"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
An International Newsletter
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary

"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"

UKRAINE'S FIRST LADY HEADING TO CHICAGO

CHICAGO -- When Kathy Chumachenko left for Europe 14 years ago,
she was a young American pursuing a career and adventure overseas.
The Chicago native is returning as the first lady of Europe's sixth most
populous country, the wife of Ukraine's new president, who survived an
apparent assassination attempt by poisoning.

Chumachenko and her husband, President Viktor Yushchenko, were to
arrive Sunday in Washington to start a four-day tour of the United States
with stops in Chicago and Boston. She said the trip is a celebration of
Yushchenko's dramatic election victory following a popular uprising last
year. [article number four]

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" - Number 454
E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, SATURDAY, April 2, 2005

-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"

1. UNITED STATES UNROLLS THE RED CARPET FOR THE
HERO OF THE ORANGE REVOLUTION
Agence France Presse (AFP), Washington, D.C., Sat, Apr 2, 2005

2. YUSHCHENKO TO VISIT US IN GLOW OF UKRAINE VICTORY
AP, Kiev, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005 3:48 a.m.

3. YUSHCHENKO TO VISIT UNITED STATES ON APRIL 3-7
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 1, 2005

4. UKRAINE'S FIRST LADY HEADING TO CHICAGO
By Michael Tarm, Associated Press Writer
AP National News, Chicago, Illinois, Sat. April 2, 2005

5. FIRST LADY
By Pam Defiglio, Daily Herald Staff Writer
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, Illinois
Suburban Chicago's Information Source
Thursday, March 31, 2005

6. UKRAINE PRESIDENT'S WIFE KATERYNA YUSHCHENKO
WORKING TO RECEIVE UKRAINIAN CITIZENSHIP
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005

7. YUSHCHENKO'S U.S. CONGRESS SPEECH A VISIT TO
"CATHEDRAL OF DEMOCRACY"
Ukrayinska Pravda, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 1, 2005

8. LEADER OF ORANGE REVOLUTION: EVENTS IN WASHINGTON
Orange Revolution Rally, Shevchenko Monument
Banquet Tickets Still Available Through Monday, April 4, 2005
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT
Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 2, 2005

9. UNITED STATES INTENDS TO LOWER ITS VISA FEE FOR
UKRAINIAN CITIZENS FROM USD165 TO USD100 IN NEAR FUTURE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, April 1, 2005

10. MR. BUSH, TEAR DOWN THIS TRADE BARRIER
Releasing Ukraine from a 30-year-old trade restriction could be
America's greatest contribution to the Orange Revolution.
By Peter Savodnik, Political Editor, The Hill
Slate, Washington, D.C., Friday, April 1, 2005

11. WHEN DOES A NATION-STATE'S HISTORY BEGIN?
By Ethan S. Burger, Esq., Scholar-in-Residence
School of International Service, Adjunct Associate Professor of Law
Washington College of Law, American University
Washington, D.C., April, 2005

12. UKRAINE: NEW GOVERNMENT MOVING ON REFORMS -
BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH
By Valentinas Mite, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Thu, March 30, 2005

13. "RUSSIAN ROULETTE"
COMMENTARY: By Zbigniew Brzezinski
The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY,
Tuesday, March 29, 2005; Page A14

14. RUSSIAN AGENCY REPORTS ON CRIMEAN TARARS'
OPPOSITION TO STALIN MONUMENT
Tatar-Inform news agency, Kazan, in Russian. 1 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, April 1, 2005

15. ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO EXHIBITION TO INAUGURATE
NEW UKRAINIAN MUSEUM BUILDING IN NEW YORK
The Ukrainian Museum, New York City, NY, April, 2005

16. UKRAINE'S SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
By Helen Fawkes, BBC News, Kiev
BBC NEWS, Europe, Wed, March 30, 2005

17. UKRAINIAN POLITICAL SCIENTIST VADYM KARASEV PRESENTS
HIS BOOK "THOUGHT AT REVOLUTION'S SPEED"
By Serhi Dovhal, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005

18. ORANGE REVOLUTION MUSEUM TO OPEN ON TRUKHANIV ISLE
IN DNIEPER FOR EUROVISION 2005 PARTICIPANTS AND GUESTS
By Andri Shulha, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005

19. SPIRITUAL AND LITERARY RICHNESS OF IVANO-FRANKIVSK
Kyiv Weekly, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, March 31, 2005

20. RIVNE REGIONAL RADA DECIDES TO ENTITLE UKRAINIAN REBEL
ARMY VETERANS TO MEDICAL TREATMENT AT REGIONAL
HOSPITAL FOR WWII DISABLED VETERANS
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005
=============================================================
1. UNITED STATES UNROLLS THE RED CARPET FOR THE
HERO OF THE ORANGE REVOLUTION

Agence France Presse (AFP), Washington, D.C., Sat, Apr 2, 2005

WASHINGTON - The United States is getting ready to roll out the red
carpet for Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, the man behind a
democratic movement that Washington would like to see spread to other
arts of the former Soviet Union and elsewhere in the world.

Yushchenko is to arrive in the United States Sunday and will be welcomed
by President George W. Bush to the White House the following day.
The trip, through Thursday, marks his first visit to the United States as
Ukraine's president.

Yushchenko is scheduled to address the joint session of Congress on
Wednesday, an honor that recently has been reserved for only the closest
of US friends, such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the interim Iraqi
prime minister Iyad Allawi and Afghan President Hamid Kharzai.

"President Yushchenko's election is inspiring the spread of democracy
throughout the world, in spite of threats and intimidation. We welcome him
to this cathedral of democracy and look forward to hearing from him,"
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert said
in a joint statement.

Bush frequently mentions the "orange revolution" the pro-western opposition
politician rode to power when he touts his support for the support of
liberty and democracy in the world. The US leader recently suggested that
he would like to see a similar democratic uprising sweep the former Soviet
republic of Belarus and its authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Yushchenko is also scheduled to meet Vice President Dick Cheney,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld. The Ukrainian leader, who is looking to strengthen economic
ties with the United States, is to speak Monday before the US Chamber
of Commerce in Washington.

His visit is a departure from chilly relations with former president Leonid
Kuchma, whom Washington criticized for his authoritarian ways and for
selling radar to Saddam Hussein's Iraq despite an international embargo.

The United States and its European allies cannot claim responsibility for
the democratic protest movement that enabled Yushchenko to run for a
second time against Kuchma's chosen successor and Moscow's favorite,
former prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, after Yanukovich won a fraudulent
presidential vote last year.

During his US visit Yushchenko will also take a side trip to Chicago, home
to a sizeable community of Ukrainian immigrants. His wife Katherine
Chumachenko was born in Chicago into a family of Ukrainian immigrants.

Ukraine's US-born "first lady" formerly worked at the US State Department,
in public relations at the White House and at the US Treasury Department,
all of which led her husband's adversaries to accuse her of being an "agent
for the CIA". Chumachenko received Ukrainian citizenship Friday.

In the run up to Yushchenko's visit Washington has signalled that it wants
to avoid any public friction over the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from
Iraq, a decision taken by Kuchma and confirmed by his successor.

"We understand the commitment that the Ukrainian government has made
to its own people," Rice recently said, referring to Yushchenko's campaign
promise to pull Ukrainian troops from Iraq.

"The one thing that I am very certain is that Ukraine will do it in a way
that does not in any way endanger the mission or endanger the forces
of others there," she said. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
2. YUSHCHENKO TO VISIT US IN GLOW OF UKRAINE VICTORY

AP, Kiev, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005 3:48 a.m.

KIEV (AP)--Before Viktor Yushchenko was swept to power in Ukraine , ties
between his country and the United States had grown so frosty that seating
arrangements at a NATO summit had to be changed so President Bush
wouldn't have to sit next to Yushchenko's predecessor.

The new Ukrainian president visits Washington next week to seal a new
chapter in relations, and while Yushchenko is sure to win a sympathetic ear,
he faces a delicate balancing act: How to move closer to the United States
while not offending Russia - Ukraine 's massive neighbor and one-time
master - too badly?

The three-day trip comes a little more than two months after Yushchenko took
office following a dramatic popular uprising in which masses of supporters
camped out in Kiev to protest that he was robbed of election victory over a
Kremlin-favored candidate.

Yushchenko's Orange Revolution was widely portrayed by opponents as a
U.S.-backed power grab, and welcomed in Washington as a spontaneous
outpouring of popular sentiment. Yushchenko moved quickly to try to counter
his critics' suspicions by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin the day
after he was inaugurated on Jan. 23.

In Washington, Yushchenko will lobby for economic aid, private investment,
and help in Ukraine 's bid to join NATO. But his main challenge may be to
offer assurances that he is serious about uncovering the truth about
allegations that Ukraine sold radar equipment to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Ukrainian officials also have recently released information about an array
of shady weapons deals under former President Leonid Kuchma, including
cruise missile sales to Iran and China. "It was not easy for me and my
government to publicly announce facts about such dealings shortly before
the trip to the U.S.," Yushchenko said Thursday.

