Presidential campaign kicks off
Three months before votes are due to be cast, the Ukrainian presidential campaign officially kicked off on December 31, 2018. President Petro Poroshenko has not officially announced he will seek a second five-year term but is widely expected to. Billboards of Mr. Poroshenko dot cities across Ukraine, highlighting his position as commander of the country’s armed forces and his role in securing Ukraine an Orthodox Church independent of Moscow. After taking 54 percent of the vote in the 2014 election, Mr. Poroshenko’s public approval ratings have plummeted, namely amid ongoing economic woes and a lack of progress on reforms and cracking down on corruption. More than 10,300 people have died in the war in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed separatists who hold parts of two provinces have been fighting against government forces since April 2014. As of now, Mr. Poroshenko’s main rival appears to be Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister who announced her candidacy in June 2018. Recent opinion polls show Ms. Tymoshenko ahead of Mr. Poroshenko. The nomination of candidates with the Central Election Commission will last until February 3, and the commission should announce a final list of presidential candidates by February 8. The election campaign is due to last until midnight on March 29, and the vote will be held on March 31. (RFE/RL)
Actor says he’ll run for presidency
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a leading Ukrainian actor and comedian, has ended months of speculation by announcing he will run in the country’s upcoming presidential election. The 40-year-old, who is the creator and director of Quarter 95 studios, said during an appearance on a television show late on December 31 that he had decided to run to “try to change something in Ukraine.” Speaking during a Quarter 95 comedy program that was being broadcast on the 1+1 television channel, he said, “Unlike our great politicians, I did not want to make promises in vain. But now, just a few minutes before the New Year, I can promise you I’ll do it in the right way.” The campaign for the March 31 vote kicked off just hours before Mr. Zelenskiy made his announcement on New Year’s Eve. If he were to win the election, Mr. Zelenskiy might find it easy to slip into the role of president. He currently stars in the popular television comedy series “Servant of the People,” where he portrays a regular schoolteacher who becomes president. The nomination of candidates with the Central Election Commission will last until February 3, and the commission should announce a final list of presidential candidates by February 8. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by the Kyiv Post and TASS)
Jailed activists’ messages published
Imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, a Crimean native who opposed Russia’s 2014 takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula, has written in a letter to the Moscow-based Novaya Gazeta newspaper that he is not “going to give in.” He wrote in a letter published on December 28, 2018: “I do not expect good news [in 2019]…. But it does not mean that I am going to give in, be disappointed, or regret anything.” Ahead of the New Year, Novaya Gazeta published letters penned by several people who were either sentenced, are facing trial, or are under investigation in high-profile cases in Russia that many call politically motivated. Mr.Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of terrorism in a trial criticized by human rights groups and Western governments as politically motivated. Oyub Titiyev, an activist who is on trial in his native Chechnya, called on people imprisoned on “fabricated” charges, not to give up in their fight for freedom. “Our being behind bars now is not the end. …We will all continue to fight. I wish you all not to stop fighting, to struggle to the end, until we are released. And more importantly, I wish you all to leave this place healthy and strong so that you can continue to work further and help society,” the leader of the Moscow-based Memorial human rights group’s branch in Chechnya wrote. Among other messages published were those from the former director of Moscow’s Gogol Center, Aleksei Malobrodsky, and three members of the so-called New Greatness movement: Ruslan Kostylenkov, who is in pretrial detention, and teenagers Maria Dubovik and Anna Pavlikova, who are under house arrest. (RFE/RL)
Law forces UOC-MP to change name
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a law requiring the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) to change its name to one that reveals its affiliation with the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church. The law signed on December 22, 2018, requires the UOC-MP to make its link to the Moscow patriarch explicit. The new law was the latest development in Ukraine’s quest to create its own, independent Orthodox Church. In October 2018, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople revoked a centuries-old ruling placing Ukraine’s Orthodox Church under the Moscow patriarch. In response, the Russian Orthodox Church broke off relations with the ecumenical patriarch. Religious leaders in Ukraine held a synod on December 15, 2018, and agreed to establish a new Orthodox national Church that is independent of Russia. Mr. Poroshenko said the new law would make it easier for Orthodox believers to make a choice between the new Church and the Russian-affiliated one. “It is easier to make a choice when all things are called by their names,” he said. The UOC-MP actively opposed the measure, saying it was a violation of freedom of religion and an example of unconstitutional state interference in religious affairs. More than 1,000 priests and believers of the UOC-MP protested outside the legislature on December 20. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by AP, DPA and Reuters)
