Month: June 24, 2021 9:17 pm

As much of the Ukrainian American establishment is rightfully hand wringing over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, another coalition is rallying against other proposed pipelines closer to North American soil.

CHICAGO – The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA) held its 39th biennial Assembly of Delegates virtually on June 19. Delegates elected Dr. Leo Wolansky president of the organization for the next two years.

Contingency aid ready if Russia attacks
The United States has prepared contingency military aid in the event of further Russian military incursions into Ukraine, the White House has said. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on June 18 that recent U.S. media reports that the United States held back security assistance to Ukraine were “nonsense.”

TROY, N.Y. – Members of St. Nicholas Brotherhood Society (Branch 13 of the Ukrainian National Association) in Watervliet, N.Y., gathered together to clean up around the Taras Shevchenko Memorial Monument located in the city of Troy, N.Y. In recent years, members of the Brotherhood Society have assumed responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the Shevchenko monument in the area. The cleaning crew this year included, as seen in the photo from left to right, Mykhailo Oliynyk, Walter Klem, John Uruskyj, John Suchowacki, Mykola Fil, Slavko Tysiak and Victor Holovashchenko.

Ukraine carried over a more intense focus and strong momentum that they showed in the last twenty minutes of play against the Netherlands into their second Euro 2020 match versus North Macedonia on June 17 in Bucharest. In many ways this match was a polar opposite of their first one, the 3-2 loss to the Dutch. Against the Macedonians, the Ukrainians jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals again by Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk then hung on in the second half plus stoppage time for a 2-1 victory.

The Ukrainian Weekly’s Matthew Dubas asked viewers on June 17 during the Euro 2020 match between Ukraine and North Macedonia shown at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey in Whippany, N.J., questions related to the team’s strengths and weaknesses, and the decision by UEFA to pull the second part of the slogan “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!” that was featured on Ukraine’s match uniforms for the tournament. Their responses were edited and are summarized below.

Ukraine becoming a member of NATO would be a “red line” for Russia, the Kremlin has said after U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first summit in Geneva on June 16.

KYIV – Two legislative bills, one on indigenous people and the other on Ukrainian-language usage on television and in cinema, have sparked the ire of both Moscow and state-building activists.

KYIV – After a 15-month hiatus, the head of the largest organization representing U.S. citizens of Ukrainian heritage visited Ukraine on a fact-finding mission where he discussed “concrete issues” with high-level government, security and diplomatic officials, as well as a member of parliament.

Two weeks after the Biden administration waived congressionally mandated sanctions on Nord Stream AG, the company behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the first link of the subsea line is completed and ready for testing (Vesti.ru, June 4). But the Russian president knows it is too early for a victory dance. Amidst a flurry of sharp reactions to the sanctions’ waivers from the U.S. Congress and most Central-East European states, and the ongoing U.S.-German talks on mitigating the potential negative impact of the pipeline completion on Ukraine, the future of the pipeline remains uncertain.

LVIV – Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers lowered the country’s COVID-19 danger level to green, the lowest designation, and eased certain pandemic measures, particularly those requiring self-isolation and requirements for mass events and social distancing. It did, however, extend an emergency COVID-19 lockdown categorization until August 31, the country’s prime minister said on June 17.

WASHINGTON – Congressional Ukraine Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), heralded the allocation of a $150 million package for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which will be used to help Ukraine better defend itself against Russian aggression.