – areavailable at the box office or at merkinconcerthall.orgor by calling212-501-3330.The next performance of Mr. Baley’smusic will be on April 5, when theTALEA Ensemble, conducted by thecomposer, presents “Dreamtime” (thecomplete 19-movement work) for flute,clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussionat the Ukrainian Institute of Americain New York.Turning the pages...(Continued from page 6)enter the country on a Panamanian passport.A potential presidential candidate forthe Hromada Party, Mr. Lazarenko proclaimedhimself in the official oppositionto President Leonid Kuchma. Accordingto Mr. Lazarenko, he was the victim of apolitical plot to eliminate him as a rivalbefore the 1999 presidential election.Various news sources reported onFebruary 17, 1999, that Mr. Lazarenkohad left a hospital in Greece and that hiswhereabouts were unknown.Source: “Ukrainian Parliament votes310-39 to strip Lazarenko of deputy’simmunity,” by Pavel Polityuk, TheUkrainian Weekly, February 21, 1999.Making contact with The WeeklyReaders/writers who send information to The Ukrainian Weekly arekindly asked to include a daytime phone number and a completemailing address. Please note that a daytime phone number is essentialin order for editors to contact correspondents regarding clarifications.

18 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7Tymoshenko defeats...(Continued from page 1)Yanukovych, which organized this motion,but lost the game because of internal differencesand the lack of trust among potentialallies. If Mr. Yanukovych fails to consolidatethe PRU, it will be very difficult for him towin the next presidential poll, and the partyitself may lose its leading positions.As in December 2008, the PRU wasabandoned by its would-be allies at the crucialmoment.Although the majority of the Communistsbacked the motion, several of them, includingleader Petro Symonenko, were simplyabsent from Parliament.Although President Viktor Yushchenko’saide Roman Bezsmertny called for Ms.Tymoshenko’s dismissal ahead of the vote(ICTV, February 3), Mr. Yushchenko himselffailed to take a clear stance, so onlyone splinter group from the pro-YushchenkoOur Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense(OU-PSD) caucus – the United Centerlinked to Presidential Secretariat ChairViktor Baloha – supported the motion.Another pro-Yushchenko group, headedby Viacheslav Kyrylenko, apparentlyabstained, afraid to lose its ministers in theTymoshenko government (Zerkalo Nedeli,February 7).The reluctance of the other potential alliesof the PRU to back it against Ms.Tymoshenko, whose government is veryweak due to both the economic crisis andincessant conflicts with Mr. Yushchenko, isdue to the PRU’s own weakness. The PRUhas earned a reputation for being an unreliablepartner in coalition talks because severalgroups of influence within it have beentearing the party in different directions.When the chair under Ms. Tymoshenko wasshaky last fall, the PRU negotiated a possiblecoalition simultaneously with her partyand her bitter rival, Mr. Yushchenko. As aresult, a new coalition was formed, but withoutthe PRU.The problem for the PRU is that it isessentially a business corporation driven bythe economic interests of its major sponsorslike the metals tycoon Rinat Akhmetov andthe gas tycoon Dmytro Firtash, which do notalways coincide. In the conditions of theUkrainian political war of all against all, it ishard for the PRU to compete when everythingis at stake with such political machinesas the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB),where everything depends on the iron willof the leader, and the ideological parties ofMessrs. Yushchenko and Symonenko.The PRU lost the most recent battleagainst Ms. Tymoshenko even before itstarted. A day before the vote, the PRU gatheredto decide what to do if the no-confidencemotion failed and how to persuadeseveral of its least disciplined members toturn up for the vote, rather than how to proceedafter Ms. Tymoshenko’s possible ouster.Moreover, a conflict erupted between thethree strongest groups of influence withinthe PRU linked to Mr. Firtash, Mr.Akhmetov and Andriy Klyuyev, a businessmanfrom Donetsk who is believed to be themain supporter of the idea of a PRU-Tymoshenko coalition.Mr. Firtash’s people reportedly accusedMr. Klyuyev of secretly supporting Ms.Tymoshenko. Mr. Klyuyev accused the pro-Firtash group of weakening discipline in theparty (Ukrayinska Pravda, February 6).Borys Kolesnikov, who is Mr. Akhetov’sright-hand man, reportedly alleged thatSerhii Liovochkin, the PRU deputy chairmanand a Firtash supporter, used his connectionsin the Presidential Secretariat toinstigate the opening of criminal casesagainst his party colleagues (Obkom.net.ua,February 6).After the vote, Mr. Kolesnykov called forthe expulsion from the PRU of “certain colleagueswhose corporate interests dominateover party interests.” He said Mr.Liovochkin and his allies played into Ms.Tymoshenko’s hands by pushing for a noconfidencemotion without properly preparingit (Ukrayinska Pravda, February 6).The Firtash group pushed for themotion because Ms. Tymoshenko’s tenureas prime minister threatens his gas business.She managed to oust Mr. Firtash’sUkrHazEnergo from the domestic gastrade in early 2008, and RosUkrEnergo, ajoint venture between Mr. Firtash andRussia’s Gazprom, has been removedfrom gas trade between Ukraine andRussia in 2009. Now she reportedly plansto put an end to Mr. Firtash’s control ofUkraine’s several regional gas distributioncompanies (Ukraina TV, January 23;Kommersant-Ukraine, February 5).A possible expulsion of Mr. Firtash’speople from the PRU should give Mr.Yanukovych a chance to consolidate thePRU around its Donetsk core. The PRU’sinternal differences have not yet affectedeither its own or its leader’s popularity.According to recent opinion polls, thePRU remains the most popular party inUkraine and Mr. Yanukovych the most popularleader (Segodnya, February 10).Addressing Parliament on February 5,Mr. Yanukovych, who understands thathis popularity may evaporate after aseries of political defeats by the time ofthe presidential election scheduled forJanuary 2010, called for simultaneousearly presidential and parliamentary elections(Ukrayinska Pravda, February 5).The United Center is apparently the onlymajor party that supports the PRU in thisarea. Quite naturally, Ms. Tymoshenkoflatly dismissed the idea (Kommersant-Ukraine, February 6).St. Nicholas...(Continued from page 11)considerable resources to make it possibleto ensure that future generations benefitfrom our rich religious and cultural heritage.Our goal is to make it as convenient aspossible for parents to take advantage of it.”At the open house, visitors were able totour each classroom, enjoy refreshments inthe school cafeteria, observe the awardwinningvarsity volleyball team’s scrimmage,view artwork created by the studentsfor the commemoration of the 75thanniversary of the Holodomor, and meetrecent graduates and many older alumni.Parents or grandparents interested inenrolling students at St. Nicholas cancontact the school to receive an informationfolder; call 773-384-7243 or e-mailstnicholascathedral@yahoo.comPirates release...