Press Freedom Under Threat In Ukraine

Last month, the International Press Institute wrote Yanukovych to "express its concern at the significant deterioration” in press freedom. Reporters Without Borders warns of disturbing recent trends in censorship, political pressure, and physical attacks on journalists, and criticizes "the government's desire to control journalists" in its latest fact-finding report.

Press freedoms are under attack in many ways. In May, journalists from Channel 1+1 television released an open letter complaining of censorship. In July, after a Ukrainian blogger criticized Yanukovych, the State Security Service interrogated him for allegedly threatening the president’s life and insulting him.

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Source: RFE/RL

Mountain hideouts sheltered Ukrainian freedom fighters

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast was the site of heated battles in 1944-5, as Ukrainian freedom fighters descended from the mountainous terrain to launch attacks on Soviet-occupied towns. Fighting continued well into the 1950s, pitching fighters from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, against the Soviet NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB.

Located in the Black Forest, 63 kilometers southwest of Ivano-Frankivsk on the edge of the village of Maksymets is a typical example of a bunker where partisans hid out.

Colonel Mykola Tverdokhlib, a regional UPA commander whose nom de guerre was Hrim, or Thunder, spent the winter of 1953-4 here with five other fighters before they were discovered by the NKVD.

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Source: Kyiv Post

Education Minister Tabachnyk out to censor Ukrainian history

There is no Ukrainian history program on education ministry’s site. Instead, we can see only a blank space where the program should be. And there are no ministry’s regulations obliging authors to rewrite history textbooks, says historian Volodymyr Vyatrovych in his article “Back to USSR, or the art of editing out history textbooks.”

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Source: ZIK

Protesters arrested outside Russian embassy in Kyiv

Here is what one would call freedom of speach and expression, isn't it a sad case? Yanuk and his cronies are trying to copy their BIG BROTHER PUTIN in freedom loving traditions just like it is in RUSSIA!!! RG

Police in Kyiv on Aug. 31 arrested several demonstrators protesting freedom of assembly restrictions outside the Russian embassy.

The demostrators, organized by Coalition of Participants of the Orange Revolution (COPOR), a non-governmental organization, surrounded the Russian embasy to show support for Russian civil activists, who traditionally gather on Victory Square in Moscow on the 31st day of every month to defend their right to freedom of assembly.


Source: Kyiv Post

Germany's Merkel voices concerns over media freedom in Ukraine at president Yanukovych's visit

Germany's chancellor urged Ukraine's president Monday to strengthen media freedoms in his country, while stressing the potential for further co-operation between the two nations on energy issues.

Germany sees unanswered questions regarding some democratic processes in Ukraine, "in particular in the area of press freedom and the freedom of expression," Chancellor Angela Merkel told visiting President Viktor Yanukovych.

Merkel said both sides agreed to openly and frankly discuss those issues in the future, if critical questions arise.

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Source: CP

Ukrainian Journalists, Artists In Censorship Protest

More than 100 Ukrainian journalists and artists have taken to the streets of Kyiv in a protest over perceived censorship on the country's television networks.

Protesters rallied outside a courthouse as judges discussed the attribution of frequencies to two Ukrainian television channels, TVi and Channel 5, which are seen as independent of state control.

"Freedom of speech and justice should exist everywhere on Earth, without exception, and if every person starts with freedom of speech on a personal level with himself and those around him, then everything else will be fine," writer Dmitry Kapranovy said at the rally.

Private channels TVi and Channel 5 are at loggerheads with one of the main national networks, Inter TV Channel, whose owner, Valery Khoroshkovsky, is one of the country's richest businessmen and also head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).

The court today delayed its decision on the case.

Source: RFE/RL

Going Down

Yanukovych’s popularity suffered a double-digit plunge, according to an August opinion poll, as voters balked at tough austerity measures adopted by his ruling coalition in return for badly needed loans from the International Monetary Fund.

The nationwide poll, conducted by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center Aug. 10-14, found that 22.5 percent of Ukrainians completely supported Yanukovych in August, down from 39.7 percent in May and 40.9 percent in April. According to the poll, 38.7 percent of those surveyed support some of his actions, while 33.3 percent don’t support him.

Regarding the upcoming elections, the president can be expected to use so-called administrative resources to help candidates whom he supports while hampering his opponents' chances, Fesenko said. Similar tactics were initially used by Russia’s Vladimir Putin in his building a managed democracy, Fesenko recalled.

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Source: Kyiv Post

Independence Day of Ukraine

Traditionally on August 24, the Independence Day of Ukraine started a day earlier three years ago. A new holiday, Day of National Flag, was introduced by a presidential decree in 2006.

After facing two World Wars and several political upheavals, Ukraine achieved independence from the Soviet Unions on August 24, 1991. The constitution was adopted nearly five years later.

Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe after Russia. It is bordered on the west by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary; on the southwest by Romania and Moldova; on the south by the Black Sea and Sea of Azov; on the east and northeast by Russia; and on the north by Belarus. The capital and largest city of Ukraine is Kyiv.
Picture courtesy Kiyv Post. You can view other pictures by clicking here.

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Source: Manila Bulletin

Ukrainian police search for missing newspaper editor

Ukrainian police are searching for a missing editor whose newspaper was known for its criticism of law enforcement agencies, Interior Minister Anatoly Mogylyov was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Ukrainian media freedom groups have complained about growing censorship and attacks, including physical ones, on the media, since President Viktor Yanukovich replaced liberal pro-Western politician Viktor Yushchenko in February.


Vasyl Klymentyev, the editor-in-chief of the "Noviy Stil" newspaper, which focuses on corruption issues in the eastern Kharkiv region, went missing on Aug. 11 after leaving home with an unidentified man, according to police reports.

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Source Montreal Gazette

Disappearance Raises Fresh Questions About Media Climate In Ukraine

Vasyl Klymentyev was last seen last week, when he met a colleague to discuss an article he was writing about a local prosecutor and a tax official.

The editor of "Novyy Styl," a weekly newspaper in the eastern city of Kharkiv, Klymentyev is a well-known critic of the authorities. Police say they suspect he may have been killed.

Klymentyev's deputy, Petro Matviyenko, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that he and Klymentyev had met on August 11 to discuss photographs they'd taken of mansions belonging to regional tax chief Stanislav Denisyuk and other officials.

The authorities say Klymentyev was last seen later that day getting into a BMW with an unknown man. A manhunt is under way and officials are investigating on charges of "possible premeditated murder."

Klymentyev's case is raising new questions about the state of press freedom in Ukraine after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych came to power earlier this year in an election that repudiated the Orange Revolution and its pro-Western leaders.

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Source: RFE/RL

Ukraine journalists threaten strike over press freedom

Ukraine journalists warned Sunday of strike action over work conditions, complaining of a deterioration in press freedom in the past six months under President Viktor Yanukovych. Click here to read the story here.

SOurce: China Post

Ukrainian Nationalist Groups Protest Russian Patriarch's Visit

Nationalist groups gathered near the "Ukrainian House" in Kyiv to protest Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill's visit to Ukraine, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

The some 80 protesters gathered representing the nationalist Svoboda (Liberty) party, the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self Defense, and the Ukrainian People's Party.

They staged a performance called "Glamorous Tour of a Moscow KGB Agent" that was officially banned by the Kyiv authorities on July 26.

The protesters also displayed Ukrainian flags, their party banners, and placards saying "Reverend Kirill muddies the waters for the Ukrainian nation" and "No to the Moscow priest-colonizer!"

About 30 policemen watched the protest but did not intervene. No violence was reported.

Other protests during Kirill's eight-day trip had been disrupted or otherwise disallowed.

Kirill, who started his visit to Ukraine on July 20, attended a religious service on Kyiv's Volodymyr Hill on July 27 to celebrate the day of Russia's conversion to Christianity.

Source RFE/RL

Communist Ukrainian Institute Head Denies Famine Was Deliberate

KYIV -- The new director of Ukraine's National Memory Institute says that while the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine was "the result of difficult circumstances," it was not artificially provoked, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

Millions of Ukrainians died in the famine, which was at least partly the result of restrictions imposed by Soviet leader Josef Stalin on farmers across the Soviet Union.

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Source: RFE/RL

Patriarch Kiril must be declared persona non grata, Ukrainian party demands

While on a visit to Ukraine, Moscow Patriarch Kiril continues to fan interconfessional feud and violate the laws of Ukraine, first deputy head of the Ukrainian Party Oleh Olijnyk says. This time, however, Kiril has embarked on a different tactics regarding his provocative declarations as they are publicized not by Kiril himself but by his aides, the UP July 23 website release runs.

To illustrate, UP refers to one of the declarations made by Moscow patriarchate spokesperson to the effect that the cancellation of registration of Kyiv patriarchate property will heal the rift in Ukraine Orthodoxy [and the unraveling of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent from Moscow – Ed.].
“The UP persistently advises Moscow patriarchate leaders to curb their appetite and not to infringe on the property and assets not belonging to them. Similarly, Patriarch Kiril must stop driving a wedge among Orthodox believers in Ukraine and provoke conflict,” the UP statement continues.
“Otherwise, we will be forced to appeal to Pres Yanukovych and prosecution to interfere to stop the religious feud from getting into the open. We will also demand that Patriarch Kiril be banned to visit Ukraine,” the statement concludes.

Source: ZIK

Reporters Without Borders gives gloomy assessment of prospects for media freedom in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — The head of the global media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders is giving a gloomy assessment of the prospects for improved media freedom in Ukraine.

