Month: May 20, 2021 11:12 pm

Seventy-seven years ago on May 18, Stalin deported the Crimean Tatars from their homeland in dramatic fashion, and every year since Crimean Tatars have marked this anniversary. Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin is repeating Stalin’s crime but in slow motion, raising the question of what the anniversary of his actions will be.

Fifty years ago, I was in the city of Philadelphia on the other side of the fence of a special ceremony at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral there: the elevation of two relatively young Ukrainian priests to bishops. I did not know the two men, but I was opposed to their elevation because I felt, as did many others particularly of the patriarchate persuasion, that their designation should have been made by the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church at the time, Cardinal Josef Slipyj, and not the Pope.

Three draft bills have been tabled in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada to abolish the so-called ‘Crimea’ Free Economic Zone that has, since 2014, discriminated against Ukrainians from Crimea while also providing mechanisms for collaboration with the Russian occupation regime. Critics of the law, like prominent Crimean journalist Valentina Samar, are convinced that the law was pushed through to serve big business, and it seems very likely that moves to remove it will encounter stiff resistance.

Dear Editor:

One might think that U.S. President Joe Biden’s green light to Russian President Vladimir Putin to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a result of the recent computer terror against Colonial Pipeline.

GREENWICH, Conn. – Faced with the challenge of operating in a structure originally built to house a theater more than a century ago, the New York Branch of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization recently kicked off a $1.5 million renovation of its headquarters building (“domivka”) in the heart of the Ukrainian Village in Manhattan.

EAST CHATHAM, N.Y. – After an unprecedented yet successful online summer camp season last year, members of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization are eager to return to the open air, get reacquainted with sleeping in a tent, and, of course, reunite with their friends in person once again. Campers and counselors returning this year will be greeted by the sight of Vovcha Tropa campground’s brand new pool located just beyond the pavilion.

Kyiv would ‘gladly’ swap Medvedchuk
A top Ukrainian official did not exclude the possibility of a prisoner swap with Russia if a Kyiv court convicts a Kremlin-leaning politician of treason. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said in a TV interview that Kyiv would “gladly” hand over lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk to Moscow in exchange for Ukrainians held in Russian prisons if the opportunity arises.

SOUTH BOUND BROOK, N.J. – Hundreds of pilgrims visited the Spiritual Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. (UOC-U.S.A.) for the annual St. Thomas Sunday weekend pilgrimage on May 8-9 at the Metropolia of the UOC-U.S.A. in South Bound Brook, N.J.

Below is an excerpt from the article “50th Anniversary of Repose of Metro­politan John” by Metropolitan Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. from the May 2021 issue of the UOL Bulletin (Vol. 67, No. 6). Metro­politan John died on May 3, 1971, marking 50 years since his repose. The entirety of the article can be viewed on the UOC-U.S.A. website, www.uocofusa.org.

All Mark and Christine Hanchuk’s youngest daughter wanted was to continue her softball pitching career at the college level. She also very much wanted to pursue a degree in her chosen fields of marketing, communications and advertising. Maria Hanchuk was also very attracted to Endicott College’s internships, which the school offers to select students all four years of their undergraduate study, and she was enraptured by the university’s beautiful campus and its proximity to the historical metropolis of Boston.

KYIV – The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has searched the Kyiv home of Kremlin-friendly tycoon and politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who along with another pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker, Taras Kozak, is under suspicion of treason.

KYIV – Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States is considering Ukraine’s request for “additional” military assistance to help deter Kremlin aggression following a massive buildup of Russian forces near their shared border and in annexed Crimea.