Troop pullback in Stanytsia Luhanska
Ukraine’s armed forces have begun to pull back from the town of Stanytsia Luhanska in the Luhansk region, one of only six civilian crossing points along the 450-kilometer line of contact in the Donbas war zone. In a Facebook post, Ukrainian Lt. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the Joint Forces Operation in the Donbas, said soldiers left “one of their positions” at the checkpoint at noon. A seven-day ceasefire preceded the withdrawal of troops, tweeted Varvara Pakhomenko, head of the Ukraine mission for humanitarian group Geneva Call. “I witnessed [a] historic moment,” she said while posting a picture of the crossing point. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors adherence to the Minsk truce between the Ukrainian military and Moscow-backed militants, welcomed the move. Yasar Halit Cevik, the OSCE’s chief monitor in Ukraine, expressed his team’s “full readiness to monitor the disengagement process.” He said additional monitoring patrols had been dispatched to the area, which is located 15 kilometers northeast of the regional capital of Luhansk. “The [OSCE] mission is also conducting remote observation with cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles,” Mr. Cevik said. The Russian-backed armed units in the area have also begun withdrawing from their positions and their representatives said it will take three days to complete. Stanytsia Luhanska has been a flashpoint since April 2014, when the military conflict in eastern Ukraine started. A bridge was blown up there in early 2015, rendering it only passable by foot. In 2018, the United Nations earmarked funds to repair the bridge, but constant fighting has made infrastructural improvements impossible in the area. It is just one of two crossing points in the Luhansk region. The U.N. says more than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and 1.5 million more internally displaced – the biggest displacement of people on the European continent since World War II. (RFE/RL)
Sen. Gardner: Russia sponsors terrorism
U.S. Sen. Corey Gardner (R-Colo.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on April 11 had introduced the bipartisan Stopping Malign Actions from Russian Terrorism (SMART) Act, which requires a determination on designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Following the announcement on June 19 by the Public Prosecution Service of the Netherlands that it will prosecute four individuals, including three Russian nationals, for the rocket attack that downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, Sen. Gardner stated, “Russia’s abhorrent actions around the world, including support for terror groups in Ukraine and Syria, the chemical weapons attacks on the soil of a NATO ally, and interference in elections around the world, should be more than enough to formally label Putin’s Russia what it is – a state sponsor of terrorism. With this bill, Congress is demonstrating firm bipartisan resolve against the Kremlin’s mendacity and I hope it will move quickly to pass the Senate.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Austrian Court: Firtash can be extradited
Austria’s Supreme Court has upheld a decision allowing a request by the United States to extradite Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash, the latest twist in the case for the oligarch who has been fighting against extradition since his 2014 arrest in Vienna. Following the court ruling on June 25, a final decision will be made by Austria’s justice minister on whether to execute the request. Accompanied by his wife, Lada, and several bodyguards, the industrialist walked out of the courthouse stonefaced in the Austrian capital without commenting. U.S. authorities have been investigating Mr. Firtash since 2006 on suspicion of bribery and forming an organized crime group. Specifically, he was indicted in 2013 and is wanted in a U.S. federal court in Chicago as part of an alleged bribery scheme involving titanium supplies for aircraft giant Boeing. Based in Chicago, Boeing is not charged in the case, although it has said that it did consider doing business with Mr. Firtash. No agreement, however, was ever signed. Mr. Firtash has denied any wrongdoing and has said the extradition case against him is politically motivated. A Vienna Regional Court concurred with him in an April 30, 2015, ruling to deny the extradition request, but that decision was reversed by a higher court in February 2017. Additionally on June 21, a federal court in Chicago refused to throw out his foreign bribery and racketeering case. Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said that, since the alleged goal was to sell metals to Boeing, her “venue is proper in the district where an overt act was ‘intended to have an effect.’” One of Ukraine’s richest men, Mr. Firtash is also a former business partner of President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Messrs. Firtash and Manafort had a brief partnership in 2008 to invest in New York City real estate, though that deal never materialized. U.S. authorities also have accused Firtash of ties to Russian organized crime, allegations that he denies. No such charge appears in Firtash’s indictment. Mr. Firtash also was considered an important financier of the Party of Regions, and was involved in hiring Paul Manafort, then a U.S. political consultant and lobbyist, in 2005 to help rebuild the party after its then-leader, Viktor Yanukovych, was defeated for the presidency by Viktor Yushchenko following the 2004 Orange Revolution. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by Reuters and Politico)
