LET ‘EM TASTE THE REAL KYIV

Lypskiy Osobnyak in the Pecherskiy district is a trendsetter. The restaurant declares “haute Ukrainian cuisine”, the main principle of which is a combination of recipes from the 18th – 19th centuries and modern cooking techniques. Besides Ukrainian classic dishes, it offers popular international cuisine. As such, the summer menu includes pickled cucumbers with honey, beetroot soup, potatoes with mushrooms and kvass, a salad with avocado and kiwi in lemon sauce and foie gras with mashed truffles and strawberries in pineapple-mango sauce. The list of the most popular dishes contains veal in cranberry sauce with honey, catfish, salmon, trout, duck liver, pork chops and lamb. The average price of hot appetizers is UAH 90. The prices of salads vary from UAH 100 to 300, meat dishes – from UAH 170 to 700 and fish dishes – from UAH 200 to 1,300 for a whole baked sturgeon in cream sauce and caviar. The restaurant also boasts and impressive wine list.

Stare Zaporizhzhya in the Podil district is another pretentious restaurant serving Ukrainian dishes. Its location in one of the most popular tourist destinations – Sahaidachnoho St. – defines the main clientele of the place, which are well-to-do foreigners and other visitors to the city. The restaurant´s menu, as well as its interior, is eclectic. The list of dishes includes numerous sections, where home-made drinks, such as fruit water and kvass, can be found side by side with mozzarella di buffalo, carpaccio and tartar with oysters and pizza and risotto with shashlyk. Ukrainian cuisine is mainly represented by Soviet classics. Puff pastry with eggs and green onions, salo, herring with potatoes and onions, pickles, salad Olivier, borshch, dumplings, potato pancakes and Chicken Kiev. Prices for the Ukrainian dishes are the lowest: from UAH 19 for pies with egg filling to UAH 115 Oliver with crab meat and shrimp.

The Koza-Dereza market restaurant is located a bit far from the tourist center on Artema St. It claims to be a place with “a new simple Ukrainian cuisine” serving dishes made of regional products. The place has a farm shop, which sells food products and souvenirs. Its summer terrace often hosts gastronomic festivals and fairs.

The menu includes Soviet classics like vinaigrette, Oliver salad, dressed herring and mimosa salads, eggplant caviar, vorschmack, Chicken Kiev, deviled eggs and chicken tapaka. Traditional Ukrainian cuisine is represented by salo, aspic, cabbage rolls, potato pancakes, soup, dumplings and carp in sour cream. Modern Ukrainian cuisine is also on the menu: beet carpaccio with a mix of organic greens with goat cheese and pesto sauce – UAH 64, Transcarpathian rainbow trout with pomegranate sauce – UAH 149, Crimean lamb with a mix of organic greens in mint sauce – UAH 245.

The most recent opening in the format of “modern Ukrainian cuisine” was in May on St. Andrew’s Descent. The Kanapa restaurant describes itself as a “place where you should bring foreigners” and “the only restaurant in Kyiv serving dishes of bourgeois Ukrainian cuisine”. Start your culinary introduction to Kanapa with tasting-testing sets. A small set of seven dishes costs around UAH 50, a set of the 14 courses costs almost UAH 1,000. Classic Ukrainian appetizers are prepared and served in a way similar to those in trendy European restaurants.

For example, Danube herring mousse and salted salmon and farm products are simply a variation of dressed herring. Hare aspic looks like a terrine and is served with foie gras and “molecular” horseradish, which has a consistency of marmalade. Each dish goes with carefully selected beverage. For example, rabbit dumplings are served with spicy liqueur with honey, dried fruit and kvass, barley porridge with bone marrow is recommended with blackcurrant brandy with gin and sparkling wine. The wines come mostly from Crimea and the Odesa and Kherson oblasts.

Top notch nosh with national flavor

Ukrainian restaurants lure tourists, mostly from Russia and elderly members of the Ukrainian Diaspora, with the national decor, entertainment, musicians in national attires, and the menus featuring soups, aspic, dumplings and horseradish vodka. Middle-aged Ukrainian officials and politicians also love such places for banquets, corporate and family celebrations.

The two-storey restaurant Pervak near Khreshchatyk St. is one of the most successful representatives in this market segment. Its interior and menu were designed in the style of Kyiv restaurants of the beginning of the 20th century. The menu includes popular dishes of Ukrainian cuisine and international dishes. Quotes from a popular Soviet comedy film about the life of Kyiv burghers in the early 20th century were used to describe them.

