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).

Click here for complete article.

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.

Click here to read full article.

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

In memory of Ilko Kucheriv

On May 29, 2010, Ukraine and all those who cared about making the world a better and democratic place lost a good friend, when the life of Ilko Kucheriv, the Director of Kyiv-based Democratic Initiatives Foundations, came to an end. It was an end that so many saw coming, while at the same time they all tried, in every way humanly possible, to extend the life of a man, father and friend who had so many plans, for a man who was 55 years young.

The average Ukrainian probably never heard of Ilko Kucheriv but anyone who had ever met him, talked with him, asked him for his opinion or advice knew that he was passionate about what he did, and he was passionate for one single reason. He wanted to make Ukraine and the world a better place, not just for himself, but also for everyone.

I, together with everyone else who knew Ilko Kucheiv, will miss him immensely. May the earth of your dear country Ukraine cradle you gently and may your soul and spirit always be nearby to guide those who want the world to be a better place.

Source: Ukraine Business On-line

By:Vasyl Pawlowsky

In Lviv, Jewish prayers over Nazi graves

Discussions are also heating up over many other divisive issues. Those include whether elevating the status of nationalist leader Stepan Bandera (1909-1959) helps or hurts the cause of unifying Ukraine’s diverse regions. Debate is also flaring over the extent to which western Ukrainians were responsible for the demise of the region’s Jewish community during World War II, and why Ukrainians from the east do not appear ready to support the version of Ukrainian nationalism their western counterparts frequently offer.

The advent of a new pro-Russian government in Kyiv that looks ready to revise Ukrainian history in a way that is more acceptable to Moscow and often maligns western Ukraine has added urgency to this reassessment. There is a feeling that if western Ukrainians don’t soon come to terms with their own regional history, it will be too late to counter the theses forwarded by a less-friendly Kyiv.


One of the most widely debated topics these days is how western Ukrainians see Bandera, the man who led the more radical wing of the Organization for Ukrainian Nationalists. The movement was founded in 1929 with the goal of uniting territorially divided Ukraine and establishing it as an independent nation.

“Yushchenko, of course, acted very badly in that he accented historical memory (during his presidency) [concerning Bandera]. It is necessary to take a more serious stance toward history. ”

- Yaroslav Hrytsak, a leading historian who heads the humanities department at Lviv’s Ukrainian Catholic University.

While many western Ukrainians admire Bandera for leading a movement that was able to withstand Soviet repression for more than two decades, not everyone agrees with the decision former President Viktor Yushchenko made earlier this year to bestow Bandera with the nation’s highest honor, the Hero of Ukraine award. They are concerned that the recognition was bestowed on the eve of the Jan. 17 presidential election – a vote that Yushchenko lost by a landslide, as predicted. The award has since divided Ukraine and allowed the region’s history and its historical figures to become objects of political manipulation.

“If you want to have a discussion in Ukraine, throw in Bandera and you will have soon it,” Yaroslav Hrytsak, a leading historian who heads the humanities department at Lviv’s Ukrainian Catholic University told an audience on May 11 during a discussion about World War II.

Click here for full article.

Інтерв’ю з о.-д-ром Борисом ҐУДЗЯКОМ з приводу тиску Служби безпеки‏

Інтерв’ю з о.-д-ром Борисом ҐУДЗЯКОМ з приводу тиску Служби безпеки України на Український католицький університет у Львові
Interview in Ukrainian with Dr. Gudziak in regards to the SBU / KGB push last week.

http://www.risu.org.ua/ua/index/expert_thought/interview/35857/

Source: RISU

SBU pressure on the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv‏

Fr. Borys Gudziak received a visit from an SBU agent(former KGB)on May 18 in a polite manner the agent related that certain political parties are planning protests and demonstrations regarding the controversial (and in some cases inflammatory) policies of the new Ukrainian authorities. Students are to be engaged in these protests. There is a danger that some of these manifestations may be marred by provocations. He stated that, of course, students are allowed to protest but that they should be warned by the university administration that those involved in any illegal activities will be prosecuted. Illegal activities include not only violent acts but also, for example, pickets blocking access to the work place of government officials (or any protests that are not sanctioned by authorities).


Click here to read complete article.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church became public and legal again. In 1992 the seminary resumed operations, though in a different location, because the Soviets had seized and reallocated all church property. The newly independent Ukrainian government offered the eparchy a former Pioneer (Scout) summer camp in Rudno, an adjoining suburb of Lviv. Since that time, the number of vocations to the priesthood has been high.

