The 26th anniversary of the re-establishment of Ukraine’s independence is four days after the date of this issue. Surely, it is a time for celebrating the historic and courageous act of August 24, 1991, that declared “the independence of Ukraine and the creation of an independent Ukrainian state – Ukraine.” Surely, it is a time for reflection about where independent Ukraine is today and where it is headed.
We have no doubt that the people of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the diaspora will mark this national holiday as it should be. At the same time, however, our joy is tempered by present-day developments.
Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, and the people of Ukraine are being killed – more than 10,000 since April 2014. Many have sacrificed their lives for their country, and many more have been grievously wounded. The number of internally displaced people is above 1.7 million. The number of political prisoners held by Russian authorities is increasing. Indeed, in March, the European Parliament cited the cases of more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who are in prison or whose freedom of movement has been restricted in Russia, Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by combined Russian-“separatist” forces. The Minsk process, via which peace was supposed to be at hand, is a bust, though many in the West can’t seem to admit it.
Ukraine’s Crimea is occupied by Russia, which is persecuting pro-Ukrainian activists on the peninsula, including many Crimean Tatars. At the same time, Russians are being resettled there, the Russian military presence has been significantly expanded, and new draconian laws are being imposed. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated this week: “The Russian occupation authorities continue the discrimination on national and religious grounds in the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, persecuting ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. At least five politically motivated sentences of imprisonment were announced, seven people were arrested or fined in Crimea over the past month.” Meanwhile, Moscow is closing the Kerch Strait and building a bridge connecting Crimea to Russia. (Unconscionably, The New York Times this past week posted a map identifying Crimea as “disputed” territory, although no one, save for Russia and several rogue states, recognizes the annexation of Crimea.)
Coming up soon: Russia’s Zapad military exercises in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and Kaliningrad will send as many as 100,000 troops to the border of NATO countries. (One glance at a map will tell you why this is worrying.) Advance elements of Russian forces were expected to arrive in mid-August, and the exercises themselves are to take place September 14-20. U.S. military officers fear the drills could be used as a pretext to bolster Russia’s military presence in Belarus. “The great concern is they’re not going to leave, and that’s not paranoia,” Gen. Tony Thomas, the head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, said at a national security conference in July, according to The New York Times. Lt. Gen. Frederick B. Hodges, the head of U.S. Army forces in Europe, commented: “I am very interested in what goes in and what comes out.”
And then there is the still existing scourge of corruption in Ukraine, the stalled reform process, the authorities’ lack of responsiveness to the citizenry and the poor economic situation in which the people of Ukraine find themselves. And still, more people than ever readily identify themselves as Ukrainians – no matter what language they speak, or what faith they profess. They are the future of Ukraine and their voices will be heard as Ukraine continues to make progress on its difficult path.
It is clear that Ukraine is headed, perhaps more slowly than we’d like, but inexorably toward Europe and away from Russia in what is a manifestation of the civilizational choice made, again and again throughout its history. And that, dear readers, is why we proclaim: Happy Independence Day, Ukraine! Slava Ukrayini!