Quotes from the menu: chicken aspic – UAH 52, home sausage – UAH 69, soup with beans and pampushky - UAH 56, dumplings - UAH 52, Chicken Kiev – UAH 91.

Tsarske Selo is the oldest restaurant in Kyiv offering national cuisine. It was founded in 1998 and is located by the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in a former gunpowder magazine. For a long time Tsarske Selo has been the most elite Ukrainian cuisine establishment in the city. Official guests of the highest ranks were often taken there. To this day, the restaurant is highly popular for holding business meetings.

The menu has a variety of soups and fish soups, pickles, marinades, homemade sausages and ham, many pork dishes and desserts, including such a tourist attraction as salo covered in chocolate.

Quotes from the menu: borshch with prunes and pork ribs – UAH 88, dumplings with potatoes and mushrooms – UAH 56, baked ham – UAH 159, perch croquettes with cheese sauce and vegetables – UAH 118, Chicken Kiev – UAH 107, dumplings with cherries – UAH 52.

Kureni is a legendary Kyiv restaurant with more than a 40-year history. It is located in a park in the heart of the city. Kureni is one of the places where you should take foreign guests. The menu is eclectic. Olivier salad can be found side by side with a salad of mozzarella, tomato, avocado and pesto sauce, potato pancakes with khachapuri and fried carp with grilled shrimp. Look for Ukrainian dishes among the appetizers: pickles, marinades, homemade sausages, pork and veal tongue with horseradish and ham. Among soups there are two kinds of borsch, fish soup and chicken soup with giblets. The menu also offers banosh, Chicken Kiev and buckwheat with mushrooms. In a separate menu you will see more than a dozen kinds of dumplings. Among them – dumplings with beans and mushrooms (UAH 72), dumplings with cottage cheese and spinach (UAH 67), dumplings with poppy seeds and cherries (UAH 87).

Shynok on L. Ukrainka Blvd. is loved by foreigners or guests to the city. Clients are greeted by actors playing the roles of Shynkar and Shynkarka (innkeepers). They treat visitors to shots of liquor and take them on a tour around the restaurant. The extensive menu contains dishes from various regions of Ukraine: Transcarpathian bean-goulash and banush, Azov fish chowder, a variety of kruchenyky (baked meat rolls), more than a dozen types of dumplings, homemade fruit liqueurs (15 kinds), a salo menu, homemade sausages and marinades. Folk music band plays every night. At the restaurant you will also find a souvenir shop selling embroidered shirts, liquors, pottery and traditional dolls.

Scorce: kyivweekly.com.ua

 

WHERE THE LIVING IS EASIER

We sent out its journalists in search of those districts that offer the most comfortable living. We established as the main criteria safety, infrastructure, transport, ecology, and property prices. Since everyone has their own idea about the best place to live, we did not rank the city’s districts, thus leaving the final choice to our readers

Podilskiy

The police say that Podilskiy is one of the safest areas. Last year there were fewer crimes committed here than in any other district. As for transport, it is easy to get from this historic precinct to any other part of Kyiv, both on public and private transport. However, an effective transport grid has a negative impact on the environment as cars are the main sources of pollution in the nation’s capital.

As pertains to, for example, the micro-district Vynohradar, while the ecological situation there is better thanks to a mass of greenery, transport connections are worse – the city subway does not run there and the local residents complain about the traffic jams. Another minus is the value of property. The average prices of sale and rental of real estate in the Podil district are among the highest in Kyiv.

Shevchenkivskiy.

Last year this centrally located district became the leader in crime. Here the chances of becoming a victim of a thief or swindler are extremely high. The ecological situation in this district is unfavorable largely because the main transport artery of the capital – Peremohy Avenue – runs through it.

On the other hand, access to public transport is excellent. A section of the district is in the center of Kyiv, while another section is near many subway stations. Besides that, several parks and the city zoo are situated in this district. However, for this one must pay a price for real estate.

Obolonskiy

This is one of the most favorable districts in Kyiv to live in from the ecological vantage point and infrastructure, though it cannot boast in terms of safety. In the criminal rating last year Obolonskiy was in the top three leaders. Here the probability of becoming a victim of pick-pocketing, swindling and hooliganism is extremely high. While the value of property there is quite high, thanks to the efficient public transport system it is not a major problem to get to other districts of Kyiv.