At a 2002 NATO summit that Kuchma attended as a guest, friction between
the two countries was such that organizers changed the alphabetical seating
order from English to French so that the "Etats-Unis" - the United States -
would be a healthy distance from Ukraine .

In an apparent effort to smooth ties, Ukraine sent 1,650 troops to Iraq
under the U.S.-led coalition. However, the deployment was widely unpopular
at home and Ukraine began withdrawing troops in March - a decision
Washington has indicated won't count against Yushchenko during the
upcoming talks. "I see no problems in the withdrawal of the Ukrainian
troops," U.S. Ambassador John Herbst said recently.

Although Yushchenko said this week that he will be seeking more aid from
Washington - especially in helping economic reforms and strengthening rule
of law - private investment could be more important than U.S. government
money.

A surge of investment into Ukraine would bolster the image of a country long
seen as corrupt and capricious, and could help achieve the most ambitious of
Yushchenko's campaign promises: the creation of 5 million new jobs in the
country of 50 million over the next half-decade.

"Ukraine won't rely much on U.S. financial assistance, but on involvement of
the investors," said Oleksandr Dergachev, an analyst at the Institute of
Political and Ethnic Studies in Kiev.

Paradoxically, Yushchenko may have to persuade American investors that
his anti-corruption efforts will not go too far. One of his government's
earliest initiatives was to announce the investigation of shadowy deals in
which state enterprises were sold to politically connected businessmen at
prices far below their estimated value.

If a large number of such deals are invalidated, it could raise concern
about whether the government will protect investors' and stockholders'
rights.

Yushchenko has sought to calm those fears. "We aren't speaking about
re-privatization or re-nationalization," he said, adding the investigation
would focus only on enterprises involved in serious violations of the law.

Yushchenko is eager to have Ukraine join NATO, but prospects of
Washington's support for quick membership appears dim. Ukraine's
military is underfunded and prone to spectacular accidents, including the
inadvertent downing of a Russian airliner over the Black Sea in 2001.
Ukraine has tried to bolster its military prestige by participating in an
array of peacekeeping missions. -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring]
==============================================================
3. YUSHCHENKO TO VISIT UNITED STATES ON APRIL 3-7

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 1, 2005

KYIV - President Viktor Yuschenko will visit Washington, Boston and Chicago
(USA) on April 3-7 for talks with the government officials. The presidential
press service made the statement, a copy of which is available to Ukrainian
News. Yuschenko will meet with U.S. President George Bush, US Vice
President Richard Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Besides, President will meet with heads of leading companies, the Ukrainian
and Jewish communities. On April 6, Yuschenko is scheduled to deliver a
speech in the both Houses of the US Congress. In Chicago, the president will
meet with the city mayor and members of the Chicago foreign affairs council.

In Boston, Yuschenko will attend the hospital where Anastasia Ovchar, a
5-year-old Ukrainian national, is undergoing treatment after a surgery
operation on third-degree burns she received rescuing her 2-year-old sister
from fire. He will also attend John Kennedy Library and meet with Kennedy's
family members. In Washington, Yuschenko will visit the Museum of Holocaust.

Under the visit schedule, Yuschenko is also to meet with Sergei Sikorskii, a
son of Russian helicopter inventor Igor Sikorskii. Yuschenko will take floor
before students and teachers of the Georgetown and Harvard Universities.

President's wife Kateryna Yuschenko, according to her visit schedule, will
visit the US Department of Health and Human Services to study state medical
programs, particularly concerning combat on drug addiction and AIDS. She
will also deliver a speech at Chicago University, where she graduated from.

As Ukrainian News reported earlier, Yuschenko expects from his visit to the
U.S. that Ukraine and America will enter new level of relations. During his
visit, the president wants to discuss all aspects of the two countries'
relations. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==============================================================
4. UKRAINE'S FIRST LADY HEADING TO CHICAGO

By Michael Tarm, Associated Press Writer
AP National News, Chicago, Illinois, Sat. April 2, 2005

CHICAGO -- When Kathy Chumachenko left for Europe 14 years ago,
she was a young American pursuing a career and adventure overseas.

The Chicago native is returning as the first lady of Europe's sixth most
populous country, the wife of Ukraine's new president, who survived an
apparent assassination attempt by poisoning.

Chumachenko and her husband, President Viktor Yushchenko, were to
arrive Sunday in Washington to start a four-day tour of the United States
with stops in Chicago and Boston. She said the trip is a celebration of
Yushchenko's dramatic election victory following a popular uprising last
year.

"I will be coming back after a very moving period in our lives,"
Chumachenko told The Associated Press in a telephone interview
Friday from Ukraine. "We went through very, very difficult times. But
this will be a time to enjoy the outcome."

Members of the Chicago area's 100,000-strong Ukrainian-American
community see the visit as a homecoming for Chumachenko, who was
raised here by parents who emigrated from Ukraine after World War II
and who became a Ukrainian citizen only last month.

Shops in Chicago's Ukrainian Village have taped photos of Yushchenko, 51,
and Chumachenko, 43, to their storefronts, and yellow-and-blue Ukrainian
flags flutter in the streets. "It's not every day you have a Chicagoan
who's the wife of a president of such a large country," said John Oharenko,
a community leader.

Chumachenko's life has unfolded like the plot of a mystery thriller, from
high-stakes geopolitics to attempted murder. Her husband's scarred face
is a remnant of the dioxin poisoning that nearly killed him during the
presidential campaign. Chumachenko became a target herself, denounced
in opposition leaflets as a U.S. spy.

After graduating from Georgetown University and earning an MBA at the
University of Chicago, she got a job in the public liaison office of the
Reagan White House. There, she delved into Ukrainian affairs, recalled
Bruce Bartlett, who worked in the office of policy development. "She was
dedicated in one way or another to seeing Ukraine free one day," he said.

Independence came in 1991 when the Soviet Union unraveled. Within months,
Chumachenko was living in Kiev, where she was immediately struck by the
stark reality of life in the former communist country. "I was impressed with
so many people," she said. "But I was also disappointed with the poverty and
the lack of hope in people."

Chumachenko, who was working for the accounting firm KPMG, met Yush-
chenko in 1993 when he was head of Ukraine's Central Bank. "I think we were
immediately impressed with each other, with our mutual love for Ukraine and
with our many common interests in art, culture and history," she said. They
married in 1998.

Yushchenko became prime minister in 1999, but was ousted by pro-
Communist parliamentary groups two years later. At about the same time,
political attacks on his American-born wife intensified and continued
through the recent campaign.

Chumachenko said nothing prepared her for her husband's dioxin poisoning.
On the night he fell ill in September, she had kissed him and detected a
strange taste on his lips. Within weeks, his face had become badly
disfigured.

"I knew the stakes were very high for our country and that if they could not
hurt my husband politically they might try to do it physically," she said.
"But the way this happened to my husband wasn't expected, it was so
unusual -- like out of an old Soviet novel."

Despite the near-fatal illness and several contested runoffs with former
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, Yushchenko won the presidency on a
wave of popular support. His campaign also received support from
Ukrainians in the United States. Chicago was among four U.S. cities where
Ukrainians could vote in the election; Yushchenko won 4,417 votes cast
there to Yanukovych's 14.

Chumachenko, who goes by Kateryna Chumachenko-Yushchenko in
Ukraine, still regularly fields questions about her identity. Her answer, in
her American-accented Ukrainian, has been unequivocal: She is first and
foremost Ukrainian.

But she also acknowledges a debt to the land of her birth. "It gave haven
to my parents after the war. And I have the democratic values of America
because I grew up and was educated there," she said. "But I was also
very much raised Ukrainian. I think I have a good blend of the two worlds."
=============================================================
5. "FIRST LADY"

By Pam Defiglio, Daily Herald Staff Writer
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, Illinois
Surburban Chicago's Information Source
Thursday, March 31, 2005

It's one thing to be a whiz kid in economic policies. It's quite another
to go shopping for a gift for an attractive woman in Chicago.

Long before Viktor Yushchenko inspired millions to rally for democracy,
before he became president of Ukraine and before he was poisoned,
he faced that problem.

It was 1993, two years after Ukraine became independent from the
former Soviet Union. He was heading a group of Ukrainian bankers.
Painfully aware that socialist economics had failed their country,
they had come to the United States to study the financial system here.

Kathy Chumachenko, who grew up in Mount Prospect, had been hired
to organize the study tour for them. She had the perfect resume
for the job: a degree in international economics from Georgetown
University; a University of Chicago master's degree in international
finance; fluent Ukrainian, learned from her immigrant parents; and a
deep, fierce love for her parents' homeland.

As they toured financial centers in Washington, New York and Chicago,
Kateryna, as she's known in Ukrainian, made an impression on him,
and he made an impression on her.

"I found him very handsome and intelligent," she says, speaking
in a phone interview last week from Kiev, Ukraine's capital. "He was
very well-informed and free market-oriented."

Someone told him it was her birthday. He convinced an interpreter
to go shopping with him, practicing a little real-life capitalism.

