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Two Kyiv appeals that framed April 2018
Summary
A look back at how Ukraine's ecology minister and parliament each sought outside help in the days before 23 April 2018.
What was Kyiv asking of the outside world in the days before 23 April 2018? Two appeals, both reported on 19 April 2018, offer an answer, one on security and the environment, the other on religion.
The first came from Ostap Semerak, Ukraine's ecology minister. He warned of a major nuclear disaster if pro-Russia separatists went ahead with a plan to flood a mine in Donbass, where a small nuclear weapon had been tested in the 1970s. Semerak appealed for international assistance to prevent the flooding. The warning was reported as part of the war in Donbass.
The second came from the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament. It backed an address from the President to Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, asking him to grant a Tomos on autocephaly for the Orthodox church in Ukraine.
What the two have in common
The subjects differ, but both appeals were directed beyond Ukraine's borders. One sought international help over a mine in the conflict zone. The other sought a decision from the Ecumenical Patriarch on the status of the Orthodox church in Ukraine. The reports of 19 April 2018 do not say how either request was answered.
