Ukrainian Programming on RCI

Hello,

On behalf of Hubert T. Lacroix, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, I am writing to thank you for your e-mail message in which you voice your support for the Ukrainian section of Radio Canada International (RCI). We deeply regret the disappointment that you must feel at this decision. As I am sure you understand, it was made after extensive consultation and a great deal of careful consideration, and in response to the very difficult financial situation at CBC/Radio-Canada. Although it is bound to Foreign Affairs objectives, Radio Canada International remains fully accountable for its programming. We recognize that the Ukrainian section that opened in 1952 is one of the service's oldest. We also realize how important it is to the Ukrainian community, in both Canada and the Ukraine. That said, RCI must pull out all the stops to fulfill its mission with a considerably reduced workforce now. Despite the closing of the Ukrainian section and the cancellation of programming in Cantonese, RCI will continue to faithfully carry out its mandate, which is to produce and distribute programming that targets international audiences, with a view to raising awareness of Canada, its values, and its social, economic and cultural life. Thank you for your interest in RCI's programming.

Sincerely,

Francine LétourneauChief of StaffOffice of the President and CEO

"Canada will not be bullied. ???

"Let's be perfectly clear here," Cannon said at a news conference in Montreal. "Canada will not be bullied.
This statement contradicts itself as we are being bullied in our own backyard with the CBC cutbacks in particular with Ukrainian Section of RCI is the only foreign language department to be terminated.
Does not make much sense to me if we are trying to play an International role in the world, while cutting off 46 million people from a reliable media source which is what the mandate for RCI states:
"The international broadcaster created this initiative with the goal of promoting cultural harmony. It allows the CBC to go a step further in making Canadian culture available to all—both at home and abroad—while reinforcing the CBC/Radio-Canada group’s strength in this area. "
Or are these just fictional words to look good in the world arena? Such a decision is unconscionable and is out of line with the Government of Canada's commitment to Ukraine as one of its top strategic bilateral partner countries."

Hoping that a reverse to these events will be announced shortly.
We encourage you to support this action and sign a petition, click here.

UCC's letter to CBC President Hubert T. Lacroix can also be viewed at:
http://ucc.ca/media_releases/2009-03-26_2/index.htm

We also encourage Canadians to express their concerns to:

The Hon. Lawrence Cannon, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs
CannoL@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. James Moore, MP, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages
MooreJ@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. Bev Oda, MP, Minister of International Cooperation
OdaB@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. Vic Toews, MP, President of the Treasury Board
ToewsV@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. Stockwell Day, MP, Minister of International Trade
DayS@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. Jason Kenney, MP, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
KenneJ@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. Michael Ignatieff, MP, Leader of the Official Opposition
IgnatM@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Jack Layton, MP, Leader of the New Democratic Party
LaytoJ@parl.gc.ca
Mr. Gilles Duceppe, MP, Leader of the Bloc Québécois
DucepG@parl.gc.ca
Ms. Joy Smith, MP, Chair, Canada Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group
SmithJ@parl.gc.ca

Putin enters seal hunt debate

Putin defies easy categorization.
He's revived Russia's sagging economy yet allowed corruption to flourish. He crushes internal dissent, ignores human rights, threatens Ukraine, invades Georgia, and has savaged Chechnya. He's been accused of assassinating journalists and certain political defectors, but remains as popular in Russia as, well, as Barack Obama in the U.S.
Click here to read great article on this,
by Peter Worthington - Edmonton Sun
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2009/03/16/8762301-sun.html
It doesn't take a genious to figure this one out!!!!
And meanwhile airhead Brigitte Bardot takes her hat off to Putin
In her letter to Putin whom, according to AFP, she called “the president of her heart”, 74-year-old Bardot wrote: "I really want to thank and congratulate you for your willingness to denounce the hunting of young seals that you rightly qualify as a bloody industry."
More on this garbage, click here, that is if you have a strong stomach.

Russia bans 'bloody' hunting of baby seals

Now if they (Russia - Putin's KGB machine), would only stop killing defenseless journalists and freedom fighters, in Georgia, Chechnya, Ukraine, UK, this could be looked upon as a great achievement

Russia said on Wednesday it had banned the hunting of baby seals, weeks after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called it a 'bloody industry.'

Click here to view this sick story.

Source: Montreal Gazette

Ignatieff extends an olive branch

At a meeting, which was organized by Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the Ukrainian-Canadian MP who was "turfed" from the shadow cabinet, Ignatieff addressed key issues that affect the community and made several commitments, including:

- To support Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and membership in NATO;

- To assist in decreasing Ukraine's energy dependence upon Russia by sharing Canada's nuclear technology with Ukraine; and

- To commit to the full terms of the Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education (ACE) program of redress for the First World War internment of Ukrainian-Canadians, as agreed to by Paul Martin's government in 2005. This program pledged $12.5 million to the Ukrainian-Canadian community for use in internment educational projects.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Edmonton Journal

Ignatieff alienates many Ukrainian-Canadians

Is Russia's neo-colonial think creeping into Canada?

Russia's nasty tactics to corral its "near abroad" are well-known globally. Its strong-arm tactics to reassert power over Ukraine -- the largest country in Europe -- by interfering in elections and threatening nuclear attacks if it moves closer to the West by joining NATO are not lost on Canada and some of its 1.3 million Canadians of Ukrainian descent, including the 125,000 strong in Edmonton. Russia's neo-colonial think allowed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to inform former president George W. Bush that Ukraine is not a nation. He's not alone.

In his little book Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism, Michael Ignatieff, now leader of the Liberal party, belittles Ukrainians: "Ukrainian independence conjures up images of embroidered peasant shirts, the nasal whine of ethnic instruments ..." and reverts to historic self-aggrandizement of the oppressor over the hoi polloi.

Click here for complete article.

Source: Edmonton Journal

Stormclouds over the Moscow Kremlin

Russian moves against Ukraine and Georgia have been beaten back, and the U.S. Secretary of State (a woman?!) is giving assurance of their imminent NATO admission. Russia has been exposed as being wholly without credible allies, including China.

The price of oil has fallen by two thirds, and the Russian currency and stock market have collapsed right along with it, obliterating the insane fantasy propagated by the Kremlin that Russia was “resurgent,” a “safe haven” and an alternative to the United States.

And now, the economic crisis is causing its first round of really intense pain on the street of Russia. The Kremlin, blindsided by this tsunami of failure, does not yet have in place the means of equally intense social repression to control the reaction of the population, nor has it finalized its set of scapegoats.

And so it is panicking. This is the time for Russia’s opposition to move with speed and boldness to directly confront the Kremlin and consolidate a foundation of power it can use when the next elections roll around, and use more importantly as a shield from the Kremlin’s most desperate acts of violence, visited most recently upon the hero Stanislav Markelov.

Now is the time.

Source: Russophobe

Baloha links Ukraine's economic downturn to Tymoshenko's premiership

Baloha called appointment of Tymoshenko as the prime minister another one mistake of President Yuschenko.
"This was another one mistake made by the president. He was then told: she wouldn't care about the economy, she would devote herself to the election campaign and sacrifice Ukraine's economy to this," remarked the Secretariat's chief.

He also pointed to the need of continuing Ukraine's cooperation with the International Monetary Fund and pronounced hope that the authorities would keep jointly working on this issue.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the incumbent Cabinet of Ministers led by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko assumed office of December 18, 2007.

Source: Kyiv Post

Taras Shevchenko - 195th Anniversary of Birth

Not until 1857 that Shevchenko finally returned from exile after receiving a pardon, though he was not permitted to return to St. Petersburg but was ordered to Nizhniy Novgorod. In May 1859, Shevchenko got permission to move to his native Ukraine. He intended to buy a plot of land not far from the village of Pekariv and settle in Ukraine. In July, he was arrested on a charge of blasphemy, but was released and ordered to return to St. Petersburg.

Taras Shevchenko spent the last years of his life working on new poetry, paintings, and engravings, as well as editing his older works. But after his difficult years in exile his final illness proved too much. Shevchenko died in Saint Petersburg on March 10, 1861, the day after his 47th birthday.

