Commentary

Russia’s undeclared war against Ukraine began on 20 February 2014. Four years later, about 7% of Ukraine remains under occupation, more than 10,000 people are dead, 25,000 maimed and nearly 2 million internally displaced, even as the urban-industrial infrastructure of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (the Donbas) has been destroyed. From the start of this hybrid war, Moscow has utilised every imaginable tactic of subversion and destabilisation, from targeted assassinations and terrorist bombings, to cyber attacks against critical infrastructure targets such as electricity grids, to fomenting ethnic, political, religious and social divisiveness within Ukrainian society, even defaming Ukrainian diaspora leaders such as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland...

Western leaders were getting far too rich off Russia to consider it a threat. For nearly two decades, the Russian government and Russian companies spent money with a view to corrupting business relationships and undermining great democracies. “I feel like we sort of choked.” That’s how one former administration official recently described President Barack Obama’s failure to react to intelligence reports on Kremlin attempts to influence the U.S. election. Plenty of other people — including, with extraordinary cynicism, President Donald Trump — have also asked why more wasn’t done...

On 7 November 2017, at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) premises in Brussels, Belgium, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) Mission to International Organizations in Brussels organized an international high-level forum entitled “UWC at 50 and Beyond: European and Euro‑Atlantic Forum”, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the UWC. The participants numbering over 150 included policy-makers, scholars, civil society and Ukrainian diaspora representatives from over 25 countries in Europe and around the world. Panelists and guests from EU institutions, NATO, UN, and other international organizations also featured on the agenda...

James Bezan, Member of Parliament for Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman and Conservative National Defence Critic, issued the following statement to mark Holodomor Memorial Day: “United with Ukrainians all around the world, today Canadians commemorate the victims of Holodomor, a man-made famine ordered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Holodomor is without any doubt the darkest chapter in Ukraine’s history, which took millions of lives and wiped out entire villages in central Ukraine, where national traditions and self-awareness were rooted. This horrific act of genocide was an attempt to destroy Ukrainian national identity by eliminating their culture and language...

On Monday, November 20, 2017 the 84th anniversary of the Holodomor was observed on Parliament Hill with a formal commemoration held to mark Stalin’s famine-genocide directed against the people of Ukraine in 1932-1933. The Holodomor commemoration was jointly hosted by the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group (CUPFG), the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and the Embassy of Ukraine. Holodomor survivors Dr. Julia Woychyshyn and Halyna Zelem lit the memorial candle to open the commemoration and through their participation provided a direct link to Stalin’s genocide by famine which slowly starved to death millions of Ukrainians...

MML Inc: “Recovery Room”, the multi award-winning feature documentary film directed by Adriana Luhova and produced by Yurij Luhovy, has just been accepted as Official Selection at the 2017 Equality International Film Festival in California. In the notification received by Ms. Luhova, it stated, “The festival will screen some of “the finest cinematic works worldwide and your project exemplify our mission, vision and value.” As an Official Selection, “Recovery Room” will be screened during the Festival to participants...

On 14-15 August 2017 Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij together with his spouse Anna fulfilled his first visit to Singapore where he presented to its high-ranking government officials important Ukrainian issues and discussed with the local Ukrainian community ways of further cooperation with the UWC. During the meetings with high-ranking government officials the UWC President expressed gratitude for the strong objection of Singapore to the invasion of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the implementation of customized courses for Ukrainian officials on anti-corruption strategies and the facilitation of other training courses through the Singapore Cooperation Program...

On 7 and 9 August 2017 in Canberra, and 1 and 10 August 2017 in Melbourne, Australia, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij held meetings with Australian high-ranking government officials to discuss issues related to continued support for Ukraine and securing peace and stability in the world. The UWC President thanked Australia for supporting Ukraine in countering the hybrid warfare of the Russian Federation, particularly noting the provision of winter uniforms for the Ukrainian army, training courses for Ukrainian officers, and sanctions against the Russian Federation. He also expressed gratitude to Australia for recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people...

The Centennial Commemoration of the Battle of Hill 70 took place at the Hill 70 Memorial Park in Loos-en-Gohelle, France on August 22. The Hill 70 Memorial Park was officially opened to the public yesterday. On August 15-25, 1917, the Canadian Corps battled the German army near Lens, France. The objective was to relieve pressure on allied forces at Passchendaele and to seize high ground - Hill 70. Canadian forces were successful, capturing Hill 70 and holding it against counterattacks - at an immense cost of almost 9000 soldiers killed or wounded. Corporal Filip Konowal, a Ukrainian Canadian, was one of six Canadians awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour at the Battle of Hill 70. A Konowal Walk is part of the Hill 70 Memorial...

Ukraine marks 26 years since the Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The day is not only celebrated in Kyiv with a patriotic and large-scale military parade, but also observed and celebrated across the world wherever Ukrainians reside. In Toronto, the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) and the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW) organized an official Ukrainian flag-raising event in front of the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen’s Park. The celebration was attended by the Ukrainian Community members as well as politicians of federal, provincial and municipal levels. During the speeches many of the politicians greeted the crowd with the patriotic “Slava Ukraini” or “Glory to Ukraine!” The program began with an ecumenical prayer delivered by His Grace Bishop Stefan Chmilar of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada and the Very Rev. Archpriest Bohdan Hladio of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, Eastern Eparchy...