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Old style military parade on Khreshchatic in the middle of the day October 29, two weeks before the actual anniversary of the liberation of Kyiv. Putin apparently did not appreciate the minimal attendance of citizenry which seemed to indicate their lack of appreciation for Russia's interference in Ukraine's elections.

In scenes eerily reminiscent of the Cold War, President Vladimir Putin joined President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine to watch a military parade goose-step through Kiev yesterday.
Putin has an eye on the future as he looks back on Soviet glory victory
By Julius Strauss in Moscow
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?&_DARGS
=/core/lowerHeaderBarFrag.jhtml

http://www.anonymization.net/http://www.pravda.com.ua/archive/2004/october/29/9.shtml

Call this toll-free number to register your disappointment that the CBC has not been covering the elections in any sigificant manner (only occasional reports from AP).

To record your message, call 1-800-565-1422

Oksana Zabuzhko is a well-known Ukrainian writer and journalist.

Kyiv, October 24 2004

Dear friends,

I'm writing you this from the country, now haunted with the gory prospect of being forcefully turned, in a week, into one of the most terrible thugocratic dictatorships that Europe has witnessed since Hitler and Stalin. You may find this an exaggeration, yet it's not. It's usually so human, to refuse to believe the worst - until it's too late. Besides, from my recent conversations with my friends and journalists from EU, I know how little information can be found in the European media on the situation in Ukraine - and, as a result, how little understanding there is of what is really at stake here this fall.

Last night the first blood was spilled on the Kyiv pavement. The autocratic post-Soviet regime, which since the late 1990s has been smothering the budding Ukrainian democracy, and is by now wholeheartedly hated by the vast majority of population (from 67% to 85%, according to the polls!), has given us its final proof, that there'll be NO - however heavily falsified - "free elections" on October, 31. There'll be a WAR - an open war, launched against the people of Ukraine by the handful of gangsters now at power, whose only goal is to stay at power after the 31st - at ANY price.

Until last night they've been using the "cold-war" methods (to skip the case of an attempted poisoning of the oppositional candidate, Victor Yushchenko, whose chances to win the elections in an honest game are undeniable). There's been a disgusting and overwhelming campaign of lies in the media (most of them, with very few exceptions, controlled by the power), there've been all the dirty, illegal tricks used (payments, threats, repressions etc.), as well as cheating with the voting lists (with, say, tens of thousands of the dead included on them, etc). Nothing of these, though, proved efficient enough to guarantee next Sunday the smooth and peaceful victory to the "candidate of the power" - the present-day Prime Minister (appointed by the president), a former (?) criminal, back in his youth twice convicted for robbery (no kidding!).

Yesterday, the grand "orange" manifestation (orange being the colour of the oppositional candidate) of some 150000-200000 people filled the square in front of the Central Election Committee, under the slogan "For honest and transparent elections". It's been a warm, tranquil sunny day (do you know how beautiful is Kyiv in the fall?), and the 3-million city was all celebration - of joy, and hope, and solidarity. It's been a long time since I've seen so many happy, smiling faces in the streets - in fact, since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Yet then, in 1991, as the past 13 years have proved, our celebration was definitely premature. With no change of the political elite, with just very small burgeons of civil society, with - well, why don't I put it plainly - no REAL revolution, Ukraine, after a while, started sliding back into the dark shadow of Sovietization. It's only now, that the dragon of Soviet totalitarianism - in the meantime considerably shrunken, losing one part of his body after another (Eastern Europe - the Baltics - then, last fall, Georgia...), all rotten up to the marrow of his bones (its true - criminal - skeleton now fully exposed!) - is REALLY agonizing. And the convulsions of the dragon could be terrible - isn't the case of Russia conspicuous enough?

Vladimir Putin, who has so quickly turned his country back into a concentration camp, fully browbeaten with the fear of terrorism, now serves as the major support for the Ukrainian thugs. Small wonder, as criminals and the KGB officers used to belong together since good old Gulag times. The whole presidential campaign of our "candidate of the power", Victor Yanukovich, is a brainchild of Moscow professionals. Politically and intellectually, Kyiv now more and more looks like the city under Russian occupation.And what exactly have they plotted to ensure "the succession of power" in Ukraine, has become visible last night.

About 23.00, after the singing "orange" crowd in front of the Central Election Committee dispersed, and only some 150 people - among them women, and senior citizens - stayed to wait for the results of the session (which was held inside) to be announced (on the agenda was an attempt to falsify some 2 million voices, due to the machinations with the voting lists!) - the dragon has bared his teeth for the first time. Some 50 black-leathered men appeared out of the darkness, and attacked people, who were waiting on the park benches, with clubs and knives. There was no police around (!), but three of the attackers - when the parlamentarians and the bodyguards ran out of the building - were caught and handicuffed. According to their IDs, they all appeared to be disguised policemen - of the specially trained "killers' detachments".

Yes, there've been rumours circulating before - of some "special detachments" arriving from all over the country and concentrating around the city. Of some strange, and highly suspicious manoeuvres noted by the city-dwellers in some areas. Now, next morning after the "night of the long knives" (as a result of which, 11 peaceful demonstrators were taken to the hospital, some of them seriously wounded), there's no doubt left: the war has been announced. The gangsters at power aren't going to leave in any case. They are going to fight - most probably, after the voting-booths will be closed.

Could any, however "specially trained", groups of murderers REALLY work against hundreds of thousands of people? (For people ARE going to go into the streets on the election night, and Ukrainian internet is now boiling with the discussions on how and where to meet, how to protect oneself against the attacks, etc.). Well, maybe they couldn't. And Ukrainian army will hardly agree to turn its guns against its own people, either. But on October, 28 - three days before the elections - there'll be a military parade (!) in Kyiv (nothing like this was ever held before on this date!). And Russian president Vladimir Putin is coming to Kyiv - allegedly, to take part in the parade (?). And to stay in Kyiv for 5 (?) days more. Again, there're rumours - oh, these rumours! - that he'll be bodygarded by some bayonets. More precisely - with two divisions being particularly famous of their operations in the Caucases...

Maybe Ukraine has only one week left. One last week of the electrifying autumn of free political discussions in the cafes and clubs, of gatherings, manifestations, and - well, of hope. For, despite everything, there's an extremely strong, and growing hope, I even daresay, an upsurging belief, that the Ukrainian part of the dragon will be killed next Sunday with the free will of the people. Today the anchorman on the last Ukrainian free TV channel yet unclosed (Channel 5) was smiling the same way people were yesterday in the streets. (For quite a while persecuted, now sued, Channel 5 is under the threat of being closed tomorrow night - but the anchorman was smiling like a winner.) Now covering no more than 30% of the country's territory, Channel 5 was the only one which gave a full report on the events of the last night. Characteristically, none of the beaten witnesses sounded "victimized" - they all talked indignantly, but righteously: that is, like people aware of their rights, and ready to protect them.

It's a totally irrational, yet overwhelming feeling: that "we", the people, are stronger than "them", the corrupted power. And that it's "them", not "us", who is scared.

On the night of the elections I'll be in the streets, too. I don't know what is going to happen there. That is, what forces will be turned against us, and what will be the final result. Yet, even if the worst happens, and the Putin's bayonets help to turn my country, for God-knows-how-long, into a criminal-presided reservation of the degraded Stalinist type, we'll be in the streets - if only to be able to say, that THIS IS NOT OUR CHOICE.

Knowing how easily (and, more than once, eagerly!) does Western press buy the "made-in-Russia" political myths on the current Ukrainian situation (on Ukraine being allegedly "split" into East and West, "pro-Russian" and "pro-Western", Russian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking parts, each of them allegedly delegating its own candidate for the presidency), I just wanted to let you know how the things look and feel here in the reality. By spreading the truth further, you'll make your own contribution into killing the dragon. For, as we all know from this old guy Orwell (WHO on earth has ever been so careless to have claimed him outdated?) - what the dragon needs most badly for its survival, is precisely the fake, artificially constructed mental picture. And - needless to say that - the agony of the dragon should by no means be lightheartedly taken as a local process only...

It's not a farewell letter - it's a letter of hope.

Please keep your fingers for us this week!

With warmest regards,
Oksana Zabuzhko

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About Oksana Zabushko
http://www.zabuzhko.com/biography.html

http://www.sus-n.org/petition/#en

Information about the campaign of the Ukrainian Students Union in Germany against massive abuse of human and civil rights and freedom of the press in Ukraine.
Please sign!!!