"We were all in a Chicago hotel and he gave me my first present.
It was a small antique pin in the shape of a shell. It was very pretty
and sentimental for me," she says. "I was touched he'd take the
time to do that."

Soon after, the financial firm that had hired her to lead the tour
gave her a full-time job in Ukraine. It fulfilled her long-time dream
to live in the country she feels so drawn to.

She also got to see more of a certain banker, an up-and-coming
leader in the struggling nation's government. But she insists the
relationship stayed professional for a long time.

"He says the love began immediately. I say it grew gradually," she
recalls. However it happened, they married in 1998.

POISON AND PROTEST
Three children and a lot of political advancement later, Kateryna
Chumachenko Yushchenko, 43, got the scare of her life.

Last September, when Viktor Yushchenko, 51, was running for Ukraine's
presidency against a Russia-backed candidate, he came home from a
dinner meeting complaining of illness. It progressed so alarmingly
he flew to Austria for medical treatment. Doctors suspected he had
been poisoned with dioxin, a potent chemical.

It pockmarked his face and made him sick, but he carried on the
campaign. He lost the Nov. 21 election, but widespread reports of
vote fraud drew thousands to the streets to protest in the freezing
cold.

The protests quickly took on a mammoth scale. Yushchenko supporters
declared a peaceful "Orange Revolution" and tens of thousands camped
out in Ukrainian city centers wearing orange. Someone wrote a protest
song.

In Chicago, Ukrainian-Americans held demonstrations and sent money
to the fledgling movement. Suburban residents tied orange bows around
the Ukrainian Youth Center in Palatine.

Protesters drew the battle lines. It was Russia, longtime dominator
of Ukraine, vs. pro-democracy, pro-independence Yushchenko. It would
determine whether Ukraine stayed under Russia's umbrella or branched
out to have relationships with the West.

With the stakes so high, dirty fighting ensued. Kateryna and the
children quietly moved to a friend's home after they heard about threats
to their safety. Viktor's two grown children and young grandchild
also went into seclusion. After the poisoning, they had to take political
enemies seriously.

"It was obviously a very exciting time, a dramatic time," Kateryna
says. "Very often I felt like I was living in a dream or a novel.
We went from the emotions of joy and exhilaration to fear and
being upset." Even as the protests happened, she recognized they
were momentous in Ukraine's history.

"Our family feels that everything that happened was with the hand
of God because, for centuries, Ukrainian people were subject to
political repression, wars and famines. Finally in one moment, they
all rose up and stood up for their rights. It was something that happens
not just once in a lifetime, but"- she pauses to find the right words
-"maybe once in a millennium."

And the tide began to turn. A high court ruled the Nov. 21 election
invalid due to fraud and set a new election Dec. 26. International
poll watchers blanketed the country. This time, Yushchenko won.
He was inaugurated as president Jan. 23. That has given Kateryna
about nine weeks to get used to her role as first lady.

Her close friend, Gina Montalbano of Algonquin, feels sure it's
a role she'll take on seamlessly.

"She was always very smart and got straight As. She's low-key,
poised, confident, genuine...," Montalbano says. "It was natural for
her to be able to make speeches and be a first lady."

A WHITE '78 CAMARO
Kateryna and Montalbano met in fourth grade. Mykhailo and Sofia
Chumachenko, Kateryna's parents, had just moved their family from
Chicago's Humboldt Park area to Mount Prospect, and Kateryna was
about to enter Busse School.

"This beautiful girl came up to me and said, 'Are you new? Do you
want to be friends?'" Kateryna recalls.

Montalbano remembers that as kids, they rode their bikes, strung
beads, played cards and had slumber parties.

"We'd go to Randhurst even though we weren't supposed to,"
Montalbano says. "She loved to read books. She used to play piano -
I'd sit and watch her practice."

Both girls attended Lincoln Junior High and Prospect High School.
When they turned 15, they got jobs waitressing at the cafe inside
Thunderbird Bowling Lanes on Rand Road.

Kathy, as she was called then, remembers her past fondly. "I have
very warm memories of Mount Prospect, because I had a happy
childhood," she says.

The Chumachenkos took an active part in the Ukrainian community,
too. Kathy took Ukrainian classes in Chicago's Ukrainian Village and
joined folk dancing classes at the youth center in Palatine.

Kathy got noticed in high school, where her class voted her "Most
Likely to Succeed." "She was voted 'coolest car,' too," says
Montalbano. "We graduated high school in 1979, and she had a
white '78 Camaro."

Besides the cool car, Montalbano says Kathy has a great personality:
"She 's very bubbly. She loves to giggle. There are no airs about
her. And she loves to kid around."

After college, Kathy worked in Washington, D.C., first on human
rights for the Reagan administration, and then for a group urging
the U.S. government to support democracy in Ukraine.

Natalie Konowal of Arlington Heights knew her from both high school
and the Ukrainian community. Even among the tight-knit ethnic group,
Konowal says Kateryna's fascination with Ukraine stood out.

"She always wanted to live in Ukraine," Konowal says. "We all knew
she'd move there someday. For her parents, they went through some
bad times. It's not the same thing for them."

The Nazis had sent both Mykhailo and Sofia Chumachenko to a labor
camp in Germany, where they met. They had their first child, Lidia,
there in 1945. Mykhailo suffered from tuberculosis and spent eight
years in a sanatorium. After his health improved, the family came
to Chicago in 1956. He worked as an electrician, and died in 1998.
Kateryna keeps in close touch with her mother, who lives in Florida,
and sister, in Georgia.

The new first lady tries to explain the deep tie she feels to Ukraine.
"When I was brought up, my family spent time talking about Ukraine.
For me it created a romantic image - this beautiful country, these
wonderful people that had suffered a great deal," she says.

Traveling to Ukraine at age 13, and again at 16, made her fall in
love with it even more. "The trips really changed my life and made
me very much want to live there," she says.

DAD, THE PRESIDENT
Now she not only lives there, her position gives her a chance to
influence the nation. She plans to work on a foundation Viktor started
that highlights Ukrainian history and art and looks at solutions for
social problems, such as the disabled and exploited.

She's also juggling the care of Sophia, 6, Chrystyna, 4, and Taras,
who turned 1 March 24. But he didn't get a party that day.

"We were welcoming the president of (the republic of) Georgia and
his wife, so we weren't able to celebrate my son's birthday." "There's
never enough time," she says, sighing. "I miss spending time with
them but I hope they someday understand."

She's not sure what the kids take away from standing onstage and
hearing people cheer for their father. "They probably didn't think it
was unusual their dad was the president," she says.

Kateryna says Viktor is improving daily since the poisoning. After
the inauguration, the family moved out of hiding and into the official
residence. Konowal says they are still in danger, though.

"You just have to visit this country once to see how much corruption
there is," she says. She has gone there to volunteer with Kateryna
and Viktor in an organization that helps Ukrainian orphans.

"Many people have lost their lives due to corruption," Kateryna
acknowledges. "But you can't dwell on that. My husband and I are
people of faith. God has put us here for a certain purpose."

Yushchenko is trying to change the corrupt culture, but that will
take time. First, there's a visit to the United States.

The couple will arrive in Washington, D.C. Monday and Viktor will
meet with President Bush. The Yushchenkos will fly to Chicago and
he will address the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations at 7:30 p.m.

On Tuesday morning, she'll speak at the University of Chicago. They'll
then travel to Boston, where Viktor will accept a Kennedy Foundation
award and speak at Harvard University. On Wednesday, he will address
a joint session of Congress.

The "most likely to succeed" girl from Mount Prospect, who wanted
to live in Ukraine, has made it beyond her wildest dreams. On Monday,
she'll get a chance to greet and thank some of the people who
encouraged her way back when. "Even in high school," says Konowal,
"we knew she had a goal to be someone." -30-
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http://www.dailyherald.com/search/searchstory.asp?id=27581
=============================================================
6. UKRAINE PRESIDENT'S WIFE KATERYNA YUSHCHENKO
WORKING TO RECEIVE UKRAINIAN CITIZENSHIP

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005

KYIV - The wife of President Viktor Yuschenko, Kateryna Yuschenko,
has received Ukrainian citizenship. The president's press service said
the relevant agencies will announce it to the public soon.

A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry quoted Lutsenko as saying that
Kateryna Yuschenko has received a temporary identity document of
Ukrainian citizen.

The spokesperson added that, according to the Ukrainian law, Kateryna
Yuschenko must annul its American citizenship first and then she will be
able to receive a permanent Ukrainian passport. As Ukrainian News earlier
reported, Kateryna Chumachenko had earlier spoken about her intention
as first lady to concentrate on charity activity. -30-
=============================================================
7. YUSHCHENKO'S U.S. CONGRESS SPEECH A VISIT TO
"CATHEDRAL OF DEMOCRACY"

Ukrayinska Pravda, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, April 1, 2005

KYIV - US Congressmen are waiting for President Viktor Yushchenko's
speech on April 6, minister of foreign affairs Borys Tarasyuk said.