Visit UKEMONDE to learn more about Taras Shevchenko.
http://www.ukemonde.com/shevchenko/index.html

Source: Wikepedia

Ukrainian, Polish presidents commemorate victims of tragedy in Lviv region

Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko and Polish President Lech Kaczynski have attended the events to commemorate the victims of a tragedy, which took place 65 years ago the village Huta Peniatska, Brody district, on Saturday.

The two presidents laid flowers to the monument to the tragedy victims, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has said.

There were many great events in the history of Ukraine and Poland, Kaczynski said. "But today we are speaking about the most difficult moments and it is good that we cans speak of them now, as it is what a real friendship between the peoples is," the Polish president said, noting that this crime has broken the trust between Ukrainians and Poles for decades.

In turn, the Ukrainian president said that the two peoples have rather a complicated common past. "Today I am obliged to be hear side by side with my Polish counterpart. I want to show thus that a Ukrainian has once and forever offered a hand of friendship and understanding to a Pole," Yuschenko said.

Besides, Yuschenko and Kaczynski will commemorate the victims of Bolshevist repressions in the city of Brody.

On February 28 1944, the German police officers have conducted a punitive operation killing among others several hundreds of Poles residing at Huta Peniatska following a fight between Soviet partisans and a unit made up of Ukrainians.

Source: Kyiv Post

'We will defend our airspace'

OTTAWA — Canada will not tolerate Russian intrusions into Canadian airspace, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday after it was disclosed that two Russian bombers were intercepted just outside the Canadian Arctic shortly before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa this month.

"I have expressed at various times the deep concern our government has with increasingly aggressive Russian actions around the globe and Russian intrusions into our airspace," the prime minister said at a news conference in Saskatoon.

"This government has responded every time the Russians have done that. We will continue to respond; we will defend our airspace."

Click here for complete story.

Source: Montreal Gazette

Canada 'turns back Russia bomber'

Canadian air force jets intercepted a Russian bomber approaching Canadian air space the day before President Barack Obama visited Ottawa, officials say.
Click here
Two fighter jets met the long-range Bear bomber over the Arctic last week, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said.

Click here for complete article.

Source: BBC

KGB killers enjoy life in Canada

They called themselves Chekists -- the sword and shield of the Soviet Union. They were proud of what they were. Some served as concentration camp guards. Others were executioners. Many were just clerks or cooks or those ordinary guys who mop up the mess after the torturers are done.
Over the years they had different names -- Cheka, OGPU, NKVD, SMERSH and, most notoriously, KGB. Yet their job description didn't change. They were killers. They murdered whomever their masters wanted dead. Their victims numbered in the many millions.

Click here to view complete aticle. Great piece by Prof. Lubomyr Luciuk

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

Svoboda in Odesa

A peaceful demonstration turns ugly when local thugs attack the people attending this event. What were the police doing? Were they assisting these thugs? Why were these thugs left to run around and have free rein on the innocent by standers? They must feel really BIG hitting on people out to express speech. Slava Banderi / Slava Ukraini!! Katasapam / moskalyam het!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CHQTS7GEvU&feature=subscription

Exposing Russia’s Incompetent Leadership

Writing in the Globe & Mail Aurel Braun, a professor of political science and international relations at the University of Toronto and author of NATO-Russia Relations in the Twenty-First Century, calls upon the West to stop being fooled by Potemkin Russia’s incompetent leadership:

The authoritarian leadership structure, what the Russians call the “power vertical,” is not transparent or adaptive. Mr. Medvedev’s constitutional supremacy belies the reality that crucial decisions are, in fact, made by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his tightly controlled group of security men, the siloviki. Even the occasional impression of a diarchy is mistaken, for Mr. Medvedev lacks a true powerbase. His liberal-sounding statements and expressed desire for genuine democracy, rather than Mr. Putin’s hyphenated euphemisms for authoritarianism – “sovereign democracy” or “directed democracy” – may raise Western hopes but, so far, mean little in practice.

Click here to view complete article.

Source: Globe and Mail

Putin jibe picked for Eurovision

Georgia has chosen an entry which takes a swipe at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for May's Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

But disco-funk song We Don't Wanna Put In, a play on the politician's name, could fall foul of Eurovision's rule against political content in entries.

A contest spokesman told BBC News some lyrics are "sensitive", but any action would be deferred until next month.

Russia and Georgia went to war last year over the region of South Ossetia.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for several years.

Click here to view clip and view complete story.

Source: BBC

Eight decades of struggle

The 80th anniversary of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), being marked one of these days, is unlikely to draw too much attention. What is being hotly debated in Ukraine is the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Amy), the OUN’s armed branch, Roman Shukhevych, who held various posts in the organization and even headed it, and Stepan Bandera, known as the OUN top leader. These subjects and personalities have their followers and adversaries. But the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists itself is outside the societal discourse. After all, this can have a logical explanation: the OUN has been a legally unrecognized entity for 80 years now.

Click here for complete story.

Source: The Day

Exposing Russia’s Naked Emperor, freezing in Cold War II

Ultimately it’s up to the Russians to decide to be friends. One day, someone in the Kremlin will have to confront a hard choice: Does an isolated and dysfunctional Russia want to modernize and join up with the West, look toward China, or continue its slow decline? Until then, Mr. Obama better stock up on aspirin and dampen his and our expectations about Russia.

Click here to read more.....

Source: Wall Street Journal

The end of Russia?

On its present course, Russia is doomed, claims the distinguished historian, Yury Afanasiev. Why did reform change nothing? Why has the wheel of history turned back to autocracy? 500 years of oppression are reaching a terrible climax. In this important, excoriating essay, he challenges his people to face the truth about their history.
Click here for complete article.

Source:open Democracy News Analysis

Living book on Hetman Mazepa

Here is a brief excerpt from the historical portrait of Mazepa, this time about his recognition in Rusia: “He had absolutely everything to satisfy his proudest, insatiable self-esteem. When it was chilly outside, he would make public appearance wearing a luxurious green velvet jacket lined with sable fur and with diamond-ornamented buttons — everyone knew that this was Tsar Peter I’s gift. He was a general of the Russian army, a Full Privy Councilor, and the holder of the highest orders of the time, which lifted him above all Russian generals. He was awarded the title “Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.” All of this is, in my opinion, weighty evidence of the respect Hetman Mazepa enjoyed in Russia at the time.

Source: The Day

Year of Mazepa: Baturyn — forever!

The restoration of the historical and cultural preserve “Hetman’s Capital” in Baturyn is, undoubtedly, a significant event for every Ukrainian who has at least a vague idea about the importance of the Nov. 2, 1708 disaster for our homeland.

The Russian troops were led by “His Serene Highness” Prince Aleksandr Menshikov, an embezzler, intriguer, hater of Ukraine, early 18th-century “oligarch,” and Tsar Peter I’s closest aide. The Russian soldiers cut out the entire population of Baturyn—up to 15,000 people, according to certain estimates. They had no pity on newborn babies, women, or the elderly. This was a deadly blow to Baturyn, Hetman Mazepa’s favorite capital, as well as to his plans to get free from Muscovy’s “heavy hand” and win state sovereignty for Ukraine.

Well before Ivan Mazepa’s reign Baturyn served as the place of residence for such well-known Ukrainian hetmans as Demian Mnohohrishnyand Ivan Samoilovych. Later, following the demise of the hetman state, the tradition was maintained by Kyrylo Rozumovsky and Danylo Apostol.

Thus it is not accidental that these historical leaders are immortalized in the new sculptural composition that has been solemnly unveiled by President Viktor Yushchenko in Baturyn. Historical traditions of Ukraine’s Independence, in particular those cherished in the Hetman State, are a bridge linking state building in the distant past with the present day.

Historical memory is an absolutely indispensable component of a politically mature nation, although it is not sufficient because there is also the specific state responsibility for today’s realities. That is why it is didactic and necessary to think about Baturyn today — otherwise we may have to exert as much effort to restore the glorious landmarks of our history in another 300 years.

