Fifteen years after independence: Where are the key players now? (08/27/06)

Fifteen years after independence: Where are the key players now?

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The events were dramatic.

Miners from Donetsk to Chervonohrad rallied on behalf of activist Stepan Khmara, a political prisoner.

Communist Party Chair Stanislav Hurenko ordered his colleagues to vote for Ukrainian independence at a special session of Parliament, or else "nam bude bida" (there will be trouble for us).

Vyacheslav Chornovil asked permission from Supreme (Soviet) Council Chairman Leonid Kravchuk to carry the Ukrainian flag into the Parliament session hall.

At the center of the historic events leading up to Ukraine's independence were Communist stalwarts, dissidents who had suffered under their grip and those who suddenly traded in their party cards for blue-and-yellow pins.

It's worth examining who the critical players were on Saturday, August 24, 1991, and where they are now.

Vyacheslav Chornovil

No man better symbolized the pro-independence movement in Ukraine than Vyacheslav Chornovil, the imprisoned dissident who chaired the Lviv Oblast Council at the time.

Elected in March 1990, he introduced reforms that were far more progressive than in any other region in Ukraine, allowing for a free press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and expression of national identity.

Mr. Chornovil stood up to threats of a crackdown on such reforms from the Communist government, warning retaliatory strikes and the cutting off of electricity.

He led the formation of the Halytska Asambleya, a three-oblast union that cooperated on political, economic and cultural issues.

Throughout the independence movement, Mr. Chornovil never joined any party and was moderate in his stance toward the Communists.

He finished second in the December 1991 presidential elections and declined Leonid Kravchuk's offer to join the government.

Under suspicious circumstances, Mr. Chornovil was killed in a car accident on March 25, 1999. The Toyota vehicle Mr. Chornovil was riding in collided with a trailer truck making an illegal U-turn on a Kyiv Oblast highway.

Mr. Chornovil was planning to run for the Ukrainian presidency that year, following a strong result in the 1998 parliamentary elections in which his Rukh political party placed second, behind the Communists. Rukh's influence in Ukrainian politics sharply diminished after Mr. Chornovil's death.

Ivan Drach

Leading the pro-democracy opposition in the Ukraine SSR's Supreme Soviet (Council) was Ivan Drach, the poet who chaired the Popular Movement of Ukraine (Rukh), the coordinating political structure for more than 20 opposition parties.

During Rukh's second congress in October 1990, he led the organization in calling for Ukraine's outright independence from the USSR.

Throughout the independence movement, Mr. Drach led protests carried out by workers, miners and victims of political repressions.

He stridently and ceaselessly pressed for Ukrainian independence, firmly criticizing the repeated deference to Moscow of Supreme Soviet Chair Kravchuk and U.S. President George Bush.

Mr. Drach currently serves as council chair of the Ukrainian People's Party led by Yurii Kostenko, which failed to qualify for Parliament in the March 2006 elections. He remains a central figure in Ukraine's cultural and political life.

Leonid Kravchuk

Leonid Kravchuk was the last leader of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic and independent Ukraine's first elected president.

Sensing the tide of democracy sweeping Ukraine, Mr. Kravchuk, as chairman of the Supreme Soviet played the role of a reform-minded Communist leader.

He firmly supported Ukraine's Declaration of State Sovereignty on July 16, 1990, and restrained from any violent crackdowns during the independence movement.

As Ukraine moved toward independence, he gradually called for democratic reforms along the way, such as an independent judicial system, decentralization of power and an independent military.

By the summer of 1991 he was already calling for Ukraine to be "a state that would be a master in its own house."

Crafting his policies with the aim of retaining the Ukrainian leadership, Mr. Kravchuk is remembered for not condemning the August 19 failed coup in Moscow, but not supporting Boris Yeltsin either.

At 5:53 p.m. on August 24 he declared Ukraine a state independent of the Soviet Union after the Communist majority voted in support of the declaration.

Just three months later, a cautious Ukrainian electorate selected Mr. Kravchuk as their first president, giving him 62 percent of the vote.

Mr. Kravchuk remains active in Ukrainian politics and firmly supports pro-Russian policies, including giving the Russian language official status, drawing Ukraine into the Moscow-centered Single Economic Space and opposing Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

His Ne Tak! (Not So) political bloc failed to qualify for the Verkhovna Rada.

Stanislav Hurenko

Leading the resistance to Ukrainian independence until he finally gave up was Communist Party Chairman Stanislav Hurenko.

As late as February 1991 he was calling on the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR to take the offensive against democratic forces and reassert its role in Ukraine's economic and political life.

