Ukraine

On 25 October nation-wide local elections were held in Ukraine. These elections saw over 350,000 candidates running for over 168,450 positions in municipal, district, and regional councils. Governing the elections was a highly complex, much-criticized electoral law adopted in mid-July. Runoff mayoral elections and re-run elections for certain councilor seats were held three weeks later, on 15 November. According to the new local election law, a candidate had to be included in a party list in order to be able to run. However, to be elected, the party had to meet the five percent threshold, which critics argued hindered national minority representation as this threshold would be difficult for any national minority-based party to meet. The election law that was adopted was also taken from a draft that was not subject to...

Overlooking an 11 year old boy, Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn remarks, “Are you listening or are you watching a movie on your tablet?” The boy smiles. This little boy’s name is Mykola. In August he and his friends found a box full of rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s) and began to play. When Mykola’s brother fell when a friend tagged him, the RPG he was holding exploded. Mykola’s brother died and Mykola was airlifted to Zaporizhia for medical aid where the doctors were able to save his life. However, both his legs and his right arm had to be amputated, there was a hole left in the middle of his forehead and massive scaring on his cheek and...

On the week of 10-16 May 2015 a total of 54 reconstructive procedures were performed on 29 patients at the Main Kyiv Military Clinic. These procedures were performed by Canadian surgeons and nurses on the second medical mission of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF). Many patients and medical professionals came back from CUF’s first medical mission in November 2014. One of those returning for the mission was Toronto nurse Damien Lyn. He was on the...

On 29 July 1865 Count Roman Aleksander Maria Sheptytsky - later known as Metropolitan Andrey - was born in the village of Prylbychi. One hundred and fifty years later, in the courtyard of St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv, President Poroshenko unveiled a monument to the Venerable Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. The last week of October 2015 was dedicated to the memory of this Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church who lived through two world wars, publicly opposed Hitler’s genocidal tendencies, and led his flock through some of Ukraine’s most turbulent years. Roman was not someone who looked like he would become one of...

On September 29, 2015 the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (INM) opened their new exhibit on the Second World War in Ukraine in front of Kyiv City Hall. The exhibit, called “Ukraine’s Second World War,” is only one of many projects that the INM has created throughout the past year and a half. When Volodymyr Viatrovych became the new head of the INM at the end of March 2014 he soon began to recruit new staff. There was a high turnover since the majority of the old staff were card-carrying communists, and as Viatrovych points out, the Institute needed renewal since “it was basically...

“A dog is a man’s best friend” – a phrase most people have heard at least once in their lifetimes, a truth perhaps even experienced personally. In August 2015 that expression came to life in some unexpected places, and for some unexpecting people, in Kyiv, Ukraine. This summer saw the official launch of Hero’s Companion, a project of Guardian Angels Ukraine which trains and pairs service dogs for veterans and soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and volunteer battalions. Or at least this was the plan when the Canadian contingent first arrived in Ukraine. In a matter of three short weeks the project...

Nestled in the rolling blue-green Carpathian Mountains stand several small chalets. Inside the largest one is a restaurant overlooking the Prut River decorated with unique Ukrainian antiques. During one lazy Saturday afternoon, diners begin to hear the dim sound of a Ukrainian song. A wedding march is walking up the small hill and has stopped outside the chalets. All one can see are two traditional Ukrainian wedding trees, the dazzling cornucopia headdress of the bride-to-be and the bobbing heads of hundreds of children. This is no ordinary wedding, this is a camp re-enactment: the fake bride and groom aren’t yet old enough to drink. This year’s Help Us Help the Children (HUHTC) camp theme is Ukrainian months. And on this particular day, the season of Ukrainian weddings is celebrated. In Vorokhta, Ukraine, about 320 children from all over Ukraine...

The Canadian Government has once again supported the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense medical corps by providing them with a brand new mobile field hospital shelter system. The transfer ceremony took a place at the 169th “Desna” Training Centre of the Ukrainian Land Forces in the Chernihiv oblast on July 20th. This mobile field hospital is a durable, transportable structure that comes equipped with 20 beds, power generators, a heating, cooling, and ventilation system, and a water purification unit. The structure will be primarily used for surgeries and other procedures that require a sanitary and...

Mariupol came under Ukrainian control in May 2014 and has remained so since. However, there have been numerous attacks by pro-Russian forces that have killed dozens of Mariupol residents (in January 2015, 29 residents were killed during a DNR attack on the city). Today things have somewhat normalized – people go to work in the giant steel mills, coal is brought from outside the city, and the restaurants are open to the public. The war, of course, is still heavily felt with military points scattered around the city. Mariupol is also representative of the large scale volunteer work that many Ukrainians and...

President Petro Poroshenko had a meeting with UWC leaders - President Eugene Czolij and Secretary General Stefan Romaniw, as well as President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Pavlo Grod. The Head of State noted that the UWC was a powerful force in the protection of Ukraine's interests in the world. "It is a pleasure that we coordinate our efforts in various spheres so efficiently," the President said adding that it was particularly related to the issues of volunteer assistance to the militaries, inter alia, technical equipment of the Ukrainian troops. The President has noted the...