Prosecutor wants 23 years for Savchenko
KYIV – Russia’s prosecutor has called for a 23-year prison term for Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who has been accused by Russian authorities of involvement in the deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. The call came as closing arguments in the trial began on March 2. Ms. Savchenko was fighting in a volunteer battalion against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine when she was captured in June 2014. She has accused the separatists of kidnapping her and taking her into Russia where she was jailed and charged. Kyiv says the charges against her are trumped up and that she should be treated as a prisoner of war. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters, AP, TASS and Interfax)
Savchenko pledges full hunger strike
KYIV – Nadiya Savchenko, who has been refusing food while on trial in Russia, has threatened to go on full hunger strike unless she is extradited back home after the verdict. Ms. Savchenko’s sister, Vira Savchenko, said on March 1 that if she was not returned home within 10 days after the ruling, she would start refusing to drink. Closing arguments in the Savchenko trial began on March 2 and a verdict is expected soon afterwards. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and uatoday.tv)
Russian military command linked to MH17
LEICESTER, England – A team of open-source researchers investigating the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has published a report it provided to Dutch prosecutors linking the commanders of a Russian military unit to the plane’s downing. The latest report, released on February 24 by the British group known as Bellingcat, links higher-ups in Russia’s military chain of command to the tragedy and adds other details building on earlier investigations into the July 2014 downing of MH17. Its previous reports had identified Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade as being the likely source of the missile that Dutch aviation officials say brought down the jet, killing all 298 people on board. The new report details the chain of command for this battalion and adds to the growing body of circumstantial evidence suggesting Russian complicity. This includes personal information about Russian military officers and enlisted soldiers who Bellingcat alleges specifically knew of, and possibly even manned, the Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile system believed to have brought down MH17. Bellingcat said that, if its conclusion about the Russian Buk missile launcher that allegedly downed MH17 is correct, the Russian Defense Ministry “bears the main responsibility for the MH17 tragedy, shared with the military commanders and leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.” (RFE/RL)
EU to extend sanctions on Yanukovych
BRUSSELS – European Union ambassadors have decided to extend an asset freeze against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and 15 of his close associates for at least one additional year. The restrictive measures were first put in place in March 2014 after Mr. Yanukovych fled Ukraine during the Euro-Maidan protests against his government. Other prominent figures on the EU blacklist for the alleged misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds include two former prime ministers, Mykola Azarov and Serhiy Arbuzov, and the former head of Yanukovych’s Presidential Administration, Andriy Kliuiev. EU officials say Ukraine’s former Health Minister Raisa Bohatyriova was removed from the blacklist because she has returned stolen assets to the Ukrainian authorities. EU ministers meeting in Brussels on March 4 are expected to approve the extension of the sanctions. If approved, the extension would become official when it is published in the EU’s official journal on March 5. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels)
Yanukovych wants to return as president
KYIV – A lawyer for Ukraine’s ousted former president, Viktor Yanukovych, says his client now wants to return to Ukraine and serve as its president. Speaking in an interview with the Glavkom newspaper, lawyer Vitaly Sergyuk said Mr. Yanukovych intends “to return to Ukraine” from his exile in Russia and that “legal steps will be taken for this.” Mr. Sergyuk maintains that Yanukovych did not relieve himself of his duties as president and opt out of ruling Ukraine. The lawyer also maintains that the procedure to dismiss Mr. Yanukovych from office violated Ukraine’s Constitution. Mr. Yanukovych fled Ukraine in late February after months of protests against his rule turned violent, leaving scores of demonstrators in Kyiv dead. A total of 328 lawmakers in Ukraine’s 450-seat Parliament voted on February 22, 2014, to remove Mr. Yanukovych from power, citing as grounds his abandonment of his office and the deaths of more than 80 protesters and police during the previous week. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by TASS and Glavkom)
UCC on Russia’s war against Ukraine