Source: The Day
By Ihor SIUNDIUKOV, http://www.day.kiev.ua/263444/
Tuesday, 27 January 2008
http://www.day.kiev.ua/263444/

Medvedev Threatens Ukraine Sanctions

What a true diplomat this constipated president is showing us all. Issuing such threats really brings me to my knees!!!! THe direction this puppet government is taking, the route ala Putin!!!

President Dmitry Medvedev used a wide-ranging interview to threaten sanctions against Ukraine, say Russia will allow a more flexible exchange rate and express hope for partnership with the incoming U.S. presidential administration.

Click here for full article.

Source: The Moscow Times

Russia may cut off Ukraine's gas

Russia and their leaders as they call themselves are really, really constipated!!! Read on....

Click here for full story.

Source: BBC

Why are KGB men allowed to stay in Canada? - ASK YOUR MP!

Of course the commentators of a particular blog entry suggest otherwise, going so far as to suggest that Mikhail Lennikov was up front and transparent about his KGB links from the get go.

It boils down to which reporter telling the story you are going to believe, but the way I see it, Lennikov wouldn’t have been able to remain in Canada, in fact his visa application would have been rejected had he told the truth about his KGB history. Funny thing, the commentators that left their two-cents worth failed to mention that. Obviously they, like they accuse me of, are more than a little lacking in knowledge when it comes to the circumstances that led to the Lennikov family being issued with a deportation order. They obviously believe that disclosing such information after Mikhail Lennikov was called up on it makes him transparent, and makes up for his failure to disclose pertinent information regarding his KGB association.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Crooked in Canada


Here are a few interesting article to consider:

Ukraine must pursue perpetrators of Holodomor

Time to hear an apology for the Great Terror in the Soviet Union

Fair is Fair: Ukrainians Call for Deportation of KGB Veterans in Canada

Russia Turns New Law Against Kremlin Critics

Here is what democracy is all about. And Germany and France and those Italians enjoy licking Putin's a_ _ . Hmmmm, makes you wonder where their loyalties lie????

Andrei Piontkovsky, one of Russia's most pungent political commentators and a visiting scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington, was accused in court Tuesday of inciting violence against Russians, Jews and Americans as well as insulting and stirring feelings of inferiority in all three groups.

A Moscow district court opened hearings Tuesday on a charge by prosecutors that two of Piontkovsky's books -- "Unloved Country" and "For the Motherland! For Abramovich! Fire!" -- can be labeled "extremist" under a law ostensibly designed to stamp out racism and xenophobia. The title of his second book refers in part to Roman Abramovich, Russia's richest tycoon.


Andrei Piontkovsky, whose books are alleged to insult various groups and incite violence, told reporters outside court that the case was
Andrei Piontkovsky, whose books are alleged to insult various groups and incite violence, told reporters outside court that the case was "absurd" and "primitive."

Click here fore full article.

Source: Washington Post

Ukraine de facto obtains MAP, says foreign minister

Kyiv, Dec. 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukraine has de facto obtained the NATO Membership Action Plan, because an annual national program is an important component of this document, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko has said.


"We have achieved the desired result at this stage: we have de facto been granted an action plan for preparing Ukraine for NATO membership. This is a serious step forward. We are moving ahead toward membership, and we're starting practical integration with NATO in 2009," he told journalists in Brussels on Wednesday, in comments on a communique in relation to Ukraine adopted at a NATO ministerial session.

Source: Kyiv Post

Georgia and Ukraine face Nato wait

Instead, other less formal measures preparing the way, such as raising the standards of equipment, will be pursued.

This, it is hoped, will enable Nato to say that the goal is being maintained and only the pace of progress is being changed.

Washington is supporting this approach, which it feels might offer a more informal, and potentially easier, track for the two applicants.

Put into the wider context of relations with Russia, the developments represent a victory for the Russians in that membership is being delayed into the future and into the term of a new American administration.

Not that the secretary of state-to-be, Hillary Clinton, is likely to soft-pedal further. She strongly supports the governments of both Georgia and Ukraine.

Click here for complete article.

Source: BBC

More hot gas, and dreaming of glory days gone by!

Not only are our Russian friends constipated with the need to let out a little gas, but they also have run into a mental quandary. Dreaming that they are still a super power!! Sorry before I let out a good laugh!!! :-))

In his first state-of-the nation address, Mr Medvedev, a make believe president, said Moscow would deploy the Iskander missile system in the Kaliningrad region - between Nato members Lithuania and Poland - to "neutralise - if necessary - the [US] anti-missile system". Do they really have such missiles?


"Naturally, we also consider using for the same purpose the resources of Russia's navy," he said. A navy where submarines explode and we are supposed to fear this?

Mr Medvedev also said Russia would jam the US anti-missile system electronically. We all love jamming especially to a good tune. Are there any good Russian tunes to jam to?

Mr Medvedev's announcement is extremely provocative, but the Kremlin's clear message is that America is to blame, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Moscow says.

And what else is new. Seen that heard that. Time to be a little more creative Medvedev, something Russia is really lacking, having you lead their country. But they can dream!!

Click here to have a good laugh.

Constipated Alexei Miller - needs to let out a little gaz!!

Must be all that kapusta / cabbage Aleksei Miller, chairman of Russia's natural gas monopolist Gazprom, agreed on repayment terms for the multi-billion dollar debt after talks with Oleh Dubina, chairman of Ukraine's natural gas company Ukrnafta.

Ukraine will pay Gazprom in full for natural gas burned in September, and partially for gas used in October, Russian and Ukrainian news media reported.

I was chosen by your dead - Legacy of the Famine: Ukraine as a postgenocidal society

To complete the commemoration of Ukrainian Holodomor - Genocide, I invite you read one of the best pieces I have ever come across written by no other than the James Mace.

In 1981, as I embarked on studies of the Great Famine in Ukraine, there were still many unpublished Party documents.
After studying national communism within the context of the Ukrainian history of the period, along with documents, speeches, and editorials carried literally every day by the official press of Soviet Ukraine, the main features of the Soviet official policy toward Ukraine became completely clear to me.

At this point a digression is in order. Why should I, a born and bred American, take up such a topic? What did I need it for? I have been asked this question very often and I have often been tempted to ask in turn: Why should millions of Russians, Jews, Armenians, and Ukrainians travel across the ocean to that faraway godforsaken country, my America? I did it because Ukrainian Americans required such research, and fate decreed that the victims chose me. Just as one cannot study the Holocaust without becoming half Jewish in spirit, one cannot study the Famine and not become at least half
Ukrainian. I have spent too many years for Ukraine not to have become the greater part of my life. After all, Martin Luther said,
"Here I stand, I can do no other."

Click here to read complete article.

He was the first to light a candle‏

Hundreds of thousands of candles lit last Saturday on squares and in windows all over the country were a memorial tribute to the millions who died during the terrible 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine, as well as to him, James Mace, who was the first to light a candle

This year the famine victims were honored in a special way. One can clearly see that the organizers of the memorial events did this with all of their heart. The posters and drawings on the walls of the Ukrainian House vividly display human contribution to the nationwide memory of the 20th-century catastrophe. The stalls present books of memory from every oblast in Ukraine; there were prepared by hundreds of local researchers. All this is an adequate response to those who accuse the president of “carrying things too far” in this matter.

Hanging among the posters is a small piece of embroidery made by a 10th-grader; it shows grain ears and a guelder-rose. This picture symbolizes that, by the sheer power of his spirit, James managed to find a way to human hearts, even though not to all of them. One more important moment: a woman came up to James’ portrait, put down a slice of bread, and bowed to him. She thanked him and showed that she was in pain.

Source: The Day

Ukrainian Genocide: NY Times Still Covering Up

Is the New York Times "airbrushing" history again? It would seem so. On Saturday, November 22, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko presided over a commemoration in Kiyv of the 75th anniversary of the famine genocide of 1932-1933 that took the lives of 7-10 million Ukrainians. Known as the Holodomor (Ukrainian for "murder by hunger"), it is one of the greatest mass murders in history, and one of the cruelest. Joining President Yushchenko for the event were official delegations from 44 countries, including the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Macedonia, Georgia, Latvia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina.

