organizations that maintain ties with moscow. after the law enters into force, the community of the ukrainian orthodox church, known as the moscow patriarchate, will have nine months to sever ties with the russian orthodox church. however, this decision presents ukraine with a dilemma: between protecting security in the middle of the country and potential criticism of freedom of religion. we are talking about this topic with my colleague tetyana vorozhko, who researched it. i congratulate you tanya. greetings maria. so you talked to many experts here united states, which. reaction to this decision and what kind of criticism is being heard? well, yes, there is indeed criticism, first of all, i think that the most important position here is the us commission on international religious freedom, it is a state institution that is responsible for checking possible violations and reporting around the world and prepares recommendations, reports for congress and state department, and actually the response that they sent to voa, says that the final version of this bill does not address the previous concerns of this commission itself...

expressed to the ukrainian authorities, that this bill, that this law can potentially be used for collective punishment by the forces of religious communities, and it is also said that there are new, problematic aspects of this bill that may violate freedom of religion and freedom the will of detection, at the same time it says that the most important thing is how this law will be applied, they will monitor it, follow it carefully, and it also says that in fact the biggest threat to... stories and the lives of believers is the russian federation, which they recommended the state department designate as a country of particular concern in this area. there are also opinions of conservative observers, among them wesley smith, who wrote in the national review that no matter what they do to russia, in his opinion, this law, he will say, is applied against one of the orthodox churches, which is part of the world orthodox "i, according to him, and if any questions arise for individual clergymen, they could not be

resolved within the framework of the already existing legislation, let's also not forget that last fall, especially in winter, there was still such a powerful campaign directed against ukraine, and this law, this campaign is part of it, it was largely a disinformation company, and it was used against ukraine, and maybe partly or to a large extent influenced the fact that aid to ukraine was delayed for 6 months, and actually one of the experts with whom my colleague talked, this expert monika potora, who... there is, who represents the institute, the washington institute of the world, the institute of religion, freedom of religion, she says that the adoption of this law was untimely, and that there is a lack of clarification from the ukrainian authorities regarding its application. let's listen. let's be honest, this is a controversial law, it divides people, it divides the international community, everyone. there will be people who will support this law and there will be people who will... question

the outcome of it, and obviously there are questions about what will happen to those people who belong to this church, what choice do they have, the important thing is that will continue to happen with its use, we really have to keep an eye on it, tania, but how do the ukrainians respond to this and can it affect the aid to ukraine from the united states? yes, we spoke with representatives of the authorities, with representatives, mykyta poturaev, who represents the profile committee, with a... with a representative of the state agency, which will also answer to zelenskiy, which agency, which is responsible for the implementation of the draft law, they speak to the law, they speak that this organization has enough time to to sever any ties with russia, with the russian church, and also that ukraine will abide by the laws, in its implementation, implementation of this law, there is also another reaction, for example, for example, the council of ukrainian christian churches of the american state of washington spoke today in support of this bill, it is said that in its statement that

the ukrainian authorities are forced to resort to such measures due to the activities of the russian orthodox church, which is used by the russian authorities and special services against ukraine, and also when this campaign was conducted, many voices were heard in support of ukraine, ukrainian deputies, leaders, religious leaders came, many lawyers worked, who , let's say, an advocacy campaign was conducted in support of ukraine, where it was clarified what is really happening in ukraine. from freedom of religion and, in fact, what danger russia actually poses to religious freedoms in the occupied territory, well, for example, one of oleksandr ustinov's deputies, who was involved in this campaign, and she told us in an interview that she does not think that this law may affect further support. you know, three weeks ago, i spent a whole week in washington and tried to meet with the republicans, because i know that they are more conservative and asked. one question is whether they approve

of ukraine's struggle against, not the church, but against the fsb, and they explained to them that the law that will now be voted on and was voted today in the verkhovna rada is... a law that primarily concerns our national security and has nothing to do with religious persecution, no one told me that we should not pass this law, that there will be any consequences for us, i was told, you have to do it to protect your country, do it. thank you tanya, i will remind the viewers that you can read more analysis about the law on religious organizations on the voice of america website in ukrainian. president biden announced that the united states will announce a new aid package for ukraine on the eve of ukraine's independence day. meanwhile , the united states today announced new sanctions against individuals and companies that help

