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Ukraine Shines Its Weapons on Russia
Ukraine celebrated its 17th Independence Day yesterday. For the first time in seven years, military hardware rattled down Kreshchatik, Kiev’s main street. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in his holiday address to the country accused Russia of interfering in his country’s internal affairs and promised to raise the defense budget. But only NATO membership can save the country from the Russian military threat, he said.
The day’s celebrations began yesterday morning with prayers for the country in St. Sofia Cathedral. The president has been leading prayers in this day since 2005. This year, he was joined not only by his wife and two daughters, but by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, speaker of the Supreme Rada Arseny Yatsenyuk, ministers and legislators. In addition, representatives of all 19 of the religious faiths practiced in Ukraine took part in the ceremony, which lasted about an hour.
At 10:00, the military parade began, with Yushchenko participating as supreme commander. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, 144 pieces of hardware, 22 planes and eight helicopters took put on show in the parade, as were about 3000 soldiers. Grad, Uragan and Smerch multi-launch missile systems, Osa ballistic missiles and Tunguska missile complexes, Su-25 bombers, MiG-29 and Su-27 jet fighters, Su-25 attack planes and Il-76 and An-26 military transport planes were seen.
Yushchenko spoke on Independence Square (the Maidan) before the beginning of the parade. He expressed his unreserved support for Georgia and called on Russia to give up attempts to “change the world order and its democratic values.” He had a message for Russia. “We, the Ukrainian people are the lords of our land. No one will ever decide for us what language to speak in or what church to pray in. No one will ever tell us what road to take. No one will ever measure our borders, islands or peninsulas,” he said.
Leader of the opposition Party of the Regions Viktor Yanukovich had earlier accused the country’s leadership of “irresponsible actions” that dragged Ukraine into the middle of an international conflict and, as a result, “turned Russia from a friendly state and strategic partner into an enemy.” He intends to raise the questions of the responsibility of the Ukrainian leadership for the conflict in South Ossetia and to enquiry about how Ukrainian weapons came to be in Georgian hands. The real pro-Russian force in Ukraine may soon be Tymoshenko, however. Observers say that the Kremlin is putting it weight behind her in the next presidential elections. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent her congratulations on the holiday, which many considered significant.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent Yushchenko congratulations as well. He urged his colleague to make “a mutual account of interests in the fields of foreign policy and security.” The Russian president has also invited Yushchenko to the President’s Cup horserace on September 5. The race is traditionally attended by the leaders of the CIS member states.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 25, 2008
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