The New York Times prides itself on being the national "newspaper of record" and still carries its longtime motto, "All the News That's Fit to Print" in the upper left-hand corner of its front page. If we are to believe the Times' motto, the week-long Holodomor commemoration didn't take place, or at least it didn't qualify as "news." A search of the Times website — using both visual scan and their own search engine — yielded zero results for current or recent stories.

The smae can be said for Montreal media, keeping up the times with the Times. Very sad to see!!!

Click here to view full article.

Source: New American

Ukrainian-Canadians mark famine's 75th anniversary

Ukrainian-Canadians spent Saturday marking the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor, the nightmarish famine that killed millions in the Ukraine in the early 1930s.

The famine is largely blamed on Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's forced collectivization of grain and other foodstuffs that left millions of people without adequate food supplies. Estimates put the number of dead anywhere between two and 10 million.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper supported a private member's bill that acknowledged the famine as a genocide, following the lead of a dozen or so other countries.

National Holodomor Awareness Week in Canada begins this weekend with candlelight vigils and other events Saturday, and memorial services at Ukrainian churches across the country on Sunday.

"This is the bare minimum which we, as Ukrainians, should do not only for the millions of victims, but more importantly, for our descendants who must always remember the Holodomor and heighten the international community's sensitivity to the re-occurrence of similar tragedies," the Ukrainian Canadian Congress said in a statement on its website.

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney marked the anniversary of the famine in Kyiv alongside leaders from the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

The Canadian delegation is expected to participate in a forum on the famine.

"Our government is committed to remembering the victims of communism and heightening international awareness of genocide, and we are proud that our Conservative government recognized the Holodomor as a genocide, " Kenney said in a statement issued by the UCC. "We take such actions to help ensure that similar atrocities never happen again."

Ceremonies across the Ukraine Saturday were marred by opposition from Russia, which objects to Ukraine's campaign to have the famine recognized worldwide as a genocide.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Saturday that many of his countrymen believe the famine was designed to attack Ukrainian nationalism itself.

"This was not death through hunger -- this was murder of people through hunger," Yushchenko said in a speech. "Hunger was selected as a tool to subdue the Ukrainian people."

Source: CTV

Towards the history of national communism in Ukraine - James Mace

How much we miss you James, today we share the sorrow of the Ukrainian nation, reflecting on the Ukrainian Holodomor. Something that was a passion for you, to expose the criminal elements of this great tragedy and your concept of that: “James Mace’s concept of a post-genocidal society sets the agenda for the future”

Vichnaya Paymat to you dear James, Vichnaya Pamyat to all victimis of Ukraine's Famine - Holodomor 1932-1933.

James Mace, an outstanding son of America, a person who devoted all his lifetime to the hard work of restoring the historical truth and the national dignity of Ukraini­ans, a prominent historian, political writer and public figure, Professor James Mace went down forever in the history of Ukrain­ian intellectual thought as a researcher of the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine, of its preconditions, course and consequences for our nation. It is this part of Mace’s scholarly legacy that The Day readers will know best of all. But the circle of Mace’s academic interests also included another, no less important and topical (and still little researched to boot) theme: the tragedy of Ukrainian national communism. This is the subject of the study ”A Great Experiment. Towards the History of National Communism in Ukraine,” the first part of which we are offering to The Day readers. This article is part of the book James Mace: ”Your Dead Chose Me” which was published in the Day Library series in early September. This is the first time it is being published in the newspaper. Could Ukrainian society have been successfully developing under the leadership of national communists? How would it have affected the further course of national history? If Ukrainian national communism was, in Mace’s view, a great experiment of history, what was the essence of this experiment? Why did it suffer a fiasco? Finally, to what extent right is the deep-rooted stereotype of the past two decades that a true Ukrainian patriot is always a person of right-wing (conservative, right liberal) views and that the farther right s/he is the brighter his/her patriotism is? A serious-minded reader (for whom James Mace’s study is intended) will find in it well-grounded answers to these questions and, undoubtedly, very rich factual material to reflect on.

Click here for complete article.

Source: The Day (Den)

Minister Kenney to travel to Kyiv, Ukraine

Minister Jason Kenney will travel to Kyiv, Ukraine,
from November 20 to November 23, to participate in
an international forum and attend ceremonies to
commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor,
the 1932-33 famine-genocide in Ukraine. The Minister
will also meet with officials of the Ukrainian
government and visit Bykivnia Memorial and Babyn Yar
Holocaust sites.
Canada become the first nation to recognize Holodomor as Genocide

Yushchenko believes Medvedev humiliated millions of Ukrainian murder victims

President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko calls the refusal of Russian President to attend events on commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian great famine a humiliation for millions of Ukrainian murder victims.

According to the President`s press-office, he said this in an interview with El Pais newspaper (Spain).

Victor Yushchenko claimed he “does not have any big desire to comment” on the statement of his Russian counterpart, who shows “an inadequate attitude to the tragedy of the Ukrainian nation”, which could have been explained “with a historical misunderstanding”.

At the same time, the President of Ukraine stressed: “The President of Russia humiliates millions of people, who are dead as of today, those innocent murder victims, who did not hurt anybody”.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on November 14, D.Medvedev claimed that the Ukraine’s famine of 30ies is used to achieve an immediate political aim, and refused to attend the events on commemoration of the Holodomor 75th anniversary.

Source: UNIAN

Yuschenko slams Medvedev for improper attitude to Ukrainian famine

Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko believes that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has shown "an improper attitude towards the tragedy of the Ukrainian people" of 1932-1933, and sees this position as disrespectful to the millions of people who died.

He said this in an interview with Spain's El Pais newspaper and other European newspapers, the presidential Web site reported.

In the interview, Yuschenko said that he is reluctant to comment on the statements by his Russian counterpart, who is showing "an improper attitude towards the tragedy of the Ukrainian people," which could be explained as "a historical misunderstanding." The president of Russia humiliates millions of people killed without conscience, Yuschenko said.

As reported, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent an address to Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko in which he said that the tragic events of the 1930s are being used in Ukraine to achieve political goals.

Source: Kyiv Post

Shame on You, Mr. Medvedev!

It’s bad enough that Russians themselves won’t do anything to reconcile themselves to their abhorrent history of mass murder. Unlike Germans, Russians not only refuse to take responsibility for the barbaric actions of their ancestors, they’re actually in the process of rehabiliating those homicidal lunatics, like Josef Stalin, and lionizing them as great historic figures. But if Russians want to obliterate their own country, that’s their affair.
However, when Russians, like so-called president Dima Medvedev, attempt to prevent other nations from confronting their totalitarian past, a line must be drawn. Last week, in an action so outrageous that it bespeaks mental illness, Medvedev dared to intrude into domestic Ukrainian politics and lecture Ukrainians as to how they should commemorate the famine that wiped out millions of their ancestors in Soviet times.
Do you dare to imagine, dear reader, how Russians would react to a similar effort by the American president to lecture Russians on how to remember their own history? How is it possible for Russians to reach this stunning level of apelike hypocrisy? How can Russians even believe, with their long years of totalitarian dictatorship, that they even know their own history, much less anybody else’s? Dima Medvedev was schooled under Communism and appointed to office by a proud KGB spy following an election that was an utter sham. For this imbecile to imagine he has insights into the history of oppression is the height of Russian insanity.
We call upon the people of Russia to act like responsible human adults and be consistent. If you demand foreigners butt out of Russian affairs, then keep your noses out of theirs. If you feel you have the right to instruct Ukrainians about their own history, then don’t complain if the next U.S. adminstration begins to instruct you about yours.

Source: La Russophobe

First volume of national book of famine remembrance published in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has participated in the presentation of a national book of remembrance on the history of the Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine.


The head of state said that the study of the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s is not directed against any nation or any state.

He said that it is necessary, first and foremost, to know and remember the history of Ukraine for the latter to be an independent and prospering state.

"If we want to answer a question what we will be like, we should know our history," Yuschenko.

Source: Kyiv Post

Prime Minister to meet with Ukrainian genocide survivors during Parliament Hill ceremony

Is Dimitri Medvedev coming too?


