They say Yuriy Yekhanurov was especially friendly with the Yushchenko supporters from Volyn on the orange Maidan. "My dear ones," Yuriy Ivanovych would say, embracing the defenders of the revolution. As it turned out, such joy had its own private reasons... Yekhanurov is a Volyn son-in-law. The mother-in-law of the new Ukrainian prime minister, Yuriy Yekhanurov, is turning 91 these days. She lives in Volodymyr-Volynskyi. ...A modest five-story Khrushchev-era building in the center of town. Scuffed entrance doors. "If you're looking for Yevheniya Leontiyivna, go to the fifth floor." A boy points his hand to the landing one floor up, and my hand reaches to press the doorbell of a brand-new door with a neat little mat beneath it. "No, no — her door is on the right." the boy prompts once more, and I glance in surprise at the plain, almost half-plywood door. My chance acquaintance throws out as he leaves: well, now that we've lived to see a prime minister's mother-in-law, maybe the town will fare better... Strange — I thought I'd see luxury, but here... Valentyna Volodymyrivna opens the door to me — the goddaughter of Yevheniya Kramarevych. She and I talk about the Yekhanurov family. The thing is, the prime minister's mother-in-law, Yevheniya Kramarevych, is turning 91 these days. She's no longer what she was — the grandmother hears poorly and hasn't walked on her own for several years. So her goddaughter and a neighbor take turns caring for her. THEY MET IN THE LIBRARY ...We leaf through the Kramarevych family photo album. The history of their family is typical for these parts. The Ukrainian prime minister's mother-in-law had a Polish mother and a Russian father from the east who ended up here at the start of World War I. With him, Mrs. Yevheniya had two daughters. In World War II their father was killed, and a few years later the woman was courted by a dashing Soviet front-line veteran, Lev Kramarevych. The Kyiv man came to his Zhenya in Volyn. A few years later, Yevheniya's third daughter, Olena, was born. Yura Yekhanurov and Olena Kramarevych met in 1974. Both were studying at the Kyiv Institute of National Economy, and before that they had qualified as builders. The meeting place was banally student-like — the institute library. Olena was already about to leave when Yura happened along. And so their romance took off. One of Olena Lvivna's friends told us that back then almost the entire small Volyn town held its breath, waiting to see whom the town's first beauty had chosen. And when Yura came to Volodymyr to meet the bride's parents, the girls... gasped: short, in a worn beret, with slanting eyes... Though even then people said: maybe it's love? THE SON-IN-LAW SPENDS THE NIGHT AT THE MONASTERY In the autumn of 1974 they married, became Kyivans, and a year later Dmytryk was born. Today Olena Lvivna is a leading design engineer at a respected Kyiv institute. And Dmytro is now finishing his studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He has two daughters. These days the Yekhanurovs don't often get to come to Volodymyr, but, as the goddaughter assures, the family helps Yevheniya Leontiyivna financially. "Yuriy Ivanovych doesn't publicize his visits to Volyn," says Valentyna Volodymyrivna. "Even when he held respectable positions in the government, he never mentioned any special arrangements." They usually come for holidays and birthdays. This year they came for Easter. And Lena calls us every week. Since it's hard for everyone to stay overnight in a one-room apartment, Yekhanurov and his wife spend the night at the Zymne Monastery, which is near Volodymyr. "And what dish does the son-in-law order most often when he comes to visit?" we ask Grandma Yevheniya. "He really loves my pelmeni..." Photo from the family archive of Yevheniya Kramarevych