Ukraine's Alphabet Is Russian No Longer

In the article ``Jews Find Complex Ties with the New Ukraine,'' April 20, the Ukrainian words Holos Natsiyi (The Voice of the Nation, the Ukrainian National Assembly newspaper) were transliterated to the Russian, Golus Natsii. The spelling of the Ukrainian city L'viv was also changed to the Russian, Lvov. This is deeply insulting to Ukrainians, who endured decades of forced Russification, which included the substitution of the Russian ``g'' for the Ukrainian ``h.''

The author also stresses the negative over the positive. Why not accentuate how far Ukrainian-Jewish communal ties have advanced in Ukraine, especially when compared with the virulent Zhirinovskian anti-Semitism in Russia?

Why not remark that Ukraine officially marks Jewish holidays, which affect 1 percent of the population? Why dedicate so much of an article on current events to Nazi atrocities, which, though deplorable, are not current?

Articles such as this serve no function other than to reopen past wounds and fan the flames of ethnic hatred. Vsevolod A. Onyshkevych, Princeton, N.J.

Your letters are welcome. For publication they must be signed and include your address and telephone number. Only a selection can be published, and none acknowledged. Letters should be addressed to ``Readers Write,'' and can be sent by Internet E-mail (200 word maximum) to OPED@RACHEL.CSPS.COM, by fax to 617-450-2317, or by mail to One Norway St., Boston, MA 02115