OTTAWA, Nov. 28 /CNW/ -

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will launch
commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor - the Ukrainian
genocide in Ukraine of 1932-33 during a ceremony on Wednesday, November 28 at
7:30 p.m., Reading Room (Room 237-C, Centre Block). The Prime Minister will
join the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Group
and Ukraine's Embassy in Canada in honouring the victims of the famine, which
claimed up to 10 million lives in the very heart of Europe's breadbasket.

Survivors of the Holodomor from the Ottawa region will participate in the
ceremony which will include an ecumenical service and presentations by federal
party leaders.

Ukrainians in Canada join the international community in commemorating
this tragedy to spread the truth about the Holodomor, and ensure
acknowledgement of the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian
nation. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress calls upon the Government of Canada to
be a leader in these efforts and to support Ukraine as it petitions the
United Nations to acknowledge the Holodomor as genocide.


For further information: Ostap Skrypnyk, Executive Director, (866)
942-4627, ucc@ucc.ca, www.ucc.ca

Kiev Famine Tribute Irks Medvedev

Let's keep irking Medvedev and his cronies. High time to change the advantage to our side and drive them all CRAZY in Moscovite land!!!! Let's hope they all start chocking and turn blue in the face. :-))

Here is a snippet of the so-called President's irk:

President Dmitry Medvedev accused Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday of distorting history for political gain by commemorating a famine engineered by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

"We clearly see that this theme, along with persistent attempts to secure an invitation to NATO's 'prep classes,' has in recent years all but become the main element of Ukrainian foreign policy," Medvedev told Yushchenko in a letter."Such steps can hardly be explained by a bid to restore historical justice or to honor the victims' memory. They are more likely aimed at dividing our peoples as much as possible," he said.

Source: Moscow Times

Kyiv uses Stalin-era famine to divide Russia, Ukraine - Medvedev

This type of propaganda being spewed by Russia's so called president, might have had a bigger effect in the 1960's - 1970's. But we are living in a new era Dimitri, with new technologies and a new generation that does not fear you and your war mongers any longer. The truth is out there to behold, but you keep holding the line like a good communist and denying the fact that the communist regime under Joseph Stalin masterminded one of the most heinous crimes in history of mankind, by deliberately planning to starve to death over 10,000,000 people.

The wedge you are talking about was set in motion by your state, which can not come to terms that there no longer exists a Soviet Union. That Ukraine is a free independent country, and is courageous enough to look back into it's history and call a spade a spade. So, while Ukraine and Ukrainians around the world commemorate this tragic event HOLODOMOR, by coming to terms with this sad part of our history, you keep hiding behind your iron curtain and keep lying to your own people about this famine- genocide that was perpetrated by the Soviets, something you did so well before, and continue on with this tradition.

Russia's president has accused Kiev of using the Stalin-era famine to drive a wedge between Ukraine and Russia and urged efforts to forge a common position on the tragedy.

In a letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko released by the Kremlin on Friday, Dmitry Medvedev said Kiev's position meant he could not attend events to commemorate the famine, known as the Holodomor, in Ukraine due later this month.

Click here for complete story.

Source: news.balita.ph

The World Reacts

Amid the cheers, a first challenge from Russia.
It's not surprising that the regime of Mr. Medvedev and his master, Vladimir Putin, would be the first to try intimidating the president-elect, though the speed with which it did so might have surprised even Mr. Biden. The principal aims of Mr. Putin's foreign policy are restoring Soviet-style domination of Russia's neighbors, such as Georgia and Ukraine, and proving that Moscow can still act as a counterweight to the United States. So Mr. Medvedev yesterday blamed the United States for Russia's invasion of Georgia and said that international "mechanisms must be created to block mistaken, egotistical and sometimes simply dangerous decisions" by Washington.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Washington Post

Requiem for a genocide

Yesterday, in a downtown Montreal church, a choir sang tribute to the victims of the genocide, known to Ukrainians as "Holodomor," or "death inflicted by starvation."

"I'm emotionally distraught with all this, knowing my family's history," said Valentina Kuryliw, a member of the Counterpoint Chorale, a Toronto group that performed at Montreal's St. James United Church.

Her parents survived the genocide, she said.
Kuryliw, a former Montrealer and retired history teacher, read a poem by a Holodomor survivor as part of the tribute that attracted more than 250 people, most of them greying members of Montreal's Ukrainian community.

Click here for complete story.

Source: The Montreal Gazette

Yushchenko praises Ukrainian nationalism

Ukraine’s president has taken part in celebrations to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the short-lived Western Ukrainian People’s Republic. Viktor Yushchenko attended the ceremonies in the city of Lvov.
He laid flowers on the monument dedicated to Western Ukrainian revolutionaries and participated in the parades which took place around the city.

Yushchenko also acclaimed and encouraged the activity of the newly-established museum of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic, deeming it representative of modern Ukrainian values and the spirit of statehood.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Russia Today

Alberta Approves Memorial Day For Ukrainian Genocide

EDMONTON, Canada -- Premier Ed Stelmach's voice cracked as he spoke about an Act introduced and passed unanimously Thursday that makes every fourth Saturday in November an official memorial day in Alberta for the Ukrainian famine and genocide, or Holodomor.

"I do this with a great range of personal emotion," said Stelmach, whose grandparents immigrated to Alberta from Ukraine a century ago.

In a speech heavily peppered with Ukrainian phrases and words, Stelmach called the famine forced upon Ukrainians in the early 20th century "one of the most heinous atrocities of modern history." He outlined how millions of people from his ancestral home were starved to death by Soviet policies that stripped grains from Europe's traditional "bread basket."

"My grandfather and grandmother were amongst those early pioneers who came to Alberta in the late 1890s," Stelmach said. "Marie and I still maintain the original farm that they settled on, till the same soil that they did and . . . "

The premier took a long pause before continuing, "And we also give thanks for the abundant crops that soil yielded."

Sadly, he said, the dark black soil of the Ukraine his own ancestors treasured could not offer the same happy yields through the early 1930s.

The Act was introduced by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gene Zwozdesky - who is also of Ukrainian descent.

Source: Calgary Herald

IMF, Ukraine Reach Agreement on $16.5 Billion Loan

The International Monetary Fund reached agreement with Ukraine on a $16.5 billion loan to help support the nation's financial system as turmoil in global credit markets and recession concerns roil the eastern European country.

The 24-month stand-buy loan will be conditional on parliamentary approval of legislation to support the country's bank, the Washington-based lender said in an e-mailed statement today without elaborating. Ukraine will also need to balance the budget and address the current-account deficit, the Kiev-based Ukrainian central bank said in a separate statement.

The loan may ensure financial stability and rebuild confidence among investors, who've shunned riskier emerging- market assets in a flight to safety. Ukraine is the least creditworthy of Europe's transition economies measured by the cost of credit-default swaps, which protect bondholders against default.

``This program is focused on the essential upfront measures needed to maintain confidence and economic and financial stability,'' IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in the statement. ``The strength of the program justifies the high level of access, equivalent to 800 percent of Ukraine's quota in the Fund.''

Fitch Ratings on Oct. 17 cut Ukraine's credit rating to B+, four steps below investment grade, citing the currency's weakness, instability in the banking system and risks to economic growth.

International credit rating companies say the threat to Ukrainian banks has intensified because of the seizing-up of global credit markets, the high inflation rate, a widening current-account deficit and political instability.

The central bank pledged to support the banks and has injected more than 16.25 billion hryvnia ($3.13 billion) into the banking system this month, almost three times the figure it loaned in September. It also took control of Prominvestbank in recent weeks and promised an injection of 5 billion hryvnia to help the lender ``renew its financial stability'' after a run by depositors.

Source: Bloomberg

Parliament recognises Ukrainian famine of 1930s as crime against humanity

According to the resolution, the Holodomor famine of 1932-1933, which caused the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, "was cynically and cruelly planned by Stalin's regime in order to force through the Soviet Union's policy of collectivisation of agriculture against the will of the rural population in Ukraine".