(Continued from page 1)Africa is not new – six Ukrainian ships werecaptured last year – the Faina siege drewinternational attention for the heavy weaponryonboard, the controversy about its destinationand the role played by shady internationalbusinessmen in the Ukrainian armstrade.Military hardwareAmong the cargo aboard the ship when itwas captured on September 25, 2008, were33 Soviet-era T-72 battle tanks, rocket-propelledgrenade launchers, anti-aircraft gunsand thousands of rounds of ammunition.Other than the cargo itself, internationallaw prohibits arms aboard merchant vessels,which explains the irony of how a ship fullof military hardware was helpless beforearmed sea gangsters, among them a 14-yearold.The pirates admitted they didn’t expect tofind military cargo on the MV Faina and,soon enough, they received offers frominsurgent armies throughout Africa. Initially,the pirates asked for a $35 million ransom, afigure that dropped gradually during theprotracted negotiations over the ship’srelease.“Faina’s cargo drew the interest of manywho tried to intrude into the process of verysensitive negotiations and, thus, made thenegotiations particularly difficult,” Mr.Alperin said.Although Ukrainian and Kenyan officialsinsisted the arms were destined for theKenyan national army, Agence France-Presse reported that the tanks were actuallybound for Sudan.The pirates allegedly found documentsonboard stating the arms were destined forJuba in southern Sudan. If confirmed, thiswould mean the Ukrainian government violatedthe United Nations Security Councilarms embargo with Sudan.The Kenyan government has facedembarrassment as well, since the suspectedarms trade would breach a 2005 peace dealthe country struck to avoid supplying eitherside in the Sudanese civil war.The suspicions mark the second time inthe last six months that the Ukrainian governmenthas faced accusations of illegalarms trade. After the South Ossetian War,Moscow accused Kyiv of selling weaponsto Georgia in violation of international law.More mysteriesThe Faina incident revealed more mysteries.That an Israeli citizen could transportUkrainian military hardware to an unconfirmedAfrican nation amidst waters swarmingwith Somali pirates reveals just howshady the Ukrainian arms business is.Having belonged to the Party of Regionsof Ukraine, the nation’s biggest politicalparty notorious for its corrupt businessmen,Mr. Alperin is a partner in Waterlux AG, acompany registered in Panama that ownsthe MV Faina.Tomex Team, the Odesa firm that managesthe cargo, acted as an intermediarybetween Ukrinmash, a private subsidiary ofthe UkrSpetsEksport state monopoly thatapproves overseas arms sales, and theKenyan government.The only other information known aboutMr. Alperin is that he also has businessdealings in real estate and transportation,according to the Ohliadach news website.International involvmentUnable to combat maritime crimes,Somali authorities allowed internationalforces to enter its territorial waters to dealwith the pirates.After the pirates divided their ransomand left the vessel on February 6, a U.S.doctor examined the sailors and confirmedthey were in a sound mental and physicalcondition. However the ship’s Russian captain,Vladimir Kolobkov, had died of a heartattack a couple of days after the capture.As U.S. warships and helicopters and aRussian frigate patrolled the Somali coastout of concern that terrorists could gethold of the heavy weaponry, the U.S.Navy escorted the Faina to the Kenyanseaport of Mombasa to unload the militarycargo.Indeed, the pirates have links to terroristgroups such as Al-Shabaab, which couldreceive part of the ransom money, saidChatham House, a London-based thinktank.On February 11 a Ukrainian planearrived in Mombasa carrying representativesof Ukrainian armaments officials,journalists and Mr. Alperin to greet theFaina’s arrival the next day.The sailors were to arrive at Kyiv’sBoryspil International Airport on the morningof Friday, February 13.

No. 7by Ksenia HapijNEWARK, N.J. – In our modern world,lectures and various classes are very muchpart of our lives. We prepare for our jobs,and we prepare for our hobbies, so whyshould we not prepare for one of the mostimportant steps of our lives – for marriage?The Catholic Church has developed aprogram known as Pre-Cana, and over theyears it has become one of the requirementsfor a parish wedding. Though many churcheshave adopted this quite recently, Pre-Canaconferences have been around for quite awhile. St. John’s Ukrainian Catholic Churchin Newark, N.J., can attest to this – this year,its Pre Cana program will be celebrating its40th anniversary.Through the years, many priests and lecturershave participated in the Pre-Cana conferencesat St. John’s, but through it all onething has remained unchanged. The Churchis concerned that young couples should stopto think. Their impending marriage is not allabout the wedding dress and the new apartment,for these will soon be thrown aside.There are matters of dire importance thatshould be addressed, and the Church providesthese young people a forum for this.The organizers of the Pre-Cana at St.John’s go through a great deal of trouble tofind qualified lecturers who are specialists intheir given fields. Every year they invite aTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 19Pre-Cana conferences at Newark parish mark 40th anniversaryKsenia Hapij is the office administratorat St. John’s Church in Newark andthe Pre Cana Conference coordinator.psychologist, a physician, an attorney and afinancier to speak with the couples, and toprovide them with the opportunity to discusstopics upon which they may not havetouched otherwise.The pastor is always prepared with a lectureof his own, touching on the topics ofGod in marriage and the meaning of thewedding ceremony. In today’s day and age,when there are so many mixed marriages,an introduction to the world of the Ukrainianrite and Ukrainian customs is imperative.One of the lecturers in this series at St.John’s is a young widower. He speaks ofhaving lost his wife a mere few years aftertheir wedding. And although this may seemsenseless in the wake of optimism and brightfutures, it is very much a reality of life, andmany couples leave this lecture realizingthat they need to value every single day thatthey have together.St. John’s Pre-Cana conference is particularlyeffective in its format. After each lecturer’spresentation, the couples are encouragedto take part in a group discussion.Questions may be asked either openly oranonymously, via notes written on indexcards. Afterwards, the couples are givenwritten questionnaires, which they fill outand discuss privately with one another.Couples are often surprised to learn that theconcerns they have, and the questions thattrouble them, are not unique.The objective of this conference is tospark a desire in young couples to question– to question themselves and to question oneanother. They are asked to focus on theirParticipants of the 1979 Pre-Cana at St. John’s Ukrainian Catholic Church inNewark, N.J., with three Redemptorist fathers – the Revs. Myroslav Dziurman,Demetrius Byblow and Michael Kuchmiak, and the organizers of that time, Jeanand Jerry Muench.future, and to see what they can do to effectivelycommunicate with one another andavoid conflict. In doing so, the Churchattempts to provide these young coupleswith a healthy perspective.The conference is also invaluable in helpingcouples realize the questions with whichthey are faced – Do we want to have children?How will we discipline them? Howdo we relate to our in-laws and to theextended family? How do we approach ourfamily finances? What are our priorities?What kind of role will God play in our marriage?