The fierce ideologue called for a brutal political struggle, declaring Rukh an anti-Communist force tantamount to the Banderite movement in the 1940s.

When August 24 rolled around, however, Mr. Hurenko saw no option but to give the green light.

"Comrades, today we will vote for Ukrainian independence," he told party members. "For if we do not vote for her independence, there will be trouble for us."

The Communists' support for independence is widely believed to have been a means to avoid a popular revolt.

The vote was 321 for, two votes against and six votes abstaining.

To this day, Mr. Hurenko is a dedicated Communist Party member, though he is no longer a national deputy in the Verkhovna Rada.

Dmytro Pavlychko

Though a Communist Party member throughout his life, Supreme Soviet Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Dmytro Pavlychko was a central leader in Ukraine's independence drive.

In 1989 he launched the Association in Defense of the Ukrainian Language. Mr. Pavlychko led protests throughout the independence movement, particularly those to free Mr. Khmara, but maintained close ties with Mr. Kravchuk simultaneously.

According to Irene Jarosewich's account published in The Weekly (August 23, 1998), it was Mr. Pavlychko, acting on behalf of the National Council who read the Declaration of Independence out loud during the Communist Party caucus on August 24, 1991, at which Mr. Hurenko directed party members to vote for independence.

Mr. Pavlychko is an active member of the Ukrainian People's Party.

On August 20 delegates at the fourth World Forum of Ukrainians elected him as chairman of the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council.

Stepan Khmara

Commonly known as the last Ukrainian dissident persecuted by the Soviets, Stepan Khmara became a powerful symbol of Communist oppression that served as a rallying point for pro-democracy forces.

Mr. Khmara's November 17, 1990, imprisonment on trumped-up charges inspired thousands of miners to protest at the Lukianivka Prison demanding his release.

During his imprisonment, Mr. Khmara staged hunger strikes and demanded the dissolution of the Soviet Union. When released, he immediately traveled to Donetsk to address striking miners, causing Communist officials to re-arrest him in April 1991.

Among those launching the Ukrainian Republican Party, Mr. Khmara's politics were among the most radical in the opposition movement. He refused to work with the Communist Party and criticized the National Council for doing so.

Mr. Khmara, now 68, remains a political activist.

In March 2005, he quit the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, alleging that the political force is full of corrupt businessmen. He defected to the Ukrainian People's Party, which failed to qualify for Parliament in the March 2006 elections.

Levko Lukianenko

Perhaps it's no coincidence that one of Ukraine's most respected and revered patriots was born on August 24. Levko Lukianenko was already fighting for Ukrainian independence as early as 1957.

Soviet authorities arrested him in 1961 and sentenced him to death, a punishment reduced to what eventually was 25 years in labor camps. Mr. Lukianenko was elected to the Supreme Soviet in March 1990 and became the National Council's assistant chair.

Throughout the movement, he led protests, delivered stirring speeches and was the primary writer of the nation's independence declaration. Mr. Lukianenko founded the Ukrainian Republican Party, which was the first officially registered political party in Ukraine.

His politics were more moderate than Mr. Khmara's, urging cooperation with the Communists. Mr. Lukianenko established ties with Canadian government officials in June 1991 and became appointed Ukraine's first ambassador to Canada.

Mr. Lukianenko is currently a national deputy in the Verkhovna Rada representing the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

Mykhailo Horyn

It was Soviet dissident Mykhailo Horyn who coordinated the 1990 human chain from Kyiv to Lviv. Then as Political Council chair for Rukh, he coordinated its political strategies, campaigns and public relations.

When traveling to the U.S. in February 1991, he helped co-found the Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukraine and called for the consolidation of the Ukrainian diaspora. Mr. Horyn established relations with the Ukrainian community in the U.S., as well as high-profile officials, such as Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) and U.S. Consul-General Jon Gunderson.

On August 20 Mr. Horyn completed his tenure as Ukrainian World Coordinating Council chairman, which he led for seven years.

Ihor Yukhnovsky

After a lifetime spent in the Communist Party, National Deputy Ihor Yukhnovsky served as the National Council chair throughout the independence movement and led the protests over Mr. Khmara's imprisonment.

When the August 19 coup failed in Moscow, it was Mr. Yukhnovsky who presented Mr. Kravchuk with a list of demands. They included immediate declaration of independence, the release of Mr. Khmara, firing of Communist officials supportive of the coup and de-politicization of the workplace, media and government structures such as the KGB and Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Mr. Yukhnovsky helped draft Ukraine's independence declaration. Moderate in his politics, he served as an advisor to Mr. Kravchuk on political and economic matters, despite his competing presidential candidacy.

