SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine, October 29, 2010 (RFE/RL) -- The only Ukrainian-language periodical in Crimea when it ceased publication earlier this year has reappeared online, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
"Krymska Svitlytsya" stopped publishing its print edition more than six months ago after experiencing financial problems and interference from the state but is available again online at svitlytsia.crimea.ua.
In December, Vasily Vovkun, the head of the Culture Ministry -- one of the main funders of the newspaper -- fired long-time chief editor Viktor Kachula and appointed another editor who produced several issues of the weekly before it ceased publication.
After complaints about the sacking, the Crimean Prosecutor-General's Office investigated and ruled there was no reason for Kachula's dismissal. A Simferopol court ordered him to be reinstated as editor and he resumed his duties in mid-October.
Kachula told RFE/RL on October 28 that there currently is no money to finance the printing of "Krymska Svitlytsya." He added that the publication's journalists work at home and gather for editorial meetings "on the street" because the "Krymska Svitlytsya" offices are sealed due to previous debts for rent and to its former publishing house.
The new online issues of "Krymska Svitlytsya" are mostly dedicated to educational issues on the Crimean Peninsula.
"Krymska Svitlytsya" has been operating since 1992 and has for many years been the only regular periodical in the Ukrainian language in predominantly Russian-speaking Crimea.
"Krymska Svitlytsya" stopped publishing its print edition more than six months ago after experiencing financial problems and interference from the state but is available again online at svitlytsia.crimea.ua.
In December, Vasily Vovkun, the head of the Culture Ministry -- one of the main funders of the newspaper -- fired long-time chief editor Viktor Kachula and appointed another editor who produced several issues of the weekly before it ceased publication.
After complaints about the sacking, the Crimean Prosecutor-General's Office investigated and ruled there was no reason for Kachula's dismissal. A Simferopol court ordered him to be reinstated as editor and he resumed his duties in mid-October.
Kachula told RFE/RL on October 28 that there currently is no money to finance the printing of "Krymska Svitlytsya." He added that the publication's journalists work at home and gather for editorial meetings "on the street" because the "Krymska Svitlytsya" offices are sealed due to previous debts for rent and to its former publishing house.
The new online issues of "Krymska Svitlytsya" are mostly dedicated to educational issues on the Crimean Peninsula.
"Krymska Svitlytsya" has been operating since 1992 and has for many years been the only regular periodical in the Ukrainian language in predominantly Russian-speaking Crimea.