Svyatoshynskiy

Due to the huge accumulation of transport the environment in the Svyatoshynskiy district is far from the best. Besides that, there is only one park in the district – Sovky. While the criminal situation in this district is relatively peaceful, there is a risk of becoming a victim of burglary.

As for the transport infrastructure, this is one of the most painful issues for residents of the Borshchahivka neighborhood. It takes quite some time for those who travel on public transport to get to the nearest subway station, while car owners constantly complain about the huge traffic jams.

Those who live in Akademmistechko don’t have such problems thanks to the subway station and reliable and effective transport connections.

The value of real estate in this district is quite low and it offers many newly built apartment buildings with large square areas.

Solomyanskiy

The highest jammed area of the roads in the capital is located on the territory of this district. Huge traffic jams on Vadym Hetman Street and Chervonozoryaniy Avenue have long become commonplace. Naturally, abundance of cars badly influences the ecology of the district. There are only two small parks in this district – Vidradniy and Solomyanskiy.

The cost of apartments here is quite diverse largely depending on distance to the nearest subway station and city center. Criminal situation is quite moderate. The most frequent crimes are thefts and robberies.

Holosiyivskiy

This is one of the best districts from the point of view of ecology. Transport thoroughfares are compensated by huge greenery. Thanks to the new subway station and good transport junctions you can easily and comfortably get from the Holosiyivskiy district to the city center and the majority of other city districts. At that, the prices of real estate there are slightly higher than average. The criminal situation is calm, though, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this area is a place of frequent gang rumbles

Darnytskiy

Though parks take up a large territory in the Darnytskiy district, it cannot boast a favorable ecological situation. The air is polluted by a number of factories and busy roads. The transport junction here is convenient in the micro-districts adjacent to Bazhana Ave. While it may be hard to travel to the downtown, one can find an apartment for a very reasonable price here. Vehicle owners should be very cautious in this district as it is quite popular among car burglars. You can also become a victim of pick-pocketing or thieves.

Dniprovskiy

This is one of the most criminal districts of the capital, which set a record in terms of the number of apartment burglaries. Also, this is one of the most diverse districts in the capital, because the Bereznyaky and Rusanivka districts with expensive apartments, a panoramic view of the Dnipro River, a pure environment, an efficient transport infrastructure and the DVRZ zone, which is considered one of the dirtiest, cheapest areas with poor access to transport.

Desnyanskiy

 

Despite the well-known “life sucks, I’m moving to Troyeshchyna”, the Desnyanskiy district is one of the safest in the capital. The surrounded forests insignificant traffic make the living here quite agreemble. The key disadvantage of Troyeshchyna is the transport infrastructure. The lack of a subway and traffic jams on the Moskovskiy Bridge prevent people from quickly getting to the city center. On the upside, the cost of apartments in this district is quite low and the majority of them were newly built and nicely designed.

Pecherskiy

This is one of the most comfortable districts in Kyiv. There are no problems with transport and the green zones in the very heart of the capital. However, the abundance of transport has a negative impact on the ecology. As for the criminal element, it is one of the safest districts in the capital, although swindlers are very active here and one must be cautious. The prices of apartments are the greatest disadvantage. Here the sale prices and rent of real estate are among the highest in Kyiv.

Scorce: kyivweekly.com.ua

Wikimedia Ukraine picks best photos

The winners of the "Wiki loves Earth" Ukrainian photo contest have been announced.

A jury picked the 12 best photos depicting Ukrainian landscapes out of 11,736 photos submitted by 365 authors.

Wikimedia Ukraine plans to turn the winning photos into a calendar for 2014, and to print them as postcards.

Winners will receive awards at a ceremony in Kyiv on June 9. The prizes are e-books, chargers with solar modules, National Geographic magazine subscriptions, exclusive vyshyvankas, books and sweets.

Scorce: KievPost

 

US Special Agents in Ukraine

The case of Russian pilot Yaroshenko reveals a non-Hollywood reverse side of the special services’ work and US justice, and it depends on Ukraine whether a wrong thing would be righted.