OTTAWA – The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) on February 26 issued the following statement on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Two years ago, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. Violating international law and several international treaties, Russian forces moved on sovereign Ukrainian territory in the Crimea. Crimea remains occupied by Russian forces to this day. The local population, especially the indigenous Crimean Tatar People, ethnic Ukrainians and all those who dare to oppose Russia’s occupation, are subject to terror and repression,” the UCC noted. “Today, in the eastern Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk, Russia’s armies continue to wage war against Ukraine. Russia routinely violates the Minsk ceasefire agreements and every day, Russian shells rain down upon Ukrainian military positions. Over 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been killed, tens of thousands wounded, and 1.5 million displaced from their homes. The people of Ukraine have responded to Russia’s ruthless aggression with bravery and determination. Their unity of purpose ensures that Ukraine will never again be subjugated to Moscow’s tyranny.” The UCC called on the leaders of Canada, the United States and their NATO allies to: “1. Provide Ukraine with the defensive weapons it needs to defend its territory and Ukraine’s civilian population from Russia’s attack; 2. Increase training of Ukrainian military personnel; 3. Increase sectoral sanctions against Russia’s defense, energy and financial sectors, in particular banning Russia from the SWIFT international banking system.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
Experts confer on drug trafficking
MINSK – More than 40 representatives of law enforcement agencies from Belarus, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, and experts from eight international organizations on February 17 concluded a two-day discussion in Minsk on greater cooperation among law enforcement agencies in combating the increasing spread of new psychoactive substances. The roundtable discussion was aimed at developing appropriate national legislative measures, procedures and operational practices in dealing with the supply of new psychoactive substances in Eastern Europe through promoting best practices and successful experiences, as well as strengthening the networking capacities of law enforcement authorities in the region. The discussion was organized by the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the Transnational Threat Department of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in conjunction with the Belarusian Internal Affairs Ministry upon the request of Belarus. “The Republic of Belarus, due to its geographical location and rapidly developing migration, and integration processes, faces the multi-faceted challenge of illicit drugs and New Psychoactive Substances,” said Valentin Mikhnevich, first deputy minister of internal affairs of Belarus. “The Belarusian authorities in cooperation with other member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization have taken a number of legislative measures, including Internet-related, in order to protect the country’s population, especially the youth, against this challenge.” Guy Vinet, head of the OSCE’s Strategic Police Matters Unit, said that “New psychoactive substances pose an evolving global threat to at least more than 100 countries and territories, with the majority of them in Europe. New psychoactive substances include those that are not controlled under international law, and by the time authorities spot and regulate them, organized crime quickly switches to selling completely new substances. Robust legislative measures and coordinated operational practices are needed to overcome this situation.” (OSCE)
Amnesty International: rights in jeopardy
LONDON – Amnesty International has warned that human rights and the laws and institutions meant to protect them are under threat around the world from an “insidious and creeping trend” among governments that are deliberately attacking or neglecting them. In its latest annual report, “The State of the World’s Human Rights,” the London-based human rights group calls on governments to give full political backing and funding to systems whose task is to uphold international law and protect individuals’ rights. The group says the U.N.’s human rights bodies, the International Criminal Court, and regional institutions such as the Council of Europe and the Inter American Human Rights system are being undermined by governments attempting to elude control of their domestic rights records. The report warns that “respect for human rights regressed” even in parts of the world with established and institutionalized traditions of safeguarding human rights, like the European Union, in the face of crises like the unprecedented influx of refugees prompted by the conflict in Syria, or terrorist attacks in France. Amnesty International says 2015 was a turbulent, difficult year for human rights across Europe and the former Soviet Union. The rights group points to the negative effect that the continued Moscow-backed conflict in eastern Ukraine has had on the human rights situation in both countries. “In Russia, we have seen criminal prosecution of people who have publicly criticized Russia’s policies towards Ukraine, and this has been particularly evident on the Internet,” Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty’s deputy program director for Europe and Central Asia, told RFE/RL. The report cites the situation in Ukraine as worrying, adding that it has become increasingly dangerous for journalists to express pro-Russian views. “One journalist, Oles Buzina, was killed, and he was known for his pro-Russian views,” Mr. Krivosheev said. Another journalist, Ruslan Kotsaba, who spoke out publicly against the war in the east and against mobilization, was arrested by Ukrainian authorities and is now awaiting trial for state treason. “He is the first person in Ukraine in five years whom we recognize as a prisoner of conscience,” Mr. Krivosheev said. (Eugen Tomiuc of RFE/RL)
Spy chief: expect power grid attacks
