Tensions escalating around Ukraine

Fear creeping in...along with the hope that there are still options. 

Our family aboard the USS Constitution setting sail for America.

Some of you who read my first entry in this blog mentioned that there was an anti-immigrant sentiment when you arrived in America. It caused us to congregate together in a support structure that allowed the children to flourish, slowly integrate and change the perceptions of those around us. It took a bit of effort, and often we did the melting pot thing and became American to the world. But inside, we never gave up that feeling of being different and connected by a common bond wherever we chose to reside.  We never gave up hope that the promised land would offer new options. 

Over the years, we built up a resilience. In my case, when I started to understand the great value of being multicultural in today's world, I embraced it again. It gave me a much greater sense of understanding of the world around me than the typical American might have. I started to tell people about Ukraine. Most had never heard of it. I told a new friend in University that I was Ukrainian and he said "What? You're a cranium?"  We had a good laugh about that one. 

It really sank in when I went shopping to buy utensils for my first apartment, I realized I had no idea what they were called in English. A chochlya is a chochlya, you know, a big spoon-like thing that you use to dispense soup. I had never heard the word ladle in English because we spoke Ukrainian at home and that's where all the cooking was done. I was one of the first of my classmates to go away to university leaving all of them behind. My roommate was Chinese American.  It was a revolutionary experience! What a shock to the system. Gradually, I found a balance between being Ukrainian and being American. And I learned about REAL Chinese food and how to eat with chopsticks.

And then it happened. The iron curtain came tumbling down. I remember the first time the Ukrainian anthem was sung and the flag was raised over the Olympic stadium.  I tried singing but I was so choked up that I could barely squalk and see through the tears. Oksana Baiul, 1994, gold in figure skating.  What a moment of pride!  It was inexplicable to anyone who was not Ukrainian. 

Then some of us started feeling ashamed of the culture of corruption and greed that was portraying Ukraine in a negative light since the Orange revolution.  I too had felt that way.  Seeing reports of oligarchs getting richer when the average person could barely survive was very third world, and it made me angry. They should have seized the opportunity to do better. But I suppose they hadn't had to fight for their freedom. It just sort of happened one day. The curtain dropped and suddenly someone had to take charge. Naturally, the gangsters would have been the ones in best position to seize control. 

I had had high hopes for Ukraine under Victor Yushchenko, whose wife Kateryna is one of us in the diaspora. Having been born in and raised in Chicago, my Ukrainian friends there knew her and vouched for her and her credentials as a world-class economist. Victor seemed to be heading in the right direction.  He was a dynamic leader on the world stage. Perhaps too dynamic.  Seeing Yushchenko poisoned made me angry.  Seeing him give up made me sad. 

Then came Julia Tymoshenko, who is no saint and certainly part of the old guard, but seeing her imprisoned far longer than her sentence without justification made me realize that things had reverted back to the old ways. Yanukovych was clearly a puppet of Russia who was groomed to protect the Russian interests and cleaned out the coffers to line his own residences in gold.  Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss. 

Yesterday, an internet buddy -- Portuguese from the Azores -- sent me a link to a Russian propaganda video.  It was hideous. Clearly photoshopped and cobbled together with doctored video clips from various protests and movements.  It showed Ukrainians wearing swastika armbands and Ukrainian flags replaced with red swastikas on white backgrounds, with Ukrainian right wing mobs who are now allegedly  in power forcefully removing Jewish and Russian ethnic people from their homes. It showed troops moving against crowds, and it made truly absurd Soviet era KGB-style accusations. It was more than 30 minutes of scaremongering and I wondered how effectively it had persuaded the Russian people who may have seen it on television without having access to any other points of view. 

It made me angry. Angry that our people, who are being so restrained in the face of extreme aggression on the part of ex-KGB agent Putin, are being portrayed so very inaccurately. How can such lies be propagated?  

Then I read "Open letter of Ukrainian Jews to Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin.05.03.2014, To the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin" http://eajc.org/page32/news43672.html.  And I heard about Sweden's stand with NATO in support of Ukraine.  And I thought, wait a minute, not everyone is falling for this bull. Perhaps this is even precisely the kind of thing that could unite everyone who sees through the absurdity to make a stand.

I saw one Russian anchor woman speak out against what is happening in Crimea and another resigned on air.  I wish them well because these are brave Russian women.  Then John Kerry and Angela Merkel took strong stands.  Angela Merkel is fluent in Russian and is emerging as a leader in the move to impose economic sanctions -- finally!!! Germany has much to lose either way: either gas supply now or unstable borders later. The US State Department published its list of 10 myths being propagated by Putin. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/03/222988.htm.  Goldman Sachs reports that money is flowing out of Russia at breakneck speed as the wealthy stash their cash abroad as the Russian economy stumbles and retreats. Cameron remains silent as the UK economy is so dependent on Russian billionaires.  

The UN is talking while Russia masses its troops on Ukraine's borders. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk  made a vary solid plea to the United Nations I thought. He was eloquent and measured in his delivery in perfect English. Yatsenyuk's point about the disarmament deal that included protection of Ukraine against assault by foreign powers will become a farce and will render nuclear deterrence tactics useless if Russia continues on its present course undeterred.  I felt proud.  Proud that the country of my ancestors has the resolve to seek a new path. Proud that the interim leaders are far more intelligent and reasonable than ex-KGB agent Putin. Proud that the regular people were brave enough to make a stand against repeat oppression. 

The tensions are escalating and this could break out into all-out conflict.  But there is still a chance that the people will prevail, that fighting against an oppressor will galvanize them. The chess game continues until Monday when the Crimean referendum is scheduled to take place against all warnings from Ukraine and from the West. It could be the final gasp of post-Soviet era imperialism, and the start of a whole new era of Western alliance.  

All I know is that I will be glued to the news services and the twitter sphere.  My plans to visit Ukraine in celebration of my 60th birthday remain on hold. I remain optimistic that this will change. 

Sche ne vmerla Ukraina!

Slava Ukraini!