 

In fact, any person could be in place of the Rostov’s pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was sentenced by the South District’s Court of New York to 20 years of deprivation of liberty. In the scheme that was invented and realized in Africa by the Drug Enforcement Administration agents, it doesn’t matter who got into the field of their attention: a Russian, a Ukrainian or a Swede, guilty or not guilty. It’s enough to find an advertisement of the An-12 plane purchase, call there and you will become a hostage of the big game named «international struggle with drug traffic». And then everything depends on your luck. You would not like the DEA false agents and the oblique hints to a drug sale. Or you will change your mind about this plane purchase, offered by the agents. Then you would be lucky and avoid a nightmare.

Biting the bait

Pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko actually needed that plane and he wasn’t lucky…

After the USSR’s collapse, many pilots from Ukraine and Russia appeared on the Black continent. They were looking for a possibility to earn and support their families. Graduated at the Krasnokutsk civil aviation college, Yaroshenko worked by one-time contracts since 1998, and everything was good.

As his wife Victoria told to The Kiev Times,that time his husband Konstantin found an advantageous contract for fish transportation and, together with his crew, was going to take by leasing the appropriate machine. «In newspaper he read an advertisement about the sale of a cheap plane with good technical characteristics. I remember it vividly: he told that the plane was equipped with almost new engines. An ideal variant. It was in his interests to make the deal as soon as possible. But for some reasons the sellers temporized», she said. Now it is clear, why…

Negotiations lasted for 10 months, during which the sellers disappeared and appeared again, appointing meetings in different places. The key meeting took place in Kiev, at the «Intercontinental» Hotel. According to Victoria, who came to the Ukrainian capital with her husband, Konstantin attended the Antonov’s ASTC, concerning other planes’ repair and at the same time met some people, who later turned out to be false agents of the DEA. Yaroshenko though that those were honest people, that’s why he signed an agreement for the An-12 purchase, and gave them a deposit. However, the DEA agents, who introduced themselves as the sellers, required the meeting just for the collection of incriminating evidences. The entire conversation was took by video equipment and recorded via previously installed «bugs».

«Of course, nobody was going to sale the plane. It belonged to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and in fact the operation with Konstantin’s participation wasn’t the only one, since the agents used that very plane as a bait, – says Yaroshenko’s lawyer Alexey Tarasov. – During the meeting in Kiev my client mostly kept silence and listened to what they said because his knowledge of English is very poor. The DEA agents in their long speeches inserted some definite phrases that should further artificially create the US jurisdiction. For instance, three times during all the meetings they hinted that formerly they were sending drugs to America». Yaroshenko didn’t react to those hints.

In general three seconds of such hints were used also in the Court by the Prosecution part to confirm the fact that Yaroshenko knew that the matter was about transportation of cocaine and the place where exactly it has to be transported.

But mere talks weren’t enough for the agents. Finally, in May 2010 Yaroshenko, who was in Mali, received a phone call. He was offered to immediately move to the capital of Liberia to complete a bargain about the purchase of the plane. He didn’t know that the agents had prepared a dramatic destiny for him and that from Monrovia the pilot would be directly sent to prison in New York.

Good and bad drug-dealers

During the operation, conducted under control of the senior DEA investigator Sam Gaye, other four were arrested. They are true drug-dealers: Chigbo Peter Umeh, who served his jail term in the USA, Jorge Ivan Castano and two local Africans – Nathaniel French and Kudufia Mavuko. The last two got into this story by accident, and sincerely told the court that they were selling and would sell drugs only at home. That’s why the «innocent» dark-skinned men have been immediately released and deported.

As to the remaining three, according to the prosecution version, they collectively planned the creation of the largest traffic terminal in Liberia «for further sale of thousands tons of cocaine in Europe or other countries in the African continent». About 4 tons of drugs had to be supposedly transported by Yaroshenko, on the infamous An-12, from South America to Liberia, then to Ghana and then to the United States.

It was not necessary for the American agents to have some specific drugs as well as clear facts concerning this point – explains Alexey Tarasov. The American law operates such a notion as «collusion», that means incorporation of intentions of several persons and opened actions confirming them. For example, the purchase of a plane. «It is enough even to repair its engine or fill it and this will be considered an “opened action”. But at one condition – preliminary collusion can be made only with another criminal but not with a government agent. A person whom you agree with, has to be a real offender», says Tarasov.