Kyiv Court: Saakashvili can run
A Kyiv court ruled on June 21 that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is eligible to run in Ukraine’s snap parliamentary elections on July 21. The 51-year-old Mr. Saakashvili released a video on his Facebook page showing the judge reading the ruling on the validity of his residency in Ukraine. According to the election law, parliamentary candidates must be Ukrainian citizens who have lived permanently in Ukraine for at least five consecutive years prior to the vote. The court ruled that Mr. Saakashvili resided in Ukraine from February 23, 2014, to June 6, 2019 – even though he was deported for more than a year and stripped of his citizenship under a decree by former President Petro Poroshenko. Mr. Saakashvili leads the Movement of New Forces party that, according to the latest polls, is not likely to cross the minimum 5 percent threshold to win party representation in Parliament. Mr. Saakashvili, a former ally of Mr. Poroshenko, served as governor of Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast for 17 months before resigning and accusing President Poroshenko of corruption. After the two fell out, Mr. Poroshenko had Mr. Saakashvili deported from Ukraine on February 12, 2018, and stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reinstated Mr. Saakashvili’s Ukrainian citizenship on May 28. Mr. Saakashvili returned to Kyiv the following day. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Thousands join pride parade in Kyiv
Thousands of supporters of LGBT rights on June 23 marched in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv under a heavy police presence. They marched in the center of the capital while waving rainbow and Ukrainian flags, as thousands of police and National Guard troops stood by to ensure order. Organizers of the March of Equality said about 8,000 people took part in the event. Several Western diplomats also attended the rally. Organizers said they had invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to join the parade. “Unfortunately, there was no reaction from the president,” Ruslana Panukhnyk, director of the NGO KyivPride that organizes the parade, told the AFP news agency. Opponents held up anti-gay banners and shouted “Shame” as the procession began. Police said nine people were arrested on suspicion of preparing provocations against participants in the Kyiv Pride event. Organizers have said that their goal is to promote “full respect” for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The Pride parade has been held in Kyiv since 2016. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by AP and Current Time)
EU prolongs Russia sanctions
European Union leaders have agreed to prolong sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine. Meeting in Brussels on June 20, the leaders extended the bloc’s economic sanctions against Russia, which mainly target the country’s energy and banking sectors, by six months. They also agreed to renew sanctions for another year on an investment ban on the Crimea region. “Russia sanctions unanimously extended for another six months because of a lack of Minsk Agreements implementation,” Preben Aamann, a spokesman for European Council President Donald Tusk, tweeted. The EU, the United States and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s seizure of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014 and its support for the separatists holding parts of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in a war that has killed some 13,000 people since April 2014. Ceasefire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords in September 2014 and February 2015 have failed to hold. (RFE/RL)
Constitutional Court OKs Rada’s dissolution
Ukraine’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s order to dissolve parliament and call early elections is legal. An official statement released by the court on June 20 said 16 judges had ruled on the matter and that the decision “is binding, final, and cannot be appealed.” The president’s administration celebrated the court decision, writing on its Telegram channel, “Victory: Zelenskyy’s decree on the dissolution of the [Parliament] was recognized as constitutional!” Zelenskyy spokeswoman Iuliia Mendel added in comments to RFE/RL that the administration found the decision “fair.” Ms. Mendel said the move to dissolve Parliament was “not the demand of [the] president, this is the demand of the Ukrainian people.” She added, “Trust [in] the Parliament was only 4 percent and people want to see [a] new Parliament.” President Zelenskyy issued a decree on May 21 – a day after his inauguration – to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada and declared that a new Parliament will be elected on July 21. However, some lawmakers defied Mr. Zelenskyy, declining to discuss his proposed changes in electoral legislation and appealing to the Constitutional Court to overturn his decree. (RFE/RL)