House of Representatives speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate majority
leader Bill Frist made an official statement with information about the
speech to the joint session of Congress that Viktor Yushchenko will
make as a part of his official US visit.

"President Yushchenko's election is inspiring the spread of democracy
throughout the world, in spite of threats and intimidation. We welcome him
to this cathedral of democracy and look forward to hearing from him," the
statement reads.

This decision of the American lawmakers shows a high degree of trust in
the new government after the victory of democracy in Ukraine, and
personally to Viktor Yushchenko. Addressing the US Congress is a
unique opportunity given to the most notable world statesmen, Tarasyuk
noted. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
8. LEADER OF ORANGE REVOLUTION: EVENTS IN WASHINGTON
Orange Revolution Rally, Shevchenko Monument
Banquet Tickets Still Available Through Monday, April 4, 2005

THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT
Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 2, 2005

WASHINGTON - Tickets to the banquet being held in honor of
Viktor Yushchenko, the new President of Ukraine, on Wednesday
evening, April 6, in Washington, D.C, are still available through
Monday, April 4th. Tickes can now only be purchased
on-line through the website of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation,
www.usukraine.org or http://www.usukraine.org./banquet.shtml.

The large banquet will be held in the Omni Shoreham Hotel
ballroom in Washington. A reception will begin at 6:30 p.m
and the banquet will be held at 7:30 p.m. on April 6. Tickets
are available to the public for the banquet. President Yushchenko
will speak at the banquet. The first lady of Ukraine, Kateryna
Chumachenko Yushchenko, will be with the President at
the banquet. Details for the banquet as follows:

Where: Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.
2500 Calvert Street, N.W. (at Connecticut Ave)
When: Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Reception: 6:30 p.m.; Dinner: 7:30 p.m.
Dress: Black Tie Optional
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Your editor is a member of the finance committee of
President Yushchenko's Welcome Committee. If you need
further information please send an e-mail at morganw@patriot.net
or call me at 202 437 4707.
=============================================================
9. UNITED STATES INTENDS TO LOWER ITS VISA FEE FOR
UKRAINIAN CITIZENS FROM USD165 TO USD100 IN NEAR FUTURE

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, April 1, 2005

KYIV - United States To Lower Visa Fee For Ukrainians From USD 165
To USD 100 The press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry
disclosed this to Ukrainian News. An agreement to this effect was reached
during a meeting between the head of the Foreign Affairs Ministry's consular
department, Mykola Tochytskyi, and the United States Consul General Mary
Kay Carlson on Wednesday.

They also agreed that the United States embassy will introduce simplified
procedures for non-immigration visas on March 31 for those who have not
previously obtained American visas, students, and participants in exchange
programs. The United States will also start processing documents and
issuing immigration visas to Ukrainians, excluding Green Card holders, at
the embassy in Kyiv. The embassy will start accepting applications for such
visas on May 3.

According to the press service, such visas were previously issued at the
United States embassy in Warsaw. The two sides also discussed
international children adoption.

The Ukrainian delegation also insistently requested a review of the United
States decision not to compensate the family of Taras Protsiuk, the
journalist who was killed in Iraq in April 2004. The delegation also thanked
the United States for facilitating the transportation of Nastia Ovchar to a
Boston clinic for treatment for burns suffered in a fire.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the embassy of the United States
decided in January 2004 to introducing electronic scanning of visa
applicants' fingerprints. President Viktor Yuschenko has signed a decree
canceling entry visas for citizens of the member-states of the European
Union and Switzerland from May 1 to September 1. -30-
=============================================================
10. MR. BUSH, TEAR DOWN THIS TRADE BARRIER
Releasing Ukraine from a 30-year-old trade restriction could be
America's greatest contribution to the Orange Revolution.

By Peter Savodnik, Political Editor, The Hill
Slate, Washington, D.C., Friday, April 1, 2005

Now that the pyrotechnics of Ukraine's Orange Revolution have burnt out,
President Viktor Yushchenko has just over a year to convince his country-
men that the rule of law and free markets are better than dictatorship and
poverty. When the Ukrainian visits here next week, President Bush and
Congress can help him make that case.

The stakes in this battle over political identity are high: If Yushchenko
succeeds, 50 million Ukrainians will take a big step toward reforming the
country's economic, legal, and political systems and transcending their
Soviet past. If Yushchenko fails, the authoritarian forces arrayed against
him-the security services, the old-time nomenklatura, the Kremlin-will
dominate in next year's parliamentary elections.

Yushchenko's former rival, Viktor Yanukovich, who remains popular in
eastern Ukraine, will then become a major force in the parliament, or Rada;
the secret police will live on; and the seedy "privatizations" of the 1990s
will not be revisited. A new regime, a conglomeration of different-hued
hold overs from the Soviet and immediate post-Soviet eras, will return its
citizen-subjects to subject-citizens and steer the ship of state back into
the Russian "near abroad." America will have truly lost Ukraine.

This, at least, is the fear of many who camped out in Kiev's tent city and
flooded the Independence Square in the bitter cold of November and
December to demand a new politics.

The leaders of the Yushchenko government are too diplomatic to issue thinly
veiled public threats about what will happen if the United States doesn't
come to the rescue. But everyone in the White House, Congress, and State
Department knows what they want-repeal of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik trade
measure, which barred the Soviet Union from gaining Most Favored Nation
trade status because of restrictions on Jewish emigration, and which remains
in effect for most former Soviet states; market-economy designation care of
the U.S. Department of Commerce; and entry into the World Trade
Organization.

All of the above amount to a single, all-encompassing objective: access to
international markets, which translates into more money, jobs, and admission
to the much-vaunted "international community." Admission to the
international community, to post-Soviets, means never rejoining (or being
forced to rejoin) Moscow's sphere of influence.

Should Yushchenko stumble, Ukrainian officials insist, it will be that much
tougher to convince voters that democracy pays. "If, for example, we fail to
reach these very concrete points of a road map, it will be a
disappointment," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasuyk said in a recent
interview. "That will mean those who supported President Yushchenko will
say, 'What did you do?' The expectations are very high."

It is Jackson-Vanik that matters most, at least in some symbolic sense, to
Ukrainians.

Kiev would have liked to be "graduated" from Jackson-Vanik by the time
Yushchenko showed up at the White House on April 4. The gears of govern-
ment move too slowly for that to happen, but realistically the government
could lift Jackson-Vanik from Ukraine by summer. This would give Yushchenko
a big political victory and facilitate entry into the WTO. No one-not even
in Yanukovich's base of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine-could deny that the
democratic reformers had delivered.

Granted, there are good reasons for not lifting Jackson-Vanik. There are
political interests: U.S. lawmakers like holding on to the trade provision
because it gives them leverage when haggling with Ukraine or other former
Soviet governments. There is a religious-historical argument: Jewish
organizations fear that synagogues, cemeteries, and other communal
properties stolen by the Soviets (and subsequently turned over to the
post-Soviet regime) won't be returned to Ukrainian Jews. And there is some
concern in diplomatic circles that graduating Ukraine but not Russia will
alienate President Vladimir Putin, whose nuclear arsenal and ties to Tehran
mean more to the United States than Viktor Yushchenko with his orange
scarf and American wife.

But these concerns are overshadowed by the good that can come from helping
Yushchenko-like democratic uprisings in Belarus, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and
even Iran; the resurgence of a Russian reform movement; and, of course, the
health and happiness of the Ukrainian people themselves.

It's true that losing Jackson-Vanik means Americans won't be able to force
Ukraine, say, to open up poultry markets. But international democratic
movements trump the narrower concerns of a congressman looking out for
his constituents. Naturally, members of Congress, who live in perpetual fear
of the next election despite the near certainty that they'll be re-elected,
must defend their turf-against NAFTA or military-base closings or shady
trading practices in the former Soviet Union. Still, this doesn't mean
they're right. The national interest-fostering a democratic trading partner
in Ukraine-must override the more parochial concerns of a particular
congressional district or state.

And it's true that Jews have reason to question Ukrainian good will. This is
the land, after all, of Bernard Malamud's The Fixer, the 1966 novel (based
on a true story) about Yakov Bok, a Jewish employee at a brick factory in
pre-revolutionary Kiev accused for no reason other than his religion of
ritualistic murder. This is the same country that produced able and willing
concentration-camp guards to man the Nazi death machine.

This is a place that remains, in its culture and religion and its collective
comprehension of Otherness, mired in a medieval anti-Semitism. But that's
something of a caricature. Since 1991, the Ukrainian government, like
governments across the former Communist world, has dramatically improved
relations with local Jewish communities. And, more important, it is
democracy and capitalism-by thrusting different peoples together in a
marketplace of goods and services and conflicting or complementary
political interests-that will help or force Ukraine to move beyond its
ancient hatreds.

Finally, there's little doubt that graduating Ukraine from Jackson-Vanik
while leaving Russia behind will roil U.S.-Russian relations. But the facts
on the ground have changed, and U.S. policy should reflect that. Russia is
deeply ambivalent about democracy, while Ukraine has embraced it.

