Ukraine demands access to Sentsov
The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry has demanded access to Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike in a Russian prison for more than four months. In a tweet on September 29, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Mariana Betsa called for Ukrainian officials and doctors to be allowed to visit Mr. Sentsov. Russia’s penitentiary service said on September 28 that an unspecified “correction” in Mr. Sentsov’s treatment had been ordered. It later published a photo of him being examined with a stethoscope. Mr. Sentsov is serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted on what he and human rights monitors say are trumped-up charges of terrorism. Imprisoned in Russia’s far-northern Yamalo-Nenets region, Mr. Sentsov started a hunger strike on May 14, demanding that Russia release 64 fellow Ukrainians he considers political prisoners. Mr. Sentsov has refused to seek a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ambassadors from the Group of Seven (G-7) leading industrialized nations as well as major figures from the world of cinema, including director Jean-Luc Godard and actor Johnny Depp, have all called for Mr. Sentsov’s release. During the Venice film festival earlier this month, Hollywood stars urged Moscow not to let him die, and leading figures in the Russian film industry have also called for his release. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and AFP)
Ukraine receives U.S. patrol boats
During a working visit to the United States, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and First Lady Maryna Poroshenko took part in the solemn ceremony of transferring two Island-class patrol boats to the Naval Forces of Ukraine. The ceremony took place on the territory of the U.S. Coast Guard shipyard in Baltimore. The certificates on transfer of equipment in the presence of the Ukrainian president were signed by Vice-Admiral of the U.S. Coast Guard Michael McAllister and Commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine Ihor Voron-chenko. The Presidential Administ-ration of Ukraine reported that President Poroshenko said: “The first two Island boats will become another brick to strengthen a naval alliance between the Ukrainian and American people.” He added that the U.S. will also provide assistance for construction of Ukraine’s Naval Command Center in Ochakiv. “Today’s event clearly shows that the Strategic Partnership between Ukraine and the United States is vibrant and productive,” Mr. Poroshenko stressed. Vice-Admiral McAllister emphasized: “I am convinced that these boats will also serve well in the hands of the Ukrainian Navy. In the hands of skilled sailors, such as U.S. Coast Guard and Ukrainian Navy, the Island-class motorboats have proven themselves to be versatile and efficient assets. Their teams have distinguished themselves in preventing illicit trafficking, emergency response, defense operations and rescue of people in the seas.” (Presidential Administration of Ukraine)
Ukraine to build Azov Sea base
Reuters reported that Ukraine will build a military base on the Azov Sea and has sent more forces to the area to counter a worsening Russian threat. Viktor Muzhenko, chief of the General Staff, told Reuters that Russia had moved beyond covert fighting in the Donbas region to building up its military presence on Ukraine’s borders and nakedly aggressive actions against ships sailing to Ukrainian ports. The Azov Sea has become a flashpoint this year. Ukraine says Russia is preventing ships from reaching Ukrainian ports through spurious inspections and detentions. Washington has called on Russia to stop “harassing” ships, and supplied Ukraine with U.S. patrol boats. “All those actions that are being taken in the Azov Sea region, are elements of building up our presence in this region for an adequate response to possible provocations by the Russian Federation,” Gen. Muzhenko said, according to Reuters. He noted that Ukraine had already deployed more air, land, sea and artillery forces to the area. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing, based on Reuters)
Canada’s counter-explosive threat training
Exercise Ardent Defender, the largest counter-explosive threat training ever to take place in Canada, begins October 1 at CFB Borden and 4th Canadian Division Training Center in Meaford, Ontario. For the first time in the history of the exercise, a unit from the Ukrainian Armed Forces is participating. Canada’s Department of National Defense stated: “The aim of the exercise is to refine skills needed to defeat explosive threats that could be faced during operations. This training aligns with Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada’s Defense Policy, which lays out a clear plan for modernizing the suite of improvised explosive device detection and defeat capabilities required to operate in the modern security environment.” Ardent Defender 2018 includes participation from various Canadian police agencies and other government departments, including Global Affairs Canada, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Peel Regional Police, the York Regional Police, the Niagara Regional Police, and the Sûreté du Québec. The exercise has drawn participants from over 20 nations, and observers from the United Nations and NATO, making it one of the most multinational exercises hosted by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Three boys killed by land mine