– are universal, and that all other couplespreparing for marriage are faced withthe same questions.It is encouraging to see that, through theyears, the couples who attended St. John’sPre-Cana benefited much from the programand were grateful to have taken partin it. Though the Pre-Cana Conference atSt. John’s in Newark has always beenoffered to couples getting married inUkrainian Catholic churches in the state ofNew Jersey, everyone is welcome to takepart. This year’s Pre-Cana is scheduled forthe weekend of March 14-15. For furtherinformation or to register for this programreaders may call the parish office,973-371-1356.Verkhovna Rada...(Continued from page 10)because it gave us the good example anddemonstration of a successful internshipprogram for young Ukrainians in theCanadian Parliament. Mr. Bardyn’s addressopened for the Rada interns a ‘window’ toCanada and once more reminded us howsincerely and constructively the Ukrainiandiaspora in Canada supports us,” she added.“Ihor Bardyn’s activity inspires us and persuadesus that we can achieve much on ourown if we apply our skills and energy, andspare no efforts to educate our youth in goodgovernance.”Ms. Rudenko commented that she is confidentthat the interns from both the Radaprogram and CUPP in five to seven yearswill be able to influence the operation of theUkrainian government and, most importantly,“these changes in governance and decisionsof Parliament will be professional andserve the people of Ukraine.”Both programs are currently experiencinghard times. The Verkhovna Rada program issupported by U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) but that support isfar from enough, and soon the financial aidwill be fully transferred onto the Ukrainianside.CUPP has been financially supported formore than 18 years by an endowment fundestablished by the Ukrainian diaspora inCanada. Taking into consideration the greatdrop in interest rates and earnings of theEndowment Fund over the past severalyears, as well as the substantial increase inoperating costs, CUPP is facing the prospectof closing down in 2010.This is a very disappointing development,as CUPP has made a very positive impacton Ukrainian youths and the Ukrainianimage abroad.As one of the Verkhovna Rada interns,Yaroslav Lyn of Lviv, commented: “IhorBardyn is a person who helps the light toappear in the Canadian sky. And this light isprogressive Ukrainian youth who demonstratetheir intellect and industriousness duringtheir internship in Canada. I would alsolike to mention that it is so reassuring thatthis world has such a strong and trueUkrainian Diaspora that continues to supportthe land of their forefathers. TheCanadian internship program has a lot incommon with Ukrainian one, and sharing ofexperience between the interns can sufficientlyimprove the effectiveness of work inboth Parliaments. Such programs shouldexist, since they help not only the youth intheir growth, but also change the work ofParliament for the better.”Oleksander Bondarenko of Kharkivnoted: “It was very interesting to learn aboutthe care and attention which some CanadianMPs give to the Ukrainian interns. As well,it was important to learn about the positiveimpact and long-lasting goodwill which ourUkrainian students leave in the CanadianParliament and how this plays positively onthe development of the Canadian-Ukrainiandiplomatic relationship.’Representatives of both programs werevery satisfied with their meeting in Kyiv andleft with ideas about possible future cooperation.These two internship programs are theonly programs that focus on the changesneeded in the political culture of the countryin order to make that culture more transparent,more responsive to its citizens, andmore responsible for building a strongUkrainian society. The programs are aimedat rooting out corruption by comparing thepolitical cultures and systems of other democraticcountries with what currently existsin Ukraine.It is not difficult to assess the value ofthe two programs: Every year another hundredor so young university studentsappear who understand the true state ofaffairs in Ukraine and in the world outside,are re-assured and given confidence inwhat they are pursuing through these programs.They are encouraged to pursuegraduate studies abroad and are helped tofind their future and place in life.It is important to note that there are onlythree countries in the world that supportsuch internships: Germany, Canada andUkraine. And it would be unforgivable iftwo of them disappear due to financial difficulties.Fall fund-raisers...(Continued from page 5)Readers may also contact the UkrainianCatholic Education Foundation, whichraises about half of UCU’s annual operatingbudget of approximately $2.5 million.One of the effects of this assistance is toprovide scholarships to worthy students,allowing them to get an excellent educationthat they otherwise might not be ableRemembering...(Continued from page 6)or rather on the stage. The two writers didmeet Updike and talked to him about literatureand politics and Ukraine. A groupof us organized poetry readings for themat Harvard, Columbia, Rutgers and ...Southern Illinois University. Where? Iknew British literary scholar and translatorHerbert Marshall, who was on the facultyof SIU. He also was acquainted withMessrs. Pavlychko and Drach. When Itold him they were in New York, Marshallinvited them to Southern Illinois: fromNew York they had to fly to St. Louis,where a university airplane ferried themto the Carbondale campus. All thisUkrainian activity was done on days offfrom Mr. Pavlychko’s and Mr. Drach’sto afford. Of every dollar the UCEFspends, more than 84 cents goes to itscharitable programs, ranking the UCEFamong the most efficient and effectivecharities in the nation.The UCEF may be contacted in writingat 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL60622; by phoning 773-235-8462; e-mailingucef@ucef.org; or browsing its website,www.ucef.org. The phone number ofthe UCEF in Canada is 416-239-2495.day job: participating in the GeneralAssembly session and U.N. committeemeetings.There also was a need for English translationsof the two poets’ works. Half adozen people in New York, Toronto andPhiladelphia worked days and nights to producegood translations of very good, modernUkrainian poetry. The guests read theirpoems in Ukrainian, followed by Englishtranslations, in lecture halls and theaters onvarious college campuses.All that came to mind recently as weread obituaries of John Updike. He was adisciplined, busy writer. He didn’t have totake the time to meet the Ukrainian writers.But he did. And that chagrined some Sovchekists. And that was good. The iron curtainof ignorance over Ukraine was liftedjust a little.