Besides, denying Russia graduation from Jackson-Vanik carries no economic
impact: Washington will almost certainly continue to grant Moscow yearly
waivers. This is the middle ground. It's not the same as kicking Russia out
of the G-8, as Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman have proposed; it is a
signal that WTO membership, which Russia really wants, remains a distant
possibility.

When Yushchenko comes to Washington, he will receive a triumphant welcome.
The Ukrainian president is expected to address a joint session of Congress
and meet with the adoring Ukrainian-Americans who flocked to his cause. He
will be treated like the great and noble domino who set off an explosion of
popular movements in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.

But if the White House views Yushchenko as something more than a democratic
motif, a scar-faced vindication of President Bush's free-people, free-market
gospel, if the Americans truly wish for the Ukrainian to succeed, they must
give him every bit of support they can. They should repeal Jackson-Vanik.
They should help Yushchenko convince his people that they were right to tear
down the old regime. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monnitoring Service]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Savodnik is the political editor of the Hill in Washington, D.C.
Photograph of Victor Yushchenko by Axel Schmidt/Zuma Press.
LINK: http://slate.msn.com/id/2115995/
=============================================================
11. WHEN DOES A NATION-STATE'S HISTORY BEGIN?

By Ethan S. Burger, Esq., Scholar-in-Residence
School of International Service, Adjunct Associate Professor of Law
Washington College of Law, American University
Washington, D.C., April, 2005

Victor Yushchenko is making his first visit to the United States as
President of Ukraine. Supporters of democracy throughout the world
justifiably feel some satisfaction from his recent triumph. At first
glance, it appears that the people's collective will has triumphed over the
rule of (certain) entrenched elites. Democracy, however, means more
than holding elections - it requires the rule of law, accountable officials,
a vibrant civil society and a viable, independent media.

In 13 years, Ukraine has developed into a country - having a shared future.
The current euphoria over deployments in Ukraine should not preclude an
examination of the country's and the nation's past. Uncomfortable questions
need to be raised since Ukrainian history (like that of most other nations)
contains many unpleasant chapters. \

This is particularly true given President Yushchenko embrace of Cossack
leader Bohdan Khmelnitsky and symbolically a golden mace as a nationalistic
symbol. In the seventeenth century, Khmelnitsky after liberating Ukraine
from Polish rule made it possible with his acquiescence for Moscow's to
gain control of Ukraine. Ironically, Mr. Yushchenko's first official trip
as president was to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
This is understandable since it is critical that Ukraine maintain good
relations with its northern neighbor, its principal supplier of energy.

Nonetheless, the timing is a bit haunting. Anti-Semitism is once again
manifesting itself in Russia. Russian State Duma Deputies belonging to the
Motherland, Liberal-Democratic and Communist parties have called for a ban
on Jewish groups. Earlier this year, the Russian newspaper
Rus-Pravoslavnaya [Russian Othodoxy] published a letter signed by
approximately 500 individuals calling on Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir
Ustinov to investigate Jewish organizations in the country for allegedly
provoking ethnic tensions. The letter also referred to the discredited
accusations that in the past Jews had committed ritual murders of Christian
children in Russia. The letter was also critical of certain of Mr. Putin's
policies.

Throughout history, Ukrainians have been both victim and victimizers
(sometimes simultaneously). According to most credible estimates, more
than 3.4 million Ukrainians died in the 1930s during collectivization. Even
more ethnic Ukrainian died in the Soviet Gulag. But is it historically
accurate to blame past transgressions of human rights (including
collaboration in genocide) on Ukrainian territory solely on the Nazis and
the Soviets, as if no ethnic Ukrainians played a facilitative role?

In the historical pecking order of the region, Ukraine has certainly been
dominated by the Polish/Lithuanian Duchy and the Russian/Soviet Empire.
As an independent modern state, Ukraine has a short history; it has a far
longer past as a country or region as do its people. Does Ukraine today
move forward tabular rasa into the family of European democracy, or
should it come to grips with its past?

For example, it is bothersome to some that Khelminitsky remains a Ukrainian
national hero, who liberated the Ukraine, but also allowed the massacre of
tens of thousands of Poles and Jews.

Perhaps both the Ukrainian Diaspora and Ukrainians in the country need to
come to terms with their collective history much like Germany after World
War II. Ukrainians and foreigners alike need to determine whether history
and a nation-state's accountability for it begin only when it becomes a
functioning democracy.

If the new Ukrainian executive branch, legislature and courts will indeed
evolve into genuine democratic institutions, they must address the moral and
possibly property claims of the Crimean Tatars, ethnic Germans, Jews, and
some others.

While the son may not be guilty for the sins of his father, he should not be
permitted to benefit from such sins or blissfully live in ignorance of the
past. There must be a genuine systematic dialog. Mr. Yushchenko's
statement in an interview with a correspondent with Der Spiegel that
"Anti-Semitic thinking ceased to exist a long time ago in my team" is an
encouraging sign.

Perhaps the best place to begin will be with new historically accurate
textbooks, the encouragement of scholars and documentary producers
to be intellectually honest, and for the all the Lenin and Khmelnitsky
statues to be taken down. [Article used by permission from the author]
=============================================================
12. UKRAINE: NEW GOVERNMENT MOVING ON REFORMS -
BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH

By Valentinas Mite, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Thu, March 30, 2005

Three months have passed since Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Viktor
Yushchenko and other opposition figures who led last winter's street
protests now occupy government offices. Analysts say the government is
trying to implement the reforms it promised -- and is succeeding in some
cases. But many Ukrainians are hoping to see more reforms -- and sooner.

Prague - Igor Losev teaches history and philosophy at Kyiv's Mohyla Academy.
He says the Orange Revolution has brought some immediate benefits to his
country -- like a new tolerance for freedom of expression, particularly in
the media.

"Ukraine never knew such press freedom before. We've never had such
freedom to criticize the authorities -- not only in semi-underground
opposition newspapers, but also in very respectable ones. And sometimes
this criticism really pushes the boundaries," Losev said.

The new government has moved quickly on reforms since Yushchenko's
inauguration on 23 January. Officials have taken steps to cut back industry
tax breaks and investigate past privatization deals. Parliament last week
approved a revised 2005 budget supporters hope will lay a course for
aggressive economic reform.

There have also been changes in the way the government appears to view
its electorate. Stuart Hensel of the Economist Intelligence Unit says
authorities now treat society with respect. "There seems to be a general
change in the tone of the leadership in Ukraine, which is a very positive
thing," Hensel said.

Still, observers say it is still too early to talk about major reform.
Hensel says the new government's work is still largely rhetorical --
and focused more on small changes rather than sweeping actions.

"It's still very early to look for any concrete changes. They [the new
administration] in fact spent most of the past two months focusing on
issues like personnel changes, and haven't actually come up with any
really concrete pieces of legislation that they can move through
parliament," Hensel said.

Such delays are not surprising to some. One of the first tasks of Ukraine's
new government is to streamline the state apparatus by creating a firm
separation between business and politics. But it's a delicate maneuver.
Many on Yushchenko's team are themselves successful entrepreneurs.
The administration has also begun the difficult task of reforming the
police, secret service, and border and customs officials.

The most visible change to date may be in foreign policy. Ukraine has
moved quickly to ingratiate itself with Western bodies like the European
Union. Still, such gestures will have little impact until Kyiv is able to
fully implement its internal reforms.

Losev of Mohyla Academy says the enthusiasm and excitement that infused
the Orange Revolution have faded as the government gets down to the
practicalities of holding good on its promises. He says many Ukrainians are
impatient, and want to see reforms instituted as fast as possible.

"I think that a lot of things have changed, but people's expectations are
too high. We have a specific mentality. A person thinks that if he comes to
a rally today, by tomorrow everything in the country should have changed --
and changed exactly the way he wants it to," Losev says.
Still, most Ukrainians still appear to have trust in their new government.

A February poll shows 63 percent of people support Yushchenko -- a rise
of 27 percentage points over last October, before the height of the Orange
Revolution. By contrast, support for his former rival, Viktor Yanukovych,
has dropped by 8 percentage points, to 29 percent. -30-
=============================================================
13. "RUSSIAN ROULETTE"

COMMENTARY: By Zbigniew Brzezinski
The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY,
Tuesday, March 29, 2005; Page A14

The ongoing upheaval in Kyrgyzstan and the peaceful Ukrainian and
Georgian democratic revolutions reflect two major realities in the space of
the former Soviet Union: First, the geopolitical pluralism which emerged as
a consequence of the collapse of the Kremlin's imperial domination is now
an irreversible fact, despite nostalgic efforts by Vladimir Putin to restore
Moscow's control over the newly independent states.

Second, the younger post-Soviet generation is increasingly impatient and
disgusted by the corrupt, bureaucratic authoritarianism that has persisted
in much of the area. The new political opposition tends to derive its vital
strength from a genuine demographic discontinuity.

