Section: US & Canada
Canada extends military training mission to Ukraine for two more years
OTTAWA – Canada is extending its military training mission to Ukraine for another two years, Canada’s national defense and foreign affairs ministers announced here on March 6. Operation UNIFIER – through which 200 Canadian soldiers have provided training to their Ukrainian counterparts in such areas as bomb disposal, military policing and...
Ukraine’s chief tax collector Nasirov arrested in alleged $74 M gas scheme
KYIV – Ukraine’s chief tax and customs official, Roman Nasirov, was placed under arrest for two months on March 7, following a Kyiv district court ruling on embezzlement charges. Authorities accuse him of defrauding the state of $74 million for the benefit of fugitive ex-lawmaker Oleksandr Onyshchenko in a scheme involving state-owned...
Russia’s quest to resurrect its carrier fleet: The NITKA military complex in Crimea
The Crimean peninsula is a valuable asset, especially for its military attributes. When Russia illegally annexed Crimea in February-March 2014, it notably gained full de facto control over Sevastopol (where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based and had until then been leasing its facilities) and Donuzlav Bay (before 2014, the site of the Ukrainian...
Ukraine showcases advanced new air-to-ground rocket munition
Ukraine’s technological and military modernization pursuits appear to be a matter of growing concern and vexation for Moscow. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced on February 11 that Ukroboron-prom (a state-owned association of multi-product enterprises in the defense industry) has successfully tested a new type of domestically...
U.S.: Russia’s activities in Ukraine impair human rights at home
WASHINGTON – A new U.S. State Department report says human rights in Russia continue to be “significantly and negatively” affected by Moscow’s “purported annexation” of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and its support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine. The March 3 report is the first human rights report from the State Department to...
March 16, 2016
Last year, on March 16, 2016, John Kirby of the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Spokesperson released a statement on the second anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The U.S. statement noted: “Today, as Russia’s occupation of Crimea enters its third year, we affirm our commitment to a united, sovereign Ukraine. The...
Patriarch Josyf’s legacy lives on
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of the great Ukrainian leader and great churchman Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, who strove to secure the Ukrainian nation’s rights and freedoms, and was imprisoned by Soviet authorities for refusing to betray the Ukrainian Catholic Church. He was, as St. Pope John Paul II said, a man […]...
Russian revolution’s lessons for today
One hundred years ago this week, a protest about food shortages in the Russian capital, Petrograd, turned into the violent revolution that overthrew Czar Nicholas II and brought the Romanov dynasty to an end. The liberal-minded provisional government that assumed power did not last long, succumbing to another revolution eight months later, which...
Plast cub scouts enjoy ski trip
MONTICELLO, N.Y. – The 10th annual winter outing for Plast cub scouts of the greater New York area took place on Saturday, February 4, at the Holiday Mountain ski resort in Monticello, N.Y. This one-day ski trip was organized by the Spartanky senior sorority of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization. Every year, more and more scouts […]...
Pysanky on display in Connecticut
WETHERSFIELD, Conn. – Ukrainian Easter eggs (pysanky) are on display at the Wethersfield Library courtesy of Tanya Osadca and Zirka Rudyk through April 30. The library is located at 505 Silas Deane Highway, Wethersfield, CT 06109. Library hours are: Sunday, 1-5 p.m.; Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10...
