Something New at ukraineorphans.net !

A new Ukrainian page has been added to ukraineorphans.net! I’m proud of it even though I am illiterate in Ukrainian.

There is a dedicated page in Ukrainian (with English) linking to bilingual Ukrainian/English websites about orphanages and helping children in Ukraine. The tab is at the top of the menu bar.

So far I have found three websites that are presented in Ukrainian and English. Of course here in the USA I can find many in English only.

Unfortunately I have found only these three bilingual Ukrainian/English sites. They originate in Ukraine. I wish there were more. Perhaps if I were not so handicapped by not knowing Ukrainian I might be able to find more.

Anyone knowing of bilingual Ukrainian/English language sites that should be included in ukraineorphans.net please let me know! About the Ukrainian children please.

This web format doesn’t support Cyrillic but I can use Ukrainian text copied and pasted into a Windows page and then copied and pasted into text on the site.

Thanks, David

This event is not a clash. It is simply Ukraine refusing to celebrate that the chance to get from under Russian tyranny was lost in the battle of Poltava.

It is interesting that the article out of Russia does state that the two countries have taken opposing historical courses.

Nothing new there, Ukraine has been trying to accomplish this for centuries, it’s just hard if not impossible for the Russians to believe and accept.

Kommersant

Russia’s Daily on LIne

March 26, 2008

Ukraine and Russia Clash at Poltava

The two countries have taken opposing historical courses

“Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin arrived in Kiev yesterday on a mission assigned to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to reach an agreement with the Ukrainians on the joint observation of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava in the summer of 2009.

 “However, under an order by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko issued last year, Ukraine will not observe the Russian victory over the ASwedish, but the 300th anniversary of the Ukrainian-Swedish alliance against Russia.

“Moreover, Swedish authorities intend to erect monuments to Swedish King Karl XII and Hetman Mazepa in Poltava next to the monument to Russian Czar Peter I.”

Please click on the link above, Ukraine and Russia Clash at Poltava

An excellent short review of Ukrainian history from those times to today is found at this link above.

Ukraine is indeed a young nation, but with traditions going back centuries if not thousands of years. It is working hard to revive and strengthen its traditions. The Cossacks and the Kobzars are two examples which follow.

It’s interesting that the two groups were linked centuries ago.

From the National Ukrainian Company of Radio

“17-03-2008 18:43 President Viktor Yushchenko to table in parliament as urgent bill on principles for restoration and development of Cossack movement in Ukraine.

“He made a statement to this effect during the all-Ukraine Congress of Cossacks today.

“In Mr. Yushchenko's words, the bill will give a chance to unite the Cossacks. Apart from this, the President said, it was decided to build a Kyiv Sich near the capital city.

“On an area of five hectares of land, the administration of Ukrainian hetmanship will be built, as well as management premises, equipages, Sunday schools and many other facilities, including those aimed at preserving the history of Cossacks.

“The Justice Ministry press service reported that 25 Cossack organizations have been registered, including 11 with a national, and 14 with an international status.

“Territorial justice agencies legalized around 350 non-governmental organizations with a local status and above 150 local units of registered all-Ukrainian and international non-governmental organizations of Cossacks.”

Ukrainian Kobzars are by old tradition blind wandering minstrels. Death for most came brutally when Stalin invited them to a conference in 1939 and at the end of the conference almost all were shot. They must have had too much freedom of expression.

BRAMA CALENDAR КАЛЕНДАР

Ukraine Sunday 03/23/2008

Radio Competition of young bandurists “Kobzaryk”

TYMOSHENKO MOST POPULAR POLITICAL FORCE IN UKRAINE

Published by the Jamestown Foundation 

“Parliament’s March 18 vote to call pre-term elections for Kyiv’s city mayor was a second major victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko this month, following the new gas contract with Russia signed on March 6.

“The vote is symbolically important because Ukraine’s legislation requires that the president appoint the elected mayor to also be the city’s governor (head of the city’s State Administration).

“The Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) is by far the most popular force in Kyiv, and therefore its candidate will presumably win the snap election.

“Both victories will likely increase Tymoshenko’s already high popularity and give BYuT control over the capital city ahead of the 2009 presidential elections.”