Violent, but so far repressed, demonstrations in Belarus, where Mr. Putin
has been backing a primitive dictator, and the less dramatic but
far-reaching recent repudiation of the Kremlin's authority by Moldova's
previously pro-Moscow leadership also illustrate how out of touch the
Russian president is with political trends. His surprisingly inept policies
are accentuating Russia's self-isolation, and today, almost all of Russia's
neighbors are either afraid of Russia, contemptuous of it, or a combination
of both. Hardly an improvement on the past, it is not a good foreign policy
record.

That is why President Bush's decision to couple his forthcoming trip to
Moscow in early May with a prior stop in the capital of Latvia and a
follow-on stop in the capital of Georgia, as well as the pending visit to
Washington by Ukraine's newly installed democratic president, are
symbolically bold and strategically significant steps. The initial purpose
of Mr. Bush's trip was to attend the celebration in Moscow of the 60th
anniversary of the defeat of Nazism.

However, overtones of Mr. Putin's planned celebration appeared to some
Europeans, especially those only recently freed of Moscow's control, as a
co-celebration of the victory of Stalinism. Their concerns were heightened
by Mr. Putin's unwillingness to repudiate clearly the Ribbentrop-Molotov
Pact that enabled Stalin and Hitler to partition Central Europe.

The added visit to a Baltic capital by the president of America, one of the
very few countries which refused for decades to accept the incorporation
of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union, and a meeting there with the
presidents of all three Baltic states (two of whom have declined the
invitation to Moscow) will by itself speak volumes even if President Bush
does not address the issue directly.

Similarly, the visit to the freshly democratic Georgia -- from which Moscow
still refuses to withdraw its troops (despite explicit promises) and within
which Moscow sponsors separatist movements (even while next door
brutally repressing Chechen separatism) -- will be a major act of
international reassurance for a beleaguered people.

It would have been much better if the Russian government itself had chosen
to use the celebration of the defeat of Hitlerism for an unambiguous
denunciation of Stalinism and of its 45-year-long domination of Central
Europe. The occasion then would have been a moment for reconciliation as
well as a celebration. Central and East Europe need such reconciliation with
Russia, and Russia itself could benefit as much from it as Germany benefited
from the Franco-German, and the more recent German-Polish, reconciliation.

But that kind of statesmanship can only come from leaders genuinely imbued
with a deep democratic conviction. Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine and Mikhail
Saakashvili of Georgia have shown by the risks they have courageously faced
that their beliefs transcend political opportunism. They gained thereby the
fervent support particularly of the new, post-Soviet younger generation. The
political future in the post-Soviet space is clearly with leaders like them.

Such Russian leaders may not yet be visible in Moscow, but President Bush
will be speaking to the future leaders even if he will not be able to see
them. Many young Russians will be watching and listening and wondering
why their lives should be shaped by nostalgia for a past that deserves to be
permanently buried.

The events of the last few months are thus an augury of better days to come.
The remarkable political maturity shown by the Ukrainians was an impressive
display of a genuinely democratic culture sprouting in a country that until
recently was paternalistically patronized by the Russian political elite.

The Ukrainian youth dramatically displayed that democratic culture with
patience and determination during their four-week-long encampment in the
middle of Kiev, braving a blistering cold spell. Their example will have a
contagious effect on their Russian counterparts, especially if in the
meantime the West assists Ukraine in its westward trajectory.

A democratic geopolitical pluralism is beginning to surround Russia.
Because the new states are so much less powerful, this environment in
itself is incapable of seriously threatening Russia. However, their example
will inevitably reinforce pressures within Russia for a similarly profound
break with the authoritarian and chauvinist tradition that still dominates
the Moscow political elite's mindset. And that break will come before too
long, when the cumulative effects of increased contacts with the world, of
democracy in adjoining and once dominated states, and of the inherent
attraction of Europe prompt a basic redefinition in the minds of the younger
Russians of their vision of what Russia ought to be.

Russian youth are well educated. Increasingly, many have traveled and
studied in the West. Indeed, there is somewhere, perhaps at the Harvard
Business School or at the London School of Economics, a young Russian
who will someday occupy the seat in the Kremlin currently filled by a
graduate of the KGB. With the pace of history dramatically accelerating (and
let us not forget how even just recently most in the West viewed Ukraine as
a backwater of Russia), one cannot dismiss the possibility that this will
happen much sooner than most can imagine. Russians still know their
Marxism much better than Westerners, and it was Karl Marx who said, quite
correctly, that "consciousness lags behind reality."

Further east in the former Soviet Union, political change will have to cope
with a special complexity. The newly independent Central Asian states have
retained leaderships directly associated with the previous Soviet system.
Their titles have changed but not their political roles. Moreover, the
political leaderships, while welcoming their new independence and doing
much to consolidate it, have also remained faithful to the earlier
Soviet-style secularism derived from official atheism. The West, fearful
of Islamic fundamentalism, instinctively approved of that aspect.

The problem, however, is that the peoples of these countries are Muslims.
Neither fanatical nor fundamentalist but still deeply faithful. Islamic
identity is an organic part of the national identity of the demographically
dominant younger generation, for whom emancipation from colonial rule
opened up hitherto stifled political self-expression. Heavy-handed efforts
by Soviet-trained leaders to repress Islamism indiscriminately thus poses
the risk that political opposition may increasingly become militantly
Islamist.

That could give populist movements in the region an altogether different and
more violent cast from what has lately occurred in the more European parts
of the former Soviet Union.

The sooner Russia itself becomes a democracy, the more likely it is that
change in the former Soviet Union will both peacefully consolidate
geopolitical pluralism and give the younger generation's revolutionary wave
a truly democratic definition. But it is of no help to the future of
democracy in Russia to pretend that its non-democratic regime is already
a democracy. It is also not reassuring to Russia's neighbors when its
government equivocates regarding a past that is universally regarded as
criminal. Clarity on these matters is the prerequisite to genuine democracy.

In an unexpected way, the wider symbolic and strategic manifestations
surrounding the forthcoming Moscow celebration of Hitler's defeat may
thus speed up the final burial of Stalin's legacy. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Carter, is a
professor at Johns Hopkins, a trustee at the Center for Strategic &
International Studies, and the author, most recently, of "The Choice:
Global Domination or Global Leadership" (Basic Books, 2004).
=============================================================
14. RUSSIAN AGENCY REPORTS ON CRIMEAN TARTAR'S
OPPOSITION TO STALIN MONUMENT

Tatar-Inform news agency, Kazan, in Russian. 1 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, April 1, 2005

SIMFEROPOL - Deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar Majlis [ethnic
assembly], Ukrainian MP Refat Chubarov has urged the Crimean
prosecutor's office to immediately contest a recently adopted decision
of the Livadia local council to erect a bronze monument to Stalin,
Churchill and Roosevelt at the Livadia Palace.

Out of 22 members of the local council who were present at that session,
19 voted in favour of the monument and one voted against. Crimean
Communist leader Leonid Hrach addressed the session of the [Livadia]
local council, calling on the deputies to erect the monument and to
allocate a place for it in the Livadia park.

In his speech, Hrach could not help launching yet another verbal attack
against Crimean Tatars. In particular, he said that not all Crimean Tatars
were opposed to the monument, adding that "only radical nationalists from
the Majlis were against it". It is worth recalling that is was under Hrach's
rule as the secretary of the Crimean [Communist] party committee that a
large-scale campaign of unbridled propaganda against Crimean Tatars'
return to their homeland was launched. [Passage omitted: background
on the dispute over the Stalin monument.] -30-
=============================================================
15. ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO EXHIBITION TO INAUGURATE
NEW UKRAINIAN MUSEUM BUILDING IN NEW YORK

The Ukrainian Museum, New York City, NY, April, 2005

NEW YORK CITY - The new facility of The Ukrainian Museum in New York
City will open on April 3, 2005, with the inaugural exhibition Alexander
Archipenko: Vision and Continuity, consisting of some 65 sculptures and
sculpto-paintings of one of the 20th century's most innovative and
influential artists.

The majority of the works are from the collection of Frances Archipenko
Gray, the artist's widow. Other works come from a number of private
collections and museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and
the Yale University Art Gallery.

Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964) was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he
studied art at the Kyiv Art Institute until 1905. In 1906 he moved to
Moscow, and in 1908 to Paris. Archipenko established his reputation as
a revolutionary innovator in the art world of Paris in the first decades of
the 20th century, working in the milieu of artists like Pablo Picasso, Henri
Matisse, and Constantin Brancusi. In 1921, Archipenko moved to Berlin,
and in 1923 he came to the United States, settling in Bearsville, New York
(near Woodstock).

He remained in America for the rest of his life -- a forty-year period of
prodigious creative output. Archipenko was an important pedagogue and
ran his own art school. He also taught and worked in many institutions of
higher learning from coast to coast as well as in the New Bauhaus in
Chicago.

