Kiev journalism students make calendar for Yanukovych - media

KIEV. October 27. KAZINFORM Journalism students at the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv have joined a political calendar craze started by their Russian counterparts by posing for a calendar for President Yanukovych, Ukrainian media said on Wednesday, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.

"We did it because we are concerned about recent trends in our neighboring countries," one of the organizers of the calendar, Oleksandr Klimashenko, said. "We ask the president things every young person in Ukraine wants to know."

In early October, journalism students at Moscow State University posed in their underwear for a calendar for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

In response, a group of their fellow students created their own calendar, in which they posed fully clothed with pieces of tape over their mouths to symbolize the restrictions to freedom of the press imposed by the Kremlin. The girls' personal messages mocked the vulgar messages of their fellow students by posing serious political questions about the policies of the current government.

The Ukrainian calendar, which was printed in a similar style to the Russian rebuke, also asked political questions, such as "Where is the infrastructure for Euro 2012?" and "Why has Ukraine fallen to 131 place in press freedom rating?"

Yanukovych's administration welcomed the calendar.

"This is evidence that there is freedom of the press in Ukraine, whatever they say. This is a sign that Ukraine is democratic," Yanukovych's press secretary Denis Ivanesko said.

The Ukrainian students said they did not plan to print copies of their calendar as they have no money, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru