The Our Ukraine party intends to appeal against the Donetsk District Administrative Court's decision to cancel the presidential decree that conferred the Hero of Ukraine award on Stepan Bandera, who was the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) during the period of 1930-1950. The press service of the Our Ukraine party announced this in a statement. "The Donetsk District Administrative Court made a political decision that has little to do with the law. It will be appealed accordingly," said Iryna Vannikova, the spokeswoman for the Our Ukraine party's leader Viktor Yuschenko. According to...

Russian servicemen will participate in the May 9 Victory Day parade in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, a top Russian military official said on Monday. "[Russian troops] are to participate in May 9 activities on the territory of Belarus and Ukraine," First Deputy Defense Minister Col. Gen. Alexander Kolmakov said. Asked which CIS countries had accepted the Russian invitation to participate in the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Kolmakov said "many have already confirmed their participation," without being more specific...

President Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov are both ignoring the sensitivities of "Orange" Western and Central Ukraine by returning to positions of power individuals from Leonid Kuchma's second term in office. Moreover, defectors from the Kuchma regime, who had received asylum in Russia out of fear that Viktor Yushchenko would implement the Orange Revolution slogan of "Bandits to Prison!" are in the process of returning to Ukraine (EDM, April 14, May 25, 2005). On March 21, Ukrayinska Pravda reported the return of two individuals (Borys Kolesnikov and Viktor Tikhonov) involved in organizing...

As Ukraine's recently elected President Viktor Yanukovych prepares to visit Washington in April, he will aim to project an image of stability, confidence, and control. In reality, Mr. Yanukovych has committed a series of mistakes that could doom his presidency, scare off foreign investors, and thwart the country's modernization. Mr. Yanukovych's first mistake was to violate the constitution by changing the rules according to which ruling parliamentary coalitions are formed, making it possible for his party to take the lead in partnership with several others, including the Communists...

Communist Party officials in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya say they are planning to erect a monument to former Soviet leader Josef Stalin in early May, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. Oleksandr Zubchevsky, a Communist Party deputy on the Zaporizhzhya city council, told RFE/RL on March 29 that the idea for the Stalin monument came from World War II veterans. He said they "resent the fact that there are monuments to the criminals [Stepan] Bandera and [Roman] Shukhevych in western Ukraine, and we have no monument to the person who saved the entire world from the brown plague of the 20th century -- fascism -- and who transformed Zaporizhzhya from a provincial town into a powerful industrial center...

Thursday March 25 at City Hall in Toronto, Mayor Miller unveiled a display in honour of the late Paul Robeson in the spirit of “recognizing the global humanitarian efforts of individuals in the areas of equality, justice and diversity.” The irony is that Paul Robeson despite his accomplishments in the arts and American football was a defender of the Soviet Communist regime and ignored its crimes against humanity. Mr. Robeson’s actions are chronicled in the Globe and Mail (Mar. 25, 2010): “He accepted the Stalin Peace Prize from Moscow...

New York, March 26, 2010 - Both in the course of the Ukrainian elections and following the victory of Viktor Yanukovich, Russian commentators have discussed what kind of a Ukraine Russia needs, commentaries that have not only implied that only Ukraine needs to change but also have defined how many analysts elsewhere see the issue. But in an essay posted online yesterday, Olesya Yakhno, a commentator for the Ukrainian portal Glavred, argues that...

Ukraine's new pro-Russia prime minister, Mykola Azarov, has enraged feminist groups by suggesting that women are unsuitable for high political office and incapable of carrying out reforms. Women's groups in Ukraine have angrily reported Azarov – who presides over an all-male cabinet – to the country's ombudsman following his remarks last week. They accuse him of gender discrimination and holding Neanderthal views. Speaking on Friday, Azarov said Ukraine's economic problems were too difficult for any woman to handle...

Today at City Hall Mayor David Miller is to help unveil a poster of the great African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson. The city says the poster is the first in a series “recognizing the global humanitarian efforts of individuals in the areas of equality, justice and diversity.” Fair enough, you might say. Toronto is a diverse city that is searching for role models. Robeson spoke out courageously about the oppression of blacks in the United States. But the city’s display on Robeson completely glosses over the other side of his controversial career: his enthusiastic lifelong support for Soviet Communism...

About 10,000 protesters formed a human chain in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Tuesday to demonstrate against a new education minister accused of being pro-Russian. The mostly student protesters formed a human chain around four kilometres long in central Lviv, a city in western Ukraine considered a stronghold of Ukrainian nationalism, an AFP correspondent witnessed. "Down with Tabachnik!" protesters shouted, referring to Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnik, who was appointed earlier this month by Ukraine's new President Viktor Yanukovych. Protesters held signs with slogans...