Dr. Jaroslaw Leshko, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Smith College in
Northampton, Massachusetts, is the curator of the Alexander Archipenko
exhibition and the author of the comprehensive analytical essay in the
exhibition's fully illustrated, bilingual (English-Ukrainian), 180-page
catalogue. Professor Leshko has organized the exhibition around four
dominant concepts: Form and Space; Motion and Stasis; Construction,
Materials, Color; and Content into Form.

"This approach allows the visitor to explore vital continuities in
Archipenko's art," says Professor Leshko, "since each of these rubrics was
revisited and reinterpreted in every phase of his career." It also allows
for striking juxtapositions across time, underscoring a continuous, evolving
artistic vision.

Form and Space. Archipenko's greatest and best-known contribution to the
vocabulary of modernism lay in his reassessment of the relationship between
solid and void, notes Professor Leshko. "This manifested itself in the
exploration of concave/convex forms, and especially in his substitution of a
void for a head or a torso -- his most important and radical innovation," he
adds. "Archipenko would continue to explore the concave/convex, solid/void
relationship in brilliant permutations throughout his career."

Some of the artist's most important works belong in this category:
Silhouette (Woman with Umbrella) (1913), Geometric Statuette (1914),
Woman Combing Hair (1915), Green Concave (1913-15), Flat Torso
(1914), Walking (1912-18), Seated Woman (1920).

In the later phase of his career, Archipenko consistently utilized the
concave/convex motif, and the solid/void transformation also continued to
inform his vision. Seated Figure (1947), Oval Figure (1957), and Queen of
Sheba (1961) are compelling examples of his later exploration of the void.

MOTION AND STASIS
Archipenko's interest in movement dates back to the outset of his career.
It reflects a general interest at the time in defining modernity through
motion. According to Professor Leshko, "it also speaks of his restless,
inventive temperament, fascinated with the vitality and variety of human
form in motion."

Dance (1912-13), Blue Dancer (1913), Boxers (1914), and Walking
(1912-18) are among Archipenko's most important early examples of
motion in sculpture. Walking as a motif recurs in every decade of his
career, each time brilliantly transformed.

These works have a counterpoint in Archipenko's imagery of stasis that is,
in Professor Leshko's words, "still, iconic, and contemplative." Works like
Vase Woman I (1918), Torso in Space (1935), and Dignity (1961) belong to
this group. In certain works both motion and stasis are implicit, as in
Penché (1913) and Gondolier (1914). Revolving Figure (1956) is a literal
translation of this idea.

CONSTRUCTION, MATERIALS, COLOR
Archipenko's challenge to the process of sculpture and its traditional
materials was boldly announced in his construction Médrano I (1912-14).
His fascination with various materials startlingly juxtaposed continued and
evolved throughout his career, constantly incorporating new processes and
materials like plastic, bakelite, and formica. Woman Standing (1920) and
Woman (Metal Lady) (1923) are important examples. His later works include
Seated Figure (1947), Oval Figure (1957), White (1957), and Cleopatra
(1957).

"No other sculptor of the 20th century involved color in his imagery as
insistently and consistently as Archipenko," Professor Leshko points out.
Carrousel Pierrot (1913) is an early, brilliant example of orchestrating
color through form and form through color. He invented a new category
of sculpto-painting to investigate the symbiosis between painting and
sculpture. Bather (1915) and Woman with Fan (1915) are early examples.
He revitalized the art of painted wood and terra-cotta in such compelling
works as Architectural Figure (1950).

CONTENT INTO FORM
Archipenko's revolutionary innovations are manifest in a context of rich
and varied content. In his works he explores extensively the world of
entertainment from circus to boxing to dance in works like Médrano I
(1912--14), Médrano II (1913), Boxers (1914), and Dancers (1912). He
addresses historical figures like Cleopatra (1957) and Queen of Sheba
(1961). He taps into a rich emotional vein in works like Sorrow
(Tristesse) (1909), Feminine Solitude (1921), Mâ-Meditation (1932), and
Dignity (1961).

He also touches on religious themes like Adam and Eve (1909) and
Ascension (1950). These examples are indicative of Archipenko's broad
range of interests and their central role in his creative expression.
Archipenko's extensive writings on art underscore the theoretical and
philosophical underpinnings of his innovations.

As its title implies, Alexander Archipenko: Vision and Continuity
demonstrates the sustainability of the artist's vision and reiterates that
he stayed true to his core principles throughout his life. Adds Professor
Leshko: "The exhibition affords visitors an opportunity to explore and
experience the creative breath and sheer beauty of the art of one of the
20th century's most influential and innovative sculptors."

The Ukrainian Museum has organized a variety of public programming to
augment the Archipenko exhibition, including tours, gallery talks, a lecture
series, a symposium, and a full range of educational material for teachers,
students, and young families.

After completing its run at The Ukrainian Museum on September 4, 2005,
the exhibition will travel to the Smith College Museum of Art (March 31 to
July 30, 2006) and to the Elvehjem Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin
(September 16 to December 3, 2006).

The Alexander Archipenko exhibition is the first of three inaugural
exhibitions planned for the new Ukrainian Museum building -- a
state-of-the-art, 25,000-square-foot, $9 million facility at 222 East 6th
Street in the heart of the East Village. -30-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
The subject of the new Ukrainian Museum's inaugural exhibition is
Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964), one of the 20th century's leading
and most innovative sculptors.

Archipenko was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he studied painting and
sculpture at the Kyiv Art Institute until 1905. The following year, he moved
to Moscow, where he participated in exhibitions and where he was exposed
to a large exhibition of French art at the Golden Fleece Salon of 1908.
Later that year he relocated to Paris, then in the throes of an artistic
revolution led by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

Archipenko quickly established a reputation for brilliant innovation. His
exploration of convex/concave forms, volume/space transference, the
reintroduction of color to sculpture, his mixed-media constructions, and his
invention of sculpto-painting solidified his reputation as the most
important sculptor of the time. Archipenko's position was validated by an
exhibition of his works at the 1920 Venice biennale, then the highest honor
accorded a living artist.

In 1921 Archipenko moved to Berlin, where he opened an art school and also
began experimenting with naturalism. The same year, he married the sculptor
Angelica Bruno-Schmitz.

In 1923 Archipenko moved to the United States, where he remained for the
rest of his life. In 1929 he purchased a stone quarry in Bearsville, New
York, which became his home, studio, and art school.

In his forty-year career in America, Archipenko traveled widely. He taught
in numerous colleges and universities from coast to coast, opened an art
school in Los Angeles in 1935, and in 1937 taught at the New Bauhaus in
Chicago. He participated in such seminal exhibitions as the Museum of
Modern Art's Cubism and Abstract Art, curated by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., in
1936. He continued to create such celebrated works as Torso in Space
(1935).

Archipenko also pursued his innovations in America. In 1927 he was granted
a patent for his invention entitled Archipentura, a motorized structure that
allowed painted images to move. He experimented with new materials like
formica and bakelite. In his works in Plexiglas from the 1940s, he also
experimented with illumination.

In the 1950s, Archipenko's most important and productive period since
his Paris years, he returned to sculpto-paintings in which he used the new
materials. His masterpiece from this period is the sculpto-painting
Cleopatra (1957), the artist's largest work in this medium. During these
years he was represented by the Perls Gallery. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T h e U k r a i n i a n M u s e u m
http://www.ukrainianmuseum.org/exhibit.html
222 East 6th Street (bet. 2nd and 3rd Aves.) New York, NY 10003
Wed. thru Sun. 1-5PM (212) 228-0110; e-mail: info@UkrainianMuseum.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: Your editor visited The Ukrainian Museum in NYC on
Friday afternoon. There were still a few workman around working on
the finishing touches. The Museum is super and the Archipenko
exhibition is great. Be sure and see the new museum soon. [EDITOR]
=============================================================
16. UKRAINE'S SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

By Helen Fawkes, BBC News, Kiev
BBC NEWS, Europe, March 30, 2005

KIEV = It may look like an ordinary range of perfumes. Tall see-through
glass bottles contain different fragrances. But it is the orange ribbons
attached to each of them that sets them apart.

"We feel very proud about the Orange Revolution and we wanted to create
something to remember that special time," says Lydmila Bedrina, director
of the Russian Cosmetics Company, which is based in Kiev. "Every one
of our employees stood on Independence Square during the big
demonstrations by the opposition."

The company has developed a fragrance for each round of Ukraine's
presidential elections, as well as the inauguration of Viktor Yushchenko.

FRAGRANT SUPPORT
They use orange ribbons like those worn by the opposition. Their mass
protests were sparked by a disputed ballot in November. The perfume
for that round of the vote is marketed as smelling of bitter oranges.

"I like the one dedicated to the day that Yushchenko came to power, as it
best reflects the strong emotions I felt when I saw him as our president
for the first time," says Masha Ulyanchenko, a shopper in her 20s.
They each cost around $6.

As commiseration for the supporters of the losing presidential candidate,
Viktor Yanukovych, the company has also produced a collection of
blue-and-white perfumes. But it is being outsold by the orange range.

BUILDING TRUST
Last winter hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Kiev's
Independence Square. More than three months on, the protesters are
gone. But there is a growing trade in memorabilia commemorating the
"Orange Revolution".

