Month: October 18, 2019 6:07 am

NEW YORK – The Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University, will hold the conference “Five Years of War in the Donbas: Cultural Responses and Reverberations” on Friday and Saturday, November 1-2.
The conference will gather an international array of scholars to discuss the diverse ways that Ukrainian culture has been stirred by the recent war between Ukraine and Russia in the Donbas. It will take place in the university’s International Affairs Building, Room 1512 (420 W. 118th St.)
 The conference will explore the different, novel ways that Ukrainian literature, film, music and visual art have attempted to perceive, interpret and express war in the country. Among the questions that will be treated at the conference are: How has this culture changed as the war has endured? How have language, memory and displacement been treated by this culture? How has this culture been disseminated in Ukraine and beyond its borders? How does this culture reflect the identity of today’s Ukraine?

Early in September, I was getting urgent messages. The White House, for no discernable reason, was blocking congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine. And “urgent” is the correct word. According to arcane budget rules, funds not obligated by the end of the fiscal year (September 30) would be lost – nearly $400 million, desperately needed to defend against Russian aggression in the Donbas. An outpouring of calls to the White House, the media and members of Congress forced President Donald Trump to back down.
Although $400 million is a lot of money, and Ukraine is not even in the top 10 of U.S. foreign aid recipients. Still, it’s enormously important. Losing that funding might well lead to Ukraine losing the war, which is why Europe is also providing massive assistance.

This is the second part of a two-part in-depth look at the panel discussions and banquet addresses during the conference “Celebrating 125 Years of the Organized Ukrainian American Community” at the Princeton Club in New York on September 21.
Part IV: Ukrainian youth organizations
Eugene Luciw, representing the Ukrainian American Sports Center Tryzub in Horsham, Pa., introduced the panelists: Adam Hapij of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, Adrian Dlaboha, national director of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (UAYA), Ivan Makar of the School of Ukrainian Studies/Ridna Shkola in New York, Victoria Falendysh of the American-Ukrainian Youth Civics and Public Policy Club (Philadelphia), and Prof. Nicholas Skirka of the Ukrainian Sports Club (USC) of New York.

HORSHAM, Pa. – A perfect summer day welcomed nearly 3,000 people at the 28th annual Ukrainian Independence Day Folk Festival,…...

NEW YORK – The hot summer quickly flew by, and children have returned to school from their vacations and summer camps. Like other educational organizations, the Ukrainian Music Institute of America (UMIA) is registering students for the 2019-2020 new school year.
Founded in 1952, to this day the UMIA is the oldest and largest Ukrainian American music organization that professionally educates children in music.
You may ask, why is it so important to learn to play a musical instrument?

STAMFORD, Conn. – The 52nd annual Connecticut State Ukrainian Day Festival was held on September 8 on the grounds of St. Basil’s Seminary in Stamford on a beautiful and sunny day.
Visitors began arriving after 9 a.m. to visit the outdoor Ukrainian Bazaar with over 20 vendors who brought beautiful Ukrainian blouses, jewelry, fine art, pysanky and more for sale.
In the outdoor pavilion, Bishop (emeritus) Basil Losten of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford celebrated divine liturgy.  He was joined by the Very Rev. Bohdan Timshyshyn, rector of St. Basil Seminary, and seminarians. Responses were sung beautifully by St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral choir of Stamford.

Oleksandr Usyk’s first step chasing titles in boxing’s heavyweight division was a successful one on October 12 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The former undisputed cruiserweight world champion and 2018 consensus fighter of the year conducted a surgical dissection, methodically breaking down his short-notice opponent, Chazz Witherspoon, with a seventh-round TKO after Withers­poon retired after the seventh round.
Witherspoon replaced Tyrone Spong (14-0, 13 KO) of the Netherlands earlier in the week after Spong tested positive for the banned substance clomiphene. Withers­poon offered little resistance in the bout, playing the role of a glorified sparring partner for Usyk, who was shaking off ring rust after being inactive for almost a year.
The Ukrainian secured his first heavyweight victory on manager Egis Klimas’ 55th birthday.

Prior to the September 14 Ukrainian Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Tryzub Ukrainian American Sports Center in Horsham, Pa., The Ukrainian Weekly’s Ihor Stelmach sat down to chat with ex-St. Louis Blues star right-wing Wayne Babych.
The NHL great told The Weekly he first laced up a pair of skates at age 3 1/2 and started attending hockey schools at age 12. By the time he was 14, people told him he had real talent. In addition to hockey, as a youngster Babych played baseball and football. Baseball was his favorite sport, and he noted that later on he received offers from five Major League Baseball teams.

EDMONTON-TORONTO – On November 1-2, the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies is holding a conference at the University of Alberta in Edmonton to examine materials related to the Holodomor that are found in archival collections outside of the countries of the former Soviet Union. Sources to be discussed at the conference include the archives of foreign governments and diplomatic correspondence, and the holdings of the émigré Ukrainian community as well as of minority groups and communities.
“With this conference, we aim to bring to light lesser known and under-researched sources related to the Holodomor and thus to encourage and stimulate further research and publication based on primary source materials,” said Dr. Bohdan Klid, research director for HREC.

KYIV – Despite continuing reassurances from the Zelenskyy administration that it will not yield on fundamental issues concerning Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, protests against what many see as Kyiv’s “capitulation” before Russia by accepting the controversial “Steinmeier formula” have intensified and spread.
On October 6 more than 10,000 people demonstrated on Kyiv’s Maidan, making it the largest public protest since the Revolution of Dignity. Protests were also held in numerous cities all across the country. Several city and oblast councils in both western and eastern Ukraine have come out against the Steinmeier formula.

SVITLODARSK, Ukraine – While the recurrent shelling outside is terrifying, it is the drawn-out silence between the blasts that frightens her the most.
“When everything gets quiet, I feel like nothing will ever change,” says Maryna, a dressmaker and mother of two. “I feel like the conflict is endless.”
Maryna is among millions living in the conflict zone who are paying a heavy psychological price for the ongoing violence in Ukraine.
To date, the conflict has uprooted around 1.4 million people, while many more endure cold, hunger, hardship and the threat of sudden death at home. In all, 3.4 million are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.

KYIV – Five years ago, on August 19, 2014, 55-year-old Mark (Markian) Paslaws­ky (codename “Franko”) – a Ukrainian American volunteer with the Donbas Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard – was killed in the battle of Ilovaisk. He was covering for his retreating unit and saved the lives of several fellow soldiers at the expense of his own.
On the eve of the anniversary of his death, the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity together with the Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora opened the exhibition “New York – Ilovaisk: The Choice,” dedicated to Paslawsky and the fifth anniversary of the events in Ilovaisk.
Markian Paslawsky was born in 1959 in an immigrant family in New York. As a child he belonged to the Ukrainian scouting organization Plast. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the 75th Ranger Regiment of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.