Politics

Russia’s Investigative Committee has initiated ‘criminal charges’ against Refat Chubarov, Chair of the Mejlis, or self-governing body, of the Crimean Tatar people. A charge of ‘organizing mass riots’ may sound serious, but the IC is referring to a pre-annexation demonstration (and not a mass riot) on Ukrainian territory, over which Russia could have no jurisdiction. This is not the only fatal flaw in a new prosecution which seems clearly aimed at anti-Mejlis propaganda in the run-up to the March on Crimea (the March of Dignity against Violence and Occupation) scheduled for 2-3 May this year. Russia, and the occupation regime in Crimea, obviously want to use terms like “mass riots, accompanied by violence” with respect to...

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, concluded his visit to Latvia, Ukraine and Poland yesterday where he emphasized Canada’s continued commitment to safeguarding regional security and defence. While in Ukraine, Minister Champagne highlighted Canada’s continued commitment to the country’s ambitious reform efforts and engaging women in peace and security efforts...

Ukraine and Ukrainian Canadian relations were among the critically important and time sensitive matters taken up at the 28th and 22nd conventions of the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) and League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW) held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center/Old Mill in Toronto on February 21-23, 2020. A number of resolutions in this regard adopted at the conclusion of the proceedings are reflected in the following statement...

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has identified the Crimea Return Strategy as his personal priority. "2 months ago I've been at the administrative border with temporarily occupied Crimea & made a step over it. Many more active steps to deoccupy the peninsula are ahead. Crimea Return Strategy is my priority as minister. Crimea is not on sale. Crimea is Ukraine. Was, is, & will be," he wrote on Twitter on March 6, 2020. UNIAN memo. Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had occupied the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had...

Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently intends to replace Vladislav Surkov with Dmitry Kozak as principal executant of Putin’s policies toward Ukraine, including Ukraine’s Russian-occupied areas. Surkov and Kozak have also covered other “frozen-conflict” theaters in their respective portfolios until now. The Kremlin has not issued official announcements about replacing Surkov with Kozak or redistributing their portfolios as yet. Nevertheless, it is the consensus view among observers in both Ukraine and Russia that the stage is set for Kozak to take over the lead from Surkov on Ukraine policy. Surkov is closely associated with Putin’s own implacable hostility toward...

Eight months after simplifying the procedure of acquiring a Russian passport for residents of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Russia announced that it has granted over 196,000 citizenships to Ukrainians. The figures came from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian TASS news agency reported on January 1, 2020. Since 2014, Russia has been waging war with Ukraine in Donbas and backing armed militants who now control parts of the region. More than 14,000 people have lost their lives due to the war. Moscow says it is protecting the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, a claim that Kyiv and its Western partners hotly contest. In April 2019, Russia announced it would offer citizenship to Donbas residents through a simplified procedure, a provocative move that sparked outrage in Ukraine. According to TASS, over...

A sessional lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, Dougal MacDonald, recently posted on his personal Facebook page a diatribe dismissing the genocidal Ukrainian famine, or Holodomor, as a myth concocted by the Nazis. MacDonald produces an online bulletin of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada and ran as the party’s candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona riding in the last federal election, garnering 77 votes. His denial of the Stalinist-created famine immediately brought to mind the late James Keegstra’s denial of the Holocaust, which resulted in his dismissal as a teacher— something many in the Ukrainian community believe should happen with Mr. MacDonald...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed an American lawyer as a new adviser with a mandate to build relations with ethnic Ukrainians living in the United States and elsewhere. Andrew Mac, who heads the Washington, D.C., office of the Kyiv-based law firm Asters, was officially named to the position on November 5, according to a presidential decree. In filings with the U.S. Justice Department's Foreign Agent Registration Act unit, Mac said the appointment was for an indefinite period and he would not be paid for his services. "The registrant participates in conferences and other engagements in his personal capacity that promote ties between Ukraine and the Ukrainian-American community and American investment in Ukraine which may indirectly benefit the President of Ukraine," according to the filing, dated November 14. Mac's appointment comes as Ukraine's...

U.S. Ambassador William B. Taylor’s Octover 22 testimony to the House Intelligence Committee was an important response to the often-heard cry emanating from the ongoing shocks of Russia’s intrusions into America’s politics: this is not who we are. His testimony did not shame Americans. The US ambassador to Ukraine did them proud. The testimony reminded that America’s leadership is vital to democratic states globally, especially emerging ones like Ukraine. It tempered the pro-dictators’ messages flourishing in President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. He favors them; none more than Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the declared hate-monger of the United States, NATO and demolisher of international law and order. Trump’s views are...

Ukrainians swept Volodymyr Zelensky into power earlier this year on a promise to end a conflict with Russia that has claimed thousands of lives in his country and become a flashpoint in relations between Moscow and the West. Six months into Mr. Zelensky’s presidency, efforts toward a lasting peace deal are inching forward—though many Ukrainians remain wary of Russia’s motives. This week Moscow returned three Ukrainian naval ships that it captured in the Kerch Strait in November 2018 following a maritime skirmish between the two countries. That gesture came after France said it would host a long-delayed peace summit including the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on Dec. 9. Last month, Moscow and...