That was exactly the reason why Yaroshenko was called to Liberia, where mister Umeh was really building some business chain. This drug-dealer, according to the investigation data, even bribed the son of the country’s President (and pluralistically the head of the local special service) by the sum of 100 thousand USD. Since the moment of his arrival, the Russian pilot immediately received a couple of big guys, who not only slept in his hotel room, but brought him to the meeting with the drug-dealers. When all necessary phrases were told and all correct questions were asked, Konstantin, with a sack on his head, appeared in front of the Liberian security service and on the 30th of May was removed to the USA – without teeth, with injured kidneys and genitals.

Neither the Russian Embassy in neighboring Ghana nor the RF Embassy in the United States was informed about this. Only on the 2nd of June one person called Victoria’s cell phone and informed her that he was representing the interests of her husband, who in that moment was in prison in Manhattan, New York, charged of secret arrangements. Besides, the Russian law-enforcement authorities, from the very beginning, tried to make Yaroshenko a witness for the case of the «weapon baron» Viktor Boot. Right up to the fact that he was his private pilot. And also on the basis of the records of his conversations with the false agents, where Yaroshenko mentioned that he had been in Angola and heard about Boot.

High priority case

There was no doubt that everything should finish badly. Judge Jed Rakoff has categorically forbidden talking about tortures and kidnapping, Yaroshenko experienced a form of pressure, and the prosecution operated information without any confirmations. One of such examples is an unfounded allegation by the agents, concerning the fact that the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine gave permission for the carrying out of a special operation in its own country’s territory. Let’s recall that unauthorized actions of this kind are criminally liable according to the Ukrainian laws.

Veteran of the New York bar, Lee Ginsberg immediately offered his client to collaborate with the prosecution and admit his guilt. Having received a flat refusal, for a while he read what his assistant gave him, and in the end of the process simply slept on his folded hands.

Yaroshenko’s family sold everything possible in order to pay for his defense services. «If I knew that my son was guilty, you know, a black sheep in a herd, we wouldn’t make such sacrifices. But the entire family said: we will fight to the last gasp, as he is not guilty. My son would never do this», says his mother, Lubov Mikhailovna, blinking her tears back. Together with Victoria she flew to New York and saw the entire process from beginning to end. And today she is willing to do everything is in her power. Especially as currently the case has a high priority in the Russian foreign-policy department. Six out of eighteen figurants of the «Magnitsky anti-list» are connected directly with Yaroshenko’s case and this demonstrates Russia’s attitude about this case.

Alexey Tarasov, a young but famous lawyer, originally from a Russian family, is busy with Yaroshenko’s appeal. He intends to obtain the confession from the court that precedent «USA against Toscaninio» is now acting in favor of his client. As Alexey explains, this precedent took place at the beginning of the 70s, in the same appellate district. Then, the Court of Appeal stated that a person should be released in the presence of three elements: 1) if he is kidnapped in another country; 2) if the investigation is connected with any infringement of other states’ rights or any breach of international laws; and if, after being kidnapped, a person is cruelly tortured. «When there are three of such components in the case, the American court must close it, as contradicting the principles of the American justice, the very principles on which the USA were built as a Nation. All of them are present in Yaroshenko’s case», the lawyer says, calmly.

This calmness is actually hard for him because the State, which he is a citizen of, with all its might is trying to prevent him to raise doubts about the correctness of the court’s decisions. «In American Court, proofs have to be undoubted. If there are proofs in favor of his guiltlessness, a person can’t be brought to a verdict of guilty», says Tarasov. There are many amazing facts in Yaroshenko’s case. To start with, judge Rakoff didn’t admit the fact of Yaroshenko’s tortures because a prison nurse, having examined Yaroshenko, came to a conclusion that he was… completely healthy. The case materials have being circulating across the country for months, without getting to the addressees (including Konstantin, in prison). And the feeding of the appellate argumentation was almost disrupted, because the case turned out to be blocked in the electronic system. But in order not to allow the program to be closed, somebody needs just to move his mouse every seven minutes.

