Month: April 26, 2019 7:42 am

Dear Readers: Welcome to The Washington Notebook, a featured article compiled by the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS) aimed at providing perspective and insight on activities in Washington that concern the Ukrainian community. 

So, after a contentious election campaign, Volodymyr Zelensky has been elected overwhelmingly as Ukraine’s sixth president. Most of the Washington…...

Since the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) was formed and granted autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople last year, both it and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate agree that a number of churches have shifted their allegiance from the Moscow-affiliated Church to the Ukrainian one.  But they disagree as to how many.

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has suffered three self-inflicted wounds as a result of his decision to demolish the crosses at the site of the Kuropaty mass graves: he has lost whatever sympathy he had among the population, he has likely made it impossible for any Western leader to receive him, and he has called attention to splits within his own regime.  

It’s the middle of the night here in Paskivka, a tiny village in Poltava region where the number of goats exceeds the actual human population, but I am far from falling asleep. I am trying to come up with a reasonable answer to the “Why are you applying to our school” question to simultaneously show my commitment and still seem cool about it. It seems impossible to explain in under 100 words why I have been dreaming about the acceptance letter for the past two years. My desk is covered with SAT study guides, essay drafts labeled “trash” and cheesy inspirational quotes that supposedly should motivate me to tackle the deadlines. My friends believe I joined some kind of a cult, my parents think I’m going crazy, and unfed goats have just declared the silent treatment. 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass – Valeriy Chaly, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, repeatedly emphasized during a public talk here on April 15 the importance of Ukraine’s geopolitical role in Europe, as well as the country’s work to secure peace in the region and counter Russian aggression.

NEW YORK – Dispelling chilly rains on the last day of March, Syzokryli Ukrainian Dance Ensemble lit up the stage with a heartwarming program at the Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College in New York City. This concert was a celebration of 40 years of Syzokryli and the Roma Pryma Bohachevsky (RPB) School of Dance. The maximum hall capacity’s 624 tickets had sold out briskly, days before.

Thousands come to thank PoroshenkoIn an unprecedented event, several thousand people came to Bankova Street, the location of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, on April 22 to see President Petro Poroshenko, whose presidential term is about to end, in order to express gratitude for everything he did for Ukraine. Mr. Poroshenko thanked those in the crowd for their support and reminded them that he would stay in politics. He emphasized that his goals were to win the parliamentary elections and “return to Bankova” after the next presidential election. (Serhii Nuznenko/RFE/RL)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University announced on April 19 that Dr. Emily Channell-Justice will develop and lead its new program on contemporary Ukraine.

NEWARK, N.J. – Poet Yuriy Tarnawsky was among the 11 Newark College of Engineering (NCE) graduates inducted on March 12 into the NCE 100, the alumni hall of fame established this year as part of the college’s celebration of its centennial.

NEW YORK – The world premiere of the documentary short “War Mothers: Unbreakable,” which is in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, will take place on Sunday, April 28, at 3 p.m. at Regal Cinemas Battery Park, 102 North End Ave.

KYIV – The race for Ukraine’s presidency has turned into a show, and its chief spectacle is a comedian performer who has not once in nearly five months of campaigning publicly appeared before voters, choosing instead to engage them in the realm of online social media.