RUSYNS WANT TO BE RECOGNIZED AS DISTINCT ETHNIC GROUP WITHIN UKRAINE. The fifth world congress of Rusyns (Ruthenians), convening in Uzhhorod on 27 June, called on the Ukrainian government to recognize Rusyns as an ethnic group within multinational Ukraine, ITAR-TASS reported. The delegates want Rusyn to be listed among the country's nationalities in the 2001 census. They also want native-language schools to be opened and a Rusyn-language department established at Uzhhorod University. According to congress delegates, more than 700,000 Rusyns live in Ukraine. Their total strength is 3 million: apart from Ukraine, Rusyns live in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and are well represented in the U.S. In a referendum in December 1991, more than 78 percent of the population of Zakarpatska (Transcarpathian) Oblast supported autonomy for the region, but Kyiv ignored the results of that vote. JM