Record 44 candidates for president
Ukrainian election officials said a record 44 candidates have registered to run in the country’s March presidential election. President Petro Poroshenko is seeking a second five-year term and has vowed to press for European Union and NATO membership for the country. Recent polls indicate former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and comedian Volodymyr Zelensky will be Mr. Poroshenko’s closest rivals in the March 31 election. The 53-year-old Mr. Poroshenko, one of Ukraine’s richest men, came to power in the aftermath of the pro-European Maidan protests that pushed Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych out in February 2014. He has vocally advocated closer integration with the West and criticized Russia following Moscow’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region and amid a continuing war against Russia-backed separatists in parts of the eastern region known as the Donbas. Ms. Tymoshenko, 58, was a leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution but was defeated by Mr. Poroshenko in the 2014 presidential election. Former Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko is also among those who registered. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and AFP)
Court upholds sailors’ pretrial detentions
A Moscow court on February 12 upheld the extension of the pretrial detention of four of 24 Ukrainian sailors detained by Russian forces along with their three naval vessels in November of last year near the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Last month, the Lefortovo court in Moscow extended the pretrial detention of the sailors, who are charged with illegal border crossing, until April 24 and April 26. On February 7, the court rejected the appeals lodged by four of the sailors against the extension of their pretrial detentions. The appeals of the other 16 Ukrainian sailors from the group will be assessed in the coming days. Russia has held the Ukrainian sailors since its forces fired on, boarded, and seized their vessels near the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018. Moscow claims the Ukrainian vessels illegally entered Russian territorial waters near Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia occupied and took over in 2014. The sailors face up to six years in prison if convicted. The United States and other Western countries have called for the Ukrainian sailors’ release, calling their detention illegal. (RFE/RL, with reporting by TASS and Interfax)
Russians, Dutch to talk re MH17
Moscow is ready to engage in talks with the Netherlands about the 2014 downing of a Malaysian passenger jet over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, said Russian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aleksandr Grushko. “Our dialogue did not stop, including on a political level,” he said on February 8, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. “We touched upon those issues, we are ready for talks.” Mr. Grushko made the comments the day after the Netherlands said it was “increasingly confident” Russia will agree to formal talks about the findings of an international investigation that Moscow bears legal responsibility for its role in the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight 17. The Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry on February 7 said initial diplomatic contacts with Russia took place in “a positive atmosphere” and that it was hopeful the discussions would lead to formal talks on the matter. It is not known where and when formal talks might be held. A Dutch-led international criminal investigation has concluded that the Buk missile that shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine came from Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. The Joint Investigative Team (JIT) “has come to the conclusion that the Buk-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk in Russia,” top Dutch investigator Wilbert Paulissen told reporters on May 24. “The 53rd Brigade is part of Russia’s armed forces.” The JIT comprised authorities from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine. MH17 was shot down over the conflict zone in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board. About two-thirds of the people killed in the downing were Dutch citizens. The Netherlands has been one of the main driving forces behind seeking accountability for the attack. Following the announcement of the JIT findings, Russia’s Defense Ministry reiterated it had nothing to do with the downing of the plane. The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry said the findings were based on “fake data” presented by bloggers and that Moscow’s information regarding the case was largely ignored. The United States, Britain and other allies have backed the JIT findings. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters, Meduza, AP and Interfax)
Official suspected in Handziuk’s death
A court in Kyiv is expected to consider a request from Ukrainian prosecutors to detain a high-ranking regional official suspected of organizing the killing of anticorruption activist Kateryna Handziuk last year. A spokesperson for Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said that Vladyslav Manher, head of the regional council in the southern region of Kherson, will have to appear before a judge to face a detention order. Ms. Handziuk, a 33-year-old civic activist and adviser to the mayor of the Black Sea port city of Kherson, died in November – three months after she was severely injured in an acid attack. The killing sparked shock in Ukraine, with activists accusing the authorities of failing to complete the investigation or identify the mastermind. Mr. Lutsenko announced on February 11 that Mr. Manher had been notified of the accusation against him. He said that the prosecution had obtained enough testimony from witnesses about Mr. Manher’s role in the Handziuk death, adding that the attackers had received “no less than $4,000.” According to a document posted by Mr. Lutsenko on Facebook, Mr. Manher felt “personal enmity” toward Handziuk because of her efforts to reveal “illegal deforestation” in the region. Mr. Manher’s lawyer, Dmitro Ilchenko, said that “no evidence” had been presented against his client. Mr. Manher insisted he did not know Handziuk personally and that he had no ties to her, telling a television station that he was “not going to go anywhere and will fully cooperate with the investigation.” A guilty verdict could send the 48-year-old to prison for life. Five suspects, including a police officer, were detained last year on suspicion of involvement in the attack on Handziuk. Two of them have been placed in pretrial detention, and the three others are under house arrest. Handziuk’s death came amid a wave of attacks against Ukraine’s civic activists, with human rights activists claiming law enforcement agencies failed to thoroughly investigate the cases and might even be complicit in some of the attacks. The United States and the European Union have called the attacks unacceptable and urged the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by AFP)