MEPs believe that "recalling crimes against humanity in European history should help to prevent similar crimes in the future" and they stress that "European integration has been based on a readiness to come to terms with the 20th century's tragic history and that this reconciliation with a difficult history does not denote any sense of collective guilt, but forms a stable basis for the construction of a common European future founded on common values".

The resolution therefore makes a "declaration to the people of Ukraine and in particular to the remaining survivors of the Holodomor and the families and relatives of the victims".

It "recognises the Holodomor (the artificial famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine) as an appalling crime against the Ukrainian people, and against humanity".

The text then "strongly condemns these acts, directed against the Ukrainian peasantry, and marked by mass annihilation and violations of human rights and freedoms".

It also "expresses its sympathy with the Ukrainian people, which suffered this tragedy, and pays its respects to those who died as a consequence of the artificial famine of 1932-1933".

Lastly, the resolution "calls on the countries which emerged following the break-up of the Soviet Union to open up their archives on the Holodomor in Ukraine of 1932-1933 to comprehensive scrutiny so that all the causes and consequences can be revealed and fully investigated".

Source: European Parliament

Kremlin hyping Georgia arms sales

The war of words over Ukraine’s role as one of the world’s top 10 arms exporters and in supplying weapons to Georgia is heating up.


The Ukrainian arms industry is in the firing line.

The war of words over Ukraine’s role as one of the world’s top 10 arms exporters and in supplying weapons to Georgia is heating up – at least with the Kremlin and Moscow-friendly Ukrainian lawmakers.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Kyiv Post

Putin tracks pet dog from space

Russia's satellite navigation system isn't fully operational yet, but it seems to work on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's dog.

Putin listened Friday as his deputy, Sergei Ivanov, briefed him on the progress of the Global Navigation Satellite System.

Then footage broadcast on Russian TV showed them try a collar containing satellite-guided positioning equipment on the prime minister's black Labrador Koni.

Ivanov said that the equipment goes on a standby mode when "the dog doesn't move, if it, say, lies down in a puddle.

Now if they only could fit this type of device on Putin and his cronies, would it not be so wonderful?

Source: CNN

Putin's misstep

While we have many issues that require Russian co-operation, implementing these measures would go a long way toward firing a shot across Mr. Putin's bow and level the playing field.

Click here for complete article.

Source: The Washington Post

Ukrainian president gives time until Oct 7 to form coalition

KYIV, October 4 (Itar-Tass) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko will have consultations on Tuesday on whether to dismiss the parliament. The presidential press service cited him as saying this to reporters in the Khmelnitsky region.

The president said that he already had the right to dismiss the Supreme Rada. He said he realised that he had the full right to do it, but noted that he gave time until October 7 for political forces to legally formalise agreements to form a new coalition.

Yushchenko suggested that the existing inter-party agreements should be completed in a few days. Consultations planned for October 7 are a formal moment after which he will legally have the right to disband the parliament, he noted.

Ukrainians deny giving wartime help to Georgia

Ukrainian officials on Friday denied Russian accusations that Ukraine provided weapons to Georgia during the August war with Russia and that its military personnel operated some of the weapons during the conflict.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made the charge Thursday, calling it "a crime" that this former Soviet republic helped Georgia during the fighting. The Russian military had said previously that anti-aircraft missiles supplied by Ukraine shot down four Russian warplanes.

The governments of both Ukraine and Georgia, which also is a former Soviet state, have angered the Kremlin by moving closer to the West and seeking membership in NATO.

Ukraine is a top supplier of weapons to Georgia. But the head of its state arms export company, Ukrspetsexport, said no arms were sold during the war, the Interfax news agency reported.

"Not a single bullet" was supplied to Georgia during the conflict, the report quoted the official, Sergei Bondarchuk, as saying.

Ukrspetsexport declined to comment on Interfax's report.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov, meanwhile, denied that Ukraine's military personnel fought on the side of Georgia.

Click here to read full story.

Source: Associated Press

Ukraine's president, Viktor Yuschenko, meets with President George W. Bush at the White House on Monday.

Ukraine's president, Viktor Yuschenko, meets with President George W. Bush at the White House on Monday.
Bush's spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said the two leaders will discuss how to reinforce democracy, security and national sovereignty in Ukraine. In addition, she said Thursday they will review Ukraine's efforts to become part of the Euro-Atlantic community.
Yushchenko's pro-Western coalition with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko collapsed earlier this month. The two leaders have been feuding ahead of the 2010 presidential elections. They also have disagreed about how to react to Russia's war with Georgia last month.
The Kremlin has bitterly opposed the prospect of NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine.

Source: The International Herald Tribune

Ukrainian President Yushchenko declares democratic sovereignty

Amid domestic political turmoil and neighboring geopolitical conflict, speaking through a translator, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko addressed the country’s future plans for an independent and democratic Ukraine. Nearly two weeks ago, Ukraine’s ruling coalition collapsed, and last year at this time the parliamentary elections put in place an ‘orange’ coalition featuring an alliance between the Yushchenko’s party and the party of Prime Minister Julia Temeshinko. The recent Russian-Georgian conflict has caused international tension between Ukraine and Russia over the fact that Ukraine hosts Russia’s Black Sea fleet and the transportation of energy supplies between Russia and Europe.
In the context of the Russian-Georgian conflict and pro-Russian forces active in the Krimean area, Yushchenko said that he is ready to fight and protect his sovereign nation and determine it’s own defense and security policy. He strongly confirmed that his territory would never be used for any country to deploy nuclear weapons. Addressing the fears of communist presence in the government, Yushchenko did not understand how Prime Minister Temeshinko made their top partnership with communists because, he said, “there are no Ukrainian communists. These communists always represented interests of a different country.”
Yushchenko confirmed his support of NATO, saying it is “the best model to guarantee security in the (Ukraine’s) international coordinates”. The President continued to declare his plan for a democratic Ukraine and integration into the European Union under the Association Agreement. The Association Agreements would include a free trade area and a start to negotiations of visa free access between the EU and Ukraine.

Source: The Talk Radio Service.

Round One

AP

As planned by the commission on debates, most of the night was devoted to foreign policy and there we give the clear edge to Mr. McCain. This is the ground where the 72-year-old is most comfortable, and you could see it in his self-confidence, as well as his command of history and facts. He showed it too in the specificity of his answers, notably on Russia: Watch Ukraine, he said, and "the Crimea," because Vladimir Putin's Georgian expedition is a prelude to Russian adventurism there.

Mr. Obama was well briefed, but almost in the way a Ph.D. candidate gives his dissertation defense. He knew the subject but without the conviction or detail that comes from wide experience. One surprise: Mr. Obama declared that both Georgia and Ukraine should get an immediate action plan to enter NATO. This is welcome as a policy matter, though we have our doubts how much this conviction would hold up in an Obama Administration as Mr. Putin growled and made trouble for the U.S. in Iran and Eastern Europe.


Click here for complete story.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Why McCain Loves Misha

Mikheil Saakashvili, his eyes bloodshot from sleeplessness and his face caked with television makeup, summoned his closest advisers into his office above Tbilisi's Old City. It was 2 a.m. on Aug. 12, and columns of Russian tanks were rolling down the highway toward the Georgian capital. "I am never going to flee," the president told his team. "I will not live my life regretting that I abandoned my own country at war." Then he sent them home to change out of their suits and ties so they could fight the invaders. Swigging a can of Red Bull, Saakashvili grabbed a phone and called the trusted friend and mentor he had turned to every night since Aug. 8, when the war began: John McCain. A source close to the Republican standard-bearer, asking not to be named discussing a private conversation, says McCain voiced support for diplomatic and political pressure against Moscow. "Hang in there," the senator said, according to a Saakashvili aide on condition of anonymity. "We are not going to let this happen … We are doing everything we can to stop this aggression."