The seminary was re-opened but the former students of the late Cardinal Slipyi also longed to fulfill his dream a full-fledged Ukrainian Catholic University. Toward that end, they opened the re-named Lviv Theological Academy in 1994 which now provides the academic program for the seminarians. In November 1998, the revived Academy received accreditation from Rome to grant the ecclesiastical Bachelor's of Theology. In June 2000, ground was broken for a new Theological Center in the city of Lviv, which will combine the seminary residence and the University's theological faculty.

Source: UCU

Now you see him, now you don't!!!

The two presidents took part in the ceremony to lay wreaths to the Eternal Flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kiyv’s Park of Glory. Afterwards, Medvedev and Yanukovych did the same near the monument to the victims of mass famine in 1932-1933.
The ceremony was held under extremely unfavorable weather conditions: there was a very strong wind and it was pouring rain. Must have had all those dead souls howling at these two clowns trying to show their fake gestures, meanwhile not even acknowledging the Holodomor as a Genocide. The press service of the Ukrainian president asked the media not to post any videos or footage of the incident. Now that is what you call freedon of speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz9yhWXDIDE

Click here for full story.

Source: Pravda

PS. We must not forget the great acting by Yanuk with the egg incident in Ivano-Frankivsk.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fP0vWkqOQT8

Lviv museum recounts Soviet, Nazi atrocities

As Ukraine, Russia and Belarus elaborately commemorated the 65-year anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany on May 9, Lviv’s museum Prison on Lonckoho stands as a stark reminder of the other side of history – the terrors Soviet authorities unleashed on their own people, both during and after World War II.

Near the end of June 1941, as the German army began its offensive on Lviv and the ruling Soviets were in retreat, Ivan Kindrat and three other medical students scurried toward the city’s prison. It was commonly known as Number One.

An acquaintance who lived across the street from the penitentiary told them that on the night of June 28, 1941, he had heard gunshots and blood-curdling screams coming from there.

What Kindrat saw at the prison, which was run by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, horrified him.

Click here to read complete article.

Source: Kyiv Post

Victory Day I would not call it!!!

As the Red Army advanced toward Berlin in 1945 it had become a city virtually without men. Out of a civilian population of 2,700,000, 2,000,000 were women. It is small wonder that the fear of sexual attack raced through the city like a plague. Doctors were besieged by patients seeking information on the quickest way to commit suicide, and poison was in great demand.

On March 24, 1945, these "noble Soviet allies" entered Danzig. A 50-year-old Danzig teacher reported that her niece, 15, was raped seven times, and her other niece, 22, was raped fifteen times. A Soviet officer told a group of women to seek safety in the Cathedral. Once they were securely locked inside, the beasts of Bolshevism entered, and ringing the bells and playing the organ, "celebrated" a foul orgy through the night, raping all the women, some more than thirty times. A Catholic pastor in Danzig declared, "They violated even eight-year-old girls and shot boys who tried to shield their mothers."

The greatest crimes against women in history, was the mass rape of the conquered women of Europe after the Communist victory in 1945. The rapists were mainly Red Army soldiers, some of them non-White troops from the Far East and Central Asian Republics of the Soviet Union.

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin authorised his army to look on women as spoils of war. Hitler's war had cost 22 million Soviet civilians their lives, often in barbarous circumstances. But few could have foreseen the extent of the revenge.

At least 2 million German women are thought to have been raped. One doctor deduced that of about 100,000 women raped in Berlin, 10,000 died as a result, mostly from suicide. An estimated 10 per cent gave birth. The death rate was thought to have been much higher among the 1.4 million victims in East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia.

Former Soviet war correspondent Natalya Gesse recalled: "The Russian soldiers were raping every German female from eight to 80... It was an army of rapists."

Below you have links to sources that show this sad part of history. While these robbers / rapists celebrate victory day with all their medals in Red Square, I would like to honor the true heroes, the women who survived this barbaric onslaught by the army of rapists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_crimes


http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/may/01/news.features11

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254521/German-victim-break-silence-Red-Army-rapists-65-years.html?ITO=1490

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106687768&ft=1&f=1004

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3293251/Red-Army-troops-raped-even-Russian-women-as-they-freed-them-from-camps.html

http://www.rense.com/general19/redarmy.htm

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-23-2002-20908.asp

Vladimir Putin, Raving Psychopath

Let’s be perfectly clear: The people of Ukraine do not want union with Russia. The only reason new President Victor Yanukovich even has power is that the opposition camp was divided between two rival, fractious candidates. The violent reaction in the Ukrainian parliament to Yanukovich’s announcement of the Sevastopol deal shows clearly that Ukrainians want no part of Russian domination. But such sentiments did not stop Adolf Hitler, and they won’t stop Vladimir Putin either.