Perhaps bolstered by her big lead in the popularity polls Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko continues to push her program to rid the natural gas supply of a second entity. This from the International Herald Tribune:

“Ukraine continues push to get rid of remaining intermediary in gas trade with Russia”

The Associated Press

Published: March 14, 2008

“Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Friday hailed a natural gas agreement with Russia and said she will continue to push for elimination of an intermediary company in the complex gas trade.

“Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom and Ukraine's natural gas company Naftogaz on Thursday announced an agreement on prices for gas imported by Ukraine and on payment of Ukraine's gas debt. The dispute boiled over earlier this month when Gazprom cut shipments to Ukraine by up to half for several days.”

Change in Gas Supply Business to Ukraine

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been arguing for simplification in the gas supply business from Russia to Ukraine. This has apparently just happened according to Ukraine Radio. This report will make sense to those who have been following the natural gas supply to Ukraine.

From the National Radio Company of Ukraine

“14-03-2008 17:46 Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom agree on removal of UkrGaz-Energo from Ukrainian natural gas market

“Naftogaz of Ukraine board chairman Oleh Dubyna signed in Moscow with open joint stock company Gazprom an agreement on removal of the UkrGaz-Energo company from Ukrainian natural gas market, and delivery of gas supply functions to Naftogaz of Ukraine exclusively.

“As was disclosed by Premier Tymoshenko at a press conference today, Naftogaz of Ukraine will supply all the imported gas to Ukrainian consumers. At the same time, she said that the agreement authorized Gazprom to selling 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas in Ukraine directly.  This is 10% of the Ukrainian gas balance, Tymoshenko added. 

“Tymoshenko also informed that RosUkrEnergo will be supplying Central Asian gas to Ukraine three months more, and upon completion of this term the government will conclude a direct contract on gas deliveries with Gazprom or GazpromExport.”

Some additions to ukraineorphans.net

You are invited to the Home page of ukraineorphans.net where you will see near the top a link to the Chicago Herald Tribune story. It is about a slain young woman whose dream was to go with her family to Ukraine to minister to the orphans.

Miss Dubowsky was gunned down on that awful day at DeKalb University. She had taken four semesters of Russian so that she would be able to communicate with the orphans in Moscow and Kyiv.

Please go to the story and sign in so that you can post a comment in honor of Gayle Dubowsky. Her family will appreciate. 

In the Ukraine Children tab there is a page about children with severe needs. The Mellowswan Foundation has kindly allowed me to link to their site. Please click there and read about Ela.

The mindless bureaucracy of the USA is keeping out this seventeen year old Ukrainian orphan. She needs surgery on hands and feet. “Mindless” is about as kind as I can be in this situation.

And, Easter is approaching! At the top of the Ukraine Links page there is a small collection of interesting links about the Easter tradition. Please take a look.

And finally, how about Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia setting another world pole vault record – this one the indoor World Record at a meet in Donetsk.

The clip is in the first section of travel the Youtube in the Ukraine Links Section.

For a bit of uplift and inspiration the link is also at the top of the blog page.

Enjoy!

Wishing everyone a great day!

David Cottrell, custodian of ukraineorphans.net (I have settled on this description because I have no skills to be a “webmaster” nor can I spell well enough to be an “editor”. :)

It couldn’t last.

Right after Yulia Tymoshenko became Prime Minister Ukraine for the second time there was speculation that her tenure would be short. On this blog I hoped that she would remain publicly calm and somewhat circumspect in her public statements.

Now we have the President of Ukraine in the last few days calling her a liar about her statements concerning the price of natural gas from Russia, she is criticizing the President’s negotiations with Russia and he is ordering her to tend to her work.

She may be, and probably is, entirely correct that the present gas supply entities are corrupt but the question is: In the face of important questions regarding Ukraine can she refurbish her public leadership image and not once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

 “Ukraine: Gas Crisis Averted, But Underlying Problems Remain”

Radio Free Europe

By Claire Bigg

“Russia on March 5 resumed natural-gas supplies to Ukraine, ending the latest gas feud between the ex-Soviet neighbors.

“Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly, halved shipments to Ukraine earlier this week over what it claimed was $600 million Kyiv owed it for gas delivered this year. The gas giant threatened further cuts unless Ukraine settled its debt and agreed to a gas-price hike.

“But the last-minute deal, clinched after telephone negotiations between the two countries' leaders, appears to be little more than a temporary bandage. Moscow and Kyiv have yet to iron out the deep-running differences underlying their gas disputes.