Poroshenko ends martial law
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced the end of martial law in the country’s border regions that was imposed last month after Russia seized Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. “Today, right now, at 2 p.m. martial law ends. This is my principal decision,” Mr. Poroshenko said during a Military Cabinet meeting in Kyiv on December 26, 2018. He said he had reached the decision “based on an analysis of all the components of the security situation in the country.” Later the same day, the Internal Affairs Ministry announced that Ukraine would nonetheless maintain its ban on entry into the country for male Russian citizens age 16 to 60. More than 1,600 Russian men have been denied entry into Ukraine since the ban was imposed in late November. On November 26, Ukraine’s Parliament backed Poroshenko’s request to introduce martial law after Russian forces fired on Ukrainian ships and seized 24 Ukrainian nationals near the Kerch Strait. The seamen remain in Russian custody and are facing criminal charges of illegally crossing Russia’s border. The 30-day martial law was imposed in 10 regions, including those close to areas controlled by Russia-backed militants in the east of the country, abutting the Russia-backed separatist Transdniester region in Moldova, and along the Sea of Azov coast. Despite the lifting of martial law, tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain high. Top Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have claimed that Kyiv was preparing a “provocation” in the border area. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on December 24 that Russia was concerned Ukraine might “switch to full-scale combat actions within the next few days” or stage a provocation using “chemical-warfare agents.” Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview published in Rossiiskaya Gazeta on December 26, 2018, without providing any supporting evidence that “leaders of ultrarightist groups from the U.S. have been training for months together with radical organizations in Ukraine.” Mr. Patrushev said, “Feeling such support [from the United States], Poroshenko confidently resorts to provocative steps, including on the Ukrainian-Russian border.” Ukraine has said Russia is amassing military forces along the border, in the annexed Crimea region, and in the Black Sea area. Speaking at a military event in Kyiv on December 1, Mr. Poroshenko said Russia has deployed “more than 80,000 troops, 1,400 artillery and multiple-rocket-launch systems, 900 tanks, 2,300 armored combat vehicles, 500 airplanes, and 300 helicopters” near the border. During the National Security and Defense Council meeting on December 26, 2018, the president said “Ukraine will never halt the use of its Azov ports, including by military vessels.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP, AP, UNIAN and TASS)
Russia expands sanctions against Ukraine
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has expanded Russia’s targeted sanctions against Ukrainian individuals and legal entities. Mr. Medvedev posted on Twitter on December 25, 2018, that he had signed the decree expanding the list of sanctions targets to “defend the interests of the Russian state, companies, and citizens of Russia.” Some 200 individuals and legal entities were added to the list. On November 1, 2018, Russia had imposed “special economic measures” against 322 Ukrainian individuals and 68 companies. The sanctions included freezing non-cash accounts and other assets in Russia and a ban on capital transfers from Russia. Among the individuals on the original list were Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov, Security Service chief Vasyl Hrytsak, former prime ministers Yulia Tymoshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev and former Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh. The list is based on an October 22, 2018, decree by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin said at the time that the punitive measures could be canceled if Ukraine lifts all restrictions it has imposed against Russian citizens and companies. The European Union and the United States have also imposed sanctions against Moscow over its involvement in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, with reporting by UNIAN and TASS)
Ban on Ukrainian goods announced
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has announced a ban on Ukrainian goods, including agricultural and industrial products, days after adding Ukrainian firms and individuals to Russia’s sanctions list. Tweeting on December 29, 2019, Mr. Medvedev said the Russian action was a “retaliatory measure against Ukrainian restrictions.” Relations between Ukraine and Russia have plummeted since Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and its subsequent support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, where some 10,300 have been killed in fighting since April 2014. Kyiv has imposed sanctions on Russian citizens and companies, a course of action also taken by the European Union and United States. On December 25, 2018, Mr. Medvedev said he had signed a decree expanding the sanctions list by some 200 individuals and legal entities to “defend the interests of the Russian state, companies, and citizens of Russia.” (RFE/RL’s Russian Service, with reporting by TASS)