of russia the treasury department and the state department have sanctioned nearly 400 individuals and entities for helping the kremlin wage war and circumventing sanctions, while the commerce department has imposed restrictions. cooperation with 105 russian and chinese companies for the support of the russian army. director of the us department of state's department of economic sanctions, aaron forberg, emphasized that these sanctions will reduce the russian federation's ability to receive income from energy projects and disrupt procurement of materials for its military machine. from the speech george bush about threats to ukraine's independence in the early 90s, to kyiv's main ally. my colleague andriy borys talked about this difficult path of relations between ukraine and the united states. with former ambassadors on the eve of independence day. august 1 , 1991, kyiv, the last day of the last visit of the president of the united states to the soviet union, a few months before its collapse. george bush meets with the chairman of the verkhovna rada of the ukrainian ssr, leonid kravchuk, and addresses

the deputies. freedom is not the same as independence. americans will not support those who seek independence to replace distant tyranny with local despotism, they will not help those who promote a suicidal nationalism based on ethnic hatred. this speech by george bush sr. will go down in history as a cutlet speech in kyiv style. the author of the title, journalist william safire, wrote that this speech endangered the relationship of the united states with the new european power. "i was in the verkhovna rada, listening to his speech, and i remember how everyone became so confused look, we have a month before the declaration of independence, all of ukraine is already boiling, everything is already here, the big boss, the president

of the united states, comes here and says that guys, don’t worry, you don’t need to, well, they also had interests, purely military, they are very feared" the collapse of the soviet union in connection with nuclear weapons. ultimately, by the end of 1991 , the united states recognized the independence of ukraine. the first ambassador was appointed a diplomat with ukrainian roots, roman popadyuk, who believes that bush was misunderstood at the time. i paraphrase the words of the former advisor from of national security brent kobra, who described the speech as directed against the disintegration that ... had taken place among ethnic groups in the former yugoslavia, he was concerned that there should be no ethnic animosity, so he saw the speech as aimed more at those regions than to ukraine. despite this, the ambassador admits that the issue of the world's third nuclear arsenal, which ukraine possessed, constantly overshadowed

relations between kyiv and washington at the beginning. this continued until the mid-1990s, until the budapest memorandum was concluded, according to which kyiv refused nuclear. in exchange for security guarantees, in the english-language version of the document, the word guarantees was replaced by assurance. when we discussed the wording, ukrainian officials asked the americans what america would do if russia violated the terms. we said the united states would take ukraine's side, and the united states would do something. we said, and we are talking now about the years 93-94. after the signing of the memorandum before the beginning of zero between kyiv and washington, a surge in relations, the visits of president kuchma to the usa and of president clinton to ukraine, space cooperation, the flight

of leonid kadenyuk on the shuttle together with the american crew became a symbol of that time. ukraine then joined nato's partnership for peace program, and the united states allocated money for reforms in ukraine. during my tenure , the embassy oversaw an aid program of approximately $200 million to $350 million per year. at the beginning of the zero years, relations deteriorated, the oligarchization of the economy, oppression of freedom of speech, the murder of journalist heorhiy gongadze, all this caused concern washington, and the biggest blow was the testimony of former major melnychenko, who stated that he had confirmation on audio recordings that president kuchma was going to sell the rep. kolchuga station to iraq to circumvent sanctions. according to yury shcherbak, ex-ambassador of ukraine to the usa, this scandal is a russian special operation. russia

did not like our relations with the united states very much. they saw that ukraine was gradually getting out of the influence of the russian empire, which they absolutely did not like. and they began to make all kinds of provocations, then orange in ukraine revolution, john herbst, who then headed the us embassy, ​​says that thanks to his intervention , it was possible to stop the violent crackdown on the maidan, which was planned by the authorities. then i called someone from kuchma's entourage and said, if there are... this will have serious consequences, in particular for president kuchma. about 30 minutes later

