CHICAGO — A former first lady of Ukraine with deep roots in Chicago called on the international community to take stronger action against Moscow, as Russia’s brutal invasion threatens her nation’s independence — and potentially global order and security.
Kateryna Yushchenko, who was born in the Humboldt Park area and served as first lady of Ukraine from 2005 to 2010, thanked supporters in Chicago and all over the world for their protests, donations and messages of solidarity with Ukrainians.
But Yushchenko, a former White House and State Department official, has been “very distressed the West isn’t doing enough,” she told the Tribune in a recent telephone interview from an undisclosed location amid security concerns for her and her family.
She urged ally nations to impose more severe sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and others in power, as well as increase provisions and weapons for Ukrainian troops.
She added that more international companies should fully cut ties with Russia, warning that Ukrainians are not only fighting for their survival but for “freedom, peace and democracy in Europe.”
“The world cannot just stand by and watch,” she said. “If the world does not stop Putin here, you will have to fight him in your own country.”
Her husband, Viktor Yushchenko, served as Ukraine’s third president, surviving an apparent assassination attempt during a tumultuous campaign against a Russian-backed candidate, which spurred a wave of protests and civil unrest known as the nation’s Orange Revolution.
Now that hard-earned and often perilous quest for Ukrainian sovereignty is at risk.
Kateryna Yushchenko said millions of Ukrainians are sheltering in basements and subways, fearing for their lives and the future of their nation.
“The Russian army is aiming missiles at schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, ambulances, orphanages,” she said. “The army is shooting at buses and people on the street. These are war crimes … and I truly believe that Putin’s goal is to destroy the free and democratic world that we’ve built since World War II, and destroy the rule of law that has given us peace and prosperity.”
Return to Ukraine
Kateryna Yushchenko’s parents came to Chicago as refugees sponsored by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1956. She was born here in 1961, and later moved to northwest suburban Mount Prospect, where she graduated from Prospect High School.
In the 1970s, Yushchenko twice visited Ukraine while it was under Soviet rule. Meeting her extended family and seeing her ancestral homeland “made a strong impression,” she recalled.
“It made me dream about coming back to Ukraine,” she said.
After earning her master’s degree in business administration at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1986, Yushchenko held a series of positions in Washington, D.C., including serving as an adviser on Eastern European ethnic affairs in the Reagan White House and in the human rights office of the State Department.
She went on to co-found the nonprofit U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and moved to Kyiv as the Soviet Union began to crumble, just before Ukraine declared its independence in August 1991.
“I can say that maybe other than giving birth to my children, this was the happiest day of my life,” she said. “When Ukraine became independent, things changed so quickly and that was earth shattering for many people. Because suddenly there were opportunities. People could now travel. They could choose their jobs. They could choose where they spent their vacation. They could read anything they wanted. They could watch any kind of films or television that they wanted. It was almost like a century of change that happened in a few years.”
Amid this whirlwind of change and breakneck reform, she met her husband Viktor Yushchenko, who was then head of the central bank. They married in 1998 and have three children together; he has two children from a previous marriage.
Her husband went on to serve as prime minister and then president of Ukraine, winning a turbulent election that nearly proved fatal for him.
Poison, revolution
In his bid for president, Viktor Yushchenko faced a Russian-backed candidate, then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
Following a dinner with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv in September 2004, Viktor Yushchenko fell mysteriously ill.
“When they kissed, his wife noticed a strange taste on his lips, something medicinal and unpleasant,” the Tribune reported in December 2004.
“I asked him what that could be,” Kateryna Yushchenko told the Tribune at the time. “And he said, ‘Oh, maybe it was a little wine or cognac that I had.’ I said, ‘No, it had much more a metallic taste to it.’”
He was transported to Austria for medical treatment, and testing later determined he suffered from dioxin poisoning, indicating he had ingested poison. He suffered severe gastrointestinal problems, and his face was disfigured and jaundiced, but he survived what was widely believed to be an assassination attempt.
In a runoff election between the two candidates, Yanukovych was declared the winner amid accusations of election fraud, igniting mass protests that were known as the nation’s Orange Revolution.
Ukraine’s Supreme Court ruled the election invalid and ordered a new runoff, which Yushchenko won. He was sworn in as president in January 2005.
“I am particularly happy that the Ukrainian nation has risen from its knees,” he told a crowd of Chicago-area supporters during an April 2005 appearance at the Palmer House Hilton. “We also rose from our knees because you were by us.”
His opponent, Yanukovych, went on to serve as president of Ukraine from 2010 until 2014, when he was ousted from office and exiled to Russia. His refusal to sign a European Union agreement was seen as caving to Russia and ignited a wave of 2013 and 2014 protests at the Maidan, Kyiv’s Independence Square, which culminated in the nation’s 2014 Revolution of Dignity.
In 2019, a Ukrainian court found Yanukovych guilty of treason.
But various international media have recently reported that Putin is hoping to reinstate Yanukovych as Ukraine’s next president.
‘We will be independent’
Ultimately, the former first lady believes that Ukraine will persevere and remain a sovereign nation, in part because “every single Ukrainian is going to fight to the death.”
“I am absolutely certain that Ukraine will win, that we will be independent,” Kateryna Yushchenko said. “Ukraine will never ever be subservient or subject to Russia again. I just fear that there’s going to be a terrible loss of blood — destruction of our cities, of our monuments — and mass murder of our people before that happens.”
She described Kyiv as “a beautiful city,” similar in some ways to Chicago. Both are about the same size in population; and Chicago and Kyiv became Sister Cities in 1991.
“Very often that I thought that Kyiv did remind me of Chicago,” she said. “It’s a beautiful city. It’s a warm city. People are very warm and welcoming just the way they are in Chicago.”
Russia’s Feb. 24 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has sparked protests and demonstrations in Chicago. Various local politicians have condemned Putin’s war. The blue and yellow Ukrainian flag was recently raised over the Illinois State Capitol, in solidarity.
“When we win and when Ukraine opens up, I invite everyone from Chicago — from America, from the world — to visit us, our beautiful country and our amazing people,” Kateryna Yushchenko said. “To see us and help us build our country again.”
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