Poroshenko sees Ukraine in EU, NATO
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Kyiv must join the European Union and NATO to protect itself from Russia as he officially launched his reelection campaign. Mr. Poroshenko, who is seeking a second five-year term in the March 31 vote, accused Moscow of planning to interfere in the election. He also charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to destroy Ukrainian independence and described the nation’s presidential election as a “general battle for Ukraine.” Mr. Poroshenko told supporters in the capital on February 9: “Only full-fledged membership in the European Union and NATO can decisively and irrevocably guarantee our independence, national security, freedom, and well-being.” He has vocally advocated closer integration with the West and criticized Russia following Moscow’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region and amid a continuing war against Russia-backed militants in the eastern region known as the Donbas. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and DPA)
Amendment reflects EU, NATO aspirations
The Verkhovna Rada, has approved in its final reading a constitutional amendment that reflects the country’s strategic goal of becoming a member of NATO and the European Union. During a February 7 session, the amendment passed 334-17. Addressing the lawmakers ahead of the vote, President Petro Poroshenko said February 7 was a “historic day for Ukraine” and called the measure “another important step” toward eventual membership in the Euro-Atlantic structures. The bill was approved in its first reading on November 22, 2018, and it will come into force after it is made public. Mr. Poroshenko said Russia was able to launch an attack against Ukraine because certain Ukrainian politicians had been promoting neutrality “talking about the necessity for Ukraine to… stay away from all alliances.” President Poroshenko, who is up for re-election this year, came to power after Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych was pushed out by large protests and fled to Russia. The protests began in November 2013 after Mr. Yanukovych made a last-minute decision to scrap a key Association Agreement with the EU under pressure from the Kremlin. The EU Association Agreement was signed in 2014 by President Poroshenko and came into force in 2017. Joining the EU or NATO requires support from all existing members, and many EU and NATO countries are wary of taking in Ukraine or believe it will not be ready to join soon. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Activists rally for Sushchenko, Balukh
Dozens of human rights activists have gathered in Kyiv’s central square to mark the birthdays of two Ukrainian citizens jailed by the Russian authorities. The activists held posters demanding the immediate release of Volodymyr Balukh and Roman Sushchenko, as well as dozens of other Ukrainian citizens imprisoned in Russia and Moscow-annexed Crimea on what they called politically motivated charges. Mr. Balukh, who marked his 48th birthday on February 8, is serving a nearly five-year prison term in Crimea for possession of weapons and explosives and assaulting a prison guard. He and his supporters reject the charges and say they are politically motivated. Mr. Sushchenko, who is a journalist, was sentenced to 12 years in a high-security prison in June in Russia on espionage charges that he also said are politically motivated. He marked his 49th birthday on February 9. The Kyiv rally expressed support for the two activists and other Ukrainian citizens held in Russia, and warned that the number of Ukrainian nationals jailed in Russia for their views is on the rise. Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries, after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was pushed from power by protests. Rights groups say that Russia has moved aggressively to prosecute Ukrainian activists and anyone who questions the annexation. In 2017, the European Parliament called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens held in Russia, Crime, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed militants. The list included prominent filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who is serving a 20-year sentence in a Russian prison after being convicted of plotting terrorist attacks in a trial supporters called absurd. The list, which the Parliament statement said was not complete, also included several leaders of the Crimean Tatar minority, which rights groups say has faced abuse and discrimination since Russia’s takeover. (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Russia warns EU over pipeline ‘obstacles’
Russia has warned the European Union not to adopt tighter energy rules that could complicate plans to build a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea. “If obstacles to the project are being prepared to force Russia to pump gas through Ukraine according to their conditions, their tariffs and with uncertainties in legal matters, then this project is unlikely to work out,” Russian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aleksandr Pankin said on February 9. His comments to the RIA Novosti state news agency come a day after ambassadors of EU countries agreed to a proposed new EU directive to extend the bloc’s rules regulating gas deliveries to incoming pipelines, like the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Berlin had opposed the directive but, after France threatened to use its political leverage to push it through, agreed to a compromise under which German regulatory officials will oversee projects like Nord Stream 2, but with EU regulators having the final say. The decision ends a two-year impasse, and negotiations are now seen largely as a technical matter that will likely be resolved by this summer. Once the new regulations are finalized, experts say they will subject Russia’s Gazprom to EU regulations on the pipeline and will not allow it to be its sole operator. The Russian-German pipeline is being built under the Baltic Sea to deliver gas directly to Germany for further distribution across Europe. It largely parallels the path of the already built Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Eastern European countries like Poland and Ukraine oppose the project because they say it specifically bypasses their territories. The United States has called the pipeline a form of Russian control over Germany and a threat to European energy security. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP and DPA)