This transformation of a brilliant special operation into a dirty forgery is a strong hit to the USA’s reputation. Especially since the DEA agents have been presented as heroes, and their «connection» with Konstantin Yaroshenko and Viktor Boot loudly swept over the mass media. The USA is so attentively watching what is happening with the Yaroshenko’s case that even the pilot’s interview to the Russian «Izvestia» about the horrible conditions of his detention in prison, and the threat to his life, brought him 20 days in the punishment cell. The assessment of illegal actions against the USA agents on the Ukraine’s territory by the General Prosecutor’s Office can considerably change the investigation course. If, of course, the American juridical system can acknowledge its mistakes, and sincerely confess that the special agents in this case acted outside the law.

For Ukraine, Russia and even the USA the Yaroshenko’s case is the evidence of a state’s dignity. As well as the evidence of that very justice so beautifully described in a lot of Hollywood movies.

Scorce: thekievtimes.ua

 

SHELTER FROM THE SWELTER

The beginning of summer is the time of scorching heat that is simply unbearable in the city. If you do not have the possibility to travel to the seaside, don’t fret it. There are many camping places and recreational centers not are from Kyiv with lakes and small rivers where you can go for a few hours to hide away from the sweltering heat.

Geography

The main places for rest and recreation by their remoteness from Kyiv and connection to rivers and camping grounds are as follows. The closest ones are the dacha district of Osokorky (Dnipro river, lakes), Koncha Zaspa (Kozynka River), Pushcha Vodytsya (lakes). Camping areas differ: you can rent wooden cottages, stay in a comfortable hotel or at a large health spa and recreation center. While such places are fairly expensive and the prices do not quite correspond to the level of service, they are located less than an hour drive from Kyiv.

Recreation zones near Vyshgorod in the village of Khotyanivka on the banks of the Desna River) are only an hour’s drive from the city. There you can relax in wooden cottages.

In the area of the Irpen River in the villages Vorzel and Bucha, which are also about an hour’s drive from Kyiv, there are newly built villas of different types and old ones. There are also former scout camps and recreation centers. Recreation zones further away from the city are located on the Kyiv Sea a bit further than Vyshgorod towards Novi Petrivtsi on the left bank of Kyiv Sea. There you will find wooden villas and high-class spas. This area is considered quite prestigious as prominent businessmen and politicians own them. .

The natural surroundings of the Kyiv Sea are fabulous – pine tree forests, clean sand and no radiation despite the proximity to the Chornobyl zone. On the other side of the Kyiv Sea not far beyond Khotyanivka there are mainly simple wooden homes and many lakes not far from the Desna River.

In an hour and a half or two you can drive to the Ros River (some 120 km). There are three recreational areas there: near Bila Tserkva, Bohuslav and Korsun-Shevchenkivskiy. This is probably the best option for environmentally clean recreation. There are Soviet-style recreational centers around Bila Tserkva some of which have been refurbished. In Bohuslav there are mainly wooden cottages and VIP health spas. Near Korsun-Shevchenkivskiy, in the area of the village of Stebliv, there are six different spas and very beautiful places.

There is another recreation zone located in the Cherkasy oblast. Getting there is fast and easy due to its territorial proximity. The nature in the Cherkasy oblast is quite beautiful and if you decide to go there we recommend stopping in the village of Moshny to admire the truly unique and beautiful church. There are only two such churches in the world – one is in Moshny and the other is outside of Paris.

Kaniv and Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskiy located 200 km from Kyiv are other options for recreation. These places are very beautiful along the banks of the wide Dnipro River and sandy beaches. Here there are wonderful places to see. You are best off visiting these towns for the whole weekend.

The Poltava oblast where the Vorskla and Psel rivers flow is an alternative to Kaniv. The area is also very picturesque and accommodation is quite cheap. Besides the ideal environment, there are many places to see and there are recreational centers and health spas. In addition to that, this region is the home to the renowned curative water Myrhorod. There are two villages with health spas along the two rivers – Velyka Bahachka and Novi Sanzhary.

Weekend outing

The health and recreation spa with the funny name Zhaba (Frog) is located not far from Bila Tserkva in the pretty village of Trushky on the Rostavytsya River. There is a camping place for trailers and tents, umbrellas and summer houses for an overnight stay. Also, for active recreation there are table tennis tables, a football field, a volleyball court, a children’s playground and special places for swimming and fishing.

Besides cozy cottages, you can rent gazebos for the day for a large and boisterous group. Since the spa is located near a river, you can tan in the sun on the beach and go for a swim. You do not need to bring anything with you. Everything is available here from wood for a small bonfire to sports equipment. .