20 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7Soccer• Ukraine’s under-16 team finished infourth place at the Aegean Sea Cup inTurkey on February 1. Ukraine led thematch 2-0 but let in two goals late in thesecond half and lost against the host country5-4 in penalty kicks.• Since his return to Milan, AndriyShevchenko commented on January 23: “Ifelt like a new man. Both on the field andoutside I feel like another man. I have tothank Milan for that. Those who do notbelieve me are wrong as I have repeatedlyspoken that my main task is to return tothe team. Now I want to further play hereso that Milan becomes my future. You willshortly see the former Shevchenko as therecovery process, both physically andmentally, is fully completed.”• Preparations for the UEFA under-19Championship 2009 in Donetsk are in thefinal stage, according to members of theDonetsk City Council. The matches willbe held in Donetsk and Mariupol fromJuly 21 through August 2.• Ukraine’s soccer team was ranked onFebruary 11 in 14th place in the FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings. Ukraine (932points) moved up two slots from last year,but Spain remains in top position with1,693 points.• Ukraine defeated Slovakia 3-2 in aCyprus Football Federation friendly tournamenton February 11 in Nicosia, Cyprus.Ukraine took the lead in the ninth minutewith a shot by Serhiy Valyayev from the topof the box, but Slovakia equalized in the42nd minute. Ukraine inched ahead whenYevhen Selznov scored in the 46th minute,but Slovakia came back in the 69th minute.Artem Milevskyi clinched the game forUkraine in the 83rd minute from the penaltyspot. Ukraine defeated Serbia in the finals,1-0, on February 11 with a shot by SerhiyNazarenko.• Ukraine’s progress for the UEFA Euro2012 championship is on track, accordingto Vice-Prime Minister Ivan Vasiunyk.Reuters reported that a UEFA delegation,led by David Taylor, no longer harboreddoubts about Ukraine’s preparations after atour of Ukraine’s host cities. “David Taylorstated that Ukraine had managed to maintainthe pace of Euro 2012 preparationsdespite the global financial crisis,” Vasiunyksaid. Taylor said UEFA would not make itsfinal announcement on which Ukrainiancities are to host Euro 2012 matches until atleast May 15. The head of Ukraine’s soccerfederation, Hryhoriy Surkis, said on Friday,February 6, that Mr. Taylor’s tour had producedpositive results. “This was the firsttime since we won the right to co-host Euro2012 that I did not have a difficult discussionwith UEFA,” he told reporters.Boxing• The Klitschko brothers, Wladimir andVitali, vowed on January 28 to claim allheavyweight titles this year. A fight for thelone remaining belt, the WBA, held byRussian Nikolai Valuev, is hampered,according to the Russian, by his promoters.Currently, Wladimir Klitschko holdsthe IBF, IBO and WBO belts, while VitaliKlitschko holds the WBC belt.• Andreas Kotelnik retained his WBAjunior welterweight title in Rostock,Germany, on January 7. Kotelnik foughtArgentine Marcos Rene Maidana and wonby split decision 115-114, 115-113,113-115. Kotelnik improved to 31-2-1, 13KO, while Maidana suffered his first loss,and his record now stands at 25-1, 24 KO.SailingVictor Kovalenko, a native ofDnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, was namedAustralian Coach of the Year by theAustralian Institute of Sports in February.Kovalenko, who works with three yachtclubs, including the Middle Harbor YachtClub, Royal Queensland Yacht Club andRoyal Perth Yacht Club, coaches the470-class fleet in men’s and women’steams. Ten of his crews went on to winworld titles, including three gold and threebronze medals at the Olympic Games.Circus• Oleksandr Koblikov, 19, won a circuscompetition in Paris on February 10. Thecompetition attracted competitors age18-25, but what set Koblikov apart was hisability to juggle 10 balls at once. The 15judges joined the audience in applaudingthe performer.• Ukrainian gymnasts Dmytro Hryhorovand Olesia Shulha on January 26 won thecircus festival competition in Monte-Carlo,France. Their original performance, “Flightof Passion,” choreographed with assistancefrom Debbie Brown (known for her workwith Madonna and Prince) demonstrated avariety of complicated elements and uniquestunts without any safety ropes. The duoalso has performed with Cirque du Soleil.FencingOlha Kharlan won the silver medal insaber at the Orleans Women’s Saber GrandPrix 2009 on February 10. Kharlan defeatedChina’s Xue Tan (15:6) in the quarterfinalsand Russia’s Svetlana Kormilitsyna(15:8) in the semifinals. The Ukrainianteam won bronze.Tennis• Ukraine’s women’s team, includingAlona Bondarenko, Kateryna Bondarenko,Mariya Koryttseva and Olga Savchuk,defeated Israel 3-2 in the first round of theITF Fed Cup on February 7-8. In doubles,the Bondarenko sisters defeated TsipiObziler and Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-2.• Nadia Kichenok, 16, won the juniorInternational Tennis Federation tournamentin Notting Hill, Australia, on January22. In the final match Kichenok, ranked10th, defeated Russia’s Yana Buchina (7-6,7-2, 2-6, 7-5).Judo• Maryna Pryshchepa tied for bronzewith China’s Xiuli Yang in the 78 kg. divisionat the International Judo FederationParis Grand Slam on February 8.Kraikin finished the Corus tournamentwith eight points.ParalympiansUkrainian athletes won 22 medals –including six gold, eight silver and eightbronze medals – at the IPC Biathlon andCross-Country World Championships inVuokatti, Finland, on February 3. OlenaYurkovska won the gold medal in women’sbiathlon pursuit (LW10-12), LyudmylaPavlenko won silver and TetyanaTymoshenko won bronze. SerhiyKhyzhnyak won gold and Yuri Kostiuk wonthe bronze in men’s biathlon pursuit(LW10-12). Vitaliy Lukyanenko andVolodymyr Ivanov won the silver medal inmen’s biathlon pursuit (B1-B3). OlenaYurkovska won the silver medal andLyudmyla Pavlenko won the bronze inwomen’s cross-country skiing. YuliaBatenkova won the gold medal in women’scross-country skiing (LW2-9). In crosscountryskiing team relay, the women’steam of Yurkovska, Oleksandra Kononovaand Batenkova won silver. The men’s crosscountryrelay team of Kostiuk, GrygoriiVovchynskyi and Ivanonv-Lukyanenkowon the bronze medal. Yurkovska andPavlenko won silver and bronze, respectively,in the women’s cross-country freestyle(LW10-12). Batenkova won silver inthe women’s cross-country freestyle event(LW2-9). In long-distance biathlon,Yurkovska won the gold medal andPavlenko won the bronze (LW10-12).Khyzhnyak won the silver medal in men’slong-distance biathlon (LW10-12).Kononova won gold in the women’s longdistancebiathlon (LW2-9). The Ivanov-Lukyanenko team won bronze in the men’slong-distance biathlon. Yurkovska won thegold medal in women’s cross-country sprint(LW10-12) and Kononova and Batenkovawon silver and bronze, respectively(LW2-9). Athletes from 20 countries participated.These games are in preparation forthe X Winter Paralympic Games, to be heldon March 2-12, 2012, in Vancouver, BritishColumbia.SwimmingYana Klochkova, a four-time Olympicchampion, announced her retirement fromthe sport on January 26. Klochkova wonfive Olympic medals in the 2000, 2004and 2008 Summer Olympics, and set 50Ukrainian records in 25-meter and50-meter pools, also in the 100-meter,200-meter and 400-meter individual medley,200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meterfreestyle, 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke,200-meter butterfly and relay.Hockey• Ukraine will participate in the2009-2010 Champions Hockey League,along with 22 other countries, playing 59matches. Ukraine is ranked 20th by theInternational Ice Hockey Federation.• Volodymyr Soroka (73 kg.) won thegold medal and Tigran Kazarian (66 kg.)won the bronze medal at the 2009 JudoWorld Cup in Tblisi, Georgia, on January25.Chess• Stanislav Savchenko, a grandmaster,won the FINEC 2009 international chesstournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, with6/9 points. Mykhailo Brodsky won secondplace.• Serhiy Kriakin, a grandmaster, had hisgreatest achievement on February 1 whenhe won the Corus Chess Tournament 2009in Wijk ann Zee, the Netherlands. Afterthis victory, Kriakin advances to the ChessGrand Slam Final in Bilbao, Spain.• Ukraine’s Express Hockey Club ofLviv won third place at the SlavicBrotherhood International HockeyTournament in Pruzhany, Belarus, onJanuary 25. Five teams from Belarus,Russia and Ukraine participated.Youth Olympic GamesYuriy Pavlenko, Ukraine’s minister forfamily, youth and sports, signed a decree onJanuary 25 to hold the fifth Junior SportsGames of Ukraine, on February 19 thoughSeptember 2009 with 30 summer Olympicevents. The games are in preparation for theYouth Olympic Games 2010 in Singapore.Qualifying stages for the games in Ukrainewill take place at secondary schools andspecialized sports schools.