The human and civil rights situation in Ukraine has become more unbearable the last few years and especially the last few weeks and days. In response to this, The Union of Ukrainian Students in Germany is organizing a campaign to draw world's attention to this matter and to call upon the western press for more exposure about the state of affairs in Ukraine.

In Germany there has been very little coverage of the Ukrainian presidential elections, especially in the most recent weeks which have seen many shocking events. The last democratic principles are being deliberately destroyed in Ukraine. In the meantime the western world, which so strongly seeks out to support democracy globally, chooses to ignore this.

This presidential election will distinguish Ukraine as either a country moving towards the west: democratic and economically advancing, with hope of one day joining the EU or as a country rooted in the east: leading to further stagnation, political isolation, deep-rooted civil and human-rights abuses. Before the next president of Ukraine is elected on October 31st 2004, we want to take a stand against the repeated abuse of human rights, and against the ignorance, inaccuracy and one-sidedness of the western media on these matters.

There has been enough silence!

We can no longer keep quiet because the government of Ukraine today attacks peaceful demonstrators with hammers and knifes, deploying for this purpose the national militia against its own people, for whom it was originally created to protect. If today they resort to such brutal methods, what should we expect tomorrow!?!

We appeal to you to join our campaign, because we can all contribute to making the world a more just place tomorrow.

This petition is going to be sent to numerous authorities, institutions, organizations and mass media. Among others are UN, European Parliament, European Council, European Commission and Deutscher Bundestag.

We thank you for your support!
The Union of Ukrainian Students in Germany

Hintergrundinfomationen zur Kampagne des Bundes ukrainischer Studenten in Deutschland e.V. gegen die massive Verletzung der Menschenrechte und der Pressefreiheit in der Ukraine
Jetzt unterschreiben!!!

Aufgrund der zunehmenden Verschlechterung der Menschen- und Bürgerrechtslage in der Ukraine in den letzten Jahren und insbesondere in den letzten Wochen und Tagen, hat sich der Bund ukrainischer Studenten in Deutschland e.V. dazu entschlossen, in einer Kampagne die Achtung der Menschen- und Bürgerrechte in der Ukraine einzufordern und sich für eine bessere Informationslage in der westlichen Presse einzusetzen.

Im Zusammenhang mit den anstehenden Präsidentschaftswahlen gelangen in Deutschland kaum Informationen an die Oberfläche, obwohl sich die Ereignisse der letzten Wochen geradezu überstürzten. Die letzten demokratischen Grundsätze in der Ukraine werden bewusst vernichtet, und die westliche Welt, die sich so gerne auf ihre demokratischen Grundsätze beruft, ignoriert diese Ereignisse.

Diese Präsidentschaftswahl scheint eine Art Richtungsorientierung zwischen West und Ost zu werden, zwischen einer Weiterentwicklung des Landes und einer europäischen Integration oder einer weiterführenden Stagnation und politischen Isolation mit groben Verletzungen der Menschen- und Bürgerrechte. Im Vorfeld der Präsidentschaftswahlen am 31. Oktober 2004 möchten wir ein deutliches Zeichen gegen den Verstoß der Menschen- und Bürgerrechte in der Ukraine setzen und gegen die Ignoranz oder allzu einseitige Darstellungen der Ereignisse in der westlichen Presse vorgehen.

Es wurde schon genug geschwiegen!

Wir können aber nicht weiter schweigen, denn heute geht die ukrainische Regierung gegen friedliche Demonstranten mit Hämmern und Messern los. Zu diesem Zweck missbraucht sie die ukrainische Miliz, die eigentlich dem Schutz des Volkes dienen sollte. Wenn bereits heute derartige Maßnahmen erfolgen, was wird dann morgen kommen!!!

Wir rufen auch Euch zur Teilnahme an unserer Kampagne auf, denn wir alle können dazu beitragen, dass die Welt von morgen gerechter sein wird!

Die von Ihnen unterzeichnete Petition wird an zahlreiche Behörden, Institutionen, Organisationen und Medien versandt, unter anderem an die Vereinten Nationen, das Europäische Parlament, den Europarat, die Europäische Kommission, den Petitionsausschuss des Deutschen Bundestages, an die deutschen Bundestagsfraktionen u.a.

Wir danken für Ihre und Eure Unterstützung!
Bund ukrainischer Studenten in Deutschland e.V.

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Satement of Appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), International Human Rights Groups.

The Presidential election campaign, which is under way in Ukraine, is mired with grave violations of the fundamental human rights and basic freedoms. The recent events demonstrate that the Ukrainian authorities have resumed persecution of independently minded people, using law-enforcement agencies as a tool of the political struggle.

Significant resources of the law-enforcement agencies are used for harassment of the opposition-leaning citizens and forgery of criminal cases against activists of the opposition movements.

On 16, 17, and 18 October 2004, police officers carried out unauthorized searches on the premises used by youth civic information campaign "Pora!" [It's time!], "Studentska Khvylya" [Student Wave], "Studentske Bratstvo Lvivshiny" [Fraternity of the Lviv Region], and the National University "Kyiv-Mohila Academy." Earlier, there were searches in several regional headquarters of the opposition Presidential Candidates. The searches were conducted under far-fetched pretexts, such as search for explosive devices or examination of anonymous information claiming that those organizations were involved in terrorist activities. Several activists of those organizations were detained throughout Ukraine. The most of the detainees were released in a few hours. According to them, during the interrogations, they were questioned about the contents of the distributed publications, critical to the current authorities.

During the search of a Kyiv office of the All-Ukrainian youth civic information campaign "Pora!" police officers allegedly found an explosive device. That finding became a basis for taking Yaroslav Godunok, the premises' tenant and a member of the opposition Ukrainian People's Party, into custody. It is very doubtful, whether that explosive device ever existed or belonged to the organization, because it had not been found during an earlier close search with the use of a police dog and at the presence of Members of the Parliament. The device was found only when the police officers remained alone in the room, where the previous search had failed to discover anything.

It demonstrates a high probability of the deliberate provocation committed by the law-enforcement agencies. In the room, there were also 3 tons of the opposition literature, which was left sealed after the search. Although only that rather questionable evidence had been found, the All-Ukrainian organization was publicly proclaimed a paramilitary formation, charged with terrorism. On these grounds, a great number of oppositionists are being persecuted.

The next day there was held a press conference at the General Prosecutor's Office, where conclusions as to the possible connection of the political opposition to the terrorist acts were made public. This way the General Prosecutor's Office does more than breaches a presumption of innocence of those, who are being charged. The reckless disclosure of the "confidentiality of investigation," disclosure of which is a criminal act, demonstrates that the activities carried out by the law-enforcement agencies in this instance aim not at the maintaining of law and order, but at the supply of compromising information for the benefit of certain political forces.

Most Ukrainian TV channels produce their news programs following press releases issued by the state authorities (so called "temnyky"). The published "temnyky" demonstrate that the authorities try to create in the society an impression of terrorist nature of activities carried out by youth opposition organizations "Pora!" and "Chista Ukrayina" [Clean Ukraine].

We receive information from all regions of Ukraine that the Security Service of Ukraine calls for questioning activists of those organizations, predominantly young people, who have never been noticed in illegal activities. It is becoming a routine practice of the law-enforcement agencies to detain scores of public activists during visits by Viktor Yanukovich, Presidential Candidate and Prime Minister, to various regions of Ukraine. According to our information, just for the last two days, October 18 and 19, during his visits to Chernihiv and Poltava, 17 people, who took part in disseminating of printed materials critical to the Prime Minister, were detained.

In most cases, during the detention, no detention reports are compiled. The detained activists are advised to stay aside of politics. In some incidents, they are threatened to face criminal prosecution. For instance, in Chernihiv, Oleksandr Kovalenko, the detained member of "Pora!" was accused in distributing false money. Others were threatened to face accusation in stealing mobile phones and rapes.

Outrageous violations of the code of criminal procedure take place during searches and detentions. Relatives are not informed on the detentions and lawyers are not allowed to meet their client's right after detention. For instance, the lawyer of Oleksandr Kovalenko was allowed to meet his client only 6 hours after the detention of the latter.

On October 19 the office of the youth civic information campaign "Pora!" in Chernihiv was searched. Tetyana Pekur, a representative of "Pora!", was beaten by police officers when she tried to phone and tell about the search. The search resulted in finding of counterfeit currency and explosives. The activist of the aforementioned organization Oleksandr Lomak was detained. Similarly to the finding of explosives in the Kyiv office of "Pora!", it is obvious that these explosives are a result of provocation on the part of law-enforcement agencies. It is a general knowledge that Ukrainian police has a huge experience in framing criminal cases based on "finding" drugs, arms, and counterfeit currency.

We believe that these simultaneous, systematic, and mass actions carried out by the law-enforcement agencies would have not been possible, unless they were sanctioned by the leadership of the Ministry of Interior, General Prosecutor's Office and Security Service.

We believe that the practice of these mass and simultaneous short-term arrests of oppositionists, which last up to 72 hours (until a deadline for bringing a formal accusation), has nothing to do with a free election campaign, has nothing in common with the principles of democracy, and has to be terminated immediately.

The above facts, in our opinion, unequivocally demonstrate that the activities carried out by the Ukrainian law-enforcement-agencies clearly constitute the political persecution of the civic activists, violate the law, contradict the premises of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) and European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).

We appeal to international organizations to officially warn the government of Ukraine that it is inadmissible to violate the human rights in order to reach one's political aims.

We appeal to international and foreign non-governmental organizations to support the actions carried out by the Ukrainian human rights organizations as to the protecting rights of persons, who fell victims to the arbitrary detentions, arrests, and other forms of political persecution carried out by the Ukrainian law-enforcement agencies.

Ukrainian Association of Public Organizations "Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union"

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Short information about "Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union" The purpose of creating and functioning of the Association is provision and protection of the rights and fundamental freedoms through ensuring of practical execution of the humanitarian articles of the Helsinki Final Act (1975) of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OCSE), other documents adopted as its follow-up, and all other obligations taken by Ukraine in the field of human rights and fundamental freedom.

http://kuchmizm.info/GlobalVote2004

Saturday, 30 October 2004, 10:45 am
Niagara Falls Armoury
5049 Victoria Avenue
Niagara Falls, Ontario

Unveiling of a trilingual memorial plaque at the Niagara Falls Armoury, marking the use of that facility as one of the concentration camps into which Ukrainians and other European "enemy aliens" were herded during Canada's first national internment operations of 1914-1920.

For details on the event, please refer to: http://www.uccla.ca/pressreleases/internment/press086.html

For more information on the internment operations
go to http://www.uccla.ca/

Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association
UCCLA National Office
Suite 277, 3044 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M8X 2Y8
Web: http://www.uccla.ca/
E-mail: info@uccla.ca

Organization: Telekritika
http://www.telekritika.kiev.ua/news/?id=18083

NGO Telekritika
Olexia Basarab
Executive Director
obasarab@telekritika.kiev.ua
Ryz'ka 15, Kyiv 04112
Ukraine

tel: +380 44 4584440
fax: +380 44 4584440

OTTAWA - In response to disturbing reports of escalating intimidation and violence against opposition candidates and their supporters in the Ukrainian presidential election, Canada's Parliament today cast aside partisanship and sent a strong message to the Ukrainian government to clean up its act.

Introduced by new Etobicoke Centre MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the House of Commons motion urged the federal government to make it clear to the Ukrainian Government that it needs to ensure a democratic, transparent and fair election process for the Ukrainian presidential election on October 31, 2004 and the probable second round election on November 21, 2004.

In a surprise show of non-partisanship Liberal Wrzesnewskyj's motion was supported by Government House Leader Tony Valeri, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew, the Liberal Defence and Foreign Affairs Caucus, the opposition House Leaders and the Foreign Affairs Critics. The motion follows the public warning of Canada's Ambassador to Ukraine that the Ukrainian presidential election will fail to meet democratic standards.

Commenting on the importance of the motion, Wrzesnewskyj stated:

"This election will show if Ukraine will follow the path of democracy and whether it is ready to join the Western community of nations. With the numerous reports of dirty tricks, intimidation, political malfeasance, violence, and even the probable poisoning of the opposition frontrunner in the Ukrainian presidential election, alarm bells have sounded in many quarters. Canada was among the first countries to recognize Ukraine's independence and has always taken a proactive role in supporting democratic development and institution building in the country from which 1.1 million Canadians draw their origin. A strong message from the Canadian Government to authorities in Ukraine represents a continuation of that special relationship."

While underscoring the importance of working together in this minority Parliament, Wrzesnewskyj said:

"I want to thank all the opposition House Leaders and Foreign Affairs Critics for endorsing my motion. I also want to thank Government House Leader Tony Valeri, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew, and my colleague the Hon. Walt Lastewka for supporting my efforts to send a strong message to the Government of Ukraine. The fact that all parties supported the motion should make it clear to the Ukrainian government that democracy is the only way forward."

Read text of the motion below:

HOUSE OF COMMONS
FIRST SESSION
38th PARLIAMENT
Notice Paper
No. 7

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Private Members' Notices of Motions

M-156 - October 12, 2004 - Mr. Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre) - On or after Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - That, in the opinion of this House, the government should impress upon the Government of Ukraine to ensure a fully transparent election process by: (a) providing free access for Ukrainian and international election observers, multiparty representation on all election commissions, unimpeded access by all parties and candidates to the media, freedom of candidates and media from intimidation or harassment, a transparent process for complaint and appeals through electoral commissions and the courts; (b) guaranteeing election monitors from the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, other participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Ukrainian political parties, candidates' representatives, non-governmental organizations, and other private institutions and organizations, both foreign and domestic; and (c) providing unobstructed access to all aspects of the election process for the Ukrainian presidential election of October 31, 2004 and a potential second round election for November 21, 2004.

CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES
PREMIÈRE SESSION
38e LÉGISLATURE

Feuilleton des Avis
No 7
Le jeudi 14 octobre 2004

Avis de motions émanant des députés

M-156 - 12 octobre 2004 - M. Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke-Centre) - À compter du mardi 26 octobre 2004 - Que, de l'avis de la Chambre, le gouvernement devrait inciter le gouvernement de l'Ukraine à assurer un processus électoral pleinement transparent : a) en garantissant le libre accès aux observateurs électoraux ukrainiens et internationaux, la représentation multipartite au sein de toutes les commissions électorales, l'accès sans restriction de tous les partis et les candidats aux médias, la protection des candidats et des médias contre toute intimidation ou tout harcèlement et un processus transparent d'examen des plaintes et des appels par les commissions électorales et les tribunaux; b) en garantissant la présence d'observateurs électoraux du Bureau des institutions démocratiques et des droits de l'homme, des autres États participants de l'Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe, des partis politiques ukrainiens, des représentants des candidats, des organisations non gouvernementales et des autres institutions et organisations privées tant étrangères que nationales; c) en assurant le libre accès à tous les aspects de l'élection présidentielle ukrainienne du 31 octobre 2004 et de l'éventuel deuxième tour du 21 novembre 2004.

Ukrainian translation of motion (M-156, Borys Wrzesnewskyj) passed unanimously
by the House of Commons

Ukrainian television journalists continue hunger strike

Interfax - Moscow,Russia
KYIV. Oct 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) - A group of journalists from Ukraine's Channel 5 are continuing the hunger strike they announced ...
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=10714613

The National Union of Journalists of Britain and Ireland has delivered a sharp protest to the government of Ukraine about the treatment of the media in the run-up to Presidential elections at the end of October.

The letter came as Ukraine was disgraced in an international report on press freedom. The French press freedom NGO Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has today placed Ukraine 138th equal (with Mauritania) out of 167 in the world in its annual assessment of all countries. Ukraine is the lowest placed European country in the report; all below it are in Asia or Africa.

The NUJ has delivered its protest to the Ukrainian Ambassador in London, Ihor Mitiukov. Union leaders had a meeting with him on September 16, the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of slain website editor Gyorgy Gongadze.

The letter drew attention to attempts to suppress reporting on the TV Fifth Channel, the website Maidan and the news agency Unian.

The text of the letter is below. For more information telephone Tim Gopsill on (44) 207 843 3701, email timg@nuj.org.uk

For the RSF report, go to www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11715

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Ihor Mitiukov
Ambassador of Ukraine
Ukrainian Embassy,
60 Holland Park
London W11 3SJ

25th October 2004

Dear Ambassador,

I write, further to our meeting on 16 September about the Gongadze case and press freedom in Ukraine. At that meeting you assured us that the Ukrainian authorities are doing their best to defend and encourage press freedom. In this respect we bring to your attention reports we have received of serious attacks on press freedom in the course of the current presidential election campaign in Ukraine.

We are gravely concerned about the problems faced by the Fifth Channel, an important source of independent news reporting. The recent decision of the Pechersky district court to freeze the station's bank accounts, and decisions of the National Television and Broadcasting Council that could lead to the channel being denied a broadcasting licence amount to an attempt to silence the channel. We ask you to convey our strongest possible protest against these actions, which amount to censorship.

The actions against the Fifth Channel take place in a context of other attacks on press freedom in the course of the election campaign. Those brought to our attention by our Ukrainian colleagues and by organisations monitoring the Ukrainian media include:

• The harassment of Mikhailo Svistovich, editor of the internet site "Maidan", by Ukrainian security service officers who carried out an unlawful search of his home;
  
• Obstruction of journalists who tried to report the attack by security services officers on the offices of "Svoboda Vyboru"; and
  
• Refusal of a number of official bodies to accredit journalists from Unian, one of the largest news agencies, which its journalists suspect is due to its attempts to present balanced coverage of the election.
  

We request that the Ukrainian authorities take urgent action to end these attacks on press freedom, without which no development of democracy is possible.

Yours sincerely,

JEREMY DEAR
General Secretary
National Union of Journalists

The Other election
Bruce Bartlett
October 26, 2004

The United States isn't the only country having a presidential election in the next few days. There is also an important vote coming up in Ukraine on Oct. 31. The election there will be far more momentous for that country than ours will be for us. Whoever wins here, our basic policies will not change fundamentally. In Ukraine, by contrast, the election could be revolutionary.

Like many of the former republics of the old Soviet Union, Ukraine has struggled, politically and economically. It has no history of either democracy or self-government, having been a vassal of Russia long before the communist takeover. And because of communism, Ukraine's economy never developed naturally so as to exploit those industries and businesses most appropriate for its location and resources. Under central planning, production was guided by political whim, with the result that much of the industry located in Ukraine at independence was inherently unviable in a free market.

Ukraine also suffers in other ways from the communist legacy. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still a mess, and the nation has never fully recovered from the awful famine inflicted upon it by Josef Stalin in the 1930s that is estimated to have killed as many as10 million people -- far more than died in the Holocaust.

However, other former Soviet republics and even Russia itself have also had to deal with the consequences of communism and most have done a better job than Ukraine has done. This is primarily due to abysmal leadership. Its current president, Leonid Kuchma, is highly corrupt and a thug, as well. There is strong evidence that that he may have had a journalist killed a few years ago for looking too deeply into his affairs. Fortunately, Kuchma is not running for re-election. But he is backing someone -- Viktor Yanukovych -- who looks like his clone.

Thankfully, there is an alternative. Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister and head of the central bank, is leading a reform bloc that has a good chance of winning if the election isn't stolen from him -- or worse. Just a few weeks ago, it appears that he was deliberately poisoned in an effort to thwart his campaign.

As it happens, I know Yushchenko's wife, Katherine Chumachenko, an American of Ukrainian descent. She and I met in the late 1980s when she was working in the human rights bureau at the State Department. Later, we worked together at the White House, where she was in the Office of Public Liaison, and the Treasury Department, where she worked in the executive secretary's office.

Kathy -- she is now known as Kateryna -- is one of the brightest, most dedicated conservatives I have ever known. She has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and is well versed in that school's free market economics tradition. The first time we ever met was at a Heritage Foundation event.

Anyone who encountered Kathy quickly discovered that the liberation of Ukraine from communist tyranny was her primary mission in life, to the exclusion of almost everything else. So it was no surprise to me when she moved to Kyiv soon after it broke free of Moscow's control in 1991. I helped get her a position there with KPMG, an American consulting company, where she trained Ukrainians in Western methods of banking, accounting and other fundamentals of a market economy.

Kathy married Viktor five years ago, while he was still running the central bank. In that position, he was one of the few Ukrainians who was trusted by foreign investors. He has a reputation for honesty as well as competence -- the former perhaps being more important than the latter, given the widespread corruption in Ukraine. A new report from Transparency International ranks Ukraine as one of the most corrupt nations on Earth. In December 1999, Yushchenko was named prime minister. By all accounts, he did an excellent job, helping to implement economic and political reforms. This did not endear him to President Kuchma or the oligarchs who have robbed the country blind, so he was sacked in April 2001. Since then, he has been a member of Ukraine's parliament, where he has continued to press for reform.

Ukraine should naturally be aligned with Poland and other Eastern European countries that have implemented reforms and prospered in the post-communist era, becoming strong allies of the United States in the war against terror. Only its own rotten leadership has held it back. If Yushchenko wins, its promise will be much closer to becoming a reality. Regretfully, if he loses, it could fall even further behind.

The vote on Sunday is unlikely to produce a winner. More than likely, Yushchenko and Yanukovych will meet again in a runoff three weeks later. That vote will determine Ukraine's future for many years to come.

Bruce Bartlett is a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Townhall.com member group.

www.townhall.com/columnists/brucebartlett/bb20041026.shtml
C2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc.

Washington, D.C., October 26, 2004 - Taras Kuzio, a professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, joined several political analysts today in expressing concerns about the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine and what it means for Ukraine's future. "The authorities in Ukraine never intended - and I stress, never intended - to hold a free and fair election," he declared. If they did, he added, opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko would win in the first round.

Kuzio participated in a panel discussion at the Voice of America (VOA) on "Defining Ukraine's Future: the 2004 Presidential Vote." Ukraine's presidential election on Sunday is being contested by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who is supported by current President Leonid Kuchma, and opposition leader and former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko. The panelists said both candidates had dramatically different plans for the country.

"We have seen backsliding in Ukraine's strategic goal of integration into NATO and the European Union," said panelist Orest Deychakiwsky, staff advisor at the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission). He contended that a Yushchenko victory would reverse this trend. Deychakiwsky also described the upcoming election as "a battle between democracy and increasing authoritarianism."

Nadia Diuk, Program Director for Central Europe and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy, said that harassment of the few independent media outlets still available in Ukraine had had a negative impact on outside sources of information such as VOA, Radio Liberty, BBC, and Deutsche Welle, by limiting their ability to rebroadcast within the country.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: EUR 50/004/2004 (Public)
News Service No: 265
25 October 2004

Ukraine: Opposition activists arbitrarily detained

It is particularly important that Ukraine demonstrate to the world that it respects the right to freedom of expression in the run up to the presidential elections later this month, Amnesty International said today.

Recent events seem to demonstrate a disappointing disregard for this right," the organization said.

Amnesty International is concerned by reports that members of the youth opposition organization PORA (It is time) are being subjected to arbitrary arrest and harassment for the legitimate exercise of their freedom of expression. PORA is a social campaign that distributes leaflets and runs a satirical website encouraging people not to vote for the government presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych. Reports monitored by AI include the following:

* Andrij Kulibaba, an activist in the Vinnytsya branch of the youth opposition campaign PORA was detained by police on 20 October without any explanation. On 21 October he was sentenced under the Code on Administrative Infringements for "intentional disobedience to demands of the police" to 10 days' detention. It was claimed that he pushed a police officer and tore off a button from his jacket. He was released suddenly on 23 October and told that his sentence had been reduced to a fine.

* Alexander Pugach was detained in Vinnytsya on 21 October and tried for allegedly refusing to give his name to the police, but the witness statements were contradictory and he was acquitted. Within minutes as he stood on the steps of the court house he was detained again in front of witnesses, held for four hours in the police station and then told that a criminal case had been started against him for "hooliganism".

* In Kirovograd Alexander Tsitsenko was detained by masked police on 21 October as he was collecting leaflets and stickers produced by PORA for distribution. He was also accused of "intentional disobedience towards the police", but the charges were dropped and he was released on 25 October.

* Volodymyr Zakalyushny was detained in Kyiv on 23 October while distributing leaflets critical of Viktor Yanukovych at a concert. He was taken to the Shevchenkovsky police station in Kyiv and accused of stealing a mobile phone for which he could face two years' imprisonment.

The number of such detentions that are taking place across Ukraine and the numerous violations of procedures raise concerns that these young people may have been detained for their legitimate and peaceful opposition activities. If this is the case Amnesty International would consider them prisoners of conscience and call for their immediate and unconditional elease.

"We call on the Ukrainian authorities to respect the right to freedom of expression and assembly and to allow the legitimate expression of opposition views," Amnesty International said.

Background

Presidential elections will be held on 31 October. A big demonstration over the weekend in support of the opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko demanded fair elections.

During the last few weeks, searches and detentions of opposition activists from a range of organizations have increased. On 14 October police claimed to have found bomb-making equipment in the headquarters of PORA in Kyiv although a first search during which the police were accompanied by others turned up nothing, and the equipment was only found when the police returned alone to the office. Following this there were other searches and in Chernigiv Oleksandr Lomakov a member of PORA is awaiting trial on weapons charges for which he faces two to five years' imprisonment. Police allegedly found a brown substance in his flat which may be an explosive.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has expressed its concern about the conduct of the election campaign and has called on the Ukrainian authorities "to conduct the election process with absolute impartiality and respect for Council of Europe standards and to allow all candidates to compete on fair and equitable grounds."

Public Document
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The Washington Post
Jackson Diehl

Monday, October 25, 2004; Page A19

Imagine that an imperial-minded president resolved to aggressively intervene in a strategic country with a fragile democracy to ensure the election of a favored client. To do so, he summoned his nominee and publicly embraced him; channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to his campaign; arranged for television stations broadcasting in the target country to openly boost the favorite and slander his opponent; opened hundreds of polling stations in his own country so that "expatriates" could vote; and, to top it off, scheduled a trip to the foreign capital three days before the election to stump in person.

Even Hamid Karzai or Ayad Allawi would be shamed by such a campaign, if it were launched by President Bush. What's more, the rest of the world would loudly condemn American interventionism. Yet Viktor Yanukovych, prime minister and presidential candidate of Ukraine, has humbly welcomed all this and more from Russian President Vladimir Putin -- and Western governments have responded with a studied silence. What's strange about this is that Ukraine's outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, was probably right when he recently boasted that the election of his replacement on Oct. 31 would rank second only to Iraq's upcoming vote in geopolitical importance. The contest between Yanukovych and challenger Viktor Yushchenko will likely determine whether a European country the size of France, with 50 million citizens, remains an imperfect democracy or slides toward authoritarian rule. And it may well resolve whether 2004, like 1947-48, is remembered as a year when a Moscow-orchestrated mix of rigged elections and dirty tricks turned several Eastern European countries into satellites.

Sound exaggerated? Consider what has been happening in Belarus and Ukraine, which lie between Russia and the expanded European Union and NATO. Last week Belarus held a referendum on making strongman Alexander Lukashenko, who already has agreed to reunite his country with Russia, the equivalent of president-for-life. An exit poll conducted by the Gallup Organization showed that the proposition failed. But when Belarusan authorities announced it had passed with 77 percent of the vote, Russia quickly pronounced the vote free and fair.

In Kyiv, meanwhile, Yanukovych was pronouncing himself touched by the news that Putin would travel to Kyiv this week to appear with him at a parade celebrating the city's capture by Soviet troops 60 years ago. "I will forever be grateful," said the burly prime minister, who was publicly kissed by Putin at his home in Moscow this month.

He should be. According to opposition sources, Russia has supplied half of the $600 million that Yanukovych is spending on his campaign -- including a $200 million payment from the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom. Russian state television, which is seen by most Ukrainians, has campaigned unrelentingly for Yanukovych. Pro-Yanukovych billboards have appeared across Moscow, and expatriate Ukrainians will have the chance to vote at some 400 polling places in Russia. Russian political advisers have arrived in Kyiv to conduct on-the-spot spin. Russian pop singers are touring the country and boosting Yanukovych at concerts. In return, Yanukovych promised Putin at their last meeting that he would end Ukraine's policy of seeking membership in NATO, promote an open border and dual citizenship for Russians and Ukrainians, make Russian the country's second official language, and subordinate Ukraine's bid for membership in the World Trade Organization to the requirements of forming the "single economic space," the Putin initiative to create a new union with Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Yanukovych would also entrench Putin's brand of authoritarian politics in his country. Already Ukrainian media, like their Russian counterparts, are delivering orchestrated and one-side support to Yanukovych, while many opposition media outlets have been closed down. Yushchenko's rallies have frequently been disrupted by thugs, and the candidate himself fell mysteriously and gravely ill last month -- the result, he says, of a poisoning meant to eliminate him.

In spite of all this, Yushchenko continues to hold a single-digit lead in the polls. That's because the former banker and prime minister is responsible for many of the free-market reforms that have allowed the Ukrainian economy to flourish, and because he promises that he will continue to lead an independent and democratic country toward partnership with the West. The Bush administration and other Western governments hope for his success, but privately expect that Yanukovych will win or steal the election in a mid-November runoff. Putin, they know, will aid and abet that fraud -- and then set about integrating Ukraine into his authoritarian bloc.

No one has challenged the Russian president on his aggressive imperialism -- which probably means that it will grow.

Newsweek International
November 1, 2004

A presidential race again pits Russia against the West
By Frank Brown

It's a shadow war reminiscent of cold-war conflicts in Third World countries. Russia and the United States are going head to head in Ukraine, the former Soviet republic that holds a pivotal presidential election on Oct. 31. The two sides' arsenals don't include Kalashnikovs or Stinger missiles anymore. Rather, dollars from Washington and political advisers from Moscow are the weapons of choice.

The battlelines could not be starker, nor could the stakes be much higherfor Ukraine or the region. Of 24 candidates, only two have a chance. One: Viktor Yanukovych, the current prime minister (and protegé of the retiring President Leonid Kuchma), who pledges close ties to Moscow. The other: Viktor Yushchenko, who vows to attack corruption and take the country further toward democracy. The reform-minded Yushchenko is the darling of the West. Yanukovych has the support of the country's powerful business clans and the security forces, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin. "For Ukraine," says opposition parliamentarian Pyotr Poroshenko, "this is a crucial test."

It promises to be bruising and dirty. International watchdog groups accuse the government of preparing to rig the vote. The state has used tax laws to harass Yushchenko and his supporters. Opposition campaign events have been disrupted, and pro-Yanukovych propaganda flows from state-controlled Ukrainian and Russian television stations. Employing tactics imported by their Russian political consultants, top government officials deliver daily instructions--temnyki--to news executives concerning what issues to cover and how. "The temnyki are our work," boasts Sergei Markov, a Kremlin adviser to Yanukovych.

More brutal Soviet-style tactics are also coming into play. Earlier this fall Yushchenko was apparently poisoned. "They were absolutely trying to kill him," says an aide, who rushed with him to a Vienna hospital. State courts are now threatening to close the country's last independent TV station, which supports Yushchenko. Meanwhile, Putin-hugely popular in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine has all but endorsed Yanukovych, announcing he would come to Kyiv just three days before the vote.

Western NGOs are working hardand spending freelyto ensure the election is fair. Just last Friday special police raided several of their offices.

"Before today I was reasonably optimistic about the election," says Sam Coppersmith, a former U.S. congressman working with the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation.

Given a free choice, most Ukrainians would probably opt for closer ties to the West. Ukraine contributes 1,600 troops to the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq. Kuchma has said he would like to see the country join both NATO and the EU, which it now borders. But the fact that those doors seem closed has hurt Yushchenko's cause and strengthened those like Yanukovych who gravitate toward the East. Russia's interests in Ukraine are apparent.

Sevastopol is home to its Black Sea Fleet; most of its western-bound natural-gas pipelines pass through Ukraine. Its membership in the
Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose union of former Soviet republics, lends substance to Russia's lingering dream of empire.

If Yanukovych wins, there will be widespread accusations that he stole the election, much in the manner of the stage-managed referendum by which President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus granted himself the right to run for another term last week. The results could be bloody. Ukrainian youth organizations plan to put 50,000 demonstrators on the streets of Kyiv on election night. If that doesn't help produce an honest result, they will mobilize as many as 2 million protesters, hoping for a repeat of the Rose Revolution in Georgia last year that overthrew the regime of President Eduard Shevardnadze. The government says it will forcibly put down unrest.

Whatever happens, Ukraine's election will set a new standard of democracy, either higher or lower, for post-communist states. "I'm not suggesting that Mr. Yanukovych is another Milosevic, but if he is beholden to [the security forces of Russia and Ukraine] for winning this election, it will be a very bad precedent," says Adrian Karatnycky at Freedom House, an NGO that will send 1,000 election observers for a likely second round on Nov. 21. The battle has begun.

The Jamestown Foundation
Friday, September 24 -- Volume 1, Issue 92
EURASIA DAILY MONITOR

By Taras Kuzio

Confirming the growing Russianization of Ukrainian security policy, Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk was dismissed on September 22. Marchuk had only been appointed to this post in June 2003.

His removal resembled that of the pro-Western Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk in October 2000. Tarasiuk claims that his dismissal resulted from pressure placed on the Ukrainian Presidential Administration by the newly elected Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tarasiuk's ouster came one month before the Kuchmagate crisis broke, when tapes surreptitiously recorded in the president's office revealed that President Leonid Kuchma had ordered his interior minister to "deal" with opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. On September 16 and 17, 2004, Channel Five (http://5tv.com.ua), owned by Our Ukraine businessman Petro Poroshenko, aired a two-part documentary on the murder of Gongadze, which produced new evidence that the Russian intelligence services were behind his death. Russia is the main country to have benefited from Kuchma's subsequent international isolation.

On September 20, two days before Marchuk's removal, the Russian state television channel RTR aired a program that was critical of Marchuk. Coincidentally, the RTR program focused on the very same two accusations that Kuchma laid out when he removed Marchuk. On the same day as the RTR program, the Presidential Administration sent a temnyk (secret instruction) to television stations that also repeated the two accusations made in the RTR report (Ukrayinska pravda, September 22).

Accusation one claimed that Marchuk had no right to authorize the use of Ukrainian military helicopters in Turkey. One of these aircraft crashed on September 3 while extinguishing a fire. Accusation two claimed that Marchuk was sabotaging efforts to de-commission military rockets (Ukrayinska pravda, September 22).

One day later, and thus one day before Marchuk's dismissal, the head of the Presidential Administration, Viktor Medvedchuk, visited Moscow where he met his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev (1+1 TV, September 21). The topic of their discussions was not publicly revealed, but the meeting's importance could be gauged from the fact that Medvedchuk met Putin personally.

Writing in Ukrayinska pravda on September 21, Oleksandr Palij found it incredulous that a foreign country (i.e. Russia) was deciding cadre policy in an independent state (i.e. Ukraine). This he blamed upon Medvedchuk, through his personal links to the Russian presidential administration and his control over the Ukrainian prosecutor-general's office. Since Medvedchuk became head of the Presidential Administration in May 2002, he has also taken over the management of Ukrainian security policy from the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs. This change has led to a progressive "Russianization" of Ukrainian security policy.

Ironically, Marchuk learned of the accusations made by the prosecutor-general's office from television (UNIAN, September 21). He described the accusations as a "character assassination." The practice of sending helicopters to other countries on contract work had begun under his predecessor, Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk. Marchuk confidently quoted his lawyers' opinion that he had not infringed Ukrainian legislation.

It is difficult to argue that Marchuk was dismissed because he was an ineffective Defense Minister. NATO has been very complimentary about his work in this role. Ironically, on Tuesday (September 21) the head of NATO's military committee, Harald Kujat, was in Kyiv. After a meeting with Ukrainian defense officials, he was quoted as praising progress in Ukraine's military reform and said that the long-term plan for reform is "quite healthy" (Interfax-AVN, September 21). All of the participants in the meetings echoed these sentiments and the new transparency, "openness, and sincerity" with which Ukraine made its report on military reform. Marchuk fulfilled the military component of the yearly NATO-Ukraine Action Plans, which was not the case with the political-economic requirements.

Two other factors explain Marchuk's dismissal. First, Ukraine's security policy increasingly resembles that of Russia. This process began after the Kuchmagate crisis but sped up after Viktor Yanukovych became Prime Minister in November 2002. Until 2001-2004, Ukraine's security policy was cardinally different from Russia's in that it sought EU and NATO membership. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry defined the policy as "Integration with Europe, Cooperation with the CIS." Russia, however, has never sought membership in these two structures. Since Kuchmagate and Yanukovych's appointment as prime minister, both Russian and Ukrainian security policy can accurately be described as "Cooperation with Europe, Integration with the CIS."

As secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Marchuk was instrumental in May 2002 in lobbying Ukraine to adopt NATO membership as a goal. This ambition, together with EU membership, was included in the new military doctrine adopted in mid-June.

After failing to obtain a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at NATO's Istanbul summit on June 30, Kuchma issued a decree that removed these objectives from the doctrine (president.gov.ua, July 15). NATO had refused to offer Ukraine a MAP until after the October presidential elections.

One of the main reasons why Ukrainian security policy is increasingly resembling Russia's is that the Kuchma camp is aghast at repeated Western demands for democratization and free elections in Ukraine. If Ukraine does not seek membership in the EU and NATO -- like Russia -- then such Western demands will be fewer, Kuchma and Yanukovych apparently believe.

Second, there was a need to remove Marchuk and replace him with somebody loyal to Medvedchuk, personnel changes that have already been implemented in the Interior Ministry (MVS) and Security Service (SBU). Control over the armed forces is important for two reasons connected to next month's elections. First, Marchuk is on record as refusing to allow the Yanukovych camp to manipulate voting within the armed forces, as was widespread in the 2002 parliamentary elections. Control over the armed forces is also important should the government need to declare a state of emergency or to deal with Georgian-style civic unrest after the elections. On August 22 a joint statement by the MVS, SBU, and prosecutor-general's office warned the opposition against "provocations." In an address to a MVS Internal Troops spetsnaz unit in the Crimea, President Kuchma threatened the opposition with unspecified measures for plotting to come to power in a "revolution" during the ongoing election campaign (Ukrayinska pravda, September 7).

The joint statement and Kuchma's speech were both written by the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, which has now cooperated with Russia to remove Marchuk.

The Jamestown Foundation
Wednesday, October 27 -- Volume 1, Issue 114
EURASIA DAILY MONITOR

IN THIS ISSUE:

Desperation evident within Yanukovych campaign

Tension builds as Ukrainian presidential election enters homestretch

By Taras Kuzio

On the eve of the October 31 Ukrainian presidential elections, the political situation in the country may be spiraling out of control. President Leonid Kuchma cancelled a one-day visit to Poland last weekend, blaming the "complicated internal situation in Ukraine." On October 25 he again attacked the opposition for their campaign activities, while staying conspicuously silent about massive election violations (Ukrayinska pravda, October 25).

The authorities believed that by September the election momentum would have shifted in their favor. Instead, challenger Viktor Yushchenko's lead over Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has continued to grow, causing panic in the Kuchma camp.

The government doubled pensions to $53 per month (285 hryvnia), at a cost of an additional 1.1 billion hryvnia ($206 million). The move drove inflation up from 6.3% to 9%, created gasoline shortages, and triggered a rush on the hryvnia. Ukraine's National Bank, headed by Yanukovych's campaign manager Serhiy Tyhipko, had to tap its foreign currency reserves to keep the hryvnia stable. Interest rates are also set to go up. Still, Yanukovych has persisted in trying to induce voters, offering interest-free loans for property purchases and free cars for pensioners.

Doubling pensions and two new policy initiatives (making Russian an official language and allowing dual citizenship) brought Yanukovych an additional 10-15% in the ratings, primarily from Communist supporters. However, Communist voters did not stay with Yanukovych long. A Razumkov Center poll found that 62% of respondents in eastern Ukraine and 74-76% in other regions believe that the pension increase was a pre-election ploy to raise Yanukovych's popularity (Ukrayinska pravda, October 26).

Communist Party candidate Petro Symonenko continues to lead in two oblasts where Yanukovych must win to enter round two of the elections. Worse still for Yanukovych, in Luhansk oblast, which together with Donetsk makes up his Donbas power base, coal miners are on strike demanding the payment of wage arrears.

Public rallies are becoming more tenuous as the campaign winds up. Although President Kuchma had admitted that "provocations" would take place, he called upon law enforcement to "not react to provocations" (Ukrayinska pravda, October 25). In reality, law enforcement have been directly involved in "provocations" throughout the campaign.

On October 23 a rally in support of Yushchenko that ended outside the Central Election Commission (CEC) attracted 100,000 people, despite numerous obstacles used to block his supporters from traveling to Kyiv. That evening 200 demonstrators remained outside the CEC to support the opposition members inside, who were attempting to prevent the creation of further election stations in Russia, which they fear will be fraudulently used by Russia on behalf of Yanukovych's candidacy.

One hundred plain clothes "demonstrators" attacked the remaining opposition protestors that night. They were brought to the CEC by a spetsnaz unit (Tytan) within the Interior Ministry. Two of the "demonstrators" were later detained by the opposition, after they were discovered to have identity cards showing them to be Interior Ministry captains, suggesting the collusion of law enforcement with Yanukovych's campaign (Financial Times, October 25).

Despite widespread arrests and intimidation of opposition and youth NGOs, these groups are fighting back. A student rally on October 16 in Kyiv attracted 25,000 in support of Yushchenko. In Lviv, 2,000 picketed the Interior Ministry and State Administration to protest repression of youth groups and 10,000 attended a Lviv rally on October 26 in protest at the arrest of youth activists. Whenever police have attempted to enter student facilities without warrants, they have been refused entry, such as at Kyiv Mohyla Academy.

The authorities have begun to reveal their growing panic in four ways.

First, local authorities have attempted to block Yushchenko's campaign tour of southern and eastern Ukraine. In Kirovohrad a temporary zoo was even installed on the square where he was meant to speak. Other cities have refused to let his plane land in their jurisdictions.

Second, the authorities are beginning to realize that only Yushchenko can bring out large crowds. A pro-Yanukovych rally in Kyiv providing free alcohol still only attracted 500 people.

Yushchenko and Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz have called upon their supporters to picket the CEC and regional election commissions on election night to prevent fraud. After Saturday's rally the authorities began building a fence around the CEC. In response, the Socialist Party issued a statement that said, "The authorities are scaring us with a 'Georgian scenario' when they themselves are developing a 'Belarusian scenario' " (Ukrayinska pravda, October 25).

Third, members of the pro-presidential camp who are neutral between Yushchenko and Yanukovych have fallen under suspicion. Both parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn and former presidential adviser Oleksandr Volkov have recently complained that the Security Service is following their movements. Both Lytvyn and Volkov have warned of dire consequences if they or their families, who are also under surveillance, are harmed. Former Interior Minister Yuriy Krawchenko, who was dismissed in February 2001 because of his involvement in the murder of opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, has fled with his family to Russia because of fears he might become a scapegoat to deflect blame from Kuchma.

Fourth, remaining independent media outlets have come under assault. Both Channel 5, linked to Our Ukraine businessman Petro Poroshenko, and Era TV, linked to Dnipropetrovsk oligarch Andrei Derkach, have been threatened with closure. The reason is their objective coverage of the elections: the authorities fear that they will provide uncensored news on election day. Reporters Without Frontiers ranked Ukraine 138th in its just-released Press Freedom Index, the lowest in Europe apart from Russia which is 140th (rsf.org).

It is little surprise that tension is running very high. On October 14, the head of Yushchenko's election campaign, Oleksandr Zinchenko, sent an open letter to the National Security and Defense Council outlining how the authorities, through their election violations, are threatening national security (razom.org.ua). Our Ukraine also issued a statement outlining its fears of the violent measures that the authorities were planning on election day to forestall an opposition victory (Ukrayinska pravda, October 22).

Lyst solidarnosty do ukrajinskoho suspilstwa, pid jakym pidpysalosia ponad 500 osib, w tomu czysli - predstawnyky intelektualnoji ta politycznoji elity.

Serdeczno zdorowlu,
Ola Hnatiuk

Click here to read: Open letter to the members of Ukrainian society

Calvià: Ukraine and China unassailable?

24.10.2004 After nine rounds of the Chess Olympiad everything looks like a start-to-finish victory for Ukraine in the men's section and for the Chinese women, who are six points ahead of their nearest rivals. From Calvià on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca we bring you games, results and a spectacular pictorial report.

Men's Group: In round nine Ukraine tied with Armenia 2:2. Spain A got slaughtered ½:2½ by the USA, with Shirov, Vallejo and Arizmendi lost to Onischuk, Shabalov and Kaidanov respectively. India lost 1½:2½ to Russia, with Anand beating Morozevich but Harikrishna and Ganguly losing to Dreev and Zvjaginsev. Here are the full results of round seven.

Women's Group: China continued its rampage with a 3:0 victory over Lithuania, Russia and Hungary played 1½:1½, the USA Dream Team beat Poland 2:1 (with Susan Polgar beating Radziewicz), while India did the same with Ukraine (Humpy beat Zhukova). Full results of round seven.

Here are all the individual results of all rounds
Standings after round nine

36th Chess Olympiad 2004 Men's section
Rank table after round 9

Rg.	Snr	Team	Anz	+	=	-	Wtg1	Wtg2
1	2	Ukraine	9	7	2	0	27.0	197.5
2	1	Russia	9	7	0	2	24.5	198.5
3	10	United States	9	6	1	2	24.0	183.0
4	4	Armenia	9	5	2	2	23.0	199.5
5	3	Israel	9	5	2	2	23.0	198.5
6	5	India	9	7	0	2	22.5	197.0
7	20	Bulgaria	9	7	0	2	22.5	195.0
8	14	Azerbaijan	9	6	0	3	22.5	188.0
9	18	Cuba	9	6	1	2	22.5	185.5
10	12	France	9	7	1	1	22.5	182.0
11	29	Switzerland	9	5	2	2	22.5	180.0
12	23	Slovenia	9	7	1	1	22.5	177.0
13	9	Poland	9	5	2	2	22.0	185.0
14	22	Moldova	9	6	1	2	22.0	183.0
15	11	Georgia	9	6	1	2	21.5	191.0
16	21	Czech Republic	9	5	3	1	21.5	188.0
17	16	China	9	6	1	2	21.5	187.5
18	13	Germany	9	4	2	3	21.5	185.0
19	30	Uzbekistan	9	6	0	3	21.5	184.0
20	15	Hungary	9	6	2	1	21.5	176.5
21	37	Bosnia Herzegovina	9	5	1	3	21.5	176.5
22	7	Spain A	9	6	1	2	21.0	189.5
23	26	Serbia Montenegro	9	4	2	3	21.0	182.5
24	36	Latvia	9	4	3	2	21.0	179.0
25	24	Greece	9	4	1	4	21.0	176.5
26	25	Sweden	9	6	1	2	21.0	173.0
27	32	Slovakia	9	3	2	4	20.5	188.5
28	43	Canada	9	5	0	4	20.5	179.0
29	33	Estonia	9	5	1	3	20.5	177.0
30	40	Philippines	9	5	0	4	20.5	174.5

36th Chess Olympiad 2004 Women's section
Rank table after round 9

Rg.	Snr	Team	Anz	+	=	-	Wtg1	Wtg2
1	1	China	9	9	0	0	23.5	140.0
2	2	Russia	9	5	3	1	17.5	146.5
3	3	United States	9	6	2	1	17.5	145.5
4	6	India	9	6	3	0	17.5	143.5
5	13	Hungary	9	6	2	1	17.5	139.0
6	26	Latvia	9	5	2	2	17.0	140.0
7	24	Sweden	9	4	4	1	17.0	138.5
8	7	Poland	9	4	3	2	16.5	151.5
9	5	Ukraine	9	4	3	2	16.5	146.0
10	4	Georgia	9	6	1	2	16.5	140.5
11	20	Lithuania	9	6	1	2	16.5	139.5
12	14	Armenia	9	5	2	2	16.5	131.0
13	27	England	9	4	2	3	16.0	145.5
14	8	France	9	5	1	3	16.0	142.5
15	12	Slovakia	9	5	2	2	16.0	135.5
16	9	Bulgaria	9	4	2	3	16.0	134.0
17	23	Cuba	9	7	0	2	16.0	133.0
18	25	Moldova	9	5	2	2	16.0	132.0
19	11	Serbia Montenegro	9	4	2	3	16.0	131.5
20	16	Germany	9	5	1	3	15.5	141.5
21	15	Netherlands	9	4	2	3	15.5	137.0
22	33	Israel	9	5	1	3	15.5	134.0
23	41	Iran	9	3	3	3	15.5	133.0
24	10	Romania	9	4	3	2	15.5	128.0
25	28	Slovenia	9	4	1	4	15.0	137.5
26	18	Kazakhstan	9	4	0	5	15.0	133.0
27	29	Belarus	9	5	1	3	15.0	131.0
28	21	Czech Rep.	9	4	2	3	15.0	131.0
29	31	Mongolia	9	5	1	3	15.0	127.5
30	39	Ecuador	9	5	2	2	15.0	120.5

Panel of experts pick Ukrainian Brut as best sparkling wine

OTTAWA, Canada, October 19, 2004.

