TKACHENKO PLEDGES SUPPORT TO YUGOSLAVIA IN KOSOVA CRISIS. Ukrainian parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko told the Yugoslav ambassador to Ukraine on 7 October that Ukraine will give Yugoslavia "material and moral support" in the Kosova crisis, Interfax reported. "If the Yugoslav government appeals to us with such a request, we will offer help, despite our difficulties," Tkachenko said. He added that Ukrainians oppose the use of military force in Yugoslavia, irrespective of any decisions by NATO or the UN Security Council. He added that the recent statement by a Foreign Ministry official that Ukraine "unconditionally supports" the UN decision on Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 October 1998) does not reflect the Foreign Ministry's stance. Ukrainian Premier Valeriy Pustovoytenko, who is currently in Washington, has said his government sides with Russia in opposing the use of force in Yugoslavia, dpa reported on 7 October. JM

UKRAINIAN WORKERS SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH RUSSIAN PROTESTERS. Thousands of Ukrainian workers and hard-liners demonstrated on 7 October to show support for protests in neighboring Russia and to demand the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma, AP reported. The largest demonstrations were in Kyiv (1,000 people), Donetsk (6,000), and Kharkiv (1,000). The Independent Trade Union Federation sent a letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Russian labor activists saying that Ukrainians have been hit hard by the Russian economic crisis and can understand the demands of the Russian protesters. Meanwhile, at a meeting with Justice Ministry officials on 7 October, Kuchma said Ukraine will overcome the current crisis. He accused various political groups of exploiting the country's difficulties and called upon them "to sit down at the negotiating table" with the executive, Interfax reported. JM