It is up to the NATO allies to stop him. As Yulia Latynina’s most recent Moscow Times column, which we republish today, makes clear, the NATO allies are sending disturbing signals that they will repeat the mistakes of Munich. It is up to people of courage and good will in the NATO countries to make sure they do no such thing.

Click here for complete article.

Source: La Russophobe

Rare Russian opposition rally says Putin is Stalin

"Putin is Stalin! Putin is Brezhnev! Russia without Putin," chanted the crowd, including former chess master Garry Kasparov, one of the Kremlin's harshest critics who co-heads the democratic, pro-western Solidarity movement.

The opposition says Putin has stifled media freedom and democratic rights when he was president between 2000 and 2008.

They accuse Putin of blind economic policies -- similar to the years of stagnation under Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev -- as he continues to dominate Russian politics after handpicking successor Dmitry Medvedev and becoming prime minister under him.

Click here for complete article.

Source: Kyiv Post

New lows on the high road to democracy

And the Ukrainian clowns are back at it, adding more shame to an already shameful history. When will they learn to behave like human beings and not goons. Roman

Ukraine’s democracy proved as fragile on April 27 as the raw eggs that pelted Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn.

The crowd was nasty, clownish and thuggish inside parliament, among the nation’s 450 top lawmakers. But there were tense moments outside as well, among the estimated crowd of at least several thousand demonstrators. Most were from the opposition and tried to fight their way into parliament. But were easily repelled by platoons of police and helmeted Berkut riot-control officers.

Click here to read article as well as see the clowns at work.

Source: Kyiv Post

Also Montreal Gazette piece on this.

Protests as Ukraine backs Russian base extension - Kyiv Post
PROTESTERS hurled eggs in the Ukrainian parliament today in protest at a government deal to let Russia keep a naval base.

Ukrainian parli egging - video clip
Courtsey: The Sun

Scars linger as Ukraine marks 24 years since Chernobyl

Ukraine marks the 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on Monday, but after nearly a quarter of a century the scars left by the catastrophic explosion are still plain to see. Read the story here.

Source: Deutsche Welle

You can also visit UKEMONDE Site for more on the Chornobyl tragedy.

Media watchdog: Ukraine's press freedom declines

Ukraine's press freedom has declined since the election of the new Russia-friendly president earlier this year, a global media rights watchdog said

The group expressed concern about Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's decision earlier this month to disband the national commission on freedom of speech. It urged Yanukovych to explain his move and spell out his media policy.

The UNIAN news agency quoted Yanukovych's deputy chief of staff, Anna German, as saying Friday that the commission's functions were given to a newly created body that she heads.

Click here for complete article.

Source: AP

No civilized nation would erect monument to mass murderer

If the Communist Party wing in Zaporizhya gets its way, a monument will be erected to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin before Victory Day on May 9. Just as alarming, some government officials have no plans to stop them. Even stranger, some human rights activists agree. “It’s not the state’s business to interfere,” wrote a colleague from the Kharkiv Group for Human Rights. “What can the government do if it does not go against the law?”

Attitude to history is a good indicator of the capabilities and aspirations of the ruling elite. It rings especially true in Ukraine, which has none of the usual ideological reference points that allow the voters to make a distinction between the left, the right and the centrists.

We have to judge our politicians by their attitude to language, history and European values. If the rhetoric of the current government is of any significance, the near future holds nothing that would move us closer to a true Ukrainian state.

Click here to read complete article.

Source: Kyiv Post

NO Табачник (Another Brick in The Wall - Pink Floyd)

NO Табачник (Another Brick in The Wall - Pink Floyd)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlo8aCO6yII

Dmytro [Krippinovych] Tabachnyk

Tabachnyk wrote in Duck Soup Ukrainian Style that the millions who protested in the Orange Revolution did so because of ‘neuro-linguistic programming’, a form of ‘psychological training’ that was developed by the Americans. This is not a case of seeing ‘pigs that can fly’ but of being a hardcore believer in UFO’s and little green men that fly around in space ships!
First Lady Yanukovych, who presumably is too busy in the ‘kitchen’ to perform her presidential duties, also claimed in her famous December 2004 speech that Orange Revolution protestors were drugged up from oranges injected with LSD (see the video clip of her fantastic performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oicOHnK9ihM). Maybe the First Lady heads up the Donetsk branch of the Ukraine’s X-files fan club and Tabachnyk the all-Ukrainian organization.
Picture above is of the infamous wife-poisoner Dr Crippen a very close resemblance to our Education Minister Tabachnyk. More on the doctor and his colourful associates here

Source: Taras Kuzio Blog
also Foreign Notes Blog