Pope calls for worldwide peace
Pope Francis used his Christmas message on December 25, 2018, to urge the world to put aside “partisan interests” to find a political solution to conflicts in Syria, Yemen and other flashpoints. Pope Francis delivered the traditional papal “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square. “My wish for a happy Christmas is a wish for fraternity. Fraternity among individuals of every nation and culture. Fraternity among people with different ideas… Fraternity among persons of different religions,” he said. The pontiff went on to call for peace in Syria, Yemen, Africa, the Korean Peninsula, Ukraine, Venezuela and Nicaragua. He also hoped for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. The Urbi et Orbi speech is often an occasion for the pope to speak about the globe’s trouble spots and other violence. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP, AP, DPA, Reuters)
Russian fighter jets moved to Crimea
More than a dozen advanced Russian fighter jets have arrived at a base in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Moscow occupied and annexed in 2014. The Reuters news agency cited witnesses who saw the Su-27 and Su-30 fighters arriving at the Belbek air base on December 22, 2018. The move comes amid high tensions between Ukraine and Russia across the region, which were raised on November 25, 2018, when Russia seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels and their crews near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Ukraine was preparing a “provocation” in the area before the end of the year. Kyiv, for its part, has charged that Russia was building up military forces along the two countries’ mutual border. President Petro Poroshenko has said Russia has moved “more than 80,000 troops, 1,400 artillery and multiple rocket launch systems, 900 tanks, 2,300 armored combat vehicles” and hundreds of aircraft to the area. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and AP)
U.S., Britain vow to support Ukraine’s Navy
The United States says it will provide an additional $10 million in military financing to Ukraine to help bolster its navy after Russia captured three of Kyiv’s ships at sea in late November. The U.S. action announced by the State Department on December 21, 2018, came as Britain also set plans to provide assistance to Ukraine’s naval forces following the November 25, 2018, attack by Russia in the Kerch Strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. Russia also arrested 24 Ukrainian sailors in the incident after its coast guard opened fire on the Ukrainian ships. Moscow alleged that the vessels had illegally entered Russian territorial waters near the Crimea region, which Russia occupied and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine and most United Nations member states do not recognize the annexation. Under a 2003 treaty, Russia and Ukraine agreed to share access to the Sea of Azov. However, since the 2014 annexation, and the completion of the Kerch Bridge, Russia has slowly restricted access for Ukrainian ships. The State Department said Washington ”calls on Russia to immediately return to Ukraine the seized vessels and detained Ukrainian crews, to keep the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov open to ships transiting to and from Ukrainian ports, and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” It said the aid was subject to approval in Congress, where Ukraine has wide support in its dispute with Russia. It added that it was taking the action in “solidarity with Lithuania and the United Kingdom.” Earlier on December 21, 2018, Britain and Ukraine announced that London would send instructors to assist in the training of Ukrainian marines. “In January, a group of British Navy officers will come to Ukraine to organize interaction, to plan joint drills, and to determine what kind of logistic assistance the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Navy in particular may need,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said following a meeting in Odesa with U.K. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson. Lithuania in early December 2018 said it was sending additional ammunition and more military and cybersecurity instructors to Ukraine as it condemned Russia’s actions. The Baltic country has more than 20 instructors currently in Ukraine. On December 13, 2018, NATO also pledged support for Ukraine’s navy and said it would deliver secure communications equipment to Kyiv’s military by the end of this year. “Russia must immediately release the sailors and ships they seized and allow freedom of navigation including free access to Ukrainian port in the Sea of Azov,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Brussels. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP, Interfax-Ukraine and The Baltic Times)
EU extends sanctions against Russia
The European Union has formally extended economic sanctions against Russia, first imposed more than four years ago for Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. The European Council said on December 21, 2018, that the measures would remain in place for another six months, until July 2019. The council, which is the grouping of the governments of 28 European Union member countries, said it had adopted its decision unanimously. EU leaders had agreed on the extension last week to do so, and also considered imposing more sanctions over Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian ships off Crimea, but in the end, opted not to. The measures target Russia’s banking, energy and defense sectors. (RFE/RL)