No. 7THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 21COMMUNITY CHRONICLEPhiladelphia’s UECC holds 2008 annual Christmas Bazaarby Andrea ZharovskyJENKINTOWN, Pa. – December forUkrainians in the Philadelphia area is abusy time of year. It involves gettingready for the holidays – finding time tobuy presents, cook and clean for expectedguests, decorate the home and visiting theChristmas Bazaar here at the UkrainianEducational and Cultural Center.For some in the Ukrainian community,it also means finding the time to spend aweek of volunteering at the UECC. Listsneed to be made, items need to be purchased,and spaces need to be cleared andcleaned in preparation for the bazaar.Volunteers spend days and weeks preparingthe varenyky, holubtsi and borschsold at the bazaar. An assembly line formsdaily to produce thousands of varenyky.Nimble hands swiftly roll out and pinchthe dough, as women’s voices are heardover the banging of pots and pans, laughing,singing and sharing the latest goodnews. It is a time of bonding for thesewomen, who come together year afteryear to begin their Christmas season andgive back to the Ukrainian community.With the tantalizing aroma of friedonions in the air, the UECC opened itsdoors early Saturday morning, December13, 2008, confident that it was ready togreet, feed and entertain the local community.Shifts were organized and filled byUECC volunteers, family members andfriends of the UECC board of directors.Some sold the delicious homemadefood in the food court in the Main Hall;others sold the baked goods; still othersworked the takeout food station, featuringfrozen varenyky, various types of kovbasa,poppy and wheat in the Gallery.Evidencing the increasing demand toparticipate in this annual event, vendorsfilled both the main hall and the Gallery,enticing all with their beautiful books,ceramics, jewelry, music, clothing,pysanky, honey, artwork and more.A visit to “Babusia Nastusia’s” in theGallery appealed to many. Visitors wastransported back to Ukraine and couldtaste a delicious “kanapka” (canape),“oseledtsi” (herring) or “salo” (saltedpork fat) while seated in the decoratedyard of a traditional Ukrainian villagehouse created specifically for the bazaar.To warm everyone up, MB FinancialBank treated the visitors to coffee.“Babusia Nastusia offered friends aplace to meet and enjoy lighter fare, catchup on news, watch the hourly performancesand tend to parcels, while moregifts were purchased from the vendors inthe Gallery,” said Laryssa Krywusha,Babusia Nastusia’s long lost relative.“Some of our [non-Ukrainian] neighborstried salo for the first time and vowed tobe back next year for more!”Throughout the day, performers welcomedguests to the holiday bazaar.Students of local piano teachers LesyaNestor and Lesia Penkalskyj played carolson the piano in the Gallery. In theMain Hall, various classes of theUkrainian Heritage School, a program ofthe UECC, under the musical direction ofHalyna Bodnar, sang traditional UkrainianChristmas carols. A recently formed quintetof students of the Ukrainian HeritageSchool, under the direction of MariaKaminska, performed as well.The combined youth choir of theUkrainian Evangelical Baptist ChurchChoir, under the direction of IvanVelenchuk, also performed. Members ofthe Ukrainian American YouthAssociation sang carols and ended withan amusing Ukrainian Christmas rapabout St. Nicholas. Youths of PlastUkrainian Scouting Organization alsosang carols. The Children’s Choir of theUkrainian Music Institute, under thesupervision of Ms. Penkalskyj with pianoaccompaniment by Helen Porytko, sangand greeted all with traditional Ukrainian“vinshuvannia” (Christmas and NewYear’s wishes).Representatives of the Voloshky DanceEnsemble, along with Taras Lewyckyj,lifted spirits with their beautiful danceand gorgeous costumes. The children ofSvitlychka, the Ukrainian CooperativeNursery, also a program of the UECC,brought smiles to all with their adorableperformance and “stage presence.” To thedelight of the Ukrainian boys and girls onstage and children of all ages gathered,St. Nicholas made a surprise visit. Hespoke briefly reminding all of the beautyand meaning of Christmas.“This year’s Christmas Bazaar at theUECC was a lot of fun,” stated NatalkaFirko, vice-president of Programs. “Itwas a great group effort by not only theboard and the staff, but again by the manydevoted volunteers. We tried a new layoutthis year due to the overwhelminginterest in our homemade food. The diningarea was expanded and the AlexanderB. Chernyk Gallery was busting at theseams with vendors and buyers and carolers.What a great day it was! Thank youto everyone who helped and to those whocame to support us.”A team of volunteers for every bazaarneed was assembled under the direction ofNatalka Firko, who was in her 14th year aschairwoman of the Bazaar Committee.Lesia Korchagin provided support to theSt. Nicholas greets the children of Svitlychka.devoted kitchen women; Larysa Steblyheaded the baked goods section; LesiaNowak was in charge of dried goods;Laryssa Krywusha and Luba Kalyta createdand manned the “Babusia Nastusia’s”;Borys Pawluk and Borys Zacharczukheaded the kovbasa station; Bohdan Mizakwas responsible for the bar; SophiaKoropeckyj was in charge of food ticketsales; the UECC office, along with Ms.Firko, was responsible for the vendors;and Andrea Zharovsky organized the musicalprogram. Of course, the maintenancestaff, under the direction of BuildingSuperintendent Wasyl Sichkar and UECCExecutive Director Orysia Hewka, wasAndrea Zharovskyresponsible for the whole set up.“The bazaar was a huge financial successfor the center – the best ever,” statedSophia Koropecky, vice-president offinances. “The proceeds will be used tofund much-needed center renovations.”The Ukrainian Educational and CulturalCenter, founded in 1980, is a non-profitorganization whose objective is to preserveand promote awareness of Ukrainian heritagethroughout the Philadelphia community.The UECC is located at 700 CedarRoad in Jenkintown, PA 19046 and can bereached at 215-663-1166 or contact@ueccphila.org.For information log on to www.ueccphila.org.Passaic Choir performs ‘Christmas Story’The small army of hard-working UECC kitchen volunteers.PASSAIC, N.J. – The St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir (seen above)performed “Christmas Story” on January 4, featuring the music of Ukrainian composerDymytriy Tuptalo. The choir was led by Andriy Legkyy and featured solosby Romaniya Voloshchuk, Halyna Newmerzyckj, Klara Lehka, Myhailo Moczulaand Mychail Newmerzyckyj. The Riceercare Early Music Ensemble also performedwith Halyna Lehka and Anastasia Antoniv on baroque violin, Andriy Legkyy on keyboard,Yuriy Legkyy on percussion and Michael Antoniv on triangles. The church islocated on President Street in Passaic.– Tom Hawrylko