Alex Majoli / Magnum for Newsweek

Straight out of the gate, Saakashvili fired 80,000 state employees, including 90 percent of the old KGB-trained security force and every last member of the country's notoriously corrupt traffic police. Since then three Parliament members, 16 prosecutors, 45 judges, 400 police and even a serving cabinet minister have been indicted and jailed for graft. And bypassing Georgia's old ruling class, Misha filled his cabinet with young, Western-educated former NGO staffers. "Only young people had the enthusiasm to change the country," says Georgia's state-security secretary, Alexander Lomaia, 50, the cabinet's oldest member. (The defense minister is 29.)

Click here for full story.

Source: Newsweek

McCain and Obama spar in first debate

You can sum it up with the exchange on the issue of Russia - whose petro-dollar fuelled resurgence as a regional power is going to test the next president throughout his term of office.

Mr McCain was able to describe meeting Vladimir Putin, "looking into his eyes and seeing three letters, K, G and B" - a reference to the old Soviet intelligence agency for which Mr Putin once worked.

Does it sound corny to foreign ears, with a slight B-movie flavour to it? It probably does. I would say in America it plays much better as a tough-guy sound-bite, suggestive of a president who knows how to stand up to Moscow.

Mr Obama's answer on Russia rambled quite a bit and veered off into a dissertation on the need to develop alternative energy sources - not his first of the night.

You could see the logic - Russia is an oil exporter and one of America's biggest problems is dependence on imported oil.

Click here for complete story.

Source: BBC

Russian Neighbors Urge U.N. to Stand Against Kremlin Aggression

Victor A. Yushchenko, the president of Ukraine, told the General Assembly that his country condemned Russia’s action and he hinted that Ukraine would not succumb to Russian intimidation over its ambition to join NATO.

“It is essential to turn down blackmailing and threatening vocabulary,” Mr. Yushchenko said.

Click here for complete article.

Source: NewYork Times

Disputes Strain Ukrainian-Russian Ties

The deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Russia accelerated after Kyiv sided with Georgia during last month's conflict in South Ossetia. Worsening ties coincide with next year's expiration of the bilateral Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership, which both sides ratified in April 1999. The strategic 10-year agreement will be automatically extended, unless Ukraine or Russia declares its intention not to do so within six months of the expiration. The deadline for signaling such intent is October 1. While observers say it is likely to be renewed, the treaty is being reviewed by politicians, experts, and military officials on both sides. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky has this report from a review conference in Moscow.

Click here for full article.

Source: Voice of America

Ukraine rejects Russian pressure to prevent NATO entry

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday rejected Russian pressure to prevent his country from joining NATO.

"It is essential to turn down blackmailing and threatening vocabulary," he told the UN General Assembly here.

"Ukraine rejects pressure of any kind regarding ways to ensure its own security and to determine membership in collective security structures," he added. "Such attempts of infringement are short-sighted and counter-productive."

Without ever naming Russia, Yushchenko also condemned "all acts of aggression and the use of force that occurred in the region."

He was apparently referring to both Georgia's recent offensive against separatists in its breakaway enclave of South Ossetia and the ensuing Russian military intervention there to dislodge Georgian troops.

"Ukraine vigorously denounces the violation of the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Georgian borders and armed annexation of its territory," the Ukrainian leader said.

"Ukraine does not recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia (and) condemns the endeavor of the illegitimate and separatist affirmation of the statehood of any territories," he added.

Click here for complete article.

Source: AFP

Ukrainian Leader Cautiously Condemns Russian Aggression

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has denounced Russia's recent military incursion into Georgia, and Moscow's ongoing armed occupation of Georgian territory.

Mr. Yushchenko told the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday that Ukraine does not recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - the pro-Russian breakaway territories in Georgia that Moscow has recognized as independent states.

The Ukrainian leader said his country sympathizes with all those hurt by last month's conflict in Georgia - Ossetians, Russians and Georgians alike. He called on the General Assembly to work towards peaceful settlement of the conflict, and he said Ukraine will support all such efforts.

He also voiced concern about the rise of what he called Cold War rhetoric. But he said tensions in the Caucasus can not be solved either by isolating Russia or by the continued use of military force.

Mr. Yushchenko also noted that his country is marking the 75th anniversary of the Great Famine, known as Holodomor. He called on all former Soviet-bloc countries to commemorate their national tragedies and never to forget the crimes committed under the totalitarian regimes of Stalin and other leaders.

Ukrainian president to meet Bush next week

KYIV, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko plans to meet with his U.S. counterpart, George Bush, next Monday, national media reported Wednesday.

Ukraine's pro-Western leader told the press about the upcoming meeting while attending the UN General Assembly session in New York, the UNIAN news agency said.

The agency quoted Yushchenko as saying that the two presidents would focus on bilateral relations. He said Kiev and Washington could extend a bilateral agreement on security.

The United States is a staunch supporter of Ukraine's bid for EU and NATO membership, while Moscow strongly opposes the former Soviet republic joining the military bloc as a threat to Russia's national security.

Russia, which is Ukraine's major energy supplier, leases its main Black Sea naval base from the country. At least 50 warships and smaller vessels, along with 80 aircraft, are stationed in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

The base has been a source of friction between Russia and Ukraine, and Yushchenko has demanded that the Black Sea Fleet must leave the base when the lease expires in 2017.

Plus ca change, plus ce le meme chose?

We all need to look truth in the eye and knowledge of our shared history, without distortions and embellishment, is simply vital. Repeating Soviet lies and pushing an image of Ukrainians as Nazi-supporters, anti-Semites and the like, are hardly ways of seeking the truth. It is to be hoped that Michael Prazan did not recognize the familiar odour of the information he churned out. As far as his source of information is concerned, coming only a month after an attempt by Russian-language media outlets and one Polish journalist to fabricate a "pogrom" in Lviv and just a few months after a number of western media outlets were obliged to issue apologies for lies about a "Hitler doll" supposedly produced and popular in Ukraine, it is increasingly difficult to believe that this suddenly spurt of interest and total distortion of another country`s history and present situation was entirely spontaneous.

Click here for complete story.

Source: UNIAN

Q&A: Yushchenko balances Russian, EU relations

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko arrives in the U.S. Monday to participate in the 63rd session of the U.N. General Assembly. This is a partial transcript of an interview with reporter Natalia A. Feduschak conducted prior to his departure:

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is to arrive in the U.S. on Monday for the U.N. General Assembly.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Washington Times

Rice Says Georgian War Leaves Russia Isolated

Dialogue between Washington and Moscow since the war in Georgia broke out six weeks ago has been harsh, and Rice's speech on September 18 elevated the level of rhetoric. The secretary at no point raised her voice, but her words were stern, and at one point even sarcastic.

Rice called Russia's move into Georgia "premeditated," and noted that after hostilities ended in Georgia, the world rushed to help rebuild the country's infrastructure that had been damaged by the presence of Russian troops.

Meanwhile, she said, Russia had to be satisfied with encouragement from only the most trivial of backers -- from Nicaragua and the Palestinian group Hamas, which she described as "not a diplomatic triumph."

And Rice said Russia failed to reap any lasting benefits from the war in Georgia. It proved the obvious, she said, namely that it could easily defeat a small neighbor. But she noted that Georgia's democracy remains intact, its economy will soon thrive again, and with the help of its allies, its independence will be guaranteed.

Russia, meanwhile, will have gained nothing. "Russia's invasion of Georgia has achieved -- and will achieve -- no enduring strategic objective," she said. "And our strategic goal now is to make clear to Russia's leaders that their choices could put Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance."

Click here for complete story.

Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Bitter Medicine for Little Volodya Putin, aka Lilyput Putin

Russia was supposed to be the harbinger of the “new economy” that would dissolve U.S. hegemony by relying on Russia’s vast stores of fossile fuels and their hyper-inflated value. But as Boris Nemstov has shown, in fact Russia is rapidly running out of natural gas because it has to sell so much abroad in order to subsidize the remainder of its economy, which is a total and abject failure. How could it be otherwise, when it is run by a proud KGB spy with no more knowledge of how to build a real market than of how to run a real election.

