Ukrainian Congress Committee of America President Andriy Futey Returns from Ukraine Visit
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) President and a Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) Vice President, Andriy Futey, recently traveled to Ukraine with a high-level delegation from the UWC, consisting of UWC President Paul Grod, UWC Vice President Stefan Romaniw and the Director of UWC’s Unite With Ukraine initiative, Andrew Potichnyi. This delegation witnessed firsthand what is happening in Ukraine in order to help fine-tune the diaspora’s efforts and advocacy work. Throughout the visit, UCCA’s Futey had a considerable opportunity to speak to Ukrainian government representatives individually and in group settings.
The working visit began in Lviv, where the delegation met with Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, the Head of the Lviv Oblast Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, and the Chief of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Military Academy, Lieutenant General Pavlo Tkachuk.
While in Lviv, UWC Vice Presidents Andriy Futey and Stefan Romaniw visited the studios of the “Espreso” TV channel to discuss both their working visit as well as to comment on the recent NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The delegation had an opportunity to discuss supporting Ukraine’s frontline defenders and intelligence officers with Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
The delegation also met with the Commander of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Maj. Gen. Ihor Tantsyura, and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov. Among their conversation, the UWC delegation was able to relate their views on the geopolitical situation in the world given their close working relationships with world leaders and parliament, as well as the pervasiveness of “russkiy mir,” the enemy’s worldwide campaign of cultural and political influence.
“Our meetings were optimistic… reflecting Ukraine’s military forces high morale, and reinforced our confidence in Ukraine’s victory over Russia, the greatest threat to freedom and democracy in the world,” said Futey.
While in Lviv, the delegation met with the newly elected Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), Taras Dobko, and his colleagues, to discuss UCU’s role in Ukraine’s post-war rebuilding, and other future projects, as well as the ongoing development of Ukrainian schooling and education abroad.
While in Kyiv, the delegation met with Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikov, the Vice Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, the Minister of Energy, Herman Halushchenko, the Minister of Health, Viktor Liashko, the Minister of Social Policy, Oksana Zholnovych, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Andriy Stashkiv, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Mykhailo Vynnytskyi, and many others.
The UWC delegation was also honored to sit in audience with His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphaniy, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine. Their discussions focused on the spiritual care of internally-displaced persons, the preservation of Ukrainian identity in Europe and the world, and the transition to the modern church calendar.
Before leaving Ukraine, the delegation paid their respects at the Holodomor Victims Memorial on the banks of the Dnipro River. There, they were able to review the progress of construction at the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide. This year marks the 90th Anniversary of the atrocities committed by the Soviet regime in 1932-33 to forcibly starve 7-10 million Ukrainians.
Source: Ukrainian Congress Committee of America