It’s a holy card held close to the Ukrainian vest.
As Russia wages war in Ukraine and lowers its Iron Curtain, a Christian legend has been resurrected.
Now that a massive Russian tank convoy is close to the country’s capital city of Kyiv, an ancient religious prediction has surfaced.
The prophecy: Ukraine will survive (and ostensibly remain free) as long as the huge mosaic of the Virgin Mary, located in Kyiv’s 11th century cathedral of St. Sophia, remains intact.
The mosaic is known as the “Oranta” and it’s under UNESCO protection.
The shocker: It’s located this/close to Ukraine’s Security Service in Kyiv, a possible Russian target.
The backshot: Kateryna (nee Catherine Claire Chuachenko) Yushchenko, the Chicago born, bred and University of Chicago MBA-educated wife of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschchenko — has called attention to the mural this week via her very active twitter account.
Kateryna Yushchenko — whose husband was poisoned and disfigured with the toxin dioxin, a derivative of Agent Orange (during his 2004 election campaign which ushered in Ukrainian’s Orange Revolution for freedom) — has used the account to draw attention to the evil actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom she accuses of genocide, and his oligarchs.
She has also highlighted the heroism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose comment, “We need ammunition, not a ride,” became a cry heard around the world.
Since the war in Ukraine began, some of the former first lady’s tweets have even gone viral. Some of her best:
• “For years I referred to [Russian prime minister Sergei] Lavrov, as a clown. He is [Nazi propagandist Joseph] Goebbels incarnate. Zelensky is not a neo-Nazi and Ukraine has not banned the Russian language anywhere.”
• “The people of Ukraine are fighting the war for us and the children of Ukraine suffering from Putin’s madness.”
• “Smoke and mirrors. Russia has shipped in people who will pose as protesters at a rally asking Russia to annex Kherson.”
• “U.S. stop oil imports now. Pull banks, investment banks, tech companies. Shut your systems now. Or you will be accomplices.”
• “When you pray for Ukraine, pray for our freedom and sovereignty, not just peace. Peace under Russian domination will continue the genocide, just at a slower pace.”
• “Clever. Both Lithuania and Latvia have renamed the streets on which the Russian Embassy is located to ‘Ukrainian Independence Street’. Bet they’ll hate that on all their mail.”
She also called attention to an 80-year-old man who wanted to sign up for the army in a tweet that got 335,000 likes!
Someone posted a photo of this 80-year-old who showed up to join the army, carrying with him a small case with 2 t-shirts, a pair of extra pants, a toothbrush and a few sandwiches for lunch. He said he was doing it for his grandkids. pic.twitter.com/bemD24h6Ae
— Kateryna Yushchenko (@KatyaYushchenko) February 24, 2022
A daughter of Ukrainian immigrants whose family suffered at the hands of the Soviet regime and descendant of those killed during the Soviet famine (Holodomor) imposed on Ukraine in 1932-33, the former first lady aggregated an impressive U.S. government resume before she married Yushchenko.
Earning a bachelor’s degree in International Economics from the school of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, she also worked in the White House Public Liaison office during the Reagan administration; the U.S. Treasury Department during the George W. Bush administration; the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. State Department specializing in human rights and humanitarian affairs.
But she also has confessed to the press recently her family is on another list: Russian strongman Vladimir Putin list of targets.
Putin carries a large eraser in his ammunition bag.
God help us all.
The Ukrainian wand…
Author J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter’s creator, dispatched a Ukrainian intention: “This is one of the times I wish I could do magic.”
A Moscow memo …
A history note: The city’s “Sister City” relationship with Moscow, which was canceled this week by a City Council vote endorsed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, originated in 1997 during Mayor Richard M. Daley’s tenure in office.
In mid-2009, Sneed tipped Daley was leading a business delegation to Russia. It wound up including reps from Motorola, Boeing and A.T. Kearney. The trip also included a plan to visit his son, Patrick, who had been spending a great deal of time in Moscow since leaving the military service, spoke Russian, and was trying to build a life and career there.
”Why wouldn’t he [Patrick] want to live outside the glare of his family’s name?” said a source back then. Soon after Mayor Daley left office in 2011, a source reported the former mayor was heading to Moscow to work on a business project with his son.
A Moscow memo II…
In March 2014, Alderpersons Ed Burke and Joe Moreno, who represented the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, proposed a resolution urging airlines operating at O’Hare Airport terminate service to Russia as a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, whose country had been invaded. “What’s happening in Ukraine is outrageous and akin to what Hitler did in the 1930s before World War II,” added Burke, who also wanted to terminate Chicago’s sister city relationship with Moscow at the time.
Sneedlings…
Ukraine Solidarity! A dinner for the Ukrainian war effort to benefit the International non-profit charity “Revived Soldiers of Ukraine” will be held March 11 at the Magic Jug restaurant at 6354 W Irving Park Rd. on the Northwest Side. It will be co-hosted by “Irish Radio Hour” Sunday host William Kelly on WPNA-AM 1490 and Ukrainian-American Tatiana Klymko. ... Signs of spring: Scilla and snowdrops are popping up! ... Saturday birthdays: actor Eva Mendes, 48; televangelist Joel Osteen, 59; magician Penn Jillette, 67; and NFL legend Michael Irvin, 56; … Sunday birthdays: Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, 50; comedian D.L. Hughley, 59, actor/director Rob Reiner, 75, and businessman Ivan Boesky, 84;
