ABN at 70 – Global Coalition Needed to Defend X-Captive Nations

World War Two was fast becoming a horrible memory by 1946. Nazi Germany was defeated and the fighting was over in Western Europe, as well as in North Africa and the Pacific. However, unbeknown to many in the West, the fighting and killing still raged in Eastern Europe, where Soviet Russia replaced Nazi Germany as the aggressor. Moscow was hard at work invading and occupying former independent countries and establishing its notorious prison of nations behind the infamous iron curtain.

However, spearheaded by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, under the leadership of Stepan Bandera and Jaroslav Stetsko, a secret meeting of the anti-Russian combatant nations was convened on November 21, 1943, near Zhytomyr, Ukraine. This conference paved the way for the establishment of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, which began its work on April 16, 1946, in what was then called West Germany.

The founders of the ABN confirmed that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of any single nation cannot be guaranteed without the same, comprehensive status for Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Caucasus and farther east. The ABN illustrated classic regional, multinational unity and commitment, and they provided a platform for the fight against Russian imperialism and communism through combined ideological, political and military strategies. The participants’ shared goal was to defend jointly their independence and contribute to the dismemberment of the USSR as the only practical means of ensuring regional and global security, stability and peace. Their motto was: Freedom for nations; Freedom for individuals.

The following organizations were members of the ABN since its inception or for varying periods of time: ‘Free Armenia’ Committee, Bulgarian National Front, Belorussian Central Council, Cossack National Liberation Movement, Croatian National Liberation Movement, Czech Movement for Freedom (Za Svobodu), Czech National Committee, Estonian Liberation Movement, Union of the Estonian Fighters for Freedom, Georgian National Organization, Hungarian Liberation Movement, Hungarian Mindszenty Movement, Latvian Association for the Struggle against Communism, Lithuanian Rebirth Movement, Slovak Liberation Committee, National Turkestanian Unity Committee, United Hetman Organization, and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Bandera faction).

Seven decades after the end of World War II and the establishment of the ABN, Europe – and the free world – are still facing the real threat of Russian aggression. Some 26 months ago Russian soldiers and mercenaries invaded and occupied Ukrainian Crimea and then two eastern oblasts in Moscow’s latest attempt not only to keep Ukraine from fulfilling its historical mission of formally joining the European Union but also to resurrect its empire, the prison of nations.

What has transpired since February 2014 has evolved into a major escalation of Moscow’s saber rattling against the free world, Ukraine and the x-captive nations. Thousands of regular Russian soldiers and thousands of pro-Russian terrorists along with hundreds of pieces of armored equipment, missiles and tanks have crossed Ukraine’s border in an obvious attempt by Russia to re-conquer Ukraine. Russia even established outlaw, renegade republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.

While the free world, led by the United States, have been paralyzed by the launch of the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16, Russia’s belligerent message did not fall on deaf Eastern European ears. Individually and collectively they have rightly begun making plans for a unified defense against a potential Russian attack. The free world and NATO have offered tepid support by dispatching merely brigade strength military units and a few instructors but stopping short of providing enough personnel and hardware to send a clear message to Moscow that any encroachment against the former captive nations would be an act of war against the free world. Their excuses have been based on their fear of angering Moscow and disbelief that Russia, a full-fledged participant of global events, intends to re-subjugate the former captive nations.

At numerous global meetings including last September’s UN General Assembly debates, presidents of Ukraine and the x-captive nations denounced Russia’s invasion and warned the free world that its security and stability are also threatened by Moscow’s belligerence.

The free world did not recognize the plight of the captive nations during World War II and since then it has demonstrated mild interest in their pain and suffering. The West never comprehended their captivity as well as their desire to distance themselves as far as possible from Moscow. Free countries refused to hear the former captive nations. The free world remained dumbfounded, long on superficial political platitudes but short on comprehension and action.

East Europeans and the Baltic states have never given any credence to western theories that Vladimir Putin has abandoned his Mein Kampf of subjugating Ukraine. The x-captive nations expressed grave concerns about regional Russian aggression and pragmatically have initiated their own defense preparations. There are numerous examples of their arrangements in current news reports.

Reuters, The Baltic Times and other news media reported that leaders of nine Central and Eastern European and Baltic states said in a joint statement on November 4, 2014, they were gravely concerned about Russia’s “continuing aggressive posturing” and endorsed a sustainable NATO military presence in the region.

Despite NATO’s vacillation about its mission, the x-captive nations, the countries that were to be beneficiaries of the alliance’s military protection, still believe in its viability and commitment to defend their collective independence.

“We will stand firm on the need for Russia to return to respect of international law as well as of its international obligations, responsibilities and commitments as a pre-condition for a NATO-Russia relationship based on trust and confidence,” they said in the joint declaration.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said NATO simultaneously faces threats from the east and the south, necessitating “more troops, more infrastructure and more common actions” as he and his colleagues urged the alliance to take an active role in safeguarding their and by association global freedom.

News reports noted that the x-captive nations’ declaration also said the leaders would join efforts to secure “a robust, credible and sustainable” allied military presence in the region, and would advocate deeper cooperation between NATO and the European Union.  ‘Hybrid’ warfare, cyber defense, energy security and strategic communication were listed in the statement as key areas needing their attention.

The statement was issued after a meeting in Bucharest, Romania, of heads of state including Lithuania’s Dalia Grybauskaite, Latvia’s Raimonds Vejonis, Estonia’s Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Slovakia’s Andrej Kiska, Bulgaria’s Rosen Plevneliev and Hungary’s Janos Ader.

At a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Antalya, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius emphasized that Russia has tested the alliance’s vigilance and unity, and called on NATO to ensure a permanent presence of its troops in the Baltic states.

Other European countries have begun to modernize their defense capabilities amid fears and uncertainty over Russia. Poland has begun a military modernization program at a cost of more than $35 billion. Poland and Sweden signed a military cooperation agreement in September that also cited Russian military fears. Sweden said it had increased its own military spending by 11%.

“Once a sea of peace, the Baltic has become a sea of danger,” observed Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak.

Fearing Russian military incursion, Poland, the first country to recognize Ukrainian independence in 1991, is seeking to reaffirm its role as Ukraine’s biggest EU ally with pledges of more financial and diplomatic support, in an effort to reassure Kyiv that the West – or at least those x-captive nations that have been accepted into western structures – has not forgotten about its two-year war with Russia.

“Ukraine is a great strategic partner of Poland,” said Duda at a joint press conference in the Ukrainian capital. “Ukraine’s sovereignty is one of the major issues for our country.”

The Lithuanian head of state together with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Latvian President Andris Bērziņš and Polish President Bronisław Komorowski have confirmed the implementation of decisions adopted at a NATO Summit in Wales as well as energy, information and cyber security issues.

“Our countries have a shared goal – secure and economically strong region. We will only achieve this goal by standing together in the implementation of long-term collective defense measures and strategic projects aimed at ensuring the region’s energy self-sufficiency,” the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine delivered a wake-up call regarding appropriate levels of defense spending for the small Baltic states. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are on heightened alert as Russian military planes and warships circle their airspace and sea borders on a daily basis in what they call “unprecedented” Russian activity.

