Ukrainian soldier killed, four wounded
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said one of its soldiers was killed and four were wounded in clashes that occurred early on February 18 near the town of Zolote in the Luhansk region. The ministry accused the Russian-backed separatists of violating ceasefire agreements by shelling Ukrainian positions on the line of contact. Meanwhile, the leader of the militants in the Luhansk region, Yakov Osadchy, said four separatist fighters were killed and four were wounded in the clashes, which he said started when a group of Ukrainian soldiers tried to enter separatist-controlled territory but entered a minefield. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv reacted to the events, calling on Moscow to fulfill its obligations outlined in earlier peace agreements. The 2015 Minsk agreement is a peace plan that was brokered by France and Germany in the Belarussian capital and set a series of ceasefires in eastern Ukraine that have generally failed to hold. Known as the Normandy format, the latest four-way talks between Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany were held in Paris in December. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the latest clashes “an attempt to disrupt the peace process” and held a session of the Security Council to discuss the new developments. After the session, the president said the “situation is fully controlled by our army.” Mr. Zelenskyy added, “We are sure that this provocation will not change the course which we have been confidently on, getting closer to the end of the war, towards peace.” The Ukrainian soldier killed was later identified as Maksym Khitalylov, a 22-year-old grenade launcher with the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. At least 14 Ukrainian service members have been killed since the beginning of the year. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by UNIAN, RT and Interfax)
OSCE urges restraint in Donbas
Two high-ranking officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expressed deep concern over the recent upsurge in fighting in eastern Ukraine that killed at least five combatants and wounded at least eight others near a frontline town from which the warring sides withdrew forces in November. OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Edi Rama and Secretary-General Thomas Greminger said they regretted reports of casualties, while calling for “restraint and full respect” for the latest ceasefire that was brokered in Paris in December, according to a February 18 news release. “This latest incident is not isolated,” Mr. Rama said. “Every day the ceasefire is violated, despite the undertakings set out in the Minsk agreements, and the explicit commitment to ‘a full and comprehensive implementation of the ceasefire’ agreed in Paris two months ago.” Mr. Greminger, meanwhile, urged “all sides to exercise maximum restraint,” adding that “the positive steps” taken in recent months to de-escalate the conflict “should not be undone.” Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists exchanged accusations over the latest deadly clashes in the country’s east on February 18. It was the most intense fighting the six-year war has seen in months and the heaviest since President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took office in May. Fighting died down around 10 a.m. after the Moscow-backed separatists requested a cease-fire to recover their wounded and dead, said Gen. Ruslan Khomchak, chief of the general staff of the Armed Forces. At a briefing later in the day with the Ukrainian president, Gen. Khomchak said three forward observation posts came under heavy attack from shelling, tank rockets, and infantry rounds. Ukraine was forced to swiftly mobilize a full-blown defensive operation in the affected areas, the general said. Fighting was fiercest at the observation point code-named “the Bathhouse,” from where Ukrainian forces withdrew. Neither side controls the abandoned observation post now, he added. (RFE/RL)
Kyiv sends evacuation flight to China
A plane chartered by the Ukrainian government landed in China on February 19 to evacuate 87 people, including 48 citizens, from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, said Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s national security chief. Operated by SkyUp airlines, the Boeing 737-700 aircraft took off from Kyiv. “I’m sure the [return] flight will be comfortable and calm. We look forward to receiving [the passengers] on our native land,” Mr. Danilov said on Facebook. Flight data from the carrier showed the plane was scheduled to arrive back in Kyiv on February 20 at 8:05 a.m. Mr. Danilov said 29 foreign nationals are also expected to be evacuated. Nationals of Israel, Norway, Montenegro, Argentina, Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Spain are among the foreigners, the Health Ministry said earlier. Upon their arrival, Ukraine is looking to house them under quarantine for 14 days at one or more of four sites, depending on the ultimate size of the group that arrives. However, the potential sites weren’t disclosed “due to safety concerns,” Health Minister Zoryana Skaletska told journalists in Kyiv on February 18. News media reported on February 19 that all those being evacuated are healthy. Deputy Health Minister Dmytro Koval told reporters in Kyiv that “everyone is healthy” and “there is no threat.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP, Hromadske and Censor.net)
Kyiv disrupts Russian-supported bot network
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on February 17 said it had disrupted a network of “bot farms” and seized computer and telecommunications equipment that were supported by Russian online services in five Ukrainian cities. Telecommunication platforms were used to create and promote 8,000 fake social-media accounts and groups that were used to spread “fake information about the situation in Ukraine, incite protests, scare the public, send notices of bomb threats at critical infrastructure sites,” and troll the accounts of high-ranking officials, the SBU reported on its website on February 17. The operation took place in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Dubno and Irpin. Firearms, explosive devices and narcotics were also distributed using the social-media accounts. These accounts were registered on the Internet through Russian online services that provided virtual mobile-number services. Some of the equipment was used to illegally reroute mobile-phone traffic from two “illegally created” mobile carriers that operate in territories that Russia-backed forces control in the eastern part of the country, the SBU said. While conducting searches in the five cities, the SBU found computer equipment, GSM modems, computer network gateways and more than 22,000 SIM cards from Ukrainian mobile carriers. The involvement of Russian special services and intelligence bodies in the bot farms is being checked, the SBU said. (RFE/RL)
Macron calls for new Russia policy
France’s president has said that Russia would continue trying to destabilize Western democracies, but he called for Europe to adopt a new approach toward Moscow. Speaking on February 15 at the Munich Security Conference, Emmanuel Macron said European allies need to do more to engage with Russia, and he criticized the continuing Western sanctions imposed on Russia six years ago. The 2017 French presidential election that was won by Mr. Macron was roiled by a massive leak of e-mails, some forged, that appeared to target the Macron campaign. U.S. and French officials later concluded that the hack was overseen by Russian hackers. That was also the finding of a Japanese cybersecurity firm. Mr. Macron also said Russia’s strategy for destabilizing Western democracies was to support political parties that are socially conservative, anti-European, and anti-immigration. “There will always be some meddling,” he said. “Russia is very aggressive and will continue to be so… We have very few antibodies against this type of attack and this is a weakness.” Mr. Macron called for resuming some sort of dialogue with Russia about Ukraine, and he criticized the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March 2014, and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine where more than 13,000 people have died since the conflict began in April 2014. “It is not a policy, it’s a completely inefficient system,” Mr. Macron said. “There is a second choice which is to be demanding and restart a strategic dialogue because today we talk less and less, conflicts multiply and we aren’t able to resolve them.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters)
U.S. senators reaffirm bipartisan backing
Three senior U.S. senators arrived in Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reaffirm bipartisan support for continued strong relations between the two countries, despite an impeachment process that put Kyiv in the middle of a sensitive political situation. “We just finished a very difficult moment in American politics,” Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut told reporters on February 14 following the meeting. “The three of us are [from] different parties. We voted differently on the matter of impeachment,” he said, referring to the fellow members of the U.S. contingent, Republicans Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and John Barrasso of Wyoming. “But we are here together because there is no difference between us or between Republicans and Democrats in Congress in our support for Ukraine, for our support for continued funding for Ukraine to defend itself, and our continued support for reform,” he added. The visiting U.S. senators sought to reassure Mr. Zelenskyy that the divisive impeachment case would not damage U.S.-Ukraine relations. “Our message is we want to put this impeachment question behind us and we want to be moving together, Republicans and Democrats, in supporting Ukraine,” Sen. Murphy said. “We all are confident that President Zelenskyy does not want to be involved in U.S. politics, and we hope that any pressure [that] existed in the past to do so is over,” he added. Sen. Johnson praised Mr. Zelenskyy, who assumed the presidency in May 2018, for making gains in rooting out corruption during the initial months following his election. “We leave Ukraine convinced of President Zelenskyy’s dedication to fulfilling his mandate to defeat corruption and are optimistic for the future of Ukraine,” he said. Mr. Zelenskyy said he wants to change Ukraine’s global image so that his country is no longer associated with graft. “We want people who speak of Ukraine to think not about corruption – but about our wonderful country with good people and an attractive investment climate,” he said. “We are fighting against monopolies and privatization is now being carried out through open competition. That will all aid us in the fight against corruption in our country.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, CQ-Roll Call, Reuters, AP and Interfax)
Russia detains Ukrainian fishermen
The head of Ukraine’s border guard service, Serhiy Deyneko, said Russia should release four Ukrainian fishermen it detained for allegedly fishing illegally once their 10-day civil arrest term expires in occupied Crimea. “We know all the citizens who were detained. The fishermen are being held in a detention facility in Kerch,” Mr. Deyneko told Interfax news agency on February 17. He added there is no evidence so far that the Ukrainians were illegally fishing in the Sea of Azov. “At the moment, we do not have information that clearly indicates that citizens detained by the Russian side were fishing illegally, so we can only evaluate the information we have available and to which we have access,” he noted. He said the Foreign Affairs Ministry and law enforcement agencies are cooperating and doing their “utmost to bring our citizens back to Ukraine as soon as possible.” Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry on February 17 summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires and protested the fishermen’s detention. “We demand that the Russian side steadily adhere to the international and legal obligations and treaties which it is party to and immediately provide exhaustive information about the circumstances of the detention of the Ukrainian fishing vessel and its four crew members,” the ministry said on its website. On February 16, a Russian-administered court in Kerch on the Ukrainian peninsula ruled to arrest the four Ukrainian fishermen, who were detained along with their boat the previous day near the Crimean coast. Mr. Deyneko said their boat was about 50 kilometers from the coast of Crimea. Pavlo Melnyk, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the ruling Servant of the People party, named the fishermen as Serhiy Hoha, Oleksiy Ivanov, Vasyl Tyurkedzhi and Maksym Tyeryekhov, all from Zaporizhia. The border guard force of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it apprehended the fishermen on February 15 and accused them of “violating rules of catching aquatic biological resources.” The FSB also said the boat’s captain had admitted guilt during questioning. The fishermen didn’t have documents on their person and the catch on board the vessel was illegal, said Larisa Opanasyuk, the human rights ombudswoman on the Russian-occupied peninsula. A 2003 Russia-Ukraine treaty stipulates unimpeded access to the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov, including the sharing of its aquatic resources. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by Interfax)
Rocket produced by U.S., Ukraine lifts off
A medium-class rocket jointly developed by U.S. and Ukrainian specialists successfully launched from a NASA flight facility in Virginia on February 15, carrying nearly four tons of supplies, hardware, and science payloads to the International Space Station (ISS). The Antares rocket, partly designed by the Pivdenne Design Bureau and made by the Pivdenmash in Ukraine’s Dnipro region, lifted off at 3:21 p.m. local time carrying U.S. defense corporation Northrop Grumman’s robotic Cygnus cargo spacecraft. Its cylindrical 3,750-kilogram payload included fresh fruit, cheddar and manchego cheese, as well as candy for the crew aboard the ISS. The first electron microscope to fly in space, built by a Seattle company called Voxa, will conduct scientific experiments aboard the Cygnus. “The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until May 11, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory,” NASA said in a news release. It will support dozens of new and existing investigations, according to a blog by NASA and Northrop Grumman. (RFE/RL)
Hungarian foreign minister visits Kyiv
Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto says his country would like to improve relations with Ukraine amid a dispute over a controversial language law. The remarks came on February 7 during a visit to Kyiv by Mr. Szijjarto, his first trip to Hungary’s eastern neighbor since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected last year. “The Hungarian government is interested in renewing good neighborly relations with Ukraine,” Mr. Szijjarto said during a news conference with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Kyiv in 2017 passed a law that emphasizes the instruction of Ukrainian in publicly funded schools and curtails the teaching of Russian and other minority languages, such as Romanian and Hungarian. The Council of Europe’s constitutional experts have criticized the language legislation and previous regulations regarding educational institutions signed into law by the country’s previous president, Petro Poroshenko. Hungary, in particular, opposes the law, saying it restricts the right of Ukraine’s ethnic Hungarian minority of approximately 125,000 people to be educated in their native language. Kyiv maintains the legislation is designed to ensure that all Ukrainian citizens can speak the state’s official language, and it denies the law is discriminatory. Hungarians are the largest minority group in Transcarpathia, a western Ukrainian region that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. “We want the Hungarians who live in Transcarpathia to have the opportunity to preserve their native language,” Mr. Szijjarto said. He added that he “made a couple of suggestions” in a meeting with Ukraine’s education minister to resolve the situation and urged Kyiv to consider them. Mr. Kuleba said Ukraine wants Transcarpathia to become “a success story, thanks to the joint efforts of Ukraine and Hungary.” Hungary, a member of NATO and the European Union, has threatened to stymie Ukraine’s aspirations of joining the organizations until matters dividing the countries are resolved. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP and Interfax)
Crimean journalist moves to mainland
RFE/RL contributor Mykola Semena – a journalist who has been convicted of “separatism” in Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Crimea region before a court there expunged his criminal record – has arrived in Kyiv following his release from detention in Symferopol. Mr. Semena, 69, is seeking medical care in Kyiv for a heart condition and damaged spine. In 2017, Mr. Semena was handed a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence together with a ban from “public activity” for three years. On January 14, a court in Crimea’s capital, Symferopol, ruled to prematurely terminate Mr. Semena’s sentence period and expunge his criminal record. The journalist said he was planning to stay in mainland Ukraine “indefinitely,” adding: “As long as part of Ukraine is occupied, I cannot consider it my home. My family thinks the same.” RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said the news of Mr. Semena’s “safety and security is long-awaited and joyous.” He added, “His arrest, almost four years ago, for publishing criticism of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, was always wrong and violated every basic human right and freedom.” (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Dutch reject bid to try suspects in Russia
The Netherlands has rejected an offer by Moscow to prosecute three Russian men suspected of involvement in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) that cost the lives of 298 people. Dutch Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus said on February 12 that Moscow had sent a letter in October 2019 in which it asked whether the Netherlands would consider transferring the criminal prosecution of three suspects to Moscow. “The Justice and Security Ministry replied that the transfer of criminal proceedings against the three Russian suspects by the Dutch authorities is not an option and has not been taken into consideration,” Mr. Grapperhaus said in a letter to Parliament. The trial of the men “is an important step in finding the truth and justice for all 298 victims of flight MH17 and their relatives,” Grapperhaus said. “The government has full confidence in the independence and quality of Dutch justice.” The three Russian nationals and a fourth suspect, a Ukrainian citizen, are believed to be residing in Russia. The Netherlands is leading an international investigation into the shootdown of MH17 on July 17, 2014. About two-thirds of the victims were Dutch nationals. The first hearing in the case has been set for March 9 at a high-security courthouse near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. If the matter goes to trial, the suspects – Russian citizens Igor Girkin, Oleg Pulatov and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko – could be tried in absentia under Dutch law. Another suspect, Volodymyr Tsemakh, was among 35 prisoners sent to Moscow from Kyiv in the September 7 swap of 70 people captured during fighting in eastern Ukraine. The JIT had pleaded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to keep Mr. Tsemakh in Ukrainian custody, but Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly insisted that he be included in the exchange or the swap would be called off. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP and Reuters)