Krimsekt Brut sparkling wine (vintage 1998), from Ukraine, has just won the Gold Medal in the International Wine Competition for the Ottawa Wine and Food Show. Krimsekt White Brut was judged to be the best sparkling wine by a panel of 30 experienced wine judges chaired by Michael Botner, a well-known wine writer and critic for Wine Access magazine. The sparkling wine category encompasses bubblies from all countries and regions of the world (apart from the Champagne region of France).

The competition took place on Saturday, October 9 in Ottawa, the national capital of Canada. The award-winning wines, including Krimsekt, will be available for tasting at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show (November 5, 6 and 7, 2004, at the Ottawa Congress Centre). The Ottawa Food and Wine show is considered within the industry to be among the most prestigious in Canada.

John Vellinga CEO of Multiculture Bevco (Krimsekt's Canadian distributor), was extremely pleased, but not completely surprised with the result. "It is our mission to bring the best of Ukraine to the rest of the world", said Vellinga. "Krimsekt is, by far, the best bubbly from the region, and one of the finest in the world. This award reinforces our own opinions and experience with this great product".

Krimsekt sparkling wines are made in the champagne method. They are double fermented for three years to create natural carbonation, hand riddled and crafted with the same meticulous techniques as the great champagne houses of France.

The Krimsekt winery was founded 54 years ago and is one of the only wineries in the world located entirely underground: in a vast 25 hectare complex of deep caves and cellars which was once a gypsum mine. Just like the chalk caves of Champagne, these deep caverns keep temperature and humidity perfect for producing and cellaring champagne-method wines year-round.

"Ukrainian-Canadians should be proud that a product of such caliber hails from their homeland", adds Victor Koszarny, National Sales Director for the company and a Ukrainian-Canadian himself. "We have been assembling a suite of products from Ukraine in cooperation with the LCBO, which are among the very best in the world. Our beers have been extremely popular, our vodkas have received rave advance reviews and it is deeply satisfying that Krimsekt is now getting the recognition that it deserves".

German-Canadians are another group of that are excited to have Krimsekt available. Germany is the number one export market for Krimsekt and millions of bottles are consumed by Germans every year. Many German-Canadians remember Krimsekt from their visits or when they lived in Germany.

"German-Canadians have been ringing our phones off the hook", said Oliver Dawson, Marketing Consultant for the company and a Canadian of German descent. "They are among the few North Americans that understand the superb quality of Krimsekt and call us up delighted to find that they can now get it in Canada. In fact, the wine's popularity among Germans explains its name. 'Krim' meaning 'Crimean' and 'sekt' meaning 'sparkling wine', in German".

Krimsekt is available as a regular listing at select SLGA stores in Saskatchewan, at finer liquor stores in Alberta. "We knew that we had a real winner on our hands when the SLGA listed the product and when such fine wine stores as Willow Park and Eau Claire (in Alberta) chose to sell Krimsekt", boasts Vellinga.

Krimsekt is not yet on the shelf at the LCBO, but is available in Ontario through the private ordering program. "We hope to get Krimsekt listed at the LCBO, but in the meantime, people can still get it by the case of 6 though special order. It makes a great Christmas or hostess gift, so getting six bottles at a time is a good idea", said Koszarny. To make a private order, Ontario residents need to contact the company directly at (800) 867-5978 (ext 5). Customers can have Krimsekt delivered to an LCBO store near them. The whole process takes only two or three weeks, but is worth the wait. A web site also offers more information at http://www.krimsekt.ca/.

Multiculture Bevco also imports other superb quality products from Ukraine including Slavutich and Lvivske beers, which are currently available at the LCBO. The company is also introducing two vodkas at the LCBO and across Canada and the US: Slava Ultra-Premium, a four-times distilled luxury vodka that is due on LCBO shelves in early December, and; Zirkova, a premium Ukrainian vodka which will be available in LCBO stores in March of 2005.

Vellinga concluded by saying, "As with our other 'best of Ukraine' products, Krimsekt is a key part of our mission. We want everyone to experience the great things that Ukraine has to offer and Krimsekt is obviously one of them".

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/
2004/10/10/663472.html

Ukrainian heart girl back for more surgery

By KATE DUBINSKI, EDMONTON SUN

A 10-year-old Ukrainian girl was on her way back to Edmonton yesterday to prepare for heart surgery after an infection in her home country led to congestive heart failure. Oksana Oliynyk was born with a hole in her heart, and came to Edmonton in 2002 to have two valves replaced and one repaired.

"God, that's one little angel. Everyone who sees her falls in love with her," said Anne Munguia, who will host Oksana and her mother before the Oct. 22 surgery.

"She left here (in 2002) looking so good. But what can you do with medicine in a Third World country," said Munguia.

Oksana was brought over to Canada by Medical Mercy Canada in February 2002 after a Calgary-area nurse met the young girl on a medical mission to Ukraine. She went home but is now back in Canada for more surgery. She was being driven by her Calgary caregivers to Edmonton last night.

Pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Ivan Rebeyka, along with specialists in anesthesia, cardiology and pediatric intensive care, donated their time at the Stollery Children's Hospital to repair Oksana's heart .

Munguia, who speaks Ukrainian and works in the health-care field, hosted the girl and her mother the last time she was in Edmonton.

But organizers of her care fear the little girl could be sent back to the Ukraine without proper treatment after the surgery because her visa expires Dec. 1.

She will need at least eight weeks of post-operative care.

"It's very sad. We don't want her to go back too soon. We're going to make sure her convalescence is good," Munguia said.

From Our Mailbag!

The Ukrainian section of RCI has recently run a series of three broadcasts in partnership with Ukraine's state radio service, the National Radio Company of Ukraine - Channel 1.

I am very disappointed that RCI has decided to work hand-in-hand with a mouthpiece of a murderous and corrupt government, who as I type, is doing all it can, using all the resources of state to subvert, falsify , and suppress a supposedly democratic election campaign.

Is RCI, who I though t was supposed to be a neutral organization, siding with the oppressive Kuchma government and his minions in indirectly crushing a democratic election by its partnership with the state-controlled broadcasting service?

There is a great difference with RCI valid activities of reporting both sides of this tragic and complicated election campaign, and actually working hand-in-glove with this murderous government's broadcasting service, where the three program's absence of any political exchange is glaringly absent. Seconds prior to the first partnership program, your host mentioned the election turmoil while visiting Ukraine - ironically only to have them completely ignored during that actual partnership program.

Typical of former-Soviet broadcasting, the state radio service avoids any critical mention of the government's activities, keeping their own citizens ignorant of the tragic events unfolding. RCI's partnership with these three programs fitted well their policy - they must be rolling in the aisles laughing at our naivety. As I listened to these three programs, I was sarcastically expecting at any moment to hear a long list of statistics as per Soviet-type reporting on the tonnage of wheat harvested, tonnage of this, tonnage of that, tonnage mined, etc ., and how well everything is rosy-pink.

What is painfully ironic with this partnership project with Ukraine's state radio is that it is one of the only radio stations that actually uses the state's official national language, Ukrainian - the rest being mostly in Russian.

May I remind you, even Canada's ambassador to Ukraine recently, acting on our government's instructions, criticized irregularities in the election campaign - I'm sure with your massive resources via CBC-Radio-Canada you can verify this.

Sunday's third program of the series dealt with Canada/Ukraine military partnership, with heavy emphasis on language courses offered to Ukrainian military officers in Canada. I sincerely hope that these same military colonels that were interviewed by your correspondent in this sugar-coated report are not the same ones who give the orders to shoot protesters during next week's election - Ukraine's police has already showed its true colours by massively interfering in the election process.

My comments are not to criticize the efforts of your hard-pressed correspondent, who I'm sure mounted this project out of good will and no doubt hard work. I am amazed, to RCI and the government's shame, that your correspondents have so few resources to work with - many programs-reports being produced seem to occur while staff is traveling on vacation, for example.

Barring this indiscretion, RCI's Ukrainian section is doing wonders, and I also demand that RCI INCREASE its Ukrainian section, both in time of broadcasting and real resources to properly do their job. Ukraine is a critical country and at a critical crossroads in the continuing evolution of post-USSR politics, which is rapidly sliding down a slippery slope with a Russian-Putin dictatorship in the making, dragging Ukraine along.

If RCI through Heritage Canada doesn't have the enlightened foresight to understand this, perhaps funding should be sought through External Affairs or another ministry more competent to express Canada's view concerning this part of the world.

Mike Reshitnyk
Charlesbourg, Quebec