Three boys have been reported killed and another injured by a land mine in a militant-controlled town in eastern Ukraine. The “separatist” leaders in the Donetsk region said the explosion occurred on September 30 in the industrial frontline town of Horlivka, 30 kilometers north of the city of Donetsk. The area has seen heavy fighting between the Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces. Horlivka Mayor Ivan Prikhodko wrote in a social-media post that the dead were all between the ages of 13 and 15. A fourth boy, age 10, was injured in the explosion and was being treated in hospital for shrapnel injuries, he wrote. Mr. Prikhodko told the AFP news agency that the group had gone for a walk, adding, “They found an abandoned house and were just looking for adventure.” He added, “We are constantly confronted [by the problem of mines] and I think it is something that will continue for some time.” More than 10,300 people have been killed since April 2014 in the war in eastern Ukraine, where separatists continue to hold parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Ceasefire accords signed in Belarus’s capital, Minsk, in September 2014 and February 2015 have failed to put an end to the fighting. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and AFP)
Klimkin on militarization of Crimea
The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry is planning to prepare a draft resolution of the U.N. General Assembly on the militarization of Russian-occupied Crimea, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said. “There is an idea to prepare a separate resolution regarding the militarization of the occupied Crimea,” he said on the ATR television channel on October 1. He noted that military equipment is supplied from the occupied peninsula, for example, to Syria. “Crimea has currently turned into a large Russian military base. We have reasonable suspicions that there may be nuclear weapons or at least infrastructure for nuclear weapons there,” the minister added. (Interfax-Ukraine)
ROC threatens break with Istanbul
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is threatening to sever ties with the leader of the worldwide Orthodox community if he grants autonomy to Ukraine’s Orthodox Church. The move comes amid a deepening row in Orthodox Christianity over the Ukrainian Church’s bid to formally break away from Russia’s orbit. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew – who is considered the “first among equals” of Eastern Orthodox hierarchs – has sent two special bishops to Ukraine in what is widely viewed as a step toward declaring ecclesiastical independence for the main Ukrainian Orthodox Church that is loyal to Kyiv. The Russian Orthodox Church, the world’s largest Orthodox communion, fiercely opposes the decision. Vladimir Legoida, a Russian Orthodox Church spokesman, said on September 28 that it will “break the Eucharistic communion” with the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate if it makes the Ukrainian Church autocephalous. Earlier in September, Patriarch Bartholomew sent two exarchs to Ukraine to establish contacts with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that is loyal to Kyiv. The ROC’s Holy Synod ruling body met on September 14 to consider a response to that move, announcing afterward that it will no longer take part in structures chaired by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Mr. Legoida said on September 14 that the Holy Synod had decided to suspend its participation in all structures chaired or co-chaired by representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. “Essentially this is a breakdown of relations. To take an example from secular life, the decision is roughly equivalent to cutting diplomatic ties,” the Russian Church’s Metropolitan Ilarion was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying on September 14. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP and TASS)
Ukraine’s president suing BBC for libel
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko is suing British broadcaster BBC for libel over an article that said Kyiv paid $400,000 to secure a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump last year. Mr. Poroshenko issued the libel claim, seen by AFP, over an article published in May of this year that said Kyiv paid Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen a “secret payment of at least $400,000” to “fix talks” between Messrs. Poroshenko and Trump in the White House in June 2017. The claim, filed through a British law firm, says the news story damaged Mr. Poroshenko’s “political and business” reputation and caused him “substantial distress and embarrassment.” It added that the allegation of “serious corruption” was especially damaging