Year: December 14, 2018 9:05 am

MONTREAL – The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), convening a meeting of its Board of Directors and its annual general meeting in Montreal, unanimously elected Alexandra Chyczij as the organization’s national president on December 8.

One of the most undesirable geopolitical scenarios for Russia would be the establishment of a strategic alliance between the two other major Black Sea regional powers – Turkey and Ukraine. Such an outcome would not only hamper the Kremlin’s plans in Europe’s East and the wider Black Sea region but also undermine its ambitions in the Middle East. And, though little noticed in the West, just such a process appears to quietly and gradually be under way between Ankara and Kyiv.

The November 25 “incident” in the Black Sea involving Russia’s illegal seizure of three Ukrainian military vessels and their personnel – in actuality, an explicit violation of the norms of international maritime law (see Eurasia Daily Monitor, November 26, 28, 29) – has become a “legitimate” pretext for Moscow to conduct sweeping offensive activities in two strategic theaters: Crimea and the Arctic region.

OTTAWA – On November 20, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada held a well-attended, solemn commemoration in Canada’s Parliament to mark the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor, the genocide of the Ukrainian people. 

Following is the press statement of U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo released on December 10, Human Rights Day.

“…Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine demonstrates the need for us to redouble our OSCE efforts. As we have said on many prior occasions, the United States denounces Russia’s lawless actions in Ukraine. They are flagrant acts of belligerence.

OTTAWA – True artists spend years, if not their entire lives, finding the right note or hitting the right mark as part of a rigorous process of examination and discovery of themselves and the world around them. Starting out as an actor and singer, Ed Evanko embarked on such a journey, and found that rare combination of professional success and personal fulfillment in a multifaceted career that encompassed stage, screen and recordings, and which culminated in his ultimate role as a member of the clergy.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Ukrainian artist Andriy Khomyk is the creator of the artwork featured on the Ukrainian National Association’s Christmas card set for 2018-2019. 

As the 85th anniversary year of the Holodomor – the Great Famine that killed millions in our ancestral homeland – comes to a close, it is worth taking a few minutes to assess what has been done to spread awareness of this genocide.

Ten years ago, on December 19, 2008, the United States-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership was signed in Washington by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko.

As hard as it is to imagine in the 21st century, Vladimir Putin is perfectly prepared to go to war to ensure that Ukrainian Orthodoxy does not gain autocephaly because once it does and once its status is recognized by others, the Kremlin leader’s imperial pretensions will suffer a defeat that he simply cannot tolerate, Aleksandr Skobov says.

On Sunday, October 21, Toronto’s Holodomor Memorial was unveiled at the Princess Gate entrance to the Canadian National Exhibition grounds. What is significant about the date of the opening of the Holodomor Memorial in Toronto is that it was unveiled almost 35 years to the day that the very first such monument – not only in Canada – but in the world – was unveiled to mark the 50th anniversary of the Famine-Genocide.