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Orthodox Church of Ukraine granted independence

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KYIV – If Ukrainians worldwide waited over 70 years to regain independence as a nation, a significant portion of its Orthodox Christian congregants had to wait more than three centuries to restore spiritual freedom from the same overlord – Russia. 

It came on January 6 when Christmas Eve is observed in accordance with the Julian calendar. St. George Cathedral in Istanbul, the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was the setting. A Ukrainian delegation consisting of Church hierarchs and politicians came for the historic ceremonies led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

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Metropolitan Epifaniy elected to head unified Orthodox Church of Ukraine

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KYIV – A more apt location couldn’t have been chosen to elect the leader of the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine on December 15. 

As thousands of worshipers stood outside in central Kyiv braving sub-zero temperatures, 192 delegates of the Unification Synod (Council) assembled inside, in the five-naved core beneath the ancient towering domes of St. Sophia Cathedral. 

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Experts: Five years after Maidan, democratic course is set, yet public distrust is high and corruption remains prevalent

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KYIV – Five years on, Ukraine’s 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity still symbolizes a definitive choice for democracy and integration with the European Union. It also was a rejection of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s kleptocratic and autocratic regime, according to findings from a comparative poll of political, economic and civil society experts over the last five years by the Kyiv-based Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives (DIF) think tank. 

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Armistice Day is celebrated in Paris as Moscow-stoked Donbas war continues

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KYIV – As many of the world’s leaders met in Paris for ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I on November 11, trench warfare was still ravaging Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region in a bloody conflict begun when Russia invaded the country in 2014. 

That same day and 1,860 miles east of the solemn event, Russia ensured that its appointed proxies in the occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts remained in place through what the U.S. said were “sham” regional elections.

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Germany’s Merkel, U.S. energy secretary and IMF visit Ukraine

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KYIV – Angela Merkel’s fourth visit to Ukraine as Germany’s chancellor on November 1 coincided with bomb threats in the capital and Russia imposing more sanctions on the country. 

The goal of her one-day visit was to discuss the Russia-fueled Donbas war and, in particular, discuss Ukraine’s reform policy.