“A key sore point is the involvement of middleman companies in the gas trade between the two countries -- RosUkrEnergo, half-owned by Gazprom; and UkrGazEnergo, owned by RosUkrEnergo and Ukraine's state gas company, Nafothaz.

“Ukraine's prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, has been campaigning for the elimination of what she says is an opaque mechanism to embezzle vast fortunes at the expense of Ukrainian consumers.”

Some Thoughts about Ukraine from Stryi, Ukraine and Marion, Ohio, USA

Today I was thinking about Ukraine and the young people there. At age 69 I have found it to be very worthwhile to listen to the youth. This essay is on the internet along with Dana Shumanska’s that runs down the side of this blog.

I found the essays again and thought how much good sense Nataly Chapliy made in 2003 when she was sixteen or seventeen in the 11^th grade, the “school leaving year”.

Nataly speaks about Ukrainian traditions and the Ukrainian language and how important they are. I seriously doubt she could have imagined in 2003 that many Ukrainians would demand in 2008 that Russian also be an official language in Ukraine.

I wonder what she is thinking about this. I imagine she is not happy about it. I also imagine she is angry when she hears the charge that the Ukrainian language no longer exists, except maybe in Poltava.

She has certainly heard that Ukrainian does not exist in West Ukraine, having been “bastardized” by Polish and other languages.

My vote is with Nataly. Traditions and language are important.

David

Nataly Chapliy

11F.L. (2003)

High school in Stryi

Teacher Halina Stetsko

“LAWS OF LIFE”

“What makes you feel Ukrainian?”

“There is a great number of Ukrainians all over the world, and wherever they are, they are always proud of their ancestry. But what makes them feel Ukrainians?

“As for me, I realized that I was a Ukrainian girl even in my early years. At the time of the Soviet Union I always liked to say proudly: “I am a Ukrainian” and no one could object to it. That’s why first of all I have to emphasize that my parents and grandparents brought me up in the spirit of love and respect to everything Ukrainian. To tell the truth without this love I think I couldn’t feel everything that I feel now when I think about our people and our sovereign country.

“Besides that I always feel Ukrainian when I see our national flag or coat of arms, when I listen to our anthem – these things always remind me of my nationality.

“But frankly speaking I can’t imagine myself a Ukrainian person without our long and complex history and undoubtedly without our rich customs and traditions. They together with our language make the bulk of out nation. So, if we want to see our nation in the future, we mustn’t forget such holidays as Christmas, Easter, and others, which I believe, will not allow you to forget about your origin, because traditions, connected with them, are Ukrainian ones. And one more important thing. Such geniuses as T. Shevchenko, L. Ukrainka, I. Franko are of great importance for us and their works will always remind us who we are.

           
“So, as God created us Ukrainians, we mustn’t forget who we are and we must do as much as we can to provide our people with wonderful future.”

Thoughts on the subject of traditions and language are welcome. I will post as many as I can. Please email me. David

Russia to Restore Gas Supplies to Ukraine

It is widely reported that Russia will soon restore full gas delivery to Ukraine. This follows recent reductions in gas delivery to Ukraine, first by 25% and then quickly by another 25%.

The gas transactions between Russia and Ukraine are convoluted and buried in four apparently interlocking business entities which are not transparent in their dealings.

The Ukrainian Prime Minister has been demanding that this situation be replaced by a simpler and more transparent supply process. The Presidents of Russia and Ukraine in a recent meeting had apparently agreed to accomplish this.

Bigger things are in the news.

It’s time to throw in the towel on the Monopoly Game vote. In the wildcard vote with 8 days 10 hours of voting remaining L’viv has fallen to eighth place, down from an opening start of fourth.

When the total results are posted we will take another look – hopefully Kyiv is in the first top twenty and has a place on the new board. This wildcard vote is for the two remaining board places and they are for the poorest, least important places on the board.

Not being selected for one of these two places isn’t a disgrace. As a matter of fact I would prefer not to occupy one of them.

“Gazprom, Russia's gas monopoly, says it will cut supplies to Ukraine by 25% on Monday after talks between the two sides ended in failure.

“The state-run Russian company said its efforts to get Ukraine to pay its debts had "reached a dead end".

“Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Viktor Yushchenko reached an outline deal, but the details could not be agreed.”

Link to this BBC News article at the top of the blog.