October 19, 2026
Media Release
The Ukrainian Youth Unity Council and its member organizations welcome the news that, after five years, Mr. Duncan Kinney has admitted that he is the person who spray painted the statue of Roman Shukhevych on August 10, 2021, and that he had no lawful justification or excuse for these actions. In doing so, Mr. Kinney admitted that he is guilty of mischief.
On the day of his own admitted mischief – August 10, 2021 – Mr. Kinney authored an online publication describing this act of mischief, while feigning ignorance of when or how it took place. We now know that his declaration in the Progress Report that “[i]t’s unclear when this happened,” referring to his own vandalism, was false, given his belated admission of guilt. It is now clear that Mr. Kinney exploited his own admitted vandalism of the Roman Shukhevych statue, belonging to the Ukrainian Youth Unity Council, for the purposes of his political commentary, published in the Progress Report. Mr. Kinney had the audacity to send an email to staff at the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex on the day of his admitted crime, advising as editor of the Progress Report that “[w]e’ve received photos of the Roman Shukhevych statue […] Do you have any statement or information on this matter?” After having committed the crime at approximately 12:10 a.m. on August 10, 2021, he then returned at approximately 8:48 a.m. to take photographs of his own vandalism, to then request comment from the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex at 12:08 p.m. of the same day.
The Ukrainian Youth Unity Council trusts that the Court will impose an appropriate sentence that takes into account the seriousness of Mr. Kinney’s offence, the damage to its private property, the harm caused to the community, and the impact of his exploitative public commentary that concealed his own involvement in his admitted mischief.
We extend our sincere thanks to the Edmonton Police Service for its thorough and successful investigation, and to the prosecution for its diligent work.
The Ukrainian Youth Unity Council