Camping Park Ukraine is located not far from the capital near the Kyiv Water Reservoir. The pine forest and boundless body of water is an excellent combination of recreation for children and adults. There you can dive into the world of fishing, rent a boat (there is a moorage for small and large boats) and simply hang out with friends in comfortable gazebos. They even have a nude beach zone. There are nice wooden houses and park caravans with amenities, one of them being trailer dachas. If you run out of supplies, there is a grocery store nearby and a store where you can buy freshly caught fish.

Fifteen minutes away from Kyiv there is the quaint and quiet village Pushcha-Vodytsya. There you will find all possible health spas and recreation centers and lakes. The Dnipro complex is located here on three hectares of a uniquely combined forest. There are one and two-room accommodations with refrigerators and air conditioners. Fanatics of an active lifestyle will appreciate the local tennis courts, volleyball courts, mini-football fields and badminton. If you are not afraid of the sweltering summer heat, you can steam in a Russian sauna at the complex. Not far from the hotel, there are forest lakes, where you can to relax and lie in the sun on the beaches.

The Zeleniy Hai spa is located on the bank of the Lyubych River a tributary to the Desna River. It is only 22 km from Kyiv. The surrounding nature is virtually untouched. Besides the plush and abundant greenery, you will be amazed by the clean lakes on the territory. A small island on the Lyubych River is the gem of the local area. You can easily swim to the island as the water level in the lake is literally half a meter. There are several types of houses in Zeleniy Hai – one, one, two and three-storey with a fireplace. There is also a children’s playground and a mini-store on the territory of the spa.

The Sosnoviy Bor (Pine Forest) health spa is located deep in a forest with pure springs near the Irpen River 19 km outside of Kyiv. There are workout gyms, billiards, a tennis court, a sauna and a shashlyk cafe, concert and movie halls, a first aid point, a swimming pool and a conference hall. In addition to that, there is a restaurant on the territory of the spa where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner. The average bill at the restaurant is UAH 100.

Salvation lakes

The Horashchyha Lake is the largest and most popular body of water in Pushcha-Vodytsya, which stretches from the 5th to 8th line. The sand and earth beach is located in the area of the 7th line. There you can rent a boat or a catamaran. On the 1st line (6 Kurortna St.) there is the Utoh Lake. It is an artificial pond with a depth of 4 meters. The beach is sandy, the complex is well equipped and there is even a pier. On the other side, there is a wild beach with almost no sand or trees growing near the river bank.

Past the village of Zazymya, there is Lake Khoma. In order to get there, you need to drive approximately 20 km down the Brovary highway. There is also a route taxi from the Lisova subway station. The beach is well equipped and has sand bays. Here you can rent a boat or a catamaran. Just a kilometer away, there is another lake – Grazhdanska Kazarka. The beach there is not equipped, but the sand beach offers good conditions for recreation.

Blakytne Ozero (Blue Lake) is one of the most beautiful lakes in the Kyiv oblast and the name speaks for itself. The lake has very clear water and its depth is 8 meters. It is located near the village Pidhirtsi in the Obukhiv County. Another Blue Lake is located in the village Monastyryshche next to Hostomel. There are several places for picnic equipped on the river bank. The best one is the closest to the dyke. On the bank, there are sheds that can accommodate 10-20 people. The infrastructure is supplemented with wooden gazebos in the forest and on the dyke. There is also a children’s playground. To rent a gazebo and tables you need to bargain with the keeper who lives in a house next to the dyke. There are also free unequipped places a little further away.

One of the most popular lakes is located 10 km away from Kyiv along the Odesa highway in the village of Kruhlyk. There is a forest around. The beach is partially covered with sand, but there is also a stretch of earth with trees along the river bank. The entry fee is around UAH 10. In truth, there are two lakes. We insistently recommend swimming only in the Upper Lake, which is closer to the Odesa highway, as there is industrial production that emits a bad smell near the Lower Lake.

Scorce: kyivweekly.com.ua

   

Which of These Beautiful Ukrainians Wants to Marry You?

"My Ukrainian Wedding" Oksana, 32 (l) Olga, 21 (in a wedding agency)

Ukrainian women are often considered the most beautiful in the world. Even Joe Biden thinks so.

While working in the Ukraine last June, photographer Julie David De Lossy started hearing about Nikolaev, a city known for having the highest concentration of beautiful women in the entire country.