22 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7Celebration of Ukrainian cultureat San Francisco Public LibrarySAN FRANCISCO – The March 7Shevchenko Program, organized anddirected by Ivanna Taratula Filipenkoof Julivanna Music Studio, will launch“Ukraine Month” at the San FranciscoPublic Library.The program will feature poetry byTaras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s nationalbard, in Ukrainian and English, andUkrainian dance and music. Performers– children and adults from the Bay Area– will be attired in national costumesrepresenting various regions ofUkraine.Skiing and shopping..(Continued from page 13)tor,” where we stored our water, juices, andsnacks. This new hotel was still unfinishedwhen we were in Bukovel in December2007, so it really is very new and at the footof the one of the higher ski runs.On the ground floor of the Shelter Hotelis its cafeteria-style restaurant/bar. There arealso tables under an awning just outsidewhere you may take your food and/or drinksto dine. You may, of course, eat indoors aswell. Downstairs in the hotel is another restaurant/disconoted for grilled items on themenu. It is also where the breakfast buffet isserved every morning. We really preferredthis breakfast buffet to the one we had at theKozachok Restaurant last year (offeredwhen you stay at the Bukovel Hotel).The Shelter’s breakfast buffet is more ofa brunch/lunch, offering shashliyky, roastchicken, grilled fish, fish burgers, pan friedpotatoes, mashed potatoes, buckwheat(kasha), sausages, yogurt, fresh fruit, fruitjuices, coffee, tea, bread and sweets, as wellas the traditional eggs (either sunny side upor egg whites omelets) that you wouldexpect for breakfast. This was enough tokeep us well nourished until dinner, whichwe usually ate at the Kozachok Restaurant.Our favorites at the Kozachok wereUkrainian borsch, pampushky (rolls withgarlic butter) and the restaurant’s mushroomsoup with dumplings. Their potato pancakes(Deruny) with onion and sour cream weredelicious and came as a large portion thatwe shared. I really enjoyed the banosh (cornmeal) with bryndzia cheese that remindedme of one of my favorite Romanian dishes– mămăligă. The varenyky with meat, potatoesor cabbage were delicious and wereserved in little ceramic pots.An interesting dish that all three of usenjoyed and I made my own version of inKyiv is potrocha – a stew of chicken hearts,Maryna and Victoria Markowicz.The program will take place at KoretAuditorium, San Francisco Main PublicLibrary, 100 Larkin St. (at Market,Eighth, Hyde and Grove streets), SanFrancisco. The program is free andopen to the public.Parking is available at the CivicCenter Garage off McCallister Street.To use public transportation, go to theCivic Center Station (BART andMUNI) to the Eighth Street Exit; manybus lines stop at Eighth and Market.For more information see the librarywebsite, www.sfpl.org.livers, gizzards and mushrooms in a creamsauce, also served in individual ceramicpots. The corn meal banosh was a wonderfulaccompaniment to absorb the lovely sauceof the potrocha. These are just a few of thespecialties that we tried.For dessert we only tried the homemadecheese cake and our daughter had ice cream(vanilla only with chocolate sauce).Kozachok offers wine, vodka and beertogether with a variety of cocktails, juices,teas and coffee. The menu was in theRussian language only.On the way back to Ivano-Frankivsk toget our direct train back to Kyiv, we stopped,as we did last year, in the picturesque townof Yaremche (30 kilometers from Bukovel).There we visited the outdoor market standsnear a fantastic waterfall and had a nicelunch at the famous HutsulschynaRestaurant, which is classified as a historiclandmark since this beautiful wooden buildingis all built without a single nail.The wooden ceiling and walls are allbeautifully hand carved, and the dishes usedto serve the food are hand-painted Ukrainianceramics. The four of us (we invited ourdriver) all had an excellent cream of mushroomsoup. My husband and daughter had aschnitzel, and the driver and I had fresh rivertrout.The market stalls at Yaremche offerUkrainian embroidery, ceramics, beadednecklaces, amber, coral and Ukrainian costumedolls (I purchased several last year),and lots and lots of sheepskins and slippers.There is also a souvenir market at Bukovelwhich I visited daily, but there is a muchlarger choice at Yaremche.I highly recommend this Carpathian winterwonderland – with its ski slopes andwonderful food and shopping opportunities– to all, but remember your stay must belonger than a weekend to make it worthwhile.You can read more about the BukovelSki Resort in English on its website (http://bukovel.com/en).Putin retains...