Mr. Yukhnovsky remains active in Ukrainian academic life as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Oles Doniy

It was the student hunger strikes of October 1990 that served as a key catalyst for the Ukrainian independence movement.

Led by Oles Doniy, the hunger strikes involved 150 students and received the support of thousands of Ukrainians, leading to the October 17 resignation of Prime Minister Vitalii Masol.

In January 1991 Communist authorities arrested Mr. Doniy and charged him with staging an occupation of Kyiv State University. Asked by the Procurator's Office to sign a statement of remorse for his wrongdoings, Mr. Doniy refused to read a prepared statement or sign any documents.

Mr. Doniy is currently a political scientist and chair of the Kyiv-based Center for Political Values Research, which is supported by Ukrainian citizens.

Fifteen years later, Mr. Doniy is now organizing festivals instead of protests.

Independence Day with Nestor Makhno kicks off this year as a Ukrainian cultural festival in Zaporizhia on August 24 and 25. Next year, it will be international, Mr. Doniy said.

Mr. Doniy is a member of the Socialist Party of Ukraine.

Serhii Holovatyi

Another young leader in Ukraine's independence movement was Serhii Holovatyi, who served as Rukh's Kyiv regional chair.

The people's deputy was an outspoken opponent of the Communist Party who fiercely fought for its liquidation.

Mr. Holovatyi served as Ukraine's minister of justice in Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov's Cabinet. His term ended this month.

Oleksander Yemets

Among those at the front lines of Mr. Khmara's defense was the Supreme Soviet's Human Rights Committee Chair Oleksander Yemets.

He also played a critical role in gathering enough signatures to enable a quorum for the August 24 special session of Parliament that resulted in the independence vote.

Mr. Yemets died on January 28, 2001, in a car accident in which his vehicle slid off an icy road in the Zaporizhia Oblast.

Volodymyr Yavorivsky

Known and respected for his literary and oratory talent, poet and editor Volodymyr Yavorivsky roused the protesting crowds with riveting speeches.

The week leading up to August 24, Mr. Yavorivsky led the working group that drafted resolutions for the emergency session.

As chairman of the Supreme Soviet's Chornobyl Commission, he revealed documents that proved the Moscow government's callous disregard for the Ukrainian people's welfare. It emerged that Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev himself forbade Kyiv's evacuation following the nuclear disaster.

Mr. Yavorivsky is currently a national deputy of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and hosts a national weekly program.

Laryssa Skoryk

The leading female in the Ukrainian independence movement at the time was Laryssa Skoryk, a Kyiv architect who was elected as a national deputy to the Supreme Soviet.

Known as the sweetheart of the miners, she led their demonstrations to release Mr. Khmara and was constantly beside the dissident in his struggle.

Though among the most vocal in calling for a ban on the Communist Party, she soon sided with Mr. Kravchuk's politics.

Ms. Skoryk designed St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Church on Lviv Square in Kyiv. She was involved with the Party of the Regions during the March 2006 elections.

WHERE WERE THEY THEN?

Many of Ukraine's current leaders were either in Kyiv or already building their careers when independence was declared on August 24, 1991.

The following information was provided by the subjects themselves to the annual Who's Who in Ukraine directory published by Kyiv Informatsiya Servis.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was deputy chairman of AgroPromBank Ukrayina in Kyiv.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was general director of the DonbasTransRemont Union of Enterprises in Donetsk.

Parliamentary Opposition Leader Yulia Tymoshenko was the commercial director of the Ukrayinskyi Benzyn Korporatsiya (Ukrainian Gasoline Corp.) enterprise in Dnipropetrovsk.

Verkhovna Rada Speaker Oleksander Moroz was leader of the Communist Party's parliamentary majority in the Supreme Soviet.

Industrial and media magnate Viktor Pinchuk was an engineer at the State Pipe Industry's Scientific-Research Project Institute in Dnipropetrovsk.

Industrial and banking magnate Kostiantyn Zhevago was a freshman student at Kyiv State Economics University.

Communist Party of Ukraine leader Petro Symonenko was second secretary of the Donetsk Oblast Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

Minister of Justice Roman Zvarych was an American citizen assisting nationalist leader Slava Stetsko in organizing the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists political party.

First Lady of Ukraine Kateryna Yushchenko was an American citizen launching the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation in Kyiv, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that aimed to encourage democratic development, free market reform and human rights in Ukraine.

All photographs in this series by Zenon Zawada.

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