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Measures to protect the Ukrainian language and issues facing the Ukrainian community abroad will be addressed during the World Forum of Ukrainians, which will be held in Kyiv from August 19 to August 21.

"The 5th World Forum of Ukrainians will open in Kyiv on August 19. President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych is expected to deliver a speech at it," the forum’s organizing committee deputy chairman Dmytro Pavlychko said.

The opening ceremony will take place in Kyiv’s National Opera Theatre, while the forum itself will be held in the Ukrainian House.

A document has already been drafted calling on the Ukrainian president, government and parliament to pay greater attention to tackling problems of ethnic Ukrainians living in foreign countries, Pavlychko said.

In his speech in Kyiv on Friday, Ukrainian World Congress President Eugene Czolij plans to ask Yanukovych to help secure the release of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from custody.

"I will make it clear in my report that Ukrainians around the world are following the current situation in Ukraine. I will call on him [the Ukrainian president] to free Ms. Tymoshenko from custody as soon as possible. It will be the main issue," Czolij told journalists outside the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv on Thursday.

A large number of foreign delegations, including from Russia, will attend the forum, its organizers have said.