, this person called me back and said he had just spoken with viktor medvedchuk, a real ukrainian villain who was the head of kuchma's administration at the time, who assured me that there would be no attack. after victor came to power yushchenko in kyiv-washington relations, warming again. president bush wanted anything to bring ukraine closer to nato, says william taylor, who headed the embassy. the usa has been in kyiv since 2006. it was bush who, during the 2008 summit in bucharest, advocated for ukraine and georgia to join the nato membership action plan. in this, he encountered resistance from paris and berlin. if things had gone the other way, he would have forced the germans, the french and all other members of the alliance to agree to the traffic rules for ukraine, of course, kyiv never... never joined the alliance, but it would have been built the bridge we are talking about now.

in my opinion, the war that started in 2014 and then erupted in 2022 would not have happened. after yanukovych came to power, he announced his rejection of the path to nato, and the new us president barack obama focused on restarting relations with russia and nuclear security. although thanks to before loading, they secured a new nuclear arms control agreement with russia. many believe that this policy actually gave putin the green light to do what he wanted with ukraine. euromaidan, annexation of crimea and the beginning of the hybrid war in donbas. then, as the ambassador says, obama was criticized for not providing kyiv with lethal weapons. there are two reasons - mistrust of the corrupt ukrainian army and fear of confrontation with a nuclear power, says teft. there has always been a lot of concern about

nuclear weapons that could hit europe, could hit anywhere, including us. for the first time , american weapons javelin anti-tank complexes were sold to ukraine in 2018 by the administration of the next us president, donald trump. at the same time, in 2019 for several. months was frozen financial aid to ukraine, which later led to a political scandal in the usa and the beginning of the impeachment process of donald trump. the president was accused of trying to use the ukrainian leadership to put pressure on political opponents. there has always been bipartisan support for ukraine throughout all the years at the official level from the administration of democrats and republicans, such a policy about... continued under trump, but an unofficial policy was also created, an irregular channel of communication developed, which constantly

questioned this strong support the closest ties between ukraine and the usa have become since the beginning of the full-scale russian invasion of ukraine. the united states has provided kyiv with military aid worth more than $55 billion, according to the state department. ukraine has overtaken israel in the level of support of the united states. we stand firmly with ukraine. and we will stand by them while they stand against a person whom i have known well for many years, a cruel tyrant, we cannot leave ukraine, and we will not leave it. aid to ukraine is sent slowly and not always on time, says former diplomat john herbst. but even under such conditions, this is the way to victory. if the american policy with these problems that i have described continues,

ukraine will win this war, it will take longer , but it will win. if our politics were stronger... we would have won this war sooner. ukraine's membership in nato should be the next logical step after the victory, - says the ambassador. andriy borys, voice of america. meanwhile, on the eve of ukraine's independence day , an exhibition was set up in washington to remind americans of the war and the crimes of the russians. iryna shinkarenko and vyacheslav visited it filyushkin. george washington university third-year benjamin shows improvisation. the bomb shelter is located in the center of the american capital. we chose the sound to help visitors to the exhibition imagine what ukrainians hear every day. many of our artists were forced to hide in bomb shelters across the country. and here on this stage we show various bomb shelters of the artists themselves. a bomb shelter

reminiscent of ukraine, part of an exhibition of paintings and artifacts at the george washington university gallery where... benjamin now studies political science and art. when full-scale war broke out in ukraine, he was finishing high school in philadelphia. i remember walking into class the day putin and russia invaded ukraine. back then, our class was quiet and serious. i lived in a dull american suburb and felt pretty helpless. as if there was little i could do for this war on the other side of the world. already in the american capital, benjamin got to an exhibition of works by ukrainian artists. created during the war. the student was so impressed that he suggested the curator of the exhibition yevgeny to create a joint project for the day of ukraine's independence. having secured the support of the university, they selected the exhibits and set up the exhibition. works and artifacts for the exhibition called we know who they are were sent by yevhen's acquaintances from ukraine. this is a fragment