because of Mr. Poroshenko’s “promotion of a number of anti-corruption measures in Ukraine.” A spokesman for the BBC told AFP that it “cannot comment on this ongoing case.” The article, which was also used in a televised report, was based on “sources in Kyiv close to those involved.” It said a “high ranking Ukrainian intelligence officer” told the BBC the payment was made as Kyiv’s Embassy in Washington “could get Poroshenko little more than a brief photo-op with Trump.” Mr. Poroshenko met with Mr. Trump in the White House in June 2017. There was speculation ahead of the meeting that the U.S. president would refuse to meet the Ukrainian leader. Washington did not announce the sit-down in advance – as is customary – and when it was described, the White House called it a “drop-in” with the U.S. president. (VOA via AFP)
Hollande receives Ukrainian state award
President Petro Poroshenko has presented Francois Hollande with one of Ukraine’s highest awards in Kyiv, praising the former French leader’s support in the face of Russia’s aggression. “I have the honor to present Francois Hollande with a prestigious state award of Ukraine, namely the Order of Liberty,” Mr. Poroshenko wrote on Facebook on October 1. He added that the award symbolizes Ukraine’s “boundless gratitude for the principled position” that Mr. Hollande showed in supporting the country’s “sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence.” During the ceremony, Mr. Poroshenko thanked the ex-French leader for his role in the introduction of European Union sanctions against Russia over its illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014 and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement posted on the Ukrainian presidential website. He also hailed Mr. Hollande, who was France’s president from 2012 to 2017, for his role in diplomatic initiatives aimed at putting an end to fighting between government forces and the separatists in eastern Ukraine. Mr. Hollande was also praised for halting the delivery of two French-built Mistral navy warships Russia had purchased. (RFE/RL)
Four injured in Donetsk explosion
At least four people, including a candidate for the head of the Russia-backed formation called the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), were injured in an explosion in Donetsk on September 29. The explosion took place in a building where the local Communist Party held a meeting, officials in the region said. Igor Khakimzyanov, a candidate for the post of heading the DPR who was nominated by the Communist Party, said he was entering the building when the explosion happened. “We were entering the building with one of my campaign staff. An explosion thundered as we were entering [the building],” he told reporters. Separatist Telegram channels posted pictures online that appeared to show his injuries. Gennady Filonenko, a Communist Party member, told reporters that about 50 people were inside the building during the explosion. “A package was found at the site of the explosion. Two women were injured, one of them sustained severe burns,” he said. Communist Party leader Boris Litvinov said the building was heavily damaged. The incident is the latest violence in eastern Ukraine where the Moscow-backed “separatists” have been fighting the central government in Kyiv since 2014 in a war that has killed more than 10,300. It comes about a month after Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko was assassinated by a bomb blast in a cafe in the eastern Ukrainian city. The November elections to select a new leader were announced after his assassination. The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in September that neither Kyiv nor the international community will recognize the elections on the “temporarily occupied territories” in eastern Ukraine. The United States and the European Union have also condemned plans by Russia-backed separatists to hold “elections,” calling them “phony procedures” that undermine peace efforts in the region. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Current Time, Interfax and Hromadske International)
Five hospitalized with anthrax symptoms
Five members of one family in Ukraine’s southern region of Odesa have been hospitalized with symptoms of anthrax after slaughtering cattle, the Health Ministry says. A ministry statement issued on October 2 said that one of the patients had so far tested positive for anthrax. The statement says the form of anthrax was not pulmonary, meaning that only the skin of the patient was affected, making it possible to cure the anthrax with antibiotics. The tests also revealed anthrax spores in meat from the slaughtered animal and at the site where it was killed in the village of Miniaylivka in the Odesa region. The village has been under 15-day quarantine since September 30, during which all livestock and residents of the village will be thoroughly checked by medical and sanitary experts. Anthrax spores can survive in soil for a long period of time and impose danger to grazing livestock. Since 2003, Ukrainian officials have reported several cases of anthrax in various regions. (RFE/RL)