Exarchs receive Verkhovna Rada awards
Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy awarded the exarchs of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, Archbishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and Bishop Ilarion of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, honorary diplomas and awards on behalf of the Verkhovna Rada. Mr. Parubiy thanked the three hierarchs for their extraordinary dedication, diligence and self-sacrifice on behalf of the Ukrainian nation and its people. The Rada chairman expressed his gratitude to the special representatives of the ecumenical patriarch for their commitment and hard work in establishing the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. For months the exarchs had traveled long distances, suffered sleepless nights, held meetings, led discussions and prayed deeply for the success of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Mr. Parubiy noted. (Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada)
Senators urge stronger response to Russia
On December 19, U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Richard Durbin, (D-Ill.) and 39 of their colleagues introduced a resolution “calling for a prompt multinational freedom of navigation operation in the Black Sea and the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in response to Russia’s recent aggressive actions in the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov.” Sen. Johnson stated, “The United States and our allies need to rapidly counter Russia’s military aggression in the Kerch Strait with strong and resolute action. Assembling a multinational freedom of navigation operation in the Black Sea to help ensure safe passage into the Sea of Azov, combined with cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is exactly the kind of response Putin needs to see.” Sen. Durbin stated, “The recent provocative military actions from Russia and revelations about its extensive cyber disinformation campaigns in the U.S. are warnings to the rest of the world that Vladimir Putin has no intention of stopping his aggressive campaign against Western democracies or Ukraine. The world must work together to stop this Russian assault on democracy and Ukraine sovereignty. I am proud to support this resolution and urge my colleagues to reaffirm this message of deterring further aggression from the Russian Federation.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Ukraine Daily Briefing)
Imprisoned sailors say they are POWs
The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) reported on December 31, 2018, that all 24 Ukrainian sailors whom Russia took prisoner on November 25, 2018, have declared themselves prisoners of war. KHPG wrote: “Although the men’s POW status, according to international law, was never seriously in question, all have been under immense pressure from the FSB to “confess” to non-existent crimes. Given the conditions the men are being held in, the fact that all have remained unwavering is a credit to them, and to the team of lawyers, under the coordination of Nikolai Polozov.” The rights group went on to comment: “The international media has already reverted to its customary ‘Russia says/Ukraine says’ style of reporting, however Russia’s behavior was immediately condemned far beyond Ukraine as an act of open warfare.” The sailors’ release has been repeatedly demanded, most recently in a joint statement by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Emanuel Macron. “Moscow has rejected this call with its standard stream of lies about the status of Crimea, etc. This is to be expected since such calls have yet to be accompanied by penalties for Russia’s insistence on behaving like pirates and breaching international law. Without some form of sanctions, unfortunately, Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to release any of the Kremlin’s hostages in the run-up to Ukraine’s presidential elections at the end of March for fear of helping Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s chances of re-election,” KHPG noted. Mr. Polozov commented: “The fact that all the Ukrainian seamen seized by Russia have identified themselves as POWs demonstrates that Russia’s plans to divide and disorientate the captured seamen have failed.” This, he explains, will help in the battle to get the men released. It was particularly important, Mr. Polozov added, that “Ukrainian authorities reacted swiftly and mobilized efforts, making it possible to organize a team of lawyers for all the men within two and a half weeks. This and the fact that the men are united in identifying themselves as POWs will help ensure that their situation is viewed in accordance with international law, and ‘cut the nonsense’ from those European politicians who were loath to admit that it was Russia who violated international law and for the first time in the last five years openly fired at Ukrainian naval boats and took military servicemen prisoner. Such a position will make it easier to consolidate international cooperation in putting pressure on Moscow.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing, based on the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group)