Stories about Ukraine from March, 2007
Ukraine, Belarus: Chernobyl
MoldovAnn attends the opening of a photo exhibition of Belarus-based American photographer Kristina Brendel, held at the Chernobyl Museum in Kyiv; she discovers that the Belarusian government's treatment of the Chernobyl catastrophe differs drastically from that of the Ukrainian government: “…there is total denial by the Belarussian government that there...
Ukraine: Online Graffiti Museum
Lyndon of Moscow Graffiti (and of Scraps of Moscow!) links to the online Museum of Ukrainian Graffiti.
Ukraine: Kherson Success Story
Ukraine Update shares a small business success story from Kherson.
Ukraine: Ostrog
Olechko posts notes and sketches from her last year's trip to Mezhyrich Monastery in Ostrog.
Ukraine: Book on Chernobyl
MoldovAnn reads Piers Paul Read's 1993 book on Chernobyl (Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims of Chernobyl) and discovers that she has been to a few Ukrainian towns mentioned in it: “Sometimes I forget what my colleagues lived through, that they themselves are first-hand witnesses to the Chornobyl...
Ukraine: New Foreign Minister
Ukrainiana writes about Ukraine's new 32-year-old minister of foreign affairs.
Ukraine: Yanukovych; Lutsenko
Despite talk of Maidan #2, PM Yanukovych feels pretty comfortable and even publicly admits that he did serve time in prison. This and a report on more troubles for Yuri Lutsenko, at Foreign Notes.
Ukraine: Mad Max
Foreign Notes writes about the killing of mobster Maxim Kurochkin and the investigation into it.
Ukraine, FSU: Stalin
Over at Siberian Light, readers discuss weird first names, such as Stalin, Ninel, and Vladlen. Carpetblogger writes about the Donetsk Heating Company's Stalinist methods to get this East Ukrainian city's population to pay their utility bills.
Ukraine: Lutsenko's Problems
Foreign Notes reports on Yuri Lutsenko's legal problems and the obstacles his People's Self-Defense Movement is facing. Also, read about Ukraine's fuel and energy minister's visit to London.
Eastern Europe: Edward Lucas Roundup
The Economist's Edward Lucas posts his pieces on East European churches; Solzhenitsyn; Chechnya; Poland's relations with other EU members; color revolutions and foreign funding.
Ukraine: Lutsk Artists
Olechko writes about Lutsk artists and showcases some of their work.
Ukraine: Soviet Currency Places
MoldovAnn discovers a couple places in Kyiv where the Soviet-time currency – rubles and kopeks – still survives.
Latvia: Ukrainian and Russian Folk Music
Dykun posts a video and writes on a Ukrainian and Russian folk music performance in Riga, Latvia: “they performed together a show of russian and ukrainian wedding songs and rituals, with the structure of a ukrainian cossack marrying a russian bride. […] presented are typical wedding songs and a re-enactment...
Ukraine, Belarus: A Fence for Bat'ka
Abdymok posts a picture of the preparations to Aleksandr Lukashenko's visit to Ukraine's capital: “Workers on March 19 build a new fence around Belarusian Embassy in Kyiv. The last dictator in Europe is expected any day.”
Ukraine: Retro Tickets
MoldovAnn discovers a rather amazing thing: theater tickets she has recently bought in Kyiv for the Russian production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” were printed way back in the Soviet times (photo is enclosed).
Ukraine: Yanukovych's Prospects
The Party of the Regions’ stronghold, Eastern Ukraine, isn't experiencing its best times – which could possibly mean that the prime minister would have to fight hard to stay where he is: Foreign Notes translates a relevant newspaper article.
Ukraine: Luzhkov in Crimea; Yulia in D.C.
Taras Kuzio writes about the not-so-peaceful visit of Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to the Crimea and about Yulia Tymoshenko's very cozy visit to Washington, D.C.
Ukraine: “Pidmanula, Pidvela”
Ukraine List posts a comprehensive entry on the extremely popular Ukrainian folk song: Pidmanula, pidvela. Links to video and audio of the song's various performances, as well as the lyrics in English and Ukrainian, are included.
Ukraine: A-ba-ba-ga-la-ma-ga
Olechko writes about A-ba-ba-ga-la-ma-ga, a Ukrainian publishing house that produces wonderfully-illustrated books “for kids from 2 to 102″ years of age.
Ukraine: Yulia in the States; Re-privatization
Foreign Notes translates a piece on Yulia Tymoshenko's recent visit to the United States and writes about the possible re-privatization of the Mariupol Metallurgical Plant.