Separately, Polish President Duda observed in the website http://www.ji-magazine.lviv.ua that contemporary Russia has nothing to do with democracy.

In addition to violating its own constitution every day, Duda said Russia “is the first European country which has committed military intervention in the affairs of other independent European state, taking away part of its territory” referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia should not be the focus of any negotiations, Duda said, adding that the Minsk discussions involving Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France reminded him of Yalta of 1945, at which the free world surrendered parts of Europe to Soviet Russia in a naive gambit to appease Moscow.

“We cannot accept the fact that Russia should swallow Ukraine by pieces. We are responsible for the integration of European states and the integrity of borders in Europe. Stopping this decaying process will be a triuimph for Europe. To accept a rotten compromise will defeat it,” the Polish president said.

Lithuanian President Grybauskaite, a consistent and unambiguous advocate of Ukraine, in 2014, became the first European leader to speak frankly about the Russian aggression in the Donbas region of Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea. Grybauskaite said frankly in an interview with The Washington Post that she saw both the Islamic State and Russia as terrorists.

“Russia is terrorizing its neighbors and using terrorist methods,” the Lithuanian president was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Harkening back to the founding principles of the ABN, Grybauskaite has noted that Ukraine is not just fighting for its own sovereignty, but it is defending the sovereignty of all European nations. Her acerbic denunciation of Putin’s war is without comparison in Eastern Europe.

During an interview with German news magazine Focus, Grybauskaite said the Russian despot “uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means. That’s exactly what Stalin and Hitler did.”

Grybauskaite elaborated: “Russia is at war against Ukraine and that is against a country which wants to be part of Europe. Russia is practically in war against Europe,” she said, adding that she is prepared to “take up arms” in the instance of Russian attacks.

Grybauskaite is convinced that if Russia is not repulsed from Ukraine, Putin will sweep across the Baltics, central Europe and northern Europe.

“The situation is still deteriorating. Russian troops are still on the territory of Ukraine. That means that Europe and the world are allowing Russia to be a country which is not only threatening its neighbors but is also organizing a war against its neighbors. It is the same international terrorism as we have in Iraq and Syria.

“In Ukraine, it is a real war (not hybrid as the free world is antiseptically stating – ID). The European Union and most of the leaders in the world are trying to talk about it as if it is not war but some kind of support of terrorist elements. We saw Crimea. In the very beginning, it was green men, and it became Russian military. Now it is the same in eastern Ukraine. And I’m sure that it is not the last territory where Putin is going to demonstrate his powers.

“If we will be too soft with our sanctions or adapt sanctions but not implement them, I think he will go further trying to unite east Ukraine with south Ukraine and Crimea. He recently said that in two days he is capable to reach Warsaw, the Baltic States, and Bucharest. So that is an open threat to his neighbors.

“If he will not be stopped in Ukraine, he will go further.”

Linas Linkevičius, Lithuanian minister of foreign affairs, another outspoken critic of the free world’s political myopia, in an article in EurActiv, chastised the free world for paying too much attention to not provoking Russia. Linkevičius warned about the dangers of acting in a “pragmatic and responsible manner” with Russia.

The Lithuanian official recalled that at the 2008 NATO-Russia Summit in Bucharest, Russian President Putin urged the West not to cooperate with Ukraine, claiming that the country is an artificial creation, rather than a state. “That seemed to have set off an alarm clock. However, it was not heard, or the West comfortably chose not to hear it. Ukraine experienced the impact six years later, while Georgia witnessed warfare on its territory soon after, in August,” he wrote.

The difference in attitudes between the former captive nations and the free world, is striking, emphasizing have and have not experiences with bondage. The United States and old Europe do not understand this. If the x-captive nations are doomed to expect only tepid support from the free world, then they will have to seize the day and create a sovereign alternative that will ensure them of their all-inclusive independence – political, economic, commercial and military.

What are the former captive nations to do? With NATO immersed in a deep re-analysis of the mission that it was precisely mandated to undertake at the end of World War II – to defend the free world against Russian imperialism, then the alliance is not building confidence in the captive nations. The logical question is if the aggressor has clearly not changed, why then should NATO’s mission change?

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has warned against Russian aggression in what some have said were his strongest remarks since becoming Pentagon chief. He detailed Russian forces’ “challenging activities” at sea, in the air, in space and in cyberspace. Carter also said Moscow was “violating sovereignty in Ukraine and Georgia and actively trying to intimidate the Baltic states.”

“We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia,” Carter said. “We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake; the United States will defend our interests, our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all.”

Carter and US Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Samantha Power are the staunchest supporters of Ukraine and the x-captive nations against Russian aggression. But they are incapable of achieving anything in a White House that itself is not committed to helping the victims beyond economic sanctions.

US General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s top military chief, among high-ranking soldiers, has warned that Russia has enough troops on Ukraine’s border to carry out an incursion across the region.

“We are very concerned with the militarization of Crimea,” Breedlove told a press conference in Kiev, where he was holding talks with Ukraine's leaders. “The capabilities that are being installed in Crimea will bring an effect on almost the entire Black Sea,” he added.

The commander of American forces in Europe, said that cruise and surface-to-air missiles on the peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in March, could be used to “exert influence” over the strategic region.

Unfortunately, Breedlove’s outspoken and realistic opinion is a minority point of view not seriously regarded by political leaders.

Taking matters into their own hands, Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland are pressing forward with discussions about a joint brigade that would provide an opportunity for Ukraine to learn from Lithuania and Poland’s experience of NATO integration and to develop efficient armed forces.

The plan grew out of a meeting in Kyiv between Lithuania's President Grybauskaite and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko. Grybauskaite announced that Lithuania would be providing Ukraine with military aid, but did not specify if this would include weaponry or be of the non-lethal kind. Grybauskaite, whose country already has a tense relationship with Russia, recently called Russia a “terrorist country” because of its troops in eastern Ukraine.

In view of the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16, the joint defense concept charted by Bandera and Stetsko is worthy of a revival. The former captive nations already have made individual and collective political declarations and expressed a willingness that could lead to the successful resuscitation of such a structure.

Not surprisingly, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin had also alluded to the imperativeness of such a far-reaching coalition. Outraged by the Russian invasion of his homeland, Klimkin suggested soon after President Petro Poroshenko’s visit to Canada and the United States the creation of a Coalition of Freedom to defend democracy and Western values in a troubled world.

“It is about security for everyone,” said Klimkin during an exclusive Fox News interview on the eve of the 65th UN General Assembly. “If someone in this interchangeable and intertwined world cannot feel secure, how can US citizens here feel secure?”

Klimkin explained that Ukraine is confronting a threat any nation can face, adding “we need a network of security.” His Coalition of Freedom would consist of “countries which are committed to freedom, to democratic values, where we are not talking about spheres of influence, but the values and real interests of democratic countries.”

