Zelenskyy on swap of Berkut fighters
A mass prisoner exchange of 200 prisoners, which took place at a checkpoint near the separatist-held city of Horlivka in the eastern Donetsk region on December 29, 2019, included military personnel, civilians, members of Ukraine’s disbanded Berkut security forces, and two RFE/RL journalists. Ukraine handed over 124 prisoners, while the Russia-backed militants turned over 76 prisoners as part of a deal negotiated during a meeting of the so-called Normandy Four – Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France – in Paris on December 9, 2019. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined family members and supporters of the former prisoners who gathered at Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport late in the evening of December 29 to greet the returnees. “The people are home. We did what we said: [The prisoner swap took place] before the New Year,” Mr. Zelenskyy told reporters after the tearful welcoming. “So, they will celebrate New Year with their families, in their homes, with parents, with children. That is great. I am happy and – I am convinced – so are they.” Mr. Zelenskyy also addressed the controversial decision to hand over five Berkut members accused of killing participants of the 2014 Euro-Maidan protests that led to the ouster of Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych. “If we hadn’t exchanged Berkut fighters, we would not have returned our people – living people,” Mr. Zelenskyy told reporters after greeting the former captives upon their arrival at Boryspil Airport. “If I could give away 100 Berkut fighters in order to return one of our scouts, I would do it.” Families of protesters killed by riot police during the pro-Western unrest in 2014 had publicly objected to any of the police officers convicted in those killings being part of a trade, warning in an open letter on Facebook that the release of the men could lead to a “wave of protests.” (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, DPA, UNIAN, and Interfax)
44 percent approve Ukraine’s path
Nearly half of Ukrainians say the country is moving in the right direction, more than double the number a year ago, according to a new survey. The poll published on December 26, 2019, by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and Razumkov Center said 44 percent of Ukrainians responded positively when asked about the country’s current path. That is up from 18 percent last year. Seven in 10 Ukrainians last year thought the country was moving in the wrong direction. More than a third think Ukraine’s economy will improve in the next two or three years, according to the survey. The survey comes eight months after voters elected Volodymyr Zelenskyy president in a landslide victory, won over by his promises to fight corruption, attract foreign investment, boost economic growth and end the war in the Donbas. Since his inauguration in May, President Zelenskyy has taken steps to reform the country’s agriculture sector and sell off state assets, helping him secure a new loan agreement from the International Monetary Fund. Mr. Zelenskyy has also reached a deal on a new gas-transit contract with Russia as well as an agreement on an exchange of prisoners. (RFE/RL)
New contracts for U.S. Javelins
Deputy Defense Minister Anatoliy Petrenko says Kyiv recently concluded contracts for the delivery of a second batch of Javelin U.S. anti-tank missile systems. Speaking on December 26, 2019, Mr. Petrenko said three contracts had been signed in the past three months in connection with the Javelins – two with the U.S. government under the Foreign Military Sales program and one with NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency. The U.S. State Department in October 2019 approved the sale of $39.2 million in military equipment to Ukraine, including a second batch of Javelins, the world’s deadliest anti-tank missiles, to help Kyiv in its ongoing five-year war against Russia-backed separatists. The deal reportedly included 150 Javelin missiles and 10 launch units, adding to the 210 missiles and 37 launchers that Ukraine bought from the United States in 2018. The Javelin missile systems are meant to be used in the event of a large-scale escalation in the war and not for offensive purposes, U.S. and Ukrainian officials have said. The Javelin missiles were mentioned in a controversial July 25 telephone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that was at the center of a whistle-blower complaint against the U.S. leader. In the July phone call, according to White House notes of the conversation, Mr. Zelenskyy said he wanted “to buy more Javelins” before Mr. Trump asked the Ukrainian president for “a favor, though.” The sale of the Javelins had been finalized before the call. But Democrats accuse Mr. Trump of pressuring Mr. Zelenskyy to investigate former U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had business dealings in Ukraine, by threatening to hold up military aid to Kyiv. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
U.N. adopts updated resolution on Crimea
