Ukraine

Normandy four take cautious step forward at summit in Paris

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KYIV – The results of the Normandy format summit that brought together the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on December 9 – for the first time in over three years – have been greeted with cautious optimism for having reactivated the stalled negotiations based on the Minsk accords of 2014-2015 to end Russia’s war in the Donbas.
Without giving way on fundamental issues, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy managed to secure agreement on an exchange of all prisoners, a commitment to a general ceasefire and a follow-up meeting within four months. However, many political issues related to the future of eastern Ukrainian regions now controlled by joint Russian-separatist forces remained unresolved.
The nervously awaited summit that took place in Paris was preceded by much speculation and concern in Ukraine and beyond about what it might produce, and mass rallies throughout Ukraine warned against “capitulation” to Russia.

Ukraine

Zelenskyy’s approval ratings fall sharply, yet president retains public support

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KYIV – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s rating has fallen sharply, according to the most recent surveys. It plummeted from 73 percent in September to 52 percent at the end of November. Nevertheless, he still appears to retain significant backing and to enjoy impressive support for his attempts to activate a peace process with Russia.
As the end of 2019 approaches, several recent public surveys reveal what the key concerns and hopes are.
The first half of the year was preoccupied with elections. First, the two rounds of presidential polls, on March 31 and April 21, followed by parliamentary elections on July 21. A political newcomer, Mr. Zelenskyy scored a landslide victory over the incumbent, President Petro Poroshenko, by a margin of 73.22 percent to 24.45 percent of the votes, and his Servant of the People party captured a majority of 254 of the 424 seats contested.

Ukraine

Activists demand answers a year after Kateryna Handzyuk’s death

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KYIV – Kateryna Handzyuk, or Katya, as friends and fellow activists called her, was an anti-corruption activist in Kherson. On July 31, 2018, she was attacked with sulfuric acid in front of her house. Three months later, she died of her injuries. Now, a year after her death, the main question in the case still has no answer: Who ordered the killing of Katya Handzyuk?
On November 4, several hundred people gathered on Bankova Street, a small street in central Kyiv where the Presidential Office of Ukraine is located. After Volodymyr Zelenskyy was inaugurated as president, one of his first decisions was to remove the fences that had blocked the entrance to Bankova, where the building formerly known as the Presidential Administration stands. As a result, the public now has access to the front door of the Presidential Office.

Holodomor

Holodomor commemorated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

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NEW YORK – Ukrainian Americans gathered in New York City on Saturday, November 16, to remember the victims of Stalin’s Famine-Genocide – the Holodomor of 1932-1933.
Gathering at the landmark St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the heart of Manhattan, attendees were greeted by Metropolitan Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., prior to the start of the memorial ceremonies. As the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York began singing, students from St. George Academy slowly processed up the nave of the cathedral followed by Holodomor survivor Nadia Severyn, who was escorted by her grandson, Bill Wieting.

Community Chronicle

UNA General Assembly holds annual meeting at Home Office

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PARSIPPANY, N.J. – The Ukrainian National Association’s General Assembly convened its 2019 annual meeting here at the UNA Home Office on Friday and Saturday, November 1-2.
The meeting was held in Parsippany this year because the UNA’s gala 125th anniversary concert was scheduled for Saturday evening, November 2, at Dolan Performance Hall of the College of St. Elizabeth in nearby Morristown. The General Assembly sessions took place in the Home Office’s newly designed conference room.
Updates on all aspects of the UNA’s activity were delivered by the three executive operating officers of the UNA: President/Chief Executive Officer Stefan Kaczaraj, Chief Operations Officer/National Secretary Yuriy Symczyk and Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer Roma Lisovich.

Community Chronicle

Celebratory concert marks Ukrainian National Association’s 125th anniversary

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MORRISTOWN, N.J. – The Ukrainian National Association celebrated its 125th anniversary in grand style on Saturday, November 2, presenting a gala concert for the Ukrainian community that included top performers from Canada, Ukraine and the United States.
Tickets to the concert – which featured the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers, singer Khrystyna Soloviy, violinist Vasyl Popadiuk and the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America – were sold out. The venue was the state-of-the art Dolan Performance Hall on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J., not far from the UNA’s Home Office in Parsippany.

Analysis

NATO chief demands Russia get out of eastern Ukraine

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KYIV – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has demanded that Russia end its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and called on it to withdraw all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.
Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on October 31 after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mr. Stoltenberg also said Moscow must return three Ukrainian Navy vessels that its forces seized in the Kerch Strait off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula last November.
“NATO supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and does not recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “Russia must end supporting separatists in east Ukraine.”

Ukraine

Scandals in Ukraine overshadow progress

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KYIV – Scandal after scandal, overshadowing progress. That summarizes the last 10 days or so in Kyiv, as the focus switched from foreign to domestic issues. These have involved a public rift over charges of corruption and bribery within President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s majority Servant of the People party that necessitated drastic damage-control measures and the alleged exploitation of a famed Ukrainian cultural institution for political purposes to benefit a notorious oligarch.
In connection with the first case, a bizarre scene unfolded on October 23. After exchanging accusations in public with the head of the president’s faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Davyd Arakhamia, Oleksandr Dubinsky, an outspoken journalist linked with the notorious oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, took a lie detector test live on the Internet. The following day Mr. Arakhamia also did so voluntarily. The result will not be known for several days.

Analysis

Greek Orthodox Church becomes first to recognize Orthodox Church of Ukraine

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The Greek Orthodox Church has essentially recognized the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which in January was granted autocephaly, or independence, from Moscow by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in a move that angered Russia and caused what some termed the greatest Christian schism since 1054.
On October 12, the Council of Hierarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church convening in Athens adopted a proposal of its primate, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II, to ratify a previous decision of the Synod of this Church proclaiming “the canonical right of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to grant autocephaly, as well as the privilege of the primate of the Greek Church to further pursue the issue of the recognition of the Church of Ukraine.” According to a report by Ukrainian broadcaster TSN, 80 hierarchs of the Council voted in favor while seven asked to postpone the decision.

Ukraine

As protests against Kyiv’s “capitulation” occur nationwide, Zelenskyy offers reassurances about Steinmeier formula

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KYIV – Despite continuing reassurances from the Zelenskyy administration that it will not yield on fundamental issues concerning Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, protests against what many see as Kyiv’s “capitulation” before Russia by accepting the controversial “Steinmeier formula” have intensified and spread.
On October 6 more than 10,000 people demonstrated on Kyiv’s Maidan, making it the largest public protest since the Revolution of Dignity. Protests were also held in numerous cities all across the country. Several city and oblast councils in both western and eastern Ukraine have come out against the Steinmeier formula.