I applauded his decision in my blog at the time.

Undeniably and justifiably, the former captive nations are being threatened by Russia and cannot trust their sovereign, independent existence to the whims, politics and nervousness of NATO and the free world. They must unite for their joint security and defense against Russian aggression.

On the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of a historic anti-Russian defense alliance, the leaders of Ukraine and its neighbors should realize that the time and opportunity are now to revive the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, the World Anti-Communist League and the Captive Nations Week Committee for their common defense. They should form global, UN, regional, academic, military and NGO coalitions to defend democracy, liberty and human rights as bulwarks against Russian aggression.

What Ukraine and the former captive nations have experienced in the Russian prison of nations has convinced them that Russia can’t be trusted today. The former captive nations must convince Washington, the other capitals and Russia that they will unite, arm themselves and build ramparts against Russia if their common predicament is not remedied.

For the sake of global and regional stability, security and peace, their plight and mission should not be belittled by the United States and the free world.

And the War in Ukraine Goes On …

Despite sanctions, negotiations, pleas, anger, frustration, UN resolutions, congressional or parliamentary interventions, and killings, Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has claimed more than 10,000 lives and left in excess of 1.5 million people homeless in 25 months, continues.

In recent weeks, multistate institutions, governments and media have reported on Russia’s rapid and uninhibited escalation of its war, raising concern in Kyiv and other x-captive nations’ capitals that Moscow will continue its military campaign to keep Ukraine from immersing itself in Western establishments by restoring the iron curtain and its empire.

Last week, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said fighting between pro-Russian terrorists and Ukrainian troops increased sharply in eastern Ukraine in defiance of international calls to observe the latest installment of the Minsk truce agreement. Sadly, western observers concluded that the February 2015 Minsk ceasefire agreement has failed to completely halt the war.

“We have been registering with great concern the deterioration of the situation in the east for months now,” said Ertugrul Apakan, chief of the OSCE’s monitoring mission to Ukraine.

OSCE’s reports indicate that Russians are stepping up their attacks against Ukrainian positions on a daily basis and the frequency is staggering.

“Regrettably, the worsening security situation in the Donbas, precipitated by ceasefire violations from combined Russian-separatist forces, has constrained Ukraine’s capacity to move forward on the political aspects of Minsk implementation and Ukraine’s reform program. The United States expresses grave concern over the escalating cycle of violence that has taken hold in the Donbas and notes, once again, clear and incontrovertible evidence that military provocation remains the policy of combined Russian-separatist forces. No fewer than 37 outgoing grad rockets were launched out of separatist-controlled Donetsk city on April 8, in blatant disregard for the withdrawal lines and in violation of the September 1 ceasefire. As confidence in the ceasefire regime erodes, the tit-for-tat exchange of fire has grown into sustained combat in key hotspots, with over 2,800 ceasefire violations occurring on April 8 alone. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) has recorded the highest-ever use of heavy weapons since the ceasefire began. Maintaining this intense level of fighting requires, as the SMM has previously noted, a ‘sophisticated supply chain’ to keep separatist forces well-stocked with weapons and ammunition,” said Ambassador Daniel B. Baer to the Permanent Council, Vienna

UAToday.tv reported that Avdiyivka, a town in Donbas under the control of Ukrainian forces, has recently experienced a major uptick in military action. Heavy battles have been going on here since April 2. Citing Ukrainian officials, the news outlet said the town and its surrounding area are currently the most dangerous location in the conflict zone.

The news outlet also said Russian terrorists located in Yasynuvate near Avdiyivka have shelled Ukrainian army positions 73 times in a 24-hour period, leaving four soldiers wounded. The Russian secessionists have broken ceasefire in this area almost 600 times in the course of one week earlier this month. Russian-backed troops are using tanks, machine guns, sniper rifles as well as heavy artillery, all of which are officially banned under the Minsk agreements.

Another OSCE report, delivered by Ambassador Baer, detailed that since the Permanent Council last met, “the level of violence in eastern Ukraine has only increased.” Baer added that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine reported on average 600-800 violations per day, adding that “the situation on the ground can hardly be called a ceasefire.” Baer added that “these are not short bursts of gunfire but rather sustained combat lasting several hours, involving heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, and heavy artillery.”

“Combined Russian-separatist forces have not hesitated to make use of proscribed heavy weapons that should be far away from the contact line; this past weekend, they fired a volley of 20 grad rockets at Ukrainian government positions. On April 1, the SMM found a surface-to-air missile system on separatist-held territory contrary to the commitment in the Minsk agreements to withdraw all such weapons from that area.

“The presence of such heavy weapons increases the risk of a rapid re-escalation of the conflict. While the fighting has largely been concentrated in several hotspots in Donetsk, there have been recent signs that the fighting could spread to Luhansk, as sustained ceasefire violations were reported on April 1,” Baer said.

Fortunately for Ukraine, Baer admitted that the Russia-backed separatists have not held up their end of the Minsk accords, which, he said, “were designed not merely to end the conflict, but to restore Ukraine’s governance over its sovereign territory.” He added that the decision taken by the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ in last month to issue passports “has no legal basis in either the Minsk agreements or international law.” These are significant conclusions for the international community to take to heart.

During another 24-hour period, Ukrainian positions in and around Luhansk and Donetsk were bombarded 87 times resulting in eight Ukrainian soldiers being wounded. Three servicemen were wounded as a result of shelling, and five others were wounded when their infantry fighting vehicle was blown up by a landmine, said Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

Russians have also seized a United Nations official in eastern Ukraine. The officer, named by the rebels as Yuriy Suprun, was seized on 8 April. The United Nations is calling for his “immediate and unconditional.”

The UN office in Ukraine, which is carrying out humanitarian operations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said it is deeply concerned that one of its staffer is a captive in Donetsk. The statement went on to say the UN has information the staff member is being “well treated.”  It did not supply any information on the circumstances surrounding the abduction including when or where it took place.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is obviously pressing forward with his invasion of Ukraine without regard to Western opinions or international agreements that he’s signed. Free world leaders have access to all public and secret news about the Russian war in Ukraine but they are still hard pressed to do anything about this latest threat to regional and global peace and stability. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine continues without its restraint and this dangerous precedent will be detrimental for generations to come.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke on last Thursday with newly elected Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroysman, congratulated him on his election and expressed the Washington’s expectations of the new government.

At the same time, Biden emphasized that, in order to maintain international support for Ukraine, “the new team should move forward quickly on Ukraine’s reform program, including fulfilling its IMF commitments, as well as on Minsk implementation and the confirmation of a new, reformist Prosecutor General.” He reiterated unwavering US commitment to the prosperity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

That statement is heartwarming, as have been all of Biden’s remarks to Ukraine, but it is not enough in this perilous time for Ukraine. Urging and threatening Kyiv to reform and eliminate corruption, as important as they are for Ukraine’s future, cannot be singled out when Russian troops and terrorists remain in Ukraine and continue to violate the truce dozens of times in one day.

