UNREST IN UKRAINE HAS BROUGHT ATTENTION IN THE UNITED STATES TO COMMUNITIES OF UKRAINIAN-AMERICANS.
NOW ONE OF THE LARGEST IS IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, WHERE THE TURMOIL BETWEEN UKRAINE
AND RUSSIA IS AFFECTING UKRAINIAN IMMIGRANTS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS.
VOA'S KANE FARABAUGH TALKED TO UKRAINIAN-AMERICANS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND CHICAGO TO FIND OUT WHAT
THEY REALLY THINK ABOUT THE CRISIS IN THEIR HOMELAND.
HERE'S A LOOK AT HIS CONVERSATION WITH ON ASSIGNMENT'S REBECCA WARD.
THERE WAS A NEW WAVE OF IMMIGRATION, PARTICULARLY TO PLACES LIKE PENNSYLVANIA AFTER THE COLLAPSE
OF THE SOVIET UNION.
FATHER TIMOTHY THOMSON LEADS THE CONGREGATION AT ST.
MARY'S UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE PITTSBURGH SUBURB OF MCKEES ROCKS.
HE SAYS ABOUT TEN TO FIFTEEN THOUSAND IMMIGRANTS CAME TO THE AREA IN THE 1990S AFTER THE BREAKUP
OF THE SOVIET UNION.
"THEY CAME HERE FOR JOBS, PLUS CHURCHES WERE SPONSORING THEM WHEN THE SOVIET UNION FIRST
COLLAPSED WHEN UKRAINE DECLARED ITS INDEPENDENCE."
CHICAGO'S IMMIGRATION, IN THIS LARGE IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY HERE, THAT IMMIGRATION STARTED IN
THE EARLY 1900S AND IT PROGRESSED AFTER WORLD WAR II SO DIFFERENT WAVES, DIFFERENT SECTIONS
OF THIS IMMIGRATION HAVE INFLUENCED THE WAY THIS COMMUNITY INTERACTS AND STAYS CONNECTED
WITH THEIR HOMELAND.
AND THAT CONNECTION, IT'S ALSO CHURCH-BASED YOU MIGHT SAY.
A VERY SPIRITUAL OR RELIGIOUS POPULATION.
YEAH I'VE DONE THREE STORIES NOW ON THE DIFFERENT UKRAINIAN COMMUNITIES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND
THEN CHICAGO AND IN EACH OF THESE STORIES AND WAS EVERYBODY I TALK TO, CHURCH IS THE
CENTER BY WHICH EVERYTHING ELSE SORT OF FLOWS AROUND IN THESE COMMUNITIES.
THE UNREST IN UKRAINE COMES DURING THE CHRISTIAN HOLY PERIOD OF LENT, A TIME OF DAILY CHURCH
SERVICES.
AS FATHER NALYSNYK LEADS HIS CONGREGATION IN PRAYER AND REFLECTION, HE ADMITS HIS THOUGHTS
ARE SOMETIMES WITH HIS FAMILY STILL LIVING IN WESTERN UKRAINE.
THEY ARE THOUGHTS SHARED BY MOST MEMBERS OF THIS IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY THAT NUMBER IN THE
TENS OF THOUSANDS.
MANY ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO GENERATIONS REMOVED FROM THE COUNTRY THEY LEFT.
"THE UKRAINIANS HERE SUPPORT WHATEVER EFFORTS THE UKRAINIANS IN UKRAINE ARE DOING TO KEEP
THAT COUNTRY FREE."
ST.
NICHOLAS BUSINESS MANAGER PHYLLIS MURYN ZAPARANIUK SAYS
THAT IN TIMES OF HELPLESSNESS, THE COMMUNITY TURNS TO FATHER NALYSNYK FOR GUIDANCE AND
WISDOM.
"TO GIVE HOPE THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE OK.
LIKE WE SAY IN CHURCH, AFTER FRIDAY COMES SUNDAY, THE RESURRECTION."
THERE WERE A COUPLE OF PROTEST HERE IN WASHINGTON.
WHETHER ANY PROTEST GOING ON AND COMMUNITIES YOU VISITED?