Jean-Francois Julliard said after meeting Ukrainian parliament members Tuesday that the "opposition lawmakers will make strong statements, while the pro-governmental party will say there is no problem with freedom of expression in Ukraine."

Julliard is in Kyiv for three days of talks with journalists and officials. He said the trip was prompted by alarming signs on censorship, political pressure and physical attacks against reporters since Viktor Yanukovych became president this year.

Source: The Associated Press (CP)

My national dish: the mighty pierogi

I know what you’re thinking: The pierogi is not Canadian. Tell that to my great grandmother, who brought her family recipe from the Ukraine to Alberta at the invitation of Clifford Sifton, Wilfrid Laurier’s Minister of the Interior. On the Canadian prairie, she modified her recipe – being Ukrainian, she called them perohi – to suit Canadian terroir. She substituted cheddar for cottage cheese, and tweaked the dough to make it far suppler than anything in the old country. (The secret is more yolks and less egg whites, but that’s all I’m saying).

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Source: Globe and Mail

Legendary albums

I decided to lighten up the topic a little and wanted to publish an excellent article on the many great albums and artists that are making their way in popularizing Ukrainian music and its language and culture.
Some go back to pre-independence, while many mentioned are contempoary artists in a very tough cut throat industry. While the 'popsa' scene is still flourishing in Ukraine, run by the mafia element, it is nice to see other "normal" type of music evolving in Ukraine.

If anybody is interested in purchasing any of these albums, I recommend this site very highly.

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Source: The Day

Ukrainians Ponder Performance of New Government

While reading the Kyiv Post yesterday I came accross the following article: CLICK HERE
It mentions that almost two thirds of Ukrainians support Yanukovych’s foreign policy the poll reveals.

62.9% of respondents, polled recently by the Kyiv-based Gorshenin Institute of Management Issues, said the Yanukovych foreign policy reflects their interests in varying degrees, 27.5% oppose it and 9.6% were undecided.

Not really sure if this poll would be trustworthy, I would go more along beleiving this poll more, Angus Reid Global Monitor says that one-in-four Ukrainians believe the country’s situation has improved under the new government, according to a poll by Research & Branding Group. 26 per cent of respondents think the socio-economic situation in Ukraine has become better, while 56 per cent say it has not changed substantially.

It's like the following blog and picture above: "Now you see him, now you don't."

CLICK HERE to see the results.

Source: Angus Reid Global Monitor

Two Ukrainian Opposition TV Channels Stripped Of Frequencies

Now here is real proof of freedom of speach working in Ukraine.

A court has stripped two Ukrainian TV channels -- Channel 5 and TVi -- of their new broadcast frequencies, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

The Kyiv district court today annulled the January results of a tender held by Ukraine's National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting that allocated those frequencies.

According to Ukrainian media experts, Channel 5 and TVi are among the few Ukrainian TV channels that provide independent news coverage.

CLICK HERE for complete story.

Source: RFE/RL

Quebec passes bill recognizing Holodomor as a genocide

QUEBEC, June 2 /CNW/ - Members of the Quebec's National Assembly today unanimously passed Bill 390 - An Act to proclaim Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day.

The Bill, which was introduced in November by MNA Louise Beaudoin and received unanimous approval at first reading, commemorates victims of the Holodomor (the engineered famine in Ukraine which murdered millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33).

The legislation recognizes the Holodomor as "the famine and genocide that occurred in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933 where millions of Ukrainians perished as victims of a famine deliberately induced by the Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin to quash the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for a free and independent Ukraine."

The Bill further builds on the 1998 Ukrainian Presidential decree, the law adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine in 2006, legislation unanimously passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2008 as well as statutes adopted by the provincial legislatures of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario which recognize the Holodomor as a genocide against the Ukrainian people and establishes the fourth Saturday in November as a Day of Remembrance for the victims of this mass atrocity.

"Today, the Government of Quebec paid tribute to the millions of innocent victims of the Holodomor, condemned the heinous crimes of the Soviet Communist regime of Joseph Stalin, and has helped to restore historical justice, stated Marika Putko, UCC Quebec Provincial Council President. "We applaud the resolve and courage of Quebec's legislators in ensuring the passage of Bill 390 which proclaims the fourth Saturday of every November as a day of remembrance - Holodomor Memorial Day and that recognizes the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as an act of genocide."

"We commend the members of the Quebec National Assembly for their work to ensure that the tragedy of the Holodomor is recognized and will no longer be whitewashed by apologists for the Soviet system." stated Paul Grod, Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) National President. "Quebec becomes the sixth jurisdiction in Canada to recognize Holodomor as famine genocide. May the lesson that the World has acknowledged not be forgotten in Ukraine."

More information and link to video of video of the Quebec's National Assembly June 2, 2010 which unanimously passed Bill 390 - An Act to proclaim Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day. CLICK HERE

Source: CNW