of a rocket that fell on the playground of shevchenko park. everyone who lives in kyiv knows this park. the restaurant that is next to this park, the artist who made this installation, he works at this very restaurant and he was there when it fell, part of the exposition is also the glass that was collected after the attack on kryvyi rih in march of this year, one of the artists, at my request, she made a work dedicated to this event, a sad event. and she went and collected these pieces of glass. all these things here today show individual moments of the war, when the russians committed acts of violence against the ukrainians. this is how a russian soldier took a bottle of perfume from a ukrainian family's house. and in the end, the same russian soldier died in a helicopter crash. and

the ukrainians were able to pick up and return this stolen bottle. so we have it here on display. one of the main exhibits. exhibitions, which were sent to the organizers from ukraine, a wooden box with belongings of a missing ukrainian soldier. here are the personal belongings of this soldier, which he used in the war, where he was stationed. it is symbolic that we, we try to say what we want, and we really hope that he will return home, like everyone, of course, and he is like a symbol of everyone. all military personnel of ukraine who are currently at war. ivan benesko, a ukrainian volunteer from kyiv, sent the box for the exhibition to washington. he says he wanted to show the americans the price of war and tell about his military friend who disappeared in the spring fighting near avdiivka. the soldier left these things in his car before going on a combat mission. i approached my mother, i said: yes, i

will take some personal things, i will see what i can take there, and send it to... to an exhibition in the states, she says: so take it, and you take every thing for you too difficult and all, but i understood what was necessary to do something so interesting, well, first of all, the most basic things, those that really correspond to the serozha i know, and secondly, to somehow arrange it, he really, really loves music, very much, he, he is just such a lover of music, that's why his headphones went, his embroidered shirt went, which he ... things were visited in washington and... also , a volunteer sent other reminders of the war to the usa at the exhibition ukraine. he gave me the propeller from shahed's drone, which was shot down in august last year

right above his house, and the video of the shooting down of this drone is also part of this exhibition. benjamin says that during the preparation of the exhibition , while studying the histories of the exhibits and listening to stories about russian crimes, he decided that in the future he would become a defender... of human rights, while still trying to draw attention to the importance of supporting ukraine. friends, on this we will say goodbye, on behalf of the voice of america team, i congratulate you on the day of the ukrainian flag and the day to come we are proud of ukrainian independence, all the best. read the august issue of ukraine magazine. how maidan and the volunteer movement formed

a new ukrainian identity. the phenomenon of ukrainian stability. why did the enemy underestimate the power of freedom? from a gray area to a european stronghold? what lesson did ukraine teach the world? ask at press outlets or pre-pay online. in the center of the main events. there are discounts until independence day on cit romon darnytsia 10% in pharmacies psylansky bam and oskad. there are discounts until independence day on magne b6. 10% in podorozhnyk bam and oskad pharmacies. wow, i went for a walk. water ordinary water is not enough here. drink reo. i'm saving myself. rheo. you are ready, dear. finished. took reo. reo - water for special medical purposes. there are discounts until independence day on korvalt 10% in the pharmacies of travel bam and ochad, there are discounts until independence day on valeriana bolgarska, 10% in

pharmacies pryssynyk, bam and ochad. television premiere of a documentary film about the most difficult 10 years of our lives through individuals. stories of extraordinary ukrainians, public activist roman ratushny, journalist and military servicewoman tetyana chornovol, founder of the taira angel unit yulia paevska, writer svitlana povalyaeva, about how we have changed, what lessons we have learned and what we will never forget in the tape 10 years of war, exclusively on the espresso tv channel. the verkhovna rada regularly passes new laws, but how do these changes affect our lives? we have analyzed new resolutions to inform you about the latest changes in ukrainian legislation, how legislative norms change our lives, what to prepare for? on these and other questions, which

worry ukrainians, the leading lawyers of the aktum bar association will answer. watch every tuesday at 7:55 in the legal expertise program on the espresso tv channel. people who... create independence, people who inspire by their own example, people who bring victory closer, air force pilot, lieutenant colonel rostyslav lazarenko, flew more than 400 sorties, was one of the first to be awarded the cross of combat merit, is a knight of the order bohdan khmelnytskyi of three degrees, the hero of ukraine, we cannot be defeated as long as there are such people, bright people in dark times an unusual look. to the news: good health, ladies and gentlemen, my name is mykola veresin, a sharp presentation of facts and competent opinions, for example, how would mykola veresin do that, he would go to prison, a special view on events in

