Ukrainians return on evacuation flights
Over 470 Ukrainians have arrived at Kyiv’s Boryspil Airport on evacuation flights from Canada, Norway and India, the press service of the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry reported on Telegram on May 7. “More than 470 passengers who arrived on three evacuation flights from Toronto, Oslo and Goa have been registered at the Boryspil checkpoint in the past 24 hours,” the report said. Those who arrived did not have signs of fever or symptoms of flu. After employees of the State Border Guard Service checked their registration in the Diia application, people left on two-week self-isolation for their specified addresses. One passenger who arrived from Goa decided to stay in quarantine at a designated observation facility. (Ukrinform)
One soldier killed, three wounded
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported that during the week of April 24-30, one Ukrainian soldier was killed and six Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action. During that week, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front 93 times in total, including at least 40 times with heavy weapons – mortars and artillery. No additional deaths were reported in the first days of May. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Consultative body not discussed by Normandy four
The foreign affairs ministers of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia – the Normandy four – have not discussed the creation of the so-called Consultative Council within the Trilateral Contact Group’s political subgroup during their video conference on April 30 and only listened to Russia’s position on this matter. “My Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, raised this issue [the creation of the so-called Consultative Council] and expressed Russia’s position on this matter in detail, but we did not discuss it. We listened to the position of our Russian counterpart on the Consultative Council,” Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said in an online briefing on April 30. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing, citing Ukrinform)
Yermak: Ukraine to take proactive position
A high level of Ukraine’s representation in the Trilateral Contact Group should demonstrate to the world the country’s serious commitment to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and it will remain in place even if Russia makes no steps on its part, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, said to reporters on May 7. “The decision has been made to increase Ukraine’s representation in the TCG. I believe that with this step Ukraine once again demonstrates the seriousness of its intentions to implement the Minsk agreements. We want to move forward and not to waste time. Today we are showing the world and, in particular, Russia that Ukraine is doing everything in its power to fulfill the Minsk agreements without crossing our ‘red lines.’ If there are no retaliatory steps, we will continue to work in the same format,” Mr. Yermak said. He reiterated that the parties to the TCG are Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) – “there are no other parties in the TCG, there are invited people.” At the same time, Mr. Yermak noted that the initiatives of the Ukrainian side are not a “100 percent panacea,” but “this is our sovereign right.” He stated: “We think we need it and our position will be proactive. Ukraine will be the initiator. Ukraine will be the dominant party in all further negotiations. No one will wait anymore. The war is going on in our territory, our people are dying. That’s why today we will take a dominant position.” On May 5, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed the composition of the Ukrainian delegation for participation in the Trilateral Contact Group for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in Donetsk and Luhansk Regions. The Ukrainian delegation to the TCG is headed by Leonid Kuchma, president of Ukraine in 1994-2005, as well as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov (first deputy head of the delegation), Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko (deputy head of the delegation), Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Yulia Svyrydenko (Ukraine’s representative in the working subgroup on socio-economic issues), and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy Andriy Kostin (Ukraine’s representative in the working subgroup on political issues). In addition, the delegation includes Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Polishchuk (Ukraine’s representative in the working subgroup on security issues) and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans’ Rights Halyna Tretiakova (Ukraine’s representative in the working subgroup on humanitarian issues). (Ukrinform)
SBU says it detained Russian agent
The Security Service of Ukraine (known by its Ukrainian-based acronym as SBU) says it has detained an alleged spy accused of collecting data on a “modern missile system” on behalf of Russia. The SBU said in a statement that a resident of Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk was detained on May 6 while trying to pass “secret technical documentation” regarding the Ukrainian system to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The detainee, who is accused of committing high treason, promised Ukrainian military personnel cash in return for the classified information. Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been tense since Russia seized and annexed Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March 2014. Moscow has also fomented unrest and backed militants in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, where some 13,200 people have been killed in the ensuing conflict since April 2014. (RFE/RL)
Preparations for Eastern Partnership summit
Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Polish counterpart, Jacek Czaputowicz, have discussed preparations for the Eastern Partnership summit, the press service of Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry reported on May 7, following a telephone conversation between the two diplomats. The next Eastern Partnership summit is scheduled to take place in June. “The parties paid special attention to preparations for the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit and cooperation as part of the Ukraine-EU agenda,” the statement reads. It notes that Mr. Czaputowicz assured Mr. Kuleba of Poland’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic choice and reaffirmed the need to keep in place the EU sanctions against Russia. The ministers also discussed bilateral cooperation, as well as the efforts of both countries to counter the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. They agreed on a schedule of diplomatic contacts for the near future. (Ukrinform)
Ryaboshapka under investigation
Former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka, who was forced out in a parliamentary vote of no confidence two months ago, is now under investigation. Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office told RFE/RL on May 6 that it had opened “criminal proceedings” against Mr. Ryaboshapka for what the Criminal Code describes as “declaring… false information” and “accepting an offer, promise, or obtaining an illicit benefit from an official.” The office’s representatives said: “We have complied with a court decision and filed a case [against Ryaboshapka] at the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations on Prior Legal Qualification under Articles 366-1 and Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.” Mr. Ryaboshapka told RFE/RL that the case against him was “pointless from the point of view of criminal law,” adding, “I have already dozens of times explained this and had thought that it had been forgotten.” He said: “This announcement by a prosecutor whom I fired and who is apparently offended by me concerns a fact that has been covered many times in the media.” The case apparently involves a house in France where Mr. Ryaboshapka’s wife and children live. Mr. Ryaboshabka has said his wife took out a commercial loan to purchase the nearly 500,000-euro ($540,500 U.S.) property, which he said they continue to pay. “This situation is being manipulated,” he told Ukraine’s 112.ua website in February, “because we still owe around 400,000 euros [$432,400] on this loan. We continue to pay it off monthly.” Mr. Ryaboshapka was well-regarded by anti-corruption activists for his efforts to streamline and professionalize the scandal-ridden Prosecutor General’s Office. The 43-year-old Mr. Ryaboshapka made headlines last year as one of the officials to decide whether to launch a probe into former U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and his son Hunter over the younger Biden’s role at energy firm Burisma Holdings. The case was entangled in the impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump. Mr. Ryaboshapka served as prosecutor general from August 29, 2019, until March 5. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Ukraine GDP to fall 11% this quarter
Ukraine Business News reported that Ukraine is living through an 11 percent GDP drop this quarter, according to estimates of the National Bank of Ukraine. However, the central bank predicts a V-shaped economy for the second half, reducing GDP contraction for the whole year to 5 percent. “The negative impact of the pandemic on the Ukrainian economy will be relatively short-term, but quite powerful,” the bank reports, noting that the Q1 year-on-year drop was only 0.5 percent. After coronavirus restrictions ease, retail, tourism and aviation will be slow to recover, partly due to depleted savings and missed earnings, the bank predicts. Food exports should remain strong, due to inelastic demand. Metal exports will be slow to recover due to decreased demand worldwide. Ukraine’s steel output in April was down 27 percent year-on-year according to a flash estimate by UkrMetalurgProm, Ukraine’s steelmakers association. April’s production of 47,000 tons, was down 20 percent from the March level of 58,400 tons. Since the start of the year, steel prices have dropped by 20 percent. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing, citing Ukraine Business News)