If this wasn’t all that Ukraine had to contend with, news media also reported last week that the worse is still to come. Geopolitical expert George Friedman observed that while Putin’s military buildup isn’t yet ready to take any further action in Ukraine, he believes the buildup is continuing. Putin will, if he desires, be ready for stronger action against Ukraine by 2017, Friedman pointed out. Hopefully, that’s why the US is also building forces in the region of the x-captive nations.

This is not a time for so-called rational discussions with an irrational Putin about Russia’s war with Ukraine. He is the international outlaw and must be treated like one. In addition to strongly encouraging its allies in Europe to renew and intensify sanctions against Moscow in July until it withdraws from Ukraine, Washington must provide Ukraine with light and heavy defensive weapons as well as tactical and special-ops instructors to aid Ukraine’s valiant troops in successfully engaging Russian invaders.

This proactive policy will not only preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity and save it – and the other x-captive nations – from returning to Russia’s rebuilt prison of nations but it will also save the free world from a Russian invasion.

Poroshenko’s Two Messages in Washington

President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine again brought his passionate message about his country to Washington, DC, last week during the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit. However, while his plea and warning about Ukraine’s war with Russia have not yet fallen on America’s deaf ears, they are sounding frayed due to Kyiv’s halfhearted battle with corruption.

In speeches to the Congress, the World Affairs Council of America and the Ukrainian American community, Poroshenko pointed out that since the Russian invasion of Ukrainian Crimea in February 2014 the country has stagnated economically while successfully defending itself from Russian aggression. He emphasized that Ukraine is embroiled in a war of survival and it has singlehandedly managed to halt the invasion of well-armed Russia. Poroshenko advised the free world to understand that Ukraine is not only fighting for its existence as an independent, sovereign and indivisible European country but also for the free world’s safety and security.

“Ukrainian patriots are losing their lives defending the same values that are dear to America and Europe. We are of one blood, one mind and one values. Democratic values,” Poroshenko observed.

“There are so many reasons not to carry (leadership): indifference, fatigue, self-doubt… And there is only one reason to carry it: you have it in your blood. In these times of doubt, I urge America to be strong and believe in itself – just like people of goodwill worldwide keep believing in America. Don’t let pragmatism make you forget about values, with freedom being at the top of them. Don’t let America become small-minded,” Poroshenko expounded in the US Congress.

“Ukraine’s fight is a fight for freedom.  And this fight continues,” Poroshenko said, urging American lawmakers to provide support for Ukraine.

And Congress and the White House have been for the most part supportive of Ukraine, perhaps due to the herculean efforts by Ukrainian American organizations and citizens. During the latest visit, Vice-President Joe Biden told Poroshenko that the US was moving forward with an additional $335 million in security assistance, the White House said in a statement.

Biden, who has been the White House’s point person in contacts with Poroshenko and Kyiv, again cautioned the Ukrainian leader that efforts by his administration to form a reform-oriented government were critical to unlocking international economic assistance, including an essential third $1 billion US loan guarantee, the statement said.

By comparison with other admonitions, Biden’s was the most constructive and palatable. Hopefully, Poroshenko will not belittle it.

Poroshenko argued that US and free world sanctions against Russia must remain intact until the restoration of peace in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv’s authority over Crimea. Indeed, sanctions must be upheld and even amplified until Russia withdraws its soldiers and terrorists from Ukraine. Anything less would signal the free world’s contempt for Ukrainian spilt blood.

“If the West lifts sanctions, the Kremlin’s wish will come true: Ukrainian blood will cost nothing. Killing Ukrainians will go without punishment,” said Poroshenko.

“Can anyone in the West accept this? I hope not. Sanctions are the only ‘line in the sand’ that the West drew after 2014. It is the only line between good and evil drawn in the context of this war,” he said.

“And if there is no line anymore – then what’s the difference between good and evil? Do we really want a world devoid of political boundaries? Do we want a world where one can grab other nation’s land, kill thousands – and stay unpunished? Therefore, without sustainable peace in Donbas – sanctions must stay in place,” Poroshenko insisted.

“Without restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea – sanctions must stay in place.  Without a new Russian attitude – sanctions must stay in place. Anything less would be a compromise at the cost of values and justice,” he said, echoing sentiments expressed a couple of days earlier by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda.

The Ukrainian president – and other x-captive nations’ leaders – said the right signal to send to Russia “is that if you pursue an aggressive policy, no one will deal with you.”

Poroshenko’s message has been simple: Criminals must be held accountable for their aggression; and they must withdraw from occupied territories. Russia must be banned from the global table.

The Ukrainian president also said some 10,000 people, including more than 2,700 Ukrainian army troops, had been killed in fighting between Russian soldiers and terrorists and Ukrainian armed forces.  Russia has delivered more than 750 tanks, more than 1,500 artillery systems, stores of ammunition to a very small territory. He said nearly 1.8 million people had been forced to leave their homes in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk since the war started.

Furthermore, Ukraine’s economy shrank 9.9% in 2015 in addition to a drop of almost 7% in 2014, Ukraine’s economy has also been hurt by a trade war with Russia, formerly its largest market for exports, and a drop in the global price of its wheat and steel exports.

Since the start of the war, the World Bank Group has provided a total of more than $4.1 billion in budget support, investments and private sector financing to Ukraine.

Faced with Russian gross violations of international law and order and national pain and suffering, Poroshenko expressed surprise at the international community’s reluctance to provide Ukraine with lethal military assistance.

While the world places its hopes for peace on the so-called Minsk accords, Poroshenko indicated that the ceasefire agreement has not contributed to a lessening of death and anguish. Russia continues to press onward with impunity in its aggression against Ukraine.

“Nineteen months after we initiated the Minsk process, I still receive reports about losses and shelling of our positions in the frontline every single day. Every morning I have a report from Chief of the General Staff, General of the Ukrainian Army Muzhenko. Unfortunately, every day we have from 50 to 100 bombardments per day,” he said.

While logistic and military demands placed on Russia can be easily satisfied, Poroshenko said “changing Russia’s attitude and making it leave Ukraine alone” aren’t, revealing his understanding of Ukraine’s ongoing precarious predicament of having to share a border with belligerent Russia.

Russia’s more than 24-month occupation of Crimea have resulted in systemic and large-scale violations of human rights in Crimea, he said.

“The occupation regime targets everyone who shows dissent, especially Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars who support sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Russian occupation regime has launched over 130 criminal cases against Crimean Tatars, including a case to ban their main organization – Mejlis. 21 Crimean Tatars have been kidnapped, 3 found dead, 9 are still missing. More than 20,000 Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars were forced to leave the peninsula,” Poroshenko detailed.

But in the context of the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, Russia’s most dangerous plans are its militarization of the Ukrainian peninsula and its intention to station nuclear weapons in Crimea.

“This is Russia’s understanding of security in the region,” Poroshenko summarized disparagingly.

