Continuing the theme of women, Ukraine’s First Lady Maryna Poroshenko hosted a roundtable discussion on September 30 at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations for women leaders of various Ukrainian diaspora organizations that are helping Ukraine. All present gave short overviews of the work of their respective organizations, after which Dr. Poroshenko posed questions to the speakers in order to better understand their activities. The purpose of the meeting was for participants to share their thoughts about the collective goal of supporting Ukraine through its crisis. Dr. Poroshenko ended the meeting by thanking the Ukrainian diaspora for being “an efficient diplomatic bridge between Ukraine and America.”
Also in the fall, the Ukrainian Heritage Consortium of North America (UHCNA) held its fourth conference in Washington at the Library of Congress on September 18-20. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and the conference’s keynote speaker, commended the UHCNA for its work, emphasizing the importance of collecting and preserving the record of Ukrainian culture and immigration to America. “This is a critical element in America’s history that has a major influence on our country’s policies today,” she noted, adding that this aspect is neglected by mainstream cultural and political policymakers. She also offered suggestions on how to make the Ukrainian story more prominent and pledged to continue her own efforts in that regard.
On October 28, the first bilingual historical marker recalling Canada’s national internment operations of 1914-1920 was unveiled at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv and blessed by Patriarch Sviatoslav. On a previous visit to Canada, Patriarch Sviatoslav had agreed it would be appropriate to display a commemorative plaque in a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic church as most of those interned during Canada’s first national internment operations were of that faith. The patriarch addressed the audience saying, “Today we bless a plaque that commemorates the thousands of Ukrainians interned in Canada at the beginning of the first world war. They were suddenly viewed as enemies of the state.”
Anna Whittington
Members of the Ukrainian Heritage Consortium of North America in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress.
The patriarch thanked Canada’s Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Washchuk, as well as the Canadian government for its sensitivity and support not only for Ukrainians in Canada, but also for Ukraine itself. Patriarch Sviatoslav said that all countries should follow Canada’s example in respecting the dignity of individuals and be responsive to the will of their citizens.
A day later, on October 29, following a raid in which Russian investigators said they seized scores of “extremist” books, Natalya Sharina, head of the Ukrainian Literature Library in Moscow was arrested on suspicion of “inciting ethnic hatred.” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said that Ms. Sharina had circulated banned publications authored by Dmytro Korchynsky, a radical Ukrainian nationalist. Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture called for Ms. Sharina’s immediate release, describing the arrest as “the latest brazen Kremlin act designed to frighten the Ukrainian ethnic minority in the Russian Federation.”
UCCLF
Patriarch Sviatoslav blesses a plaque in Kyiv, at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, that recalls Canada’s national internment operations of 1914-1920.