SAN FRANCISCO – The head of the U.S. National Security Agency has warned that hackers will inevitably attack U.S. infrastructure in an attempt to cause a power failure like the one in Ukraine last year. Adm. Michael Rogers told a cybersecurity conference in San Francisco that it is a “matter of when, not if” a foreign state launches a cyberattack on U.S. targets. “An actor penetrated the Ukrainian power grid and brought large segments of it offline in a very well-crafted attack that both focused on knocking the system down but also focused on how was the provider likely to respond to that outage,” Adm. Rogers said. “Seven weeks ago, it was Ukraine. That isn’t the last we are going to see of this, and that worries me.” He said he is also worried about potential cyberthreats by terrorist groups such as Islamic State. The U.S. government last week confirmed that a December 23 blackout in Ukraine that affected 225,000 customers was the result of a cyberattack. Private researchers have linked the incident to a Russian hacking group known as “Sandworm.” (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and AFP)
Officials banned from criticizing authorities
KYIV – Ukraine has banned government officials from publicly criticizing the work of state institutions and their colleagues. The rule is part of a new ethics code that civil servants must follow or face disciplinary action, according to a decree posted on the government website on March 1. The decree says the government decided to introduce standards of ethical conduct for civil servants to “restore public faith in the work of the state bodies and officials.” The move comes after Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s government barely survived a no-confidence vote in the Verkhovna Rada last month amid growing disenchantment among Ukrainians with the pro-Western government that took power following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. The county is struggling with a deepening recession and continuing violence from Russia-backed separatists in the east. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and TASS)
Three killed, five wounded in east
KYIV – Ukraine says three of its servicemen have been killed and five wounded in the country’s east. A military spokesman in the eastern region of Luhansk said three soldiers were killed and two wounded when their vehicle hit a mine on the highway between the villages of Novotoshkivske and Hirne on March 1. A military spokesman in Kyiv said another three government troops were wounded in exchanges of fire over the past 24 hours near the front line separating separatist-held parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions from the rest of Ukraine. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded as a result of firing in the government-held towns of Krasnohorivka and Maryinka, while another was injured in a booby-trap blast near the village of Kamianka. Fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,100 people since April 2014. The Minsk peace agreement signed a year ago has helped reduce the violence, but skirmishes have continued. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP and UNIAN)
Svoboda blocks Russian truck transit
KYIV – Ukraine’s nationalist Svoboda party has announced it will again block Russian trucks from transiting through Ukraine. Writing on Facebook, party leader Oleh Tyahnybok said members of Svoboda had resumed the blockade on February 26. Ukrainian activists began blocking Russian trucks at Ukrainian border points earlier that month. Moscow responded on February 14 by suspending Ukrainian truck transit through Russia. But two days later, on February 16, officials from Moscow and Kyiv agreed to allow Ukrainian trucks stuck in Russia or at the border to return to Ukraine. On February 19 Russian trucks stuck in Ukraine’s western Zakarpattia region began the journey out of Ukraine. In his Facebook post, Mr. Tyahnybok criticized the Ukrainian authorities for the deal with Moscow, calling them “traitors” and saying that “national interests are higher than business interests.” (RFE/RL, based on reporting by UNIAN and Tsn.ua)
Kharkiv mayor’s business partner shot dead
KHARKIV, Ukraine – A businessman and ally of the mayor of northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been shot dead. Police say Yuriy Dyment was killed while visiting his mother’s grave at a city cemetery on February 26. Authorities called it “premeditated murder” and said an investigation had been launched. The 52-year-old Mr. Dyment was a business partner of Kharkiv Mayor Hennadiy Kernes. Mr. Kernes himself barely survived a shooting attack in April 2014, a time of growing instability in eastern Ukraine and a month after Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Mr. Kernes initially gave his backing to the pro-Russia separatists in the east before later switching his loyalty to the Ukrainian government. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by UNIAN and Kh.depo.ua)
Court denies release of younger Dzhemilev
ASTRAKHAN, Russia – A court in the Russian city of Astrakhan has rejected a request for the early release of the son of leading Crimean Tatar politician Mustafa Dzhemilev. Khaiser Dzhemilev was arrested in May 2013 by Ukrainian authorities in connection with the shooting death of a friend. He has said that he shot his friend by accident. After Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in March 2014, authorities in Crimea’s Russia-imposed government took over the case and transferred Dzhemilev to the Krasnodar region of southern Russia. A Krasnodar court in June 2015 sentenced Mr. Dzhemilev to five years in jail on charges of theft, inflicting death by negligence, and possessing a firearm. In September, Russia’s Supreme Court reduced his prison term to three and a half years. His 72-year-old father, Mustafa Dzhemilev, is a Ukrainian lawmaker and a well-known Soviet-era human rights activist. A former chairman of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar people who strongly opposed Crimea’s occupation and annexation by Russia, he is currently living in Kyiv. He claims that Russia is holding his son hostage. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by TASS and Interfax)