YOU KNOW THERE HAVE AN ACCIDENT THEN PROTEST WHERE I'VE ACTUALLY INTERVIEWED AND REPORTED
ON THESE CLEANING COMMUNITIES.
BUT I WILL SAY THEY WERE VERY MUCH FOCUSED ON THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON THAT OCCURRED,
AND THAT HAPPENED THERE I BELIEVE ON MARCH 6.
SO I THINK A LOT OF THE EFFORTS HAVEN'T BEEN LOCALIZED OR INDIVIDUAL.
EVERYBODY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE GOING TO WASHINGTON DC TO HAVE A LARGER SHOW OF
SUPPORT.
NEW YORK CITY IS ALSO HOME TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ETHNIC UKRAINIANS.
VOA'S ADAM PHILLIPS SPOKE TO A FEW OF THEM IN AN AREA KNOWN AS LITTLE UKRAINE IN MANHATTAN'S
LOWER EAST SIDE INCLUDING TAMARA OLEXY, PRES.
OF UKRAINIAN CONGRESS OF AMERICA.
LOVE YOU CRANING CONGRESS OF AMERICA IS AN UMBRELLA GROUP OF THE OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE
IN THE UNITED STATES OF UKRAINIAN DESCENT.
EITHER THEIR RECENT ARE GOING BACK A WAYS.
AND SHE SEEMED TO BELIEVE THAT UKRAINIANS WE'RE OF A UNIFIED FEELING THAT RUSSIANS SHOULD
STAY OUT AND INDEPENDENCE WAS IMPORTANT, AND THEY WANTED TO LOOK MORE TOWARD THE DEMOCRATIC
MODELS OF WESTERN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES RATHER THAN EAST TOWARD RUSSIA.
WE CALL UPON THE UNITED STATES TO URGE THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND AND OUR EUROPEAN
ALLIES TO PROVIDE THE INTERIM GOVERNMENT WITH THE NECESSARY FINANCING THAT I CAN BEGIN THE
RESTRUCTURING OF ITS ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS ACCORDING TO OECD COUNTRY NORMS.
THEY START TO ONE GENTLEMAN WHO WORKED AT A DINER AND HE WAS EXPRESSING SOME CONCERN
ABOUT HIS FAMILY?
YES THEY WERE VERY CONCERNED.
EVERY DAY HE WAS HEARING GOT YOUR REPORTS FROM HIS MOTHER THAT MAYBE SOME OF THESE LINES
WOULD BE CUT AND THEY WOULD KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
HE WAS ALSO TALKING ABOUT POSSIBLY GOING BACK TO JOIN THE ARMY IF THERE REALLY WAS A CIVIL
WAR BETWEEN THE EASTERN CRIMEA PENINSULA UKRAINIANS AND THOSE IN THE WEST - KIEV, WHERE HIS FAMILY
WAS FROM.
I THINK IT WAS PRETTY CLEAR IN TALKING WITH EVERYBODY THAT I INTERVIEWED OR SPOKE WITH
THAT THERE IS NO SUPPORT FOR THE USE OF US MILITARY SUPPORT IN UKRAINE.
A LOT OF TRIED TO EXPLAIN TO ME THAT THERE REALLY ISN'T THIS DIVIDE BETWEEN EAST UKRAINIANS
AND WESTERN UKRAINIANS.
YOU KNOW EVERYBODY THAT WAS IN UKRAINE IS UKRAINIAN.
AND TO THAT POINT TO I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ALSO TRIED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY TOLD ME
THERE ISN'T THIS ANIMOSITY OR THIS HOSTILITY BY UKRAINIANS TOWARD RUSSIANS THAT LIVE IN
THE COUNTRY.
SO I THINK A LOT OF THE MESSAGE THAT PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SEND HERE IS TO SORT OF GET
THE TRUTH OUT THERE OR AT LEAST GET THEIR FEELINGS OUT THERE TO SORT OF COUNTER THE
INFORMATION BUT OTHER SOURCES ARE PROVIDING THAT MIGHT TRY TO INFLATE A CONFLICT WHERE
A CONFLICT DOES NOT EXIST.
OUR THANKS AS ALWAYS TO VOA'S KANE FARABAUGH AND ADAM PHILLIPS.