Victoria Herasymchuk

The new concept of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service is devoted to Euro-integration. It is not just a matter of Ukraine’s strivings to join the EU. First of all, there is still much to be learned. Second, borders are a continent-wide issue. The principal tasks of the border guards are not to...

This should have been the start of a report on Ukrainian-language courses for adults. But it turns out that there are none in Kyiv. Admit it: you’ve never seen any announcements of Ukrainian courses, like “Improve your knowledge of Ukrainian” or “Business Ukrainian.” In contrast, you can see...

Chornobyl and caricatures would seem to be incompatible things. Caricatures are funny, but poking fun at Chornobyl would never occur to any of the globe’s inhabitants. But 252 caricaturists from 45 countries managed to find an approach to this tragic topic, the theme of the VI International...

There was an unusual holiday celebrated the weekend before last in Kyiv’s theme park: Father’s Day. How often is it that you see more than 10 fathers with children in a single park? Since children traditionally enjoy limited attention from heads of households, it is always a pleasure to watch a...

I traveled all the way to Yalta and its “Kazka” [Fairy Tale] Zoo with the sole purpose of having my photo taken with the local lion cub. This would be impossible in Kyiv, where zoo animals are kept safely out of visitors’ reach, let alone such regal animals as lions. Just as I entered the Yalta Zoo...

In early July the Cabinet of Ministers submitted a bill to parliament, which, if enacted, would eliminate criminal penalties for prostitution while imposing stricter punishments for bringing women into the sex trade, i.e. procuring women and engaging in other soliciting activities. This initiative...

Ukraine has found itself on the list of European nations with the highest percentage of overweight people. According to data of the Institute for Nutritional Hygiene, 35-36% of Ukrainian men, 41% of women, and 15-16% of children and teenagers are overweight. Experts point to low living standards as...

Ukrainians have become more optimistic. This follows from the findings of an extensive study entitled Social and Economic Security of the Population, conducted in Ukraine by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2004. The study is based on State Statistics Committee surveys among 9,400...

Early last week saw the presentation of the book The European Human Rights Convention: Fundamental Principles, Practice of Application, and the Ukrainian Context, compiled by the Union of Ukrainian Lawyers and the British Center InterRights. The book is designed to help lawyers, prosecutors, judges...

Imprisonment deprives a person of a lot more than just freedom. Ukrainian prisons are overcrowded, aggressive, and disease infested. Adequate conditions of incarceration are still a long way off for Ukrainian prisoners. The interests of this social group are no doubt the least of the government’s...