While Poroshenko’s message about Ukraine’s war with Russia is one side of its current profile, the reverse side is fast becoming the single greatest impediment to attracting supporters. Corruption can isolate Kyiv from the international community before a global campaign can be mounted to expel Russia from Ukraine. Biden had called corruption a cancer that is eating Ukraine.

The New York Times, in an editorial, among other sources, called Ukraine on the carpet for this glaring offense.

“But the president, the prime minister and the Parliament must be made to understand that the International Monetary Fund and donor nations, including the United States, cannot continue to shovel money into a corrupt swamp unless the government starts shaping the democratic rule that Ukrainians demanded in their protests,” wrote the New York newspaper.

“Alas, nothing is likely to change unless President Petro Poroshenko and Parliament agree to install some real corruption fighters and approve serious judicial reform.”

Ukrainian patriots from across the country have said corruption is the single greatest domestic evil that is plaguing Ukraine. Despite Poroshenko’s declarations that Ukraine is making headway in its war against graft, very little has been accomplished. Corrupt officials remain in office at all levels of government or else they are rotated to different offices to conceal their activities.

The President and the Verkhovna Rada must find the courage to weed out corrupt officials regardless of whose friend or relative they may be. This process must begin with the President himself by his divestiture of all his financial holdings rather than establish off-shore venues for his current and future sources of income. This conflict of interest cannot be tolerated in a country that seeks to establish a new credible, democratic, law-abiding image.

Ukrainians are also sick and tired of government corruption. But as they clamor for good officials to arrest the bad ones, they tolerate graft on their local levels as they seek jobs, buy goods and services, and apply to higher education. The people must also do their share to end this dishonest holdover of the Soviet era.

The nation has demonstrated with the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity that it has the true grit – like Nadiya Savchenko – to seize the day and improve its fate. Poroshenko, the government and people are winning against Russia. This Ukrainian triumvirate must now stand shoulder to shoulder and defeat corruption before it is too late.

Ukraine at War: Two Years Later

Peace and stability in Europe were suddenly shattered two years ago when Russian troops invaded Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, occupied it and ultimately annexed it in a fabricated referendum.

Soon afterward, Russian soldiers and mercenaries crossed Ukraine’s eastern border and occupied the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, setting up rogue territories akin to the confederated states of the Civil War and war-torn Nazi-occupied European countries during World War II.

Generally, the international community, including the United Nations has supported Ukraine and instituted economic sanctions against Russia, which, unfortunately, haven’t resulted in expelling Russia from Ukraine. Moscow continues to violate the Minsk truce accords, Russian heavy artillery and missiles still dot the countryside, and Ukrainian soldiers are being killed on the battlefront.

I had the privilege on Thursday, March 17, to moderate a session at the UN Trusteeship Council about Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations, the meeting commemorated the second anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s resolution on the “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine,” which was adopted in the wake of Russia’s belligerence against Ukraine.

On March 27, 2014, the General Assembly affirmed its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. By a vote of 100 in favor to 11 against, with 58 abstentions, the General Assembly adopted the resolution that called on member-states, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any change in the status of Crimea or the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol, and to refrain from actions or dealings that might be interpreted as such.

In essence, the resolution disavowed the contrived referendum, orchestrated by Moscow.

The General Assembly also called on member-states to “desist and refrain” from actions aimed at disrupting Ukraine’s national unity and territorial integrity, including by modifying its borders through the threat or use of force.  It urged all parties immediately to pursue a peaceful resolution of the situation through direct political dialogue, to exercise restraint, and to refrain from unilateral actions and inflammatory rhetoric that could raise tensions.

The resolution stated that the sham referendum has no validity and should not be recognized. This means that countries and businesses around the world should not fall victim to Russian pressure and admit that Crimea is Russia and redraw maps to indicate that Crimea is a part of Russia.

Today, some two years since the start of the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16, Crimea remains Russian occupied territory along with the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. And the war that was sparked by Moscow has claimed some 10,000 lives and resulted in millions of refugees. The occupying Russian junta in Crimea has launched a reign of terror against the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, denying them their human, religious and cultural rights, while quietly eliminating its leaders.

Last week’s session was opened by Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN. My remarks sandwiched powerful statements of support by some two dozen UN member-states, including Ukraine’s x-captive nation neighbors such as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. It is important that today the x-captive nations unite in their common defense against Russian aggression.

The permanent representatives and deputy permanent representatives underscored that the invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory are examples of Russia’s wanton disregard for international law, the UN Charter and regional peace, stability and security. One speaker even called these illegal actions “genocide.”

Some of the presenters also raised the illegal incarceration and trial against Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian aviatrix with true grit who was captured in Ukraine and abducted to Russia to stand trial on trumped up charges of killing civilian journalists. (See my blog of March 9, 2016)

Also speaking were Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya and Mustafa Dzhemilev, commissioner of the President on the Affairs of Crimean Tatars and a Member of Ukrainian Parliament.

Ambassador Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the US to the UN, one of the staunchest advocates of independent Ukraine against Russian aggression, added that day to her repository of great addresses in support of Ukraine.

The US ambassador passionately emphasized that Russia has been perpetrating crimes against Ukraine for a long time: “Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea is not a one-time violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, but rather represents an ongoing, continuous violation, one that persists for every day that Russia continues to occupy the peninsula. The passage of time does not change the facts; Crimea was, is, and must and will remain part of sovereign Ukraine – and we refuse to accept Russia’s attempt to use force and to use propaganda to alter that fact.”

As for Russian violations of Crimean Tatar rights, she said: “Ever since the little green men first began to pop up in Crimea, human rights monitors have documented abductions of Tatars and pro-Ukrainian activists, in which evidence points to the participation of occupation authorities and their security forces, suggesting these are cases of what we call enforced disappearances.”

Addressing Savchenko’s imprisonment, Power stated: “Nor is this pattern of abuse limited to Crimea. Also at this moment, Ukrainian pilot and member of parliament Nadia Savchenko – who was also detained in Ukraine and sent to the remote town of Donetsk, Russia to be tried under Russian laws for similarly preposterous charges – is awaiting her verdict. The prosecutor in her case is seeking a 23-year sentence.

“Imagine for just one moment if Oleg Sentsov or Nadia Savchenko were a citizen of any of our nations. How would we react? How would we expect our fellow UN Member States to react? We have to put ourselves in the shoes of Ukrainians more often – in the shoes of the Tatars, in the shoes of the people who live in Crimea without basic freedoms. I assure you that, if we do, we will start making a lot more noise about egregious actions like this.”

I especially liked the ambassador’s observation that Russia wants the free world to live in an upside-down world.

“We can’t accept that. We have to live in right-side up land, and we have to define and remind people about the norms that undergird the international system, on which all of our peace and security and human rights depend,” she declared accentuating that the free world will not succumb to Moscow’s wrongdoings.

It was encouraging to hear UN member-states express their support and solidarity for Ukraine and condemn Russia for its cruel aggression and war against Ukraine. During the session, Ambassador Yelchenko whispered to me, pointing to three occupants in the “bleacher” section of the Trusteeship Council room, saying, “They’re not supposed to be here but Russians want to know what we’re talking about.”

