On Pylyp Orlyk’s Birthday: Ukrainian Agency, International Law and Cultural Diplomacy

We present excerpts from an interview given by Artem Mykolaichuk, Chairman of the Board of the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, to journalist Anastasiia Fedor for the publication “Komersant Ukrainskyi”. The conversation covers, in particular, the lessons of history for modern Ukraine, challenges to international security and the reasons for the crisis of international law. He also pays special attention to countering Russian influence, advocacy for Ukraine abroad, the development of cultural diplomacy and strengthening Ukraine’s presence in the world.

Read the full version of the interview on the website of “Komersant Ukrainskyi”

– “Ukraine on both banks of the Dnipro must be free from foreign rule,” Pylyp Orlyk once wrote. What in the Hetman’s political thought and legacy has proved prophetic for us, and what should every Ukrainian remember about it today?

I would not call Orlyk a prophet in the literal sense — he was simply very well educated and deeply knowledgeable. He clearly understood that our people were being deprived of statehood. And the main thing everyone should understand from this today is that Ukraine must become a strong state with capable political processes that can withstand threats and its surroundings, and build its own institutions.

Through his Constitution and manifestos, Pylyp Orlyk set out a vision for making sense of this experience. It was an attempt to restore historical justice and to lay the foundations of a social order.

– We understand that more than three hundred years have passed: borders, technologies and political regimes have changed. But if we speak of the tasks that remain unchanged today, what are they?

The unchanging task is to preserve and build a state that is not ruled by a dictatorship but is governed by the rule of law, where it is the people who determine their common path.

This is very important, because everything Ukraine does rests on how Ukrainians fight for their own independence. This was evident in the projects of the last century as well, when Ukrainians defended the country. We do not want to be part of any empire or “union”, and we are making every effort to hold our ground.

But today it is important for us not only to rely on the help of others in this struggle. Defending our land is good, but we must ourselves grow a strong state, strengthen our independence and win our common freedom.

– Orlyk worked a great deal with text as a political and diplomatic instrument. To what extent is today’s information struggle a continuation of this tradition?

The information war has now reached an entirely new level. For example, the destruction of a “Yandex” data center was very telling, after which the flow of disinformation and bots dropped by 56% — bots that had been spreading hostility between Ukraine and Poland, whipping up support for Trump and destabilizing Europe. The information war has grown to the point where sometimes data centers have to be physically destroyed in order to win on the information front.

As for classical instruments, in my opinion, trying to completely “cancel” everything Russian in Europe or the US — to overcome their love for Dostoevsky or Tolstoy — is almost impossible, because Russia spent decades and billions of dollars on it. But we must promote our own, Ukrainian culture.

We have an incredible layer of culture — from the classics to contemporaries such as Serhiy Zhadan. We must translate them into the languages of the world, strengthen cultural diplomacy and tell the truth about ourselves. For example, just this year Taras Shevchenko’s “Testament” was performed in Danish for the first time, thanks to an initiative of our organization and our partners from the Danish-Ukrainian Society and Hjælp Ukrainske Børn. In other words, we need to realize how little known we are and do our utmost to change this situation.

– In his 1712 manifesto “Vyvid prav Ukrainy” (Deduction of the Rights of Ukraine), Pylyp Orlyk stressed: “However great the Muscovite violence may be, it gives the Muscovites no lawful right whatsoever over Ukraine. A people always has the right to protest against oppression and to restore the exercise of its ancient rights when the right time comes.” Today, the struggle to strip Russia of its standing in international institutions continues. What is preventing the world from finally hearing us?

The Foundation implements international projects, including the #UnRussiaUN track. After all, Russia’s continued presence in the UN is illegal. It is the legal scam of the century. It never went through the admission procedure under the UN Charter after the collapse of the USSR.

The UN was created to prevent wars and to implement international law. Incidentally, even the NATO Charter refers to the UN Charter. And now we see that this organization has become incapable of acting. A swindler (Russia) came along, swapped the “USSR” nameplate for “RF”, took a seat on the Security Council, blocks all initiatives, violates the Charter — and the world pretends it can do nothing. Yet there are precedents. In the 1970s, the question of representation regarding China and Taiwan was resolved by a decision of the General Assembly by a simple majority. To strip Russia of its veto power or to expel it, all that is needed is political will. All the legal and economic arguments have already been proven.

– What does Ukraine’s presence in the world need most today — a stronger voice, systematic diplomacy, arguments, institutions or long-term work with audiences?

In recent years, the diplomatic corps has indeed done a great deal, with particular attention paid to personnel work. But this is still not enough. We need to strengthen the institutional capacity of our diplomacy at all levels. That is why diplomats with extensive professional experience — Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine Volodymyr Yelchenko and Ihor Kharchenko — are involved in the Foundation’s work. Yelchenko heads the Foundation’s international policy research area and was Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN in 1997–2001, while Kharchenko is the Foundation’s chief consultant.

– The Foundation works with Ukrainian educational initiatives abroad within the “Koreni ta Kryla” (Roots and Wings) project. What does it mean to preserve the Ukrainian identity of a child growing up outside Ukraine?

Our expert Natalia Omelchuk developed the educational program “Koreni ta Kryla: Istoriia, yaka obiednuie” (Roots and Wings: A History That Unites). It is an experimental educational project designed for at least 5 years. Our goal is to train several groups of specialists and educators who will take an innovative approach to teaching children, will be able to think critically and independently, work with institutions, promote Ukrainian interests and adapt to modern challenges.

At a time when the education system needs transformation, such projects are a necessary targeted experiment. Only after we have trained these specialists and seen their work in action will we be able to assess the full quality of this program. But we already have positive feedback and see strong interest from educators. We even held a summer school in Ukraine for Ukrainian teachers, who found the approaches and methodological innovations very useful.

Working with teachers is a direct investment in the future of Ukraine’s presence and our agency in the world.

– Can the Foundation’s current cultural and public diplomacy be seen as a continuation of the cause that Orlyk began?

Pylyp Orlyk is a symbol of the resilience of Ukrainian diplomatic and state thought. Even having lost his territory, he did not lose the idea: he created the first coalition in support of Ukraine, wrote a Constitution that was ahead of its time, and devoted his whole life to international advocacy for Ukrainian independence.

Today, the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation is in effect continuing the mission of our patron: we work on the information, cultural and diplomatic fronts, expose Russian propaganda, defend international law and shape a new generation of Ukrainians capable of defending and developing their State.