Europarliament wants sanctions over Savchenko
BRUSSELS – Members of the European Parliament have urged the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, to impose personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and 28 other individuals over the illegal treatment of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko. A March 8 letter signed by 57 European lawmakers names Russian individuals and pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine accused of being “responsible for the political decision to kidnap” Ms. Savchenko, to “transport her to the territory of Russia, detain her unlawfully, and fabricate charges against her.” In addition to Mr. Putin, the letter calls for the blacklisting of Federal Security Service (FSB) director Aleksandr Bortnikov, Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Aleksei Pushkov, senior investigators in Russia and separatist leader Igor Plotnitsky. It also lists prosecutors, judges and other individuals who are accused of fabricating evidence against Ms. Savchenko, declaring fabricated evidence to be legally valid in court, and lengthening Ms. Savchenko’s detention while awaiting the conclusion of her trial for 20 months. The letter says personal sanctions against the Russian president and the others should include EU visa bans, asset freezes and the confiscation of all property within the territory of the European Union. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Rikard Jozwiak)
OSCE calls for Savchenko’s release
BERLIN – Gernot Erler, special representative of the German government for the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, on March 9 expressed great concern following reports concerning the health of Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian pilot imprisoned in the Russian Federation. Mr. Erler noted: “Rule-of-law principles are not being upheld in the trial against her. As a member of the Council of Europe and of the OSCE, Russia must adhere to its human rights commitments and is responsible for the health and well‑being of those imprisoned in Russia.” Mr. Erler called on those responsible in Russia to immediately release Ms. Savchenko. “Ms. Savchenko’s release would also be a positive sign for the relations between Russia and Ukraine. We urgently need this sign with regard to a political settlement of the conflict in and around Ukraine and the implementation of the Minsk agreements.” (OSCE)
Kyiv protesters demand Savchenko’s release
KYIV – Thousands of people rallied in Kyiv’s Independence Square on March 6 to demand that Russia release Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko. That same day, protesters in the Ukrainian capital pelted the Russian Embassy with eggs and rocks, breaking several of its windows after smashing cars and burning a Russian flag. Police officers at the scene did not intervene. An embassy spokesman said that the building was “attacked” overnight and that men with baseball bats damaged Embassy vehicles and threw smoke bombs onto its territory. Ms. Savchenko’s trial was adjourned on March 3 until March 9, prompting her to declare a dry hunger strike (refusing both food and liquids) after she was not allowed to make a final statement. Prosecutors have asked the court to convict Savchenko and to sentence her to 23 years in prison. Russia’s presidential human rights envoy Ella Pamfilova met with Ms. Savchenko in her jail cell in Rostov-on-Don on March 6. Ms. Savchenko’s lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, said on his Facebook page on March 6 that Ms. Pamfilova had spoken by telephone to Ms. Savchenko’s family and has assured them Ms. Savchenko is in satisfactory health and is being monitored closely. Mr. Polozov also noted that a group of Ukrainian doctors has applied for permission to visit Ms. Savchenko. (RFE/RL, with reporting by TASS, AP and AFP)
Russian activists call for Savchenko’s release
ST. PETERSBURG – Russian activists in the city of St. Petersburg staged a protest calling for the release of jailed Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko. About 10 activists on March 9 raised large letters fixed to wooden planks, to spell out “Save Nadezhda!” on the Neva River embankment in the city center. Nadezhda is the Russian variant of Ms. Savchenko’s first name, which means “hope.” The activists told RFE/RL that the phrase had two meanings: to call for the release of Ms. Savchenko and to preserve hope in Russia about the future. After 30 minutes, police arrived at the scene and made the activists remove the letters. There were no arrests. In Moscow, two Russian protesters were detained on March 9 after displaying signs in support of Ms. Savchenko. The protests came a day after police in Moscow detained 35 demonstrators, mainly women, for expressing support for Ms. Savchenko in the center of the Russian capital. The majority of those demonstrators were released later on March 8. Ms. Savchenko is awaiting the reading of a verdict on March 21 in a Russian court where she has been put on trial in connection with the deaths in 2014 of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. (RFE/RL’s Russian Service)
Prominent persons support Savchenko
BRUSSELS – More than 270 political leaders and other prominent individuals have signed an open letter to the European Union and the United States urging them to take “emergency measures” to demand Russia release Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko. Svetlana Alexievich, the Nobel Prize winner in literature from Belarus, is among the signatories of the letter, which accuses Russian authorities of making a “mockery of civil rights, international law and their own Constitution.” After receiving the letter, an EU spokeswoman described Ms. Savchenko’s hunger strike as “very worrisome,” and said that “Russia bears responsibility for the health, well-being and observance of human rights of all persons it detains.” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a Facebook posting that Ms. Savchenko was visited in her southern Russian detention center by Ukraine’s consul-general on March 7. Ukraine’s Hromadske Radio website afterward posted a hand-written note that was signed by Savchenko and dated March 7. “Whether dead or alive, I have already won,” said the message. “I will leave jail on my own terms, showing the entire world that Russia may be forced into submission if you remain as fearless and unyielding as me.” One of Savchenko’s Russian attorneys said his client is suffering from “an accelerated heart beat, swelling legs, and jumps in temperature.” Lawyer Nikolai Polozov wrote on Facebook: “She is still forbidding Russian doctors from performing any tests or medical procedures.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP)
EU extends asset freezes over Crimea
BRUSSELS – European Union ambassadors on March 9 extended asset freezes and visa bans on 146 people and 37 entities that according to the EU have benefited from Russia’s annexation of Crimea or been responsible for actions against Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The list, which will be prolonged by six months, includes Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Russian presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev and Dmitry Kiselyov, whom many regard as the Kremlin’s chief propagandist. The entities include several companies in Crimea and various battalions formed by the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Three people, all deceased, were removed from the list, including Igor Sergun, the former director of the GRU, the main intelligence directorate of the Russian armed forces, who died unexpectedly in Lebanon at the beginning of the year. The decision will come into force later this week. On March 2, the United States announced that it had prolonged similar sanctions. The main economic sanctions against Russia’s energy and bank sectors are up for renewal at the end of July. (RFE/RL)
Dutch to pinpoint launch site of missile
BUNNIK, Netherlands – The Dutch-led team charged with determining who was responsible for the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine said it will determine soon the exact launch site of the missile that destroyed the plane. After briefing relatives of the 298 people killed in the July 2014 crash, Fred Westerbeke, the prosecutor leading the international probe, said the investigators had obtained all the information they needed from the United States. While the exact launch site of the missile should be known by summer, Mr. Westerbeke said he did not know when the criminal investigation would be completed. But he pledged to finish the investigation “as quickly as possible, if only because of the frustration among the families.” A Dutch civil investigation previously concluded that the plane was downed by a Soviet-designed Buk surface-to-air missile. Last week, the open-