So now little Volodya Putin is frowning and screaming and bitterly resenting having to swallow so much distasteful reality. How the mighty have fallen! It seems like only yesterday that Putin was strutting and preening and being called “person of the year.” How utterly vacuous and stupid those fawning statements now seem, in the light of Russia’s barbaric military action in Georgia — which totally failed to unseat Georgia’s hated president — and in light of the stock market’s humiliating implosion and the neo-Soviet manner in which Putin has helplessly, impotently responded to it.

Click here for full article.

Source: La Russaphobe

President thinks BYuT, PR and communists coalition has minimal chances

Making comments to journalists on possibility of parliamentary coalition between Byut, Party of Regions and communists, in Luhansk, President Yushchenko said that there are minimal chances such an alliance can exist.

He also added that such a coalition may be created but some forces would be forced to resign from a number of priorities they had declared before. In case with Byut these would be promises to aim for Ukraine gaining NATO MAP.

Beside that, according to President Yushchenko the electorate of ByuT and PR would not accept the alliance between these two political parties.

Speaking about contacts between these political forces President Yushchenko stressed that he welcomes any political dialogue because the parliamentarians have their right for it. “If final agreement is reached on these alliance, as the President I will accept them. I will not try to reverse that agreement by any attempts to create a coalition in the Parliament ... Howewer if political partners don't say their word, than the President will say his”, - he added

Source: Official Website of President of Ukraine

Ukraine's Ruling Coalition Collapses

Ukraine's pro-Western coalition government formally collapsed, deepening a political crisis that has clouded the country's prospects of joining the NATO military alliance.

President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko worked together in an "Orange" coalition for nine fractious months, but their alliance gradually unraveled, not for the first time, faltering on serious policy and personality differences.

Their failure to patch up differences after a 10-day cooling-off period came as Mr. Yushchenko -- whose supporters have charged Ms. Tymoshenko with collaborating with Moscow -- accused Russia of trying to destabilize Ukraine.

Associated Press

Policy and personality differences led Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko, right, with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, and Viktor Yushchenko to end their coalition.

"For some of our partners, instability in Ukraine is like bread and butter," he said in an Associated Press interview, suggesting Moscow was stirring up separatists on the volatile Crimean Peninsula, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based.

He said Ukraine wouldn't allow itself to be drawn into a war in the way he said Georgia had last month when Russian troops responded to a Georgian attack on South Ossetia by occupying large swaths of its territory.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Russia eyes Mediterranean as alternative to Sevastopol naval base

Russia has accused Kiev of 'unfriendly' policies toward the Black Sea Fleet base.

Yushchenko has called for the Russian navy's early pullout, tougher deployment requirements and higher fees, demands that have not been backed by his former coalition ally, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Russia-Ukraine tensions heightened after several Black Sea Fleet warships dropped anchor off the Georgian coast during and after the armed conflict with Tbilisi over breakaway South Ossetia last month.

Russia's naval base in the Crimea currently has 50 warships and patrol boats, along with around 80 aircraft, and employs coastal defense troops.

Would we really miss Russian fleet?

Click here for complete story.

Source: Ria Novosti

Ukraine Prez: Russia Wants To Destabilize Ukraine

Many fear Moscow could lay claim to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that once belonged to Russia and is now home to Russia's Black Sea fleet. More than half its residents are ethnic Russians.

Yushchenko said Russia was interested in causing "internal instability" in parts of Ukraine.

"Without a doubt, such scenarios exist," he said.

Click here for complete story.

Source: Yahoo News

Shots in the back half a century later Do the communist leaders have the right to accuse the OUN and the UPA of treason?

The communists have always accused their political adversaries of “shooting them in the back.” This accusation has been applied at various times to the so-called treacherous peoples of the USSR, Poland’s Armia Krajowa, the Baltic “forest brothers,” and generally to all those whom Stalin could not control.

But the communists maintained a discreet silence about the fact that the USSR concluded the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and was supplying Germany with material resources in the heat of Hitler’s offensive in Europe, and that the West’s Lend-Lease program, although it did not play a decisive role in the victory, came to the USSR during the most critical days of the war, when it was desperately needed.

As for “shooting in the back” of the Soviet Army, this was the handiwork not of the mythical “UPA bandits” but the communists themselves. Recall the notorious Order no. 227 of July 28, 1942, authorizing the formation of penal battalions and barrier troops in which 427,910 men saw service. Most of them were killed in action or became disabled (see, the statistical reference book Russia and the USSR in 20th-Century Wars edited by Col.-Gen. G. Krivosheev, Moscow, OLMA-Press, 2001).

Click here for full story.

Source The Day

After The Georgian Crisis, The Breaking Of Europe

Has the EU allowed Russia to get away with breaching international law?

The EU is nearly paralyzed by a fragmentation of the will, a condition which was in ample evidence at the EU-Ukraine summit in Paris on September 9. On that occasion, in a feat of extreme verbal contortionism, the EU promised Ukraine everything but a guaranteed prospect of membership. Most EU member states fear Ukraine may already face a real threat from Russia, yet the bloc's strategic interests were nowhere in sight at the ambassadorial meetings in Brussels preceding the summit, where the Netherlands and other member states skeptical of enlargement argued that giving Ukraine a binding pledge of membership would be too unpopular back home.

Neither has the EU done anything to match the U.S. diplomatic "surge" in which top State Department officials have visited Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan, not to mention Georgia. Again, the bloc's 27 member states have conspicuously failed to marshal the requisite collective resolve.

Seems like they (EU) are castrated. Especially the French and Germans. Click here to read full article.

Source: RFERL

Diplomat: Russia stalling over Georgia observers

Talks with Russia on sending additional international monitors to keep tabs on South Ossetia and Abkhazia collapsed Friday, a senior Western diplomat said, warning that Moscow's hard-line stance had thrown into question its pledge to withdraw troops.

Russian soldiers stand at a checkpoint in Karaleti district, northwest of Gori.

The official, who has been intimately involved in three weeks of negotiations, accused Russia of stalling for time in an effort to keep observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe out of the two breakaway regions.
"It has become clear that Russia doesn't want any agreement. I think they're afraid of what the observers will see," the diplomat told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the talks.

Click here for full story.

Source: CNN

Russian aggression could pull U.S. into war: Palin

Here is a strong statement issued by the Republican V.P. Sarah Palin. The US always stood strong and supported Ukraine, not by their fear of Russia as is being evidenced by the woosey French and Germans and other annonomys coutries from the European Union.

Ms. Palin said she "definitely" supports a U. S. strategic alliance with Ukraine and Georgia because "the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO."

The United States needs to strengthen NATO because it "is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today," she said.

Click here for complete story.

Source: The National Post

Ukraine: Cheney IOU against Russia

Sept. 4, 2008 Cheney and Yushchenko shake on U.S. guarantees against Russia

Another pre-emptive threat by Washington
Last week as McCain made his speech to the Republican faithful, Vice President Dick Cheney visited Ukraine and unconditionally pledged America's support against any attempt by Moscow to corrupt, much less invade, that giant.
This is hardly popular stuff in a war-embattled America where billions are spent each month in an unnecessary occupation of Iraq.
But another entanglement may loom. The United States (under Clinton) signed an iron-clad agreement in 1994 with Ukraine, Britain (under John Major) and Russia (Boris Yeltsin). The Ukrainians back then got these three to guarantee its sovereignty as the quid pro quo for Ukraine's agreement to dismantle and hand over its entire arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles to Russia.

Click here for full story.

Source: The National Post

Ukraine comes to the forefront

THE first priority for Europe after Russia’s short August war with Georgia was to secure a ceasefire and a genuine pullback of Russian forces (see article). The second was to start fretting about Russia’s other neighbours. And the most significant of these by far is Ukraine. Ukraine could not have ignored the war even if it had wanted to. Sebastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, is home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet, some of whose warships dropped anchor off the Georgian coast during and after the fighting. Evidence of Ukraine’s proximity to the conflict is also on show at Moscow’s military museum, where visitors can gawp at war booty: Georgian T-72 battle tanks that were modernised in Ukraine. This, say the Russians, shows Kiev’s support for what it sees as a “criminal regime”. Indeed, Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s president (pictured above) flew to Tbilisi to support his counterpart and friend, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Click here for complete story.

Source: The Economist