These and similar words of support for Ukraine have been articulated for nearly 25 months since Russia invaded Ukraine via Crimea. But the gnawing question remains: how long will the free world tolerate the military and political occupation of an independent UN member-state’s sovereign territory. Global political stagnation and inaction merely prolong the pain of this Russian crime against humanity and raise the possibility that even Ukraine’s friends may be lulled into tolerating Russia’s inverted view of events and accepting it has the new normal.

This is the question for the free world to ponder every day.

European ‘Ennui’ Threatens Ukraine and World

Europe, that pretentious group of countries with self-anointed visions of grandeur and holier-than-thou temperaments, has tired of having to deal with Ukraine. Russia’s war against Ukraine and Kyiv’s erratic escape from Moscow’s subjugation thru brambles of domestic corruption to a sovereign democratic existence have tested European leaders’ patience beyond their limited thresholds of tolerance.

But Europe’s irrepressible, gaping yawn can endanger Ukraine and pave the way to its demise at the hands of a stalking, belligerent Russia.

Geoffrey R. Pyatt, US ambassador to Ukraine, a staunch advocate of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and indivisibility, elaborated in a recent interview that Kyiv faces the threat of what he described as “Ukraine fatigue” from its fair-weather (my description) European allies.

Throughout its history, Ukrainians have demonstrated a strong desire to live freely, according to their culture and customs. When threatened by neighbors, notably Russia, they fought bravely against successive invasions, occasionally seeking help from allies, which oftentimes arrived in the form of words and sanctions rather than critically needed lethal defensive arms.

Today, a quarter of a century after declaring its independence and reestablishing an independent state, Ukraine made a courageous choice for democracy, freedom, nuclear nonproliferation and European integration and was then punished by a Russian invasion.

Ukraine’s travails have become more than the leaders in Berlin, Rome, Paris, London, Madrid and the other capitals are able to absorb and endure. Europeans, who have known foreign occupations throughout their histories, are sighing in relief that today they aren’t now victims of foreign occupation.

In an interview with EurActiv.com earlier this month, Pyatt articulated the following points about today’s Ukraine:

·         Ukraine is key to the concept of “Europe, whole, free, and at peace.”

·         Ukraine “looks to join the Europe of values” – after all that is what the Revolution of Dignity was all about.

·         Ukraine has made a choice for Europe.

·         A sanctions rollback by Europe would mean sacrificing European values for Russian money.

Pyatt, a career diplomat who took office in Kyiv in August 2013, emphasized that Ukrainians – not merely the bureaucrats in Kyiv – but the people favor integration with Europe and a decent life in a close relationship with Europeans and their standards. After all, during the recent Revolution of Dignity, the third flag carried by millions of protesters after the Ukrainian national flag and the red and black flag of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) was the star-studded EU flag.

“Kyiv is the most pro-European capital on the continent,” he said.

While European leaders yawn when discussions turn to Ukraine as they hope for a rapprochement with Russia, which really means surrender, Pyatt outlined a different stance for the US: “Our role is not to tell them [the Ukrainians] to accommodate Putin’s imperial ambitions.”

In today’s unsure political and military climates, when Russia is stoking the furnaces of its military-industrial complex and dispatching nuclear-armed jets and submarines around the world in an effort to intimidate already scared global leaders, it is good to hear an American official admit that Russia has imperial ambitions. Recognition is the first step to eliminating the problem.

European leaders have placed a great deal of hope in the so-called Minsk truce accords, which, as I have written, will not lead to regional or global peace and stability. Pyatt strongly pointed out in his interview that “Minsk is not a formula for legitimizing the Russian presence in Donbas.”

The Minsk truce, which Russia has violated every week for the past two years, must not legitimize the Russian occupation of Crimea or any region of Ukraine. It can’t be used as a post-invasion justification for annexing foreign sovereign lands.

At the latest Paris ceasefire meeting, when asked by journalists if there has been a breakthrough, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin responded by saying: “No, I don't have that impression.”

The mere question implies that reporters and parties to the talks crassly regard both sides equally culpable.

Analyst Jeff Rathke, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also implied this when he said both Moscow-backed separatists and Kyiv need to do their parts to move on with a permanent ceasefire and political reforms to break the stalemate.

"On the one hand, decisions have to be made by the Ukrainian authorities,” he said, “but most importantly is the need for the separatists backed by Russia to do their part, and so that remains as a problem, as progress is correspondingly slow and there [have] been no breakthroughs."

The warring sides in Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16 do not share equal blame. Russia is the one and only aggressor that is also guilty of egregious violations of a wide range of human rights of citizens and foreigners.

Klimkin noted at the Paris gathering that Ukraine continues to insist that all commitments for a cease-fire and withdrawal of weapons be carried out before elections are held.

“We must be able to ensure these elections are organized safely; we need our territory to be secure. Without security we can’t deliver on anything further,” he was quoted as telling reporters.

Appropriately, Pyatt said there was “zero probability” of reviewing sanctions on Russia until the Minsk agreement is fully implemented. This means a ceasefire, the release of hostages and the organization of elections according to OSCE standards – in my view the last prerequisite is of dubious benefit. It also means the withdrawal of Russian fighters and equipment, and the restoration of Ukraine control over its border with Russia. At present, the 400-kilometer long border in the areas held by terrorists is controlled by Russia only. Also add to these demands the dissolution of the Russian imposed renegade republics and surrender of all of its leaders.

As for the future of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, which was occupied by Russia in February 2014 igniting the war, Pyatt declared Washington would not recognize this illegal act.

“We will make the occupation of Crimea as expensive as possible,” he said referring to the economic and political cost Russia is incurring following the annexation.

Europe’s boredom with the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16 comes at a dangerous time not only for Ukraine but for Europe itself. News media report that skirmishes and battles between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian invaders occur every week. UNIAN reported on March 12 that Russian-backed separatist forces attacked Ukrainian troops 75 times the previous day. Another source reported earlier this month that Ukrainian intelligence observed six Russian trucks carrying special forces troops arriving in Donbas.

US Ambassador Daniel B. Baer to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna detailed on March 3 Russia’s repulsively high number of violations of the ceasefire: “The United States is concerned that the number of observed ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine is at the highest level since August 2015, exceeding 3,800 in the last week; combined-Russian separatist forces are responsible for the majority of them. Combined Russian-separatist forces have also attacked Ukrainian positions with proscribed heavy weapons, including grad rocket launchers, high caliber mortars, and heavy artillery. We regret that Russia and the separatists have chosen to again escalate the violence ahead of today’s Normandy format Foreign Ministers meeting in Paris. This violence threatens progress toward finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict and calls into question Russia’s and the separatists’ commitment to full implementation of the Minsk agreements.”

In other words, the Minsk peace process that the EU advocates while Moscow disrupts has failed because of Russia’s ongoing duplicity and Europe’s lackadaisical attitude about the guilty party. Russia has also cleverly raised the stakes against peace by joining the war in Syria on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, further confusing and scaring Europe.