1,000-hrv banknote to be introduced
The National Bank of Ukraine will introduce a new 1,000-hrv banknote featuring the portrait of a prominent 20th century Ukrainian scientist, Volodymyr Vernadsky. The bank said in a statement on its website on June 25 that the new note, which will be put into circulation on October 25, was made necessary by “economic factors, namely the size and dynamics of average wages, the amount of cash in circulation, the share of cashless payments, and the level of inflation.” The new banknote will be the largest denomination of paper money in the country. At current exchange rates, the 1,000-hrv note would be worth about $39. Currently, the largest Ukrainian paper money is a 500-hrv banknote that was introduced in September 2006. (RFE/RL)
Two Russian paratroopers drown in Crimea
Two Russian paratroopers have drowned during exercises in the Moscow-annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea. Officials from Russia’s Southern Military Region said on June 26 that the two paratroopers, who served in the Russian Army on a contract basis, died during routine parachute jumps at the Staryi Krym (Old Crimea) training field. “Two contract servicemen from an airborne landing unit stationed in Crimea landed on the water surface and could not separate themselves from the parachute fittings in a timely manner,” the report said, adding that the attempts to rescue the paratroopers failed. A special commission of the Airborne Troops command and local law enforcement officials have opened an investigation, the statement said. Russia seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea in March 2014, sending in troops without insignia, securing key facilities and staging a referendum deemed illegitimate by Ukraine and most other countries. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by RIA Novosti, TASS, and Interfax)
Bartholomew on Kyiv Patriarchate
The Patriarchate of Constantinople has reinstated the episcopal status of former head of the (non-canonical) Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret as former metropolitan of Kyiv, while the so-called Kyiv Patriarchate “does not exist and never existed,” Patriarch Bartholomew said in a statement. The head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, Sergey Tomilenko, posted a scan of the official address to Ukrainian journalists from Patriarch Bartholomew, who met with him in Istanbul last week, on his Facebook account. In his address, Patriarch Bartholomew reiterated his support for Ukraine and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and insisted that granting it autocephaly “had nothing to do with politics or geopolitics,” as the Mother Church of Constantinople has seen that, “for decades, if not centuries, Ukraine was not able to enjoy complete freedom from external influences, especially from the Russian State.” He continued: “As for Filaret, he was restored to his episcopal dignity as former Metropolitan of Kyiv. The so-called ‘Patriarchate of Kyiv’ does not exist and never existed.” Patriarch Bartholomew added: “We also profess, now that autocephaly has been granted, that it is the responsibility of the primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, His Eminence Metropolitan Epifaniy, to lead this historic Church, strengthening the unity of the Ukrainian people, inspiring Christian values based on the Gospel, and making the gift of freedom a means to spread the good news of the New Testament.” (Interfax)
Manitoba agreement with school in Ukraine
The government of Manitoba said on June 3 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with a school in Ukraine. The agreement will allow students at Novopecherska School in Kyiv to study the Manitoba high school curriculum and earn a Manitoba high school diploma. “Manitoba is proud of its strong ties to Ukraine and excited for this new partnership that will allow students in Kyiv to study the Manitoba curriculum,” said the province’s Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen. “We hope international high school students who graduate with a Manitoba diploma will consider Canada as an option for their post-secondary studies. The province’s post-secondary education system is internationally recognized for its leading-edge facilities and first-rate educators, and is an excellent choice for international students.” The agreement authorizes Novopecherska to offer a Manitoba Blended Program for grades 9 to 12, and allows students who complete all credits and program requirements to graduate with a Manitoba high school diploma and a Ukrainian high school diploma. Students will be encouraged to use the Manitoba diploma to apply to Canadian post-secondary institutions. “We are currently developing global educational partnerships as a part of our strategic plan,” said Irena Korbabicz-Putko, principal, Novopecherska School. “Ukraine has a historical relationship with Manitoba via diaspora and we are looking to collaboratively develop educational opportunities for students and teachers.” The agreement between Manitoba and Novopecherska School is the first Canada-Ukraine bilateral agreement that supports a dual program of studies leading to a high school diploma. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)