Randolph’s Sister City, Mirgorod, Ukraine Votes for Reform
Randolph’s sister-city of Mirgorod has been swept by the election crisis in Ukraine that has caused headlines around the world.
Mirgorod cast 65% of its votes for the reform candidate Victor Yushchenko. Then it was the scene of organized demonstrations after the local and regional politicians supported the fraud-tainted election of Victor Yanukovich, the candidate of the Russian-leaning government, while warning about a break-up of the country.
These and other developments in Mirgorod, a city of 50,000 in the eastern part of Ukraine, are the subject of an extraordinary report to Herald readers from Sasha Green, the editor of a community newspaper there. Green, a member of the newly-formed Rotary club, has several times been a host to Randolph visitors.
His account eloquently captures the excitement of Ukrainians who felt they "had witnessed the birth of a nation that chose its own future."
The monumental translation job was performed by Sergey Ushakov of the Ukrainian city of Venitsa.
By Sasha Green Special to The Herald Probably it's not so easy for Randolphers, who at the same time with us had their own Presidential election, to understand events that have been taking place in Ukraine and in your sister-city of Mirgorod in particular.
In Ukraine, depending on one's viewpoint, the events can be explained differently.
Therefore, this article is an attempt to give you the gospel-truth, as shown by actions, not by words.
We hope that our American friends know about the results of the Presidential election here and about the falsifications during the election process initiated by the government that resulted in the wave of protests against the distortion of the results of people's self-determination, a wave which ran through the country, focusing on Kiev's
Independence Square.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians showed on the Square an example of civilized struggle for their rights. True, there was another wave initiated by V. Yanukovich's supporters in the southeast provinces of Ukraine. This wave is hard for us to assess, but it was clear that the meeting of "orange" supporters of V. Yushchenko and the "white-blue" supporters of V. Yanukovich in Kiev made the majority understand that common people have one aim—to change life for the better.
The Mirgorod Scene The following is what has taken place in Mirgorod and its district. [...] More >> http://www.rherald.com/news/2004/1222/Front_Page/f02.html ==========================