Fortunately, President Barack Obama on March 2 extended a series of sanctions against Russia for one year until March 2017, citing a continuing threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States by the actions and policies of persons that undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine.
The European Union on March 10 also extended sanctions for another six months until September 2016 against individuals and entities involved in the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

To be effective, these sanctions must not have a time limit. They must be maintained and increased until Russia pulls back from Ukraine.
In its dangerous, bored condition, Europe will continue to slide down the slippery slope of accepting Russian violations for the sake of faux peace and stability. It will wrongly increase pressure on Ukraine to accept Russian occupation. It will contribute to an escalation of Russia’s war with Ukraine. And it will give in to each Russian incremental demand as its invading armies proceed west across Ukraine. Moscow is betting that European boredom will allow it to prevail against Ukraine and the other former captive nations. Europe must not break ranks with the free world and x-captive nations in looking for other accommodations with Russia than its complete withdrawal from Ukraine.

Europe must be steadfast in demanding that Russia ends its aggression against Ukraine.

Worldwide Support Grows for Nadiya Savchenko

Cyberspace has been filled with many recent examples of the growing worldwide support for Nadiya Savchenko not only from Ukrainians but also from a significant number of non-Ukrainian sources.

Savchenko, a Ukrainian military aviatrix, was kidnapped to Russia by Russian invaders and falsely accused of killing Russian non-combatants during the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16. Held in unjust conditions in a Russian prison, 34-year-old Savchenko launched a hunger strike to protest her unlawful imprisonment.

Often seen in court dressed in a Ukrainian embroidered blouse or a t-shirt emblazoned with a large Tryzub, the national emblem of Ukraine, Nadiya Savchenko has earned the distinction of being this generation’s most prominent Ukrainian political prisoner.

Indeed, Savchenko has demonstrated true grit throughout her military career and illegal incarceration and trial. The latest chapter of her plight shows that she hasn’t tired and continues to maintain her principled, national, patriotic position even while caged in the Russian courtroom.

On March 2, while awaiting the final verdict after the prosecutor demanded a sentence of 23 years behind bars, Savchenko, also a member of the Ukrainian parliament, offered her final statement, in which she laid the complete blame for Russia’s imperialism, invasion, killings and her capture and imprisonment at the doorstep of the Kremlin.

Some excerpts of her remarks:

“During this long and tedious six-month trial we learned that guilt was proven in the course of the judicial process. That guilt is of the Russian journalists [Savchenko was accused of involvement in the deaths of two Russian journalists]. They are guilty of lying and of providing false, distorted information regarding events in Ukraine, the world, and in Russia …

“If they had not hung around where they shouldn't have, they would have stayed alive. Russian TV channels were also found guilty …

“They wanted to boost their ratings and made a quick buck. But they absolutely do not care about their journalists. They are the ones who are above all responsible for the deaths of Korneliuk and Voloshin [the two Russian journalists whose deaths Savchenko is accused of involvement in]…

“The guilt of Russian-backed separatist forces and Russian regular military troops has also been proven. They are guilty of killing Ukrainian people on our Ukrainian land. They are to blame for occupying Ukrainian lands …

“This court also proved the FSB (Security Service) and Russia's Investigative Committee guilty. They are to blame for kidnapping people. They are guilty of torturing people …

“During the trial, the prosecutor and Russian judges were also found guilty. During two years of my imprisonment and my tribulations here, I found out that those people had neither honor nor conscience, nor do they abide by laws. They absolutely do not care about international laws or human rights, they are instructed by the Kremlin, and they are committed to fulfilling this state order …

“The trial proves the guilt of Russian authorities; they are to blame for seizing Ukrainian lands, capturing Crimea and starting a war in the Donbas region. They are to blame for trying to establish - through their foul undeclared wars all over the world - a totalitarian regime dominated by Russia …

“They creep everywhere and kill people through genocide. We could observe the same practice in Chechnya, and Abkhazia. Now we are observing this in Ukraine, Dagestan, Syria …

“I am the only person the court failed to find guilty. I am an officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I had every right to defend my land, I was fulfilling my duty …

“You do not judge your own troops - but they also killed many people while defending their country …

“That’s why I want to say - the more I meet these effeminate men, like prosecutors here, the higher grows my self-esteem as that of a woman, of a soldier and of a human being...

“And here is the most crucial thing. Let prosecutors sentence me to as many years in prison, as they wish. Not a day longer, not a day shorter. All 23 years. Do not issue a longer or shorter jail sentence for me - so they won’t make any further appeals or delay the procedure. You have proved that you are utterly impotent. You have already proved that Russia can disgrace itself, as exemplified in my case.

“You have never defeated me and will never do it! Well, let's finish it all as soon as possible, I will not wait any longer. It was not you who have given me life, so you can't own it - and you can't decide upon my fate. If the verdict takes more than two weeks, I will not wait for it. That's all I want to say.”

Powerful words from a Ukrainian soldier regardless of gender.

According to the BBC, her patience evaporated in court on Wednesday, March 9. The news agency reported that at one point in her appearance, she leaped onto a bench inside the cage and showed the judges her middle finger. She mocked the judges in Ukrainian, saying they were proving that Russians were fascists.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry joined the chorus of world leaders who have called for Savchenko’s release.

Biden: “Nadiya has been unjustly imprisoned in Russia since 2014—detained and facing trial on trumped up charges. Nadiya was proudly serving her country as a member of the Ukrainian armed forces, fighting in the eastern part of the country when she was abducted by separatists and taken across the border against her will.

“During the past 20 months, she has become a symbol of Ukrainian national pride and strength. She was even elected to the Rada from her prison cell. Her unlawful continuing detention is a clear violation of Russia’s commitment under the Minsk agreements, and she should be freed at once. Recently, Nadiya has begun a new hunger strike to protest her detention, and her health has begun to deteriorate after five days with no food or liquids.

“Today, as we mark International Women’s Day and honor all the brave women who struggle against injustice in this world, we also stand with Nadiya and with the Ukrainian people. And we call on Russia to make the right choice—to drop all charges and release her at once. Nadiya deserves to go home to her family and friends and join her fellow Rada members to begin shaping a new Ukraine.”

Kerry: “In the 20 months since she was captured in eastern Ukraine and taken to Russia, Ms. Savchenko has reportedly endured interrogations, solitary confinement, and forced “psychiatric evaluation.” Her trial and continuing imprisonment demonstrate disregard for international standards, as well as for Russia’s commitments under the Minsk agreements.

“The United States once again calls on Russia to immediately release Ms. Savchenko and return her to Ukraine.”

Ambassador Daniel B. Baer to the OSCE Permanent Council: “We must take this opportunity to remind the Russian Federation that Russia has committed, under the Minsk agreements, to the release of Nadiya Savchenko and others held on politically-motivated charges in the Russian Federation.”