The United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 2019, adopted a draft resolution seeking protection of human rights in Russian-occupied Crimea, according to Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the international body in New York. Sixty-five countries voted in favor of the resolution, 23 against, and 83 abstained. Among the countries that opposed the document’s adoption were Russia, Belarus, Armenia, China, Venezuela, Syria and Iran. This resolution, combined with an earlier U.N. resolution adopted on Russia militarizing the Crimean peninsula, adds to Kyiv’s political and diplomatic toolbox for restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Oleh Nikolenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s U.N. Mission, said on Facebook. “Whatever they want in Moscow, the Crimean issue is not closed and will be kept on the international agenda,” Mr. Nikolenko said. “We have a clear understanding among partners that Russia’s illegal activity in and around Crimea concerns not only Ukraine’s interests but also their national security. Therefore, the pressure will remain.” The core elements of the most recent U.N. resolution on Crimea reinforced the body’s definition of “aggression,” which states that “no territorial acquisition or special advantage resulting from aggression is or shall be recognized as lawful.” It “strongly condemns mass detentions on terrorism grounds and other forms of repressions against human rights defenders, including against” Crimean activists. The resolution condemns Russia for changing “the demographic structure of the population of Crimea” and urges Moscow to “stop transferring its own civilian population to Crimea.” (RFE/RL)
Rada lifts immunity for national deputies
The Verkhovna Rada, on December 18, 2019, passed a bill in its final reading that cancels immunity from prosecution for lawmakers. A solid majority of 291 national deputies voted for the bill, which was a key feature among President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s campaign promises. It essentially simplifies the procedure for prosecuting corrupt lawmakers, allowing law enforcement to bypass Parliament when requesting permission to detain or arrest them. It also contains a disputed rule that gives the prosecutor general the sole power to initiate criminal proceedings against members of Parliament. President Zelenskyy signed the bill, and the law will go into effect on January 1. Thirty-two partial or full changes were made between the first and second readings of the draft law. Two of them strike wording from the Constitution of Ukraine. One removes the clause that says national deputies are “guaranteed parliamentary immunity.” Also taken out was language that lawmakers “cannot be prosecuted, detained or arrested without the consent of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.” The bill stipulates that the prosecutor general is the only person who can open a criminal case and has the right to enter data on offenses committed by deputies into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations (ERDR). The chief prosecutor also files motions to detain lawmakers. This particular rule was the most controversial. Two graft-fighting agencies asked Mr. Zelenskyy to veto the bill because of it. The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) and National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) in separate statements said the rule infringes on their respective agencies’ independence. In a statement, NABU said the rule compels it to convince the prosecutor general to register a criminal case each time they want to initiate an investigation into a lawmaker. “In addition, the draft law doesn’t specify how investigators should transmit information to the prosecutor general to initiate an investigation,” NABU said. According to the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Kyiv, the bill strengthens selective immunity for certain lawmakers because the power to open a criminal case lies with one person. “According to this draft law, the prosecutor general receives a monopoly to initiate criminal proceedings against members of Parliament,” the corruption watchdog said on its website. “That means that only one person in the country can submit information to the ERDR, which means the initiation of an investigation against members of Parliament depends on the integrity or availability of the prosecutor-general.” National Deputy Denys Monastyrsky of the pro-presidential Servant of the People party said the rule makes the chief prosecutor more accountable. “A vote of no confidence can be personally taken regarding the prosecutor general,” he told Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America. “So, in order for him not to transfer responsibility to his subordinates and other participants in criminal proceedings, the Verkhovna Rada decided to concentrate these powers with this person.” (Current Time, with reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, Hromadske, and Ukrayinska Pravda)
Lawmakers to be fined for multiple voting
The Verkhovna Rada, on December 19, 2019, passed a law in its second and final reading that makes it a criminal offense for a member of parliament to vote for one or more lawmakers. The crime is punishable by a fine that ranges between $2,180 and $3,640, but could rise because it is pegged to a multiplier of the monthly minimum wage. According to the law, accredited journalists in Parliament can report multiple voting violations to the parliamentary administrative office. The law passed in its first reading on October 29, 2019, and was one of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s campaign promises this year. Given its prevalence in the legislature, journalists attending plenary sessions seated on the balcony with a bird’s eye view of the chamber have labeled the practice “piano voting.” Lawmakers have been filmed numerous times using their colleagues’ parliamentary registration cards during plenary sessions and voting on their behalf. In September 2019, journalists filmed two lawmakers from the pro-presidential Servant of the People party, Serhiy Lytvynenko and Olena Kopanchuk, voting for someone else. They later publicly apologized and promised to donate their monthly salaries to charity. (RFE/RL)