Former president Leonid Kuchma was unpopular in many parts of Ukraine -
while Victor Yushchenko enjoys a high approval rating.

The latest opinion poll conducted in all regions of the country found the
new president to be trusted by more than 60% of respondents. That is
a third higher than during the elections.

"The revolution was a success and the right man won. People want to
associate themselves with that success," says Hryhoryi Nemyrya, a
political analyst.

"Young people especially are moved by the romantic aspect of Ukraine's
revolution. It has become very symbolic and almost like a legend now."

THRIVING BUSINESS
In a subway under Independence Square a new store has opened.
Called d"The Orange Revolution Shop and Museum", it only sells items
which celebrate the mass protests.

There are portraits of Mr Yushchenko, as well as T-shirts, key rings,
calendars featuring pictures of the new president and Prime Minister
Yulia Tymoshenko.

You can also buy orange flags, jumpers, bags, pens, and mugs.
Many of the open air stalls which line the capital's main street are also
cashing in.

"It seems to me that you can buy more orange things than ever before,
even compared to when there were all the demonstrations. It's not about
making a political statement any more, but a fast buck," remarks Oleg
Lazarev on his way through Independence Square to his office.

When the protests started the opposition supplied much of the orange
gear as it was their election campaign colour. But there was so much
demand that street traders also started selling the goods.

Now their biggest customers are Ukrainian tourists and foreign visitors.
"You want a piece of history?" Oleksandr, a street trader, asks passers-
by in English. "Just two dollars for a hat, three for a scarf."

NEW MARKETS
Visiting the scene of the mass protests has become part of the tourist
trail. For $150 you can even go on an "Orange Tour" of Kiev.
"You will feel the atmosphere which was created by the supporters of Viktor
Yushchenko, who defended the democracy and freedom of Ukraine," says
the website of Sun City, the Ukrainian tourist agency which offers the trip.

Far from winding down, this orange industry is now preparing for a new
market.In May Ukraine hosts the Eurovision Song Contest. It is thought that
the memorabilia will be popular amongst many of the thousands of people
who are expected in the capital. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4390909.stm
=============================================================
17. UKRAINIAN POLITICAL SCIENTIST VADYM KARASEV PRESENTS
HIS BOOK "THOUGHT AT REVOLUTION'S SPEED"

By Serhi Dovhal, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005

KYIV - Ukrainian political scientist Vadym Karasev, director of the
Institute for Global Strategies, presented his book, entitled The Thought
at Revolution's Speed."

The book incorporates his papers, interviews and commentaries and
which focuses on political technologies, used during the 2004 presidential
election campaign. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==============================================================
18. ORANGE REVOLUTION MUSEUM TO OPEN ON TRUKHANIV ISLE
IN DNIEPER FOR EUROVISION 2005 PARTICIPANTS AND GUESTS

By Andri Shulha, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005

KYIV - According to Mykola Tshchepets, director of the communal enterprise
Pleso, an orange revolution museum will be created on Trukhaniv Isle in the
Dnieper for Eurovision 2005 participants and guests.

Kyiv City has a bridge link to the isle, which is a holidaying-recreational
beach zone. -30- (The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
19. SPIRITUAL AND LITERARY RICHNESS OF IVANO-FRANKIVSK

Kyiv Weekly, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, March 31, 2005

The city was founded in 1662 by Stanislaw Potocki as an ordinary redoubt
(a small military settlement). Ten years later the Turks invaded Podillya
and Halychyna (the historical names for the central and western regions of
Ukraine) and seized nearly all the main adjacent cities. The local residents
of these towns fled to the actively fortified Stanislavov, the name of
Ivano-Frankivsk that Andriy Potocki gave the city in honor of his father, to
seek the protection of the powerful Polish magnates.

The expectations of local residents were met and the fortress in Stanislavov
became one of the few of its kind to withstand the siege of the Osmans and
eventually develop into a prosperous city.

What's in the name Discussions about the name of this historic city has
always excited the minds of great politicians, historians and regional
ethnographers.

For the first 300 years of its existence, in Stanislavov, or Stanislav, as
the Ukrainians called it, the city was inhabited by several different
nationalities. Specifically, Poles, Armenians, Jews and Germans lived
together with Ukrainians and all the city's residents were equal in number
and influence. The city did not change its name until 1962, when Stanislav
celebrated its 300th anniversary and its name was changed to Ivano-
Frankivsk in honor of the famous writer Ivan Franko, a classic figure in
Ukrainian literature.

Stanislavov played an important role in life of the writer, but
unfortunately it was connected with certain sad recollections and unrealized
dreams. Indeed, Franko visited the city for the first time in 1880, when he
was brought there as a prisoner and thrown in the local jail. Despite his
rather somber acquaintance with the city, later the writer decided to move
to Stanislavov to marry a local teacher by the name of Juzefa Dzvonkowska.
But she rejected Franko's proposal, knowing full well that she was
terminally ill and would soon die. As such, Franko never became a resident
of Stanislavov.

But in the opinion of leaders of the USSR at the time, it was necessary to
rename the town, since its original name glorified the Polish "oppressor"
Potocki.

In 1949 Nikita Khrushchov proposed to Stalin to give his name to the city,
offering such variants as Stalinsk-Prykarpatskiy and one year later -
Stalinokarpatsk. But for one reason or another, Stalin turned down this
offer. After the "cult of personality" debunked the proposal, Franko
appeared to be the most suitable candidate for the name of the city. Due
to its excessively long name, the local residents had a hard time getting
accustomed to it. And even today the city's senior residents call it
Stanislav, while the younger generation prefers to call it Frankivsk.

Birthplace of writers The residents of Stanislavov always liked to live well
and in 1822 the first casino was opened here. The local residents had
bad experiences as well. In 1868, half the city burned down due to the
carelessness of an unknown housewife, who decided to treat her family
with homemade fruit jelly. She cooked it on the open fire, which was
caught by the wind and spread to the downtown area.

The fire left in its wake only the charred ruins of a fantastic Armenian
cathedral and the City Hall. Anyhow, this did not hold back the passion of
Stanislavov residents. In the place of the old City Hall they built an even
more splendid building, opened several theaters and in 1909 they
unveiled a new movie theater called Uraniya.

Following is an excerpt of a short description of the city in a small city
guide at the beginning of the 20th century: "Two-storied buildings on the
streets, promenades, casino, shops with exotic goods for sale and cafes
with Columbian coffee. Churches: Greek-Catholic, Catholic, Armenian,
Lutheran, and a synagogue with four towers in the Moresque style. There
is also a bronze monument to Emperor Franz I and a city library with
more than 8,000 volumes of solely historic works.

Among the hotels are Union, Central, Europe, Tabsburg, and Imperial.
One-storied villas are surrounded by flowerbeds. Lypova Street, which leads
to the city park is named after Empress Yelizaveta..." This entire splendor
almost disappeared in the throes of war and the kaleidoscope of changes
brought by ruling regimes of the past century. As one of the most renowned
natives of Ivano-Frankivsk Yuriy Andrukhovych wrote a few years back,
"Today, the city that has practically ceased to exist.

In fact, it is holding onto what it had and demonstrating miracles of
self-restraint and endurance. For this very reason, we still have those
cracks in the walls, collapsed roofs, trees growing on staircases, fragments
of stained glass windows and marble slabs under our feet." Notwithstanding,
the situation in the city has improved. A modern railway station was built
four years before the renovation of the Kyiv railroad station. Just as a
hundred years ago, the central Market Square, with its amazing City Hall, is
now glittering with the jolly facades of renovated private buildings and
small cafes and restaurants on the street level.

Magnificent cathedrals and churches are once again greeting each other
with ringing bells and please the ear with organ music during church
services. The Austrian hotels with pompous names that had disappeared
over the years have a worthy successor - the Auskoprut hotel.

And even Andrukhovych is helping his native city in a subliminal way.
Indeed, the author of Rekreatsii (Recreations) and Moskoviada is considered
a classic of modern Ukrainian literature and his books, which so colorfully
depict the splendor of Prykarpattya, attract admirers of his talent to
Ivano-Frankivsk.

Meanwhile, the works of the famous group of writers Sadok Baronch, Vasyl
Stefanyk and Mykhailo Pavlyk are today supplemented by those of no less
talented contemporaries as such as Iryna Karpa, Taras Prokhasko and Yuriy
Izdryk. Needless to say, this "Prykarpatskiy renaissance" has returned to
Ivano-Frnakivsk the former glory of being the literary capital of
Ukraine. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
20. RIVNE REGIONAL RADA DECIDES TO ENTITLE UKRAINIAN REBEL
ARMY VETERANS TO MEDICAL TREATMENT AT REGIONAL
HOSPITAL FOR WWII DISABLED VETERANS

Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, April 2, 2005

KYIV - The Rivne Regional Rada has passed a resolution, under which
Ukrainian Rebel Army veterans will be entitled to medical treatment at
the Regional Hospital for disabled veterans of the Great Patriotic War
of 1941-1945. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
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