Month: January 5, 2019 10:36 am

WASHINGTON – The Transatlantic Task Force on Elections and Civil Society in Ukraine held its third international videoconference during which experts in Washington, Kyiv and Brussels characterized the upcoming March 31 presidential election in Ukraine as “unpredictable” and “wide open.”

The majority of Ukrainians remain against giving special status to the Donbas, as Moscow demands, but over the last year an ever larger share are prepared to consider expanding autonomy for the region along with others. That’s something from which the Donbas, once brought back under Ukrainian control, would presumably benefit as well.

Vladimir Putin has assembled “hundreds of Russian T-64 and T-62M tanks and thousands of military vehicles” only 18 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border in the environs of Kamensk-Shakhtinsk of Rostov Oblast. All this can be seen on Google Earth photographs, Igor Eidman said on Facebook on December 9, 2018.

Ukraine says one of its soldiers has been killed and two others wounded in clashes in the country’s east despite a fresh ceasefire agreement between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists.

The Defense Ministry said on January 2 that separatist fighters violated a ceasefire three times on January 1 by firing guns, grenade launchers and mortars.

It said Ukrainian government forces returned fire, killing one separatist and wounding four others.

Russia’s relations with the West steadily worsened throughout 2018, and hopes that the presumed positive chemistry between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, might help find some way to reverse this trend never materialized. The long-awaited full-scale Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, was a PR disaster that caused a mega-storm of criticism in the U.S. media and rebukes by both parties in Congress. Trump was accused of being too friendly and submissive at the joint press conference after the talks, though apparently nothing much of substance was in fact decided or traded off (see Eurasia Daily Monitor, July 19, 23, 2018). Tensions, misunderstandings and punitive sanctions continued to pile up.

OTTAWA – The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) on December 13, 2018, welcomed the report tabled by the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defense (NDDN) calling for increased sanctions on Russia and an increased NATO presence in the Black Sea.

NEW YORK – The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the largest representation of Americans of Ukrainian descent, is once again taking an active part in the upcoming presidential elections and is currently registering applicants for its Election Observation Mission (EOM), which will travel to Ukraine to monitor the March 31, 2019, vote.

WASHINGTON – The Ukrainian American Bar Association held its 41st annual meeting in the confines of the U.S. Capitol Building. The conference, titled “U.S.-Ukraine: New Policies, Strategies and Lessons from the Past,” took place during the weekend of November 9-11 and attracted a wide array of attorneys, jurists and academics from the United States as well as from Ukraine. 

Minister Bibeau addresses Leadership Awards Dinner

MONTREAL – The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) held its annual general meeting and a meeting of the Board of Directors in Montreal on December 7-9, 2018.

On December 8, Paul Grod, recently elected president of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), announced his resignation as president of the UCC. Alexandra Chyczij was elected and sworn in as UCC president. Andrea Kopylech was elected first vice-president and Alex Ilchenko was elected second vice-president.

The Ukrainian “koliada” tradition is alive and well. We know that’s true because this is the time of year that various groups visit the homes of their members and supporters with Christmas carols and greetings of the season. “Chy pryimayete vy koliadnykiv? (Will you welcome carolers?), they ask. And, once invited in, they give us the wonderful gift of beautiful and unique Ukrainian “koliadky” (carols). In turn, we thank them with monetary donations for their organizations’ valuable work. For many groups, it should be noted, the koliada is a major fund-raiser. 

Thirty-five years ago, on January 12, 1984, the West observed the annual Day of Solidarity with Ukrainian Political Prisoners. 

The annual event began with imprisoned Ukrainian journalist and dissident, Vycheslav Chornovil, on January 12, 1974, when he announced a hunger strike on the second anniversary of his arrest and the huge KGB crackdown on the Ukrainian intelligentsia that resulted.

Nativity Epistle of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Outside the Borders of Ukraine.

To the God-beloved Pastors, Honored Monastics, and all Faithful Children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora and Ukraine:

“Today, the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One. Angels with shepherds give glory. The magi journey with a star. For unto us is born a young Child, the Pre-eternal God” (Kondak of the Nativity of Christ).

Christ is Born!