When she arrived in town with her boyfriend, photographer Colin Delfosse, she understood the rumors. There were beautiful women everywhere.

"It is really impressive when you walk in the main street of this town and you have the feeling a super posh party is about to start, but it’s only 10 a.m.," David De Lossy said via email.

But there was also something she didn't expect: wedding agencies—she estimated more than 200 based in one town.

"My Ukrainian Wedding" Ira, 26 (in a wedding agency) (l) Aliona, 16

"My Ukrainian Wedding" Ielena, 25 (l) Olga, 25 (in a wedding agency)

For their series, “My Ukrainian Wedding,” the Brussels-based pair sought to challenge stereotypes about the women who enlist with the agencies by creating diptychs of two women—one from an agency, one not—and letting viewers differentiate between the two.

They contacted dozens of agencies looking for subjects, and were mostly met with suspicion. Finally, two agencies trusted them enough to put them in contact with women who agreed to have their photos taken. For the other half of the diptych, the pair approached women on the main street in town at random.

“Because we are a couple, I think they felt comfortable. Not everyone we asked agreed, of course, but most of them did. They are very proud of their appearance, and it is mostly justified! Usually girls walk down the street in teams, so we split the duty. Colin photographed one, while I did the other,” David De Lossy said.

As they worked, they learned more about Nikolaev’s history. Based on a tributary river of the Dniepr, the town was a large shipbuilding center during the Soviet era. After the USSR collapsed, industry sank, and workers found themselves with few employment alternatives. Many of the men moved to nearby Odessa seeking work.

"My Ukrainian Wedding" Aleksandra, 20 (in a wedding agency) (l) Tania, 17

"My Ukrainian Wedding" Oksana, 24 (in a wedding agency) (l) Cniejana, 17

"My Ukrainian Wedding" Natacha, 27 (l) Ielena, 26 (in a wedding agency)

"My Ukrainian Wedding" Maria, 26 (in a wedding agency) (l) Katia, 17

 

 

 

 

But David De Lossy said the town has plenty to offer. There are several universities, and a number of the young women in Nikolaev are educated there.

“The girls get a good education … but have almost no prospect of finding a husband. So they look abroad,” David De Lossy said.

David De Lossy said that women enrolled in the agencies are generally looking to be matched with men in Western countries. But many don’t advertise their involvement in the agencies to avoid unflattering comparisons to prostitution. As online international dating sites begin to saturate the market, that stigma could begin to lessen.

But David De Lossy says while many women in the agencies may indeed be looking for a way out of the Ukraine and a more stable financial life, there's no single motivation that can be attributed to all the women. However, she found that many of the ones she talked to wanted to fight the impression that they were gold diggers. “[While some women] pretend to be in love, take as much as they can— visa, wedding, money—and suddenly, 'Sorry, but I am not in love anymore, darling.' ” That’s far from universally true. Some brides feel that this stereotype “undermines the sincerity of their will to find true Western love."

Scorce: slate.com

Danger on the Roads

For many of us, the real danger on Ukrainians roads does not lie in their poor condition, nor does it come from heavy traffic. Instead, there’s a bigger menace – those who are tasked with policing the heavy traffic on our bad roads. They are Ukraine’s version of traffic cops, DAI (Department of the State Automobile Inspection) officers who, in many cases, simply want to earn extra coin. Corruption appears to course through the veins of the traffic police force and to be pulled over generally means you’re going to have to open your wallet.

The Day of Ukrainian Automobile Inspection has been celebrated on 14 April since 1997, and to honour Ukraine’s DAI officers, What’s On presents a list of the most popular catchphrases a traffic cop might hit you with in order to elicit a bribe. Perhaps, by knowing them you’ll be able to turn the tables on any cop who tries to fool you with non-existent traffic violations.

The Line: I’m stopping you because you broke the law!

The Truth: In many cases, DAI officers stop drivers for no particular reason – there is often little to worry about, so just keep calm and don’t show any fear.

The Line: Please step out of the car or please take a seat in my car to fill out some papers.

The Truth: There is no law that gives an officer the right to make you leave your car. If he tries to pull one over on you with a statement that you are required to follow the instructions given by an officer you might tell him that “stepping out of the car” is not a legal requirement. Talk to him from inside your car with your window down.

The Line: You don’t have the right to wr