One of the political organizations supporting the “Orange Coalition” is the UNA-UNSO or Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-Defense. Last April, the UNA-UNSO posted the following “Appeal to Ukrainian troops in Iraq” on its English-language portal:

Basing upon 400-years experience of national liberation movement of Ukrainian people we appeal to Ukrainian military contingent in Iraq to turn your bayonets against USA troops and join the rebels. Ukraine and progessive mankind will be proud of you!

Via an article published on his personal homepage in July, Viktor Yushchenko has taken some pains to distance himself from the UNA-UNSO, whose members are there qualified as “fascist thugs”. But the same article distinguishes the UNA-UNSO apparently in question from another UNA-UNSO, this one headed by Andriy Shkil. Shkil is acknowledged to be a member of the Yulia Timoshenko Block [YTB], which is a component of the “Orange Coalition”...

In the run-up to Ukraine’s presidential re-vote, opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko is taking steps to dispel fears among some Jews stemming from his political ties with Ukrainian nationalist groups. On 9 December 2004, Yushchenko made a public appearance in Kyiv’s Central Synagogue to light Hanukkah candles.

Some 400 Jews packed the shul, known here as the Brodsky Synagogue, welcoming Yushchenko and his wife Katerina, along with two of the couple’s five children with an ovation.

In an interview with JTA that evening, Yushchenko – who has been suffering from a mystery ailment that reports now indicate was the result of a deliberate poisoning – said that should he win the upcoming election, slated for Dec. 26, he will make relations with Israel a priority.

“Under my presidency, the relations between Ukraine and the State of Israel will take a turn for the better,” Yushchenko told JTA...

...Many Jewish voters had said they supported Yanukovych because they feared the anti-Semitism associated with some nationalist groups that are members of Yushchenko’s coalition.

Yushchenko’s Hanukkah appearance is likely to allay some of these concerns and could influence the Jewish vote in the upcoming election, some Jewish experts believe...

...For his part, Yushchenko sported a kippah, which Jewish officials said was a first among top Ukrainian political leaders...

...“This was the great Jewish people who saved Jewish traditions, culture and revived the Jewish state,' he said.

He noted similarities between Israel and his own country’s movement for independence – a movement that many here believe has taken a step forward with the pro-opposition protests dubbed the “Orange Revolution.”

“Many pages of the history of Ukraine and the State of Israel are very similar,” Yushchenko said...

...“We should respect the diversity of our world with different voices,” Yushchenko told the synagogue audience, adding that as president he will “always support different nationalities living in Ukraine.”...