Details disclosed of Russia-Ukraine gas deal
Officials from Russia and Ukraine have given details on a new five-year deal to transport Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine. News of the deal was first reported late on December 20, 2019, ending worries that Europe could be without a large amount of Russian gas, which it relies on for heating and industry. Russia ships about 40 percent of its European gas deliveries through pipelines that cross Ukraine. The current contract was due to expire at the end of the year and delays in concluding a new one caused concern in Europe. Officials in the Russian and Ukrainian capitals said they plan to have the new contract signed before New Year’s Day. Ukrainian Energy Minister Oleksiy Orzhel said on December 21 that the agreement foresees shipments of 65 billion cubic meters through Ukraine in 2020 and annual shipments of 40 billion cubic meters thereafter. Those amounts are smaller than what Russia has sent through Ukraine in previous years. Russia has been working intensively to build new delivery networks that bypass Ukraine. Those networks include the under-construction Nord Stream 2 undersea pipeline between Russia and Germany, whose immediate future has been thrown into doubt after the company laying sections of the pipeline said it is suspending work because of U.S. legislation threatening sanctions. The Ukraine-Russia deal also includes payment by Russia of $2.9 billion to settle an arbitration claim arising from previous transit disputes and waives new claims, said Aleksei Miller, head of Russia’s state natural gas monopoly, Gazprom. Ukraine stopped importing gas directly from Russia in 2015 after Moscow sent troops into Crimea the previous year, eventually taking it over while backing separatists in two eastern Ukrainian regions. Instead, Kyiv gets Russian gas indirectly through reverse flows from neighboring EU countries, namely Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. An additional reverse-flow point is expected to open with Romania on January 1. (RFE/RL, with reporting by TASS, AP, AFP and Reuters)
Putin opens Crimea bridge to rail traffic
Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken part in a ceremony officially opening a controversial bridge from mainland Russia to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula to rail traffic. Ukraine, the United States and the European Union have condemned Russia’s construction of the bridge, calling it a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, with the Western powers imposing sanctions on firms associated with the building of the 19-kilometer-long structure. Flanked by local government officials, Mr. Putin thanked the workers for their efforts to build “this huge project,” in a ceremony broadcast live on state-run Russian TV. In November 2019, the privately owned Grand Service Express railway company announced that the first train would depart from St. Petersburg for Sevastopol on December 23, 2019, and would travel 2,741 kilometers in 43.5 hours. The segment from Moscow to Symferopol, the peninsula’s capital city, a distance of 2,009 kilometers, was to take 33 hours. The bridge cost $3.7 billion to build and is Europe’s longest, surpassing the Vasco de Gama bridge in Portugal. The railway section of the bridge marks its expanded use after Mr. Putin opened the connection on May 15, 2018, for vehicle usage. Crimea is connected to the mainland in Ukraine only, so the bridge is the sole link between the peninsula and Russia. Ukraine has condemned the project not only for violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity but also for its low clearance, which has encumbered maritime shipping traffic for Ukraine. A spokesman for EU-foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell further criticized the opening of the transport link. “This constitutes another violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by Russia,” Peter Stano said, according to DPA. “The European Union expects Russia to ensure unhindered and free passage through the Kerch Strait, in accordance with international law,” the statement added. (RFE/RL, with reporting by DPA, Interfax, Reuters, and The Moscow Times)
Criminal probe of Russia’s railway bridge
Kyiv has launched a criminal investigation after a Russian passenger train arrived in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula using a controversial, Russian-built bridge. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement on December 25 that it had “opened a criminal case in relation to the illegal crossing of Ukraine’s state border by a passenger train.” The Russian train, owned by the private Grand Service Express railway company, departed from St. Petersburg on December 23, 2019, and arrived in Sevastopol on December 25. Grand Service Express said that it plans to launch eight new routes to Crimea in May 2020, according to the Russian state-run TASS news agency. Among the Russian cities being considered for the routes are Murmansk, the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and the southern mountain resort town of Kislovodsk. Sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States have targeted those involved in the bridge’s construction. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP and TASS)