ukraine, so no it must be said that the fish rots from the head, no, not from the head, and beyond it, who then is china, me, my heart hurts, all this in the information marathon with mykola veresny, saturday 17:10, sunday 18: 15 for espresso. today in the verdict program with serhii rudenko. prospects for a solution conflict indian prime minister narend ramodi brought a new peace plan to kyiv. has india's neutral position regarding russian aggression in ukraine changed and how can modi influence the situation? putin's nuclear hysteria. the kremlin dictator is trying. scare the world with the threat of an accident at the kursk nuclear power plant, which means the fire control of the armed forces of ukraine over the station, and whether russian blackmail will stop with

the help of... zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. postponed personnel changes in the ukrainian government. zelensky is in no hurry with the announced dismissals and appointments of ministers. which one the role is played by the cabinet of ministers in the system of power, where everything is managed by five or six presidential managers. glory to ukraine, this program is a verdict. my name is serhiy rudenko, i greet everyone and wish everyone good health. for the next two hours, we will talk about ukraine, the world, the war, and our victory. first of all, i congratulate everyone on national flag day, tomorrow is independence day, and today indian prime minister narendra modi visited kyiv and brought a peace plan to zelensky or his vision of a peace plan. about all this, about a visit to the rendering of fashion and

we will talk about how ukraine... is looking for ways to win over the russian federation, not only in ukraine, but also on the territory of the russian federation, over the next two hours. we will have two parts of the verdict today. the first part of our program will include people's deputy of ukraine oleksiy honcharenko, military expert dmytro snigiryov and political expert volodymyr tsebulko. in the second part of our program, which will start in an hour. we will have a journalism club, a traditional journalism club that we hold every friday, kateryna nekrecha, maryna danyliuk yarmaleva will be guests of our studio, and wait for their conclusions about the main weekly events that took place in ukraine and abroad. however, before starting our big conversation today, i suggest you watch a video of how ukrainian fighters hit a russian platoon from aviation.

a base point in kurshchyna was hit by high-precision american bombs, as a result of which the drone control center, the radio-electronic warfare unit, equipment were hit and up to 40 invaders, watch this great video. friends, throughout our broadcast we conduct a survey, we ask you about whether the transition of the uoc mp parish to the ocu will be accelerated after the adoption of the law, yes, no, everything is quite simple on youtube, if you do not have such

a clear answer, maybe... a separate opinion, you can leave it under the video in the comments, well , if you watch us on tv, take your expensive smartphone or phones, vote by numbers, if you think that after the adopted law, the transition of parishes in pcmp to ocu will speed up, 0800 211 381, no, 0800 211-382, all calls to these numbers are free, vote, at the end of the program we will sum up the results of this vote, i want to introduce today... our first guest, this is oleksiy goncharenko, a national deputy of ukraine, president of the committee of the parliamentary assembly of the council of europe on migration and refugees. mr. oleksiy, i congratulate you, thank you for being with us today, i congratulate you on the day of the national flag, i congratulate everyone, mutually, mr. oleksiy, let's start our conversation with a visit the prime minister of india, naradera, give a rendering of fashion, yes, a rendering of fashion, to kyiv.

today, for the first time in 30 years of independence , modi, the prime minister of india, let's say, came to kyiv, brought a peace plan, modi himself, after meeting with zelensky, said that a month ago he met with the head of the kremlin, vladimir putin, and tried to convince him to stop the war. let's hear what modi said. a month ago i visited russia and met with putin. i clearly told him that problems are not solved on the field battle the only way to resolve the conflict is through dialogue and diplomacy, and therefore there is no need to waste time, it is necessary to move in the direction of negotiations. mr. oleksiyu, on rendramod he talks about peace, about what peace should be, obviously he talked in more detail about celensky, but well, considering the fact that he

was in a hurry in... and then he came to kyiv and...