Russia must not be permitted to get away with another crime against humanity. Please visit the following website and sign the open letter to European leaders to demand freedom for Nadiya Savchenko.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/free-savchenko-open-letter-to-european-leaders

Eternal Shame on Russia

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom,” the 2016 Oscar nominated documentary movie about Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity has been broadcast on Netflix for several months but I mustered the resolve to view it for the first time only a few days ago. The historic images of the Ukrainian nation arising against foreign and domestic tyrants two years ago and the accompanying emotions were still fresh in my mind, restraining me from watching it.

The momentous events on Maidan in Ukraine’s capital in 2013-14 that attracted more than a few million Ukrainians from around the country kept the world glued to live web streams of what was quickly evolving into the nation’s latest manifestation of its invincible will to live free, without foreign domination.

The movie instantly brought back memories of parades, speeches, rallies, fires, dedication, police depravity and barbarism, beatings, bravery, heroism, patriotism, gunshots, and blood that ultimately forced Russian flunky Viktor Yanukovych to flee from Kyiv into the arms of his benefactor and Ukraine’s oppressor Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The 1-hour and 42-minute movie that covered 93 days in the life of the Ukrainian nation will contribute to Russia’s eternal shame regardless of the outcome of Academy Awards. Subsequent generations of Russians will have to answer a host of muted questions about their country’s role in trying to quash liberty in Ukraine just like today’s Germans are attempting to cope with Nazism. Likewise, future generations will have a glimpse of one episode from a millennium of examples of Ukrainians’ unconquerable, freedom-loving spirit to live in their own independent, sovereign, democratic and indivisible Ukraine.

The film conveys the background and reasons for the Revolution of Dignity, including Ukraine’s subjugation by Russia, the nation’s desire for accession to the European Union, Yanukovych’s acquiescence, Putin’s opposition and finally Yanukovych’s last-minute turnaround. The nation couldn’t stand the government’s duplicity and subservience to Moscow. The people demanded that the accession process go forward and that ex-convicts like Yanukovych by removed from power.

Social media was the instrument for capacity building in Kyiv. It summoned Ukrainians of all walks of life to Kyiv to voice their disgust and opposition to Russia’s corrupt, anti-Ukrainian colonial administrators in Ukraine. National opposition grew from a few hundred protesters in the center of the capital to several thousand to more than a million, testifying that this was, in fact, a popular, national movement for freedom.

The nation again awakened to stop those who sought to subvert Ukraine’s fate. The marchers emphasized that Ukraine, as a European nation, is part of the European Union and the nation’s youngest generation demands that Ukraine finds its rightful place among European countries and not in the Russian prison of nations.

The protestors, whose numbers swelled from grassroots levels, were emboldened into believing that they could change the country. Fed up with Yanukovych’s corruption and submission to Moscow, their movement evolved into a revolution whose goal was to depose the government and liberate Ukraine from Russia’s bonds. Their daring and power grew from their unwavering beliefs and expanding numbers. They were determined to fight for Ukraine and that victory would be theirs.

Those who were interviewed and appeared in the movie underscored that the Revolution of Dignity was popular and national. Busloads of demonstrators from across Ukraine participated. Doctors from around the country came to Kyiv to treat the wounded and dying. Young and old helped with food and other provisions. Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian speakers, including Russian speakers, were equally vocal in their disdain for Moscow’s subjugation of Ukraine. Serhiy Nigoyan, an Armenian, was the first to shed his blood for Ukraine’s freedom. Among the Maidan Defense Units were Jewish Maidan Defense Unit and Women’s Maidan Defense Unit. All religious hierarchs, representing the broad swath of faiths of Ukraine, Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist and others prayed in unison for the nation’s salvation.

Teenagers and even younger Ukrainians were involved in the movement. One seemingly pre-teen spoke of helping with medical supplies and provisions. Another boy, a teenager, wearing a t-shirt of Stepan Bandera, leader of OUN assassinated by the Kremlin, was seen speaking with his mother on his cell phone. Not knowing what will be his destiny, he ended the call by saying “Mamtsiu, I love you.”

The documentary did not show the involvement of civic leaders except for boxer Klychko and pop singer Ruslana, which further confirmed the people’s mass dedication to the cause of Maidan.

It was pointed out by many that the participants maintained the highest level of moral behavior during the revolution. Drugs and alcohol were not seen in their encampments. The participants were peaceful and unarmed as they faced the depraved barbarism of the Berkut security officers, whose brutality was clearly visible throughout the documentary. They repeatedly charged into the nonviolent protesters wildly swinging their truncheons without regard for life or limb. Our 9-year-old son was shocked when he saw the attackers beat and kick defenseless, cowering protesters on the ground. Army veterans observed that the Berkut officers “didn’t act like human beings” even destroying makeshift red cross stations. For the first time since 1240, the bells of the St. Michael Sobor tolled anxiously, summoning more and more people to join the protests on Maidan.

Despite repeated waves of baton-wielding officers, none of the protesters broke rank and fled. They were committed to their mission, realistically noting that even if they abandon their cause now, eventually they would be hunted down and eliminated. In a comical, futile effort to protect themselves against the police, protestors covered their heads with kitchen utensils, pots, pans and colanders.

The documentary offered many insights about the Ukrainian nation for all viewers but one, in particular, was clearly, warmly perceptible by Ukrainians. Repeatedly throughout the documentary individuals or mass throngs chanted “Glory to Ukraine,” and “Glory to the Heroes,” an old Ukrainian mantra that was adopted by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and was banned by Soviet Ukraine and Russia and ridiculed by some others. Goose bumps ran up and down my arm while listening to the refrain as flames rose in the night sky.

In time, truncheons were exchanged for rubber bullets and then for live ammunition and Putin/Yanukovych’s organized killers began shooting unarmed demonstrators from rooftops like fish in a barrel. The Revolution of Dignity lasted 93 days during which 125 innocent, peaceful citizens of Ukraine were murdered on the orders of officials in the Kremlin and Kyiv. They indisputably earned the moniker “Heavenly Hundred.”

Push came to shove after the timid members of the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law outlawing demonstrations and Klychko’s ineffective attempt to convince the lawmakers to rescind the vote. I recalled watching this live two years ago. His effort was rejected by the crowd on Maidan. Infuriated by the slow evolution of events, Volodymyr Parasiuk, a young defense unit commander, seized a historic moment, jumped on the stage and grabbed the microphone from the Ukrainian boxer. He declared that Yanukovych must present himself to the crowd on Maidan and resign by 10 am the next day or else he would lead the nation in storming his multi-million dollar estate and removing him by force.

Yanukovych secretly fled to Russia the next day, February 22, and almost simultaneously the Russian army invaded the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine and then regions in eastern Ukraine. The fight for Ukraine’s freedom continues.

“Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” fulfilled its mission of telling the world of Ukrainians’ indomitable spirit to fight for their freedom and that the generation that stood on Maidan for three months and faced the enemy without weapons is the latest generation of Ukrainian patriots to refresh the tree of liberty with their blood.