(Continued from page 2)victory, making Mr. Barroso confirm thatthe EU was broadly in favor of the NordStream and South Stream pipeline projectsand did not see the latter as a competitor tothe Nabucco project, which constitutesBrussels’ best hope for diversifying theimport of gas.Whatever Mr. Barroso’s diplomatic neutrality,controversies around these pipelineshave, in fact, reached a new peak since the“gas war,” and it is plausible that Russia’ssecurity maneuvering is aimed at these targets.By postponing the deployment of theas yet non-existent Iskanders, Moscow hasremoved a shadow of militarization from theBaltic area, thereby clearing the way forNord Stream, perhaps expecting the difficultSwedes to lift their objections.By shutting down Manas, Russia demonstratesto the forever ambivalentTurkmenistan that the United States has noleverage in Central Asia. The decision onstrengthening the military component of theCollective Security Treaty Organization(CSTO) was another gentle reminder toPresidents Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedovof Turkmenistan and Ilham Aliyev ofAzerbaijan, who remain outside this dubiousinstitution, that Russia’s ability to projectpower was not diminished by the crisis(Nezavisimaya Gazeta, February 5).Under such pressure, Turkmenistanwould hardly procrastinate much longerwith final consent on constructing a pipelineto the north, and Azerbaijan would have toreconsider Gazprom’s offer to buy all freevolumes of gas produced at Shah-Deniz.Without this supply base, the Nabucco projectwill remain wishful thinking.It may be far easier to torpedo a “hostile”pipeline project than to advance your own,and Gazprom admitted for the first time lastweek that it would have to reduce its 2009investment program estimated at $26 billion(www.newsru.com, February 6). There isnothing worrisome about Gazprom’s fallingproduction, as both domestic and EuropeanWho owns the gas...(Continued from page 2)remained in force (Ukrayinska Pravda,January 27).Gazprom tried to distance itself from thedispute, leaving it to Naftohaz to persuadeRosUkrEnergo to pay the $1.7 billion debt(Ukrayinski Novyny, January 30). Ms.Tymoshenko accused Mr. Khoroshkovskyiof being part of Mr. Firtash’s team (Mr.Khoroshkovskyi is indeed a partner of Mr.Firtash in several mass-media projects,including Inter TV), and she dismissed himfrom the Customs Service on January 28.On the same day Ukrainian PresidentViktor Yushchenko, confirming his reputationas Ms. Tymoshenko’s bitter rival,appointed Mr. Khoroshkovskyi as firstdeputy chief of the Security Service ofUkraine (SBU). The SBU immediatelyinstructed the Customs Service to preventthe government from confiscatingRosUkrEnergo’s gas (KommersantUkraine, January 29). Speaking in hisnew capacity, Mr. Khoroshkovskyiwarned that if the government took thedisputed gas, it would violate severallaws on property and investment protection(Inter TV, January 30).The new leadership of the CustomsService, appointed by Ms. Tymoshenko,apparently ignored the SBU’s warning, asMs. Tymoshenko announced that her governmenthad given the go-ahead to startpumping RosUkrEnergo’s gas from the reservoirs(UNIAN, January 31). Mr. Firtashinsists that the gas in question is destined forconsumers of the Europe Union.RosUkrEnergo was cut out of the market inUkraine, but it is still bound by contracts todemand is set to contract; but economizingon investments is a policy that guarantees ashortage of gas in the admittedly uncertainrecovery phase in the first half of the nextdecade. This horizon may be too far awayfor most politicians, but Mr. Putin thinksvery much in gas business terms, hence theunwavering focus on tightening control over“green fields” in Central Asia that must fillthe gap until Yamal comes on-line sometimeby 2020.There is, however, a significant hole inthis strategic vision: Gazprom, with itsbloated operational expenses and enormousapparatus, cannot function normally withthe level of export prices that will be fixedin April and will most probably remain flatuntil the end of the year. Its survival strategyis set to clash with the interests of domesticconsumers, and Mr. Putin would be hardpressed to reconcile them.Mr. Putin becomes irritated whenEuropean partners raise issues pertaining tothe rule of law or human rights, assumingthat these irrelevant matters should bedropped in the situation of an unfolding economicdisaster. This irritation is probablyinduced by a suspicion that Mr. Barroso’spersistence is not just a ritual or habit but areflection of doubts about the survivalchances of the inflexible and corrupt regimethat makes Russia so special in the Europeanarena.Most speakers at the Munich conferenceargued for engaging Russia closer by everyavailable means from arms control to tourism,because nobody is prepared to entertainsuch alternatives as isolation and implosion.These possibilities are nevertheless loominglarger every day as Mr. Putin swings fromsuppressing regional protests to staging loyaldemonstrations and from placating pensionerswith small income raises to dumping billionsof dollars into black holes in the collapsingeconomy, among which Gazprom isthe unrivaled champion.The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permission fromits publisher, the Jamestown Foundation,www.jamestown.org.supply gas to Poland, Hungary and Romaniain 2009. Mr. Firtash warned that those countrieswould not receive the gas that Ms.Tymoshenko ordered to be taken forUkrainian domestic needs (Inter TV,February 1).RosUkrEnergo already has problemswith its clients in the EU. Polish Petroleumand Gas Mining (PGNiG) was consideringsuing RosUkrEnergo over the company’sfailure to fulfill its obligations. RIA-Novostiquoted a PGNiG spokesperson as saying onFebruary 2 that Poland expected to receive14 million cubic meters of gas a day underits contracts with RosUkrEnergo but wasreceiving only 7 million.If Mr. Firtash manages to prove that thedisputed gas does not belong to Naftohazand if RosUkrEnergo’s disgruntled clientsturn to Ukraine for it, Naftohaz may be inserious trouble. It is unlikely to receive anymore international loans to keep it afloat, notonly because of the global financial crisisbut also because Naftohaz is considereduntrustworthy as it even has trouble makingpayments on earlier loans.Naftohaz can hardly expect Ukraine’scash-strapped industry or households topay more for gas, nor will it receive muchmoney from the Ukrainian state budget,which is already running a huge deficit ifa recently published report to the cabinetby Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk isto be believed (Ekonomichna Pravda,January 27).The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permission fromits publisher, the Jamestown Foundation,www.jamestown.org.

No. 7THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009 23OUT AND ABOUTFebruary 19Stanford, CALecture by Joseph Coleman Carter, “CrimeanChersonesos from Independence to the Present:Archaeology, Cultural Heritage and Politics,”Stanford University, 650-723-3562305-798-0190 or 954-536-2213February 22Winterfest ice skating party, Bobrivka,Colebrook, CT 860-883-1391 or 203-932-4376February 19-20 International ice sculpting competition, featuring aRouyn-Noranda, Quebec team from Ukraine, 819-763-7627or abiventure@yahoo.caFebruary 20WashingtonFebruary 20New YorkFebruary 20TorontoLecture by Ihor Lylo about Lviv’s Greek heritage,Shevchenko Scientific Society, Embassy ofUkraine, 240-205-1889 or olex@ukremb.comNight at The Ukrainian Museum, Lisovi MavkySorority – Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization,The Ukrainian Museum, 212-228-0110 ormavkamuseumnight@gmail.comLecture by Ostap Hawaleshka, “The ExceptionalWork of the Aerospace Constructor Oleh Antonovas Part of Ukraine’s Contribution to WorldAerospace Technology, Canadian Ukrainian ArtFoundation, 416-766-6802February 20-22 51st National Congress, Ukrainian CanadianToronto Student Union, 416-951-2440February 2150th “Chervona Kalyna” Debutante Ball,Pearl River, NY Pearl River Hilton, 718-291-4166February 21Los AngelesFebruary 21New YorkFebruary 21Miami, FLPresentation of debutantes and ball, CaliforniaAssociation to Aid Ukraine, Manhattan BeachMarriott, 800-228-9290 or 818-783-9773Book presentation by Vitaly Chernetsky of YuriyAndrukhovych’s “Moskoviada,” ShevchenkoScientific Society, 212-254-5130“Vyshyvani Vechornytsi” zabava, Miami Educationaland Cultural Group, Ukrainian Catholic Churchof the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary hall,February 22New YorkFebruary 22TorontoFebruary 23Cambridge, MAFebruary 23WashingtonFebruary 25WashingtonLecture by Serhiy Bilenky, “Kyiv in the Imaginationof Ukrainians, Russians and Poles in the Epoch ofRomanticism,” Ukrainian Academy of Arts andSciences, 212-222-1866Lecture by Andrij Makuch and Maegon Young,“Pride, Patriotism, Enlightenment andEntertainment: The Toronto Ukrainian People’sHome in the 1920s and 1930s,” St. VladimirInstitute, 416-923-3318Lecture by Andriy Danylenko, “The Gospels inVernacular Ukrainian: Contrasting the LanguagePrograms of Panteleimon Kulish and AntinKobylianskyi,” Harvard University, 617-495-4053Panel discussion, “The Russian-Ukrainian Gas War:Lessons for Europe and the United States,” TheHeritage Foundation, 202-546-4400Lecture by Rakesh Sarma, “Dissatisfaction andDisillusionment in Ukraine – Findings From the2008 IFES Public Opinion Survey,” Ronald ReaganBuilding and International Trade Center,202-691-4000February 26Ukrainian Village Dance Party “Vechornytsi,”Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Ukrainian Restaurant, 212-571-1555ext. 35 or 646-453-9909Entries in “Out and About” are listed free of charge. Priority is given to eventsadvertised in The Ukrainian Weekly. However, we also welcome submissionsfrom all our readers. Items will be published at the discretion of the editorsand as space allows. Please send e-mail to mdubas@ukrweekly.com.

24 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009No. 7PREVIEW OF EVENTSFriday, February 20NEW YORK: The young adult Plast sororityLisovi Mavky is hosting a special eveningevent at The Ukrainian Museum, 222E. Sixth St. The museum will be open late,from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., giving visitorsa chance to enjoy the various exhibitson display after regular museum hours, witha docent-led tour beginning at 7:45 p.m. A$10 admission charge includes beveragesand hors d’oeuvres. For those interested inbecoming museum members, there will bea membership sign-up table. All ages arewelcome. For more information e-mailmavkamuseumnight@gmail.com.Saturday, February 21NEW YORK: The Shevchenko ScientificSociety invites all to a presentation by Dr.Vitaly Chernetsky (Miami University ofOhio) of the English translation of YuriyAndrukhovych’s novel “Moskoviada,”which was published by the Spuyten DuyvilPublishing House in New York in 2008. Thepresentation will take place at the society’sbuilding, 63 Fourth Ave. (between Ninth and10th streets) at 5 p.m. For additional informationcall 212-254-5130.Sunday, February 22NEW YORK: The Ukrainian Academy ofArt and Sciences in New York will host alecture by Dr. Serhiy Bilenky, who holds aPh.D. in history from the University ofToronto and who this semester is teachingcourses on modern Ukrainian history atColumbia University. The lecture, “Kyiv inthe Imagination of Ukrainians, Russians andPoles in the Epoch of Romanticism,” will beheld in the academy’s building, 206 W. 100thSt., at 3 p.m. The lecture will be in Ukrainian.All are invited. For more information contactthe academy, 212-222-1866.Monday, February 23CAMBRIDGE, Mass.: The HarvardUkrainian Research Institute will host a lecturegiven by Andriy Danylenko, lecturer inmodern languages and cultures at PaceUniversity and associate of the UkrainianResearch Institute. His lecture, “The Gospelsin Vernacular Ukrainian: Contrasting theLanguage Programs of Panteleimon Kulish(1871) and Antin Kobylianskyi (1874,1877),” will be held at 4 p.m. in Room S-050(Concourse Level), CGIS Building South,1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138.This event is free and open to the public. Formore information call 617-495-4053 ore-mail huri@fas.harvard.edu.Thursday, February 26NEW YORK: The Center for TraditionalMusic and Dance and Ukrainian Wave presenta midwinter “Vechornytsi” (VillageDance Party) at 6-9 p.m. at the BrooklynUkrainian Restaurant, 1223 Ave. U (betweenEast 12th Street and Homecrest Avenue;Avenue U stop on the Q train) in Brooklyn.Enjoy Carpathian mountain music by acousticfolk band Cheres, led by Andriy Milavsky.Learn folk dances such as the dribka (shivering)polka, arkan, pleskan and more withdance master Tamara Chernyakhovska.Dance instruction, 6-7 p.m.; dance party, 7-9p.m. Admission: $10; admission and buffet,$15. All ages welcome. For further informationcall 212-571-1555, ext. 35.PREVIEW OF EVENTS GUIDELINESPreview of Events is a listing of community events open to the public. It is aservice provided at minimal cost ($20 per listing) by The Ukrainian Weekly to theUkrainian community.Being Ukrainian means:❏ Malanka in January.❏ Deb in February.❏ Sviato Vesny or Zlet in May.❏ Soyuzivka’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival in July.❏ “Uke Week” at Wildwood in August.❏ Back to Ukrainian school in September.❏ Morskyi Bal in New Jersey in November.❏ Koliada in December.❏ A subscription to The Ukrainian Weeklyall year round.To subscribe to The Ukrainian Weekly, fill out the form below, clipit and mail it to: Subscription Department, The Ukrainian Weekly,2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054.Or simply call 973-292-9800, ext. 3042.To have an event listed in Preview of Events please send information, in English,written in Preview format, i.e., in a brief paragraph that includes the date, place, typeof event, sponsor, admission, full names of persons and/or organizations involved,and a phone number to be published for readers who may require additionalinformation.Information should be sent to: preview@ukrweekly.com or Preview of Events,The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054; fax,973-644-9510. NB: If e-mailing, please do not send items as attachments;simply type the text into the body of the e-mail message.TO ALL MEMBERS OF UNA BRANCH 220Please be advised Branch 220 has merged with Branch 125 as of February 1, 2009.All inquiries and requests for changes should be sent to Mrs. Gloria Paschen.Mrs. Gloria Paschen641 Alice Ct.Elgin, IL 60123(847) 697-5630TO ALL MEMBERS OF UNA BRANCH 338Please be advised Branch 338 has merged with Branch 96 as of February 1, 2009.All inquiries and requests for changes should be sent to Mrs. Jaroslawa Komichak.Mrs. Jaroslawa Komichak129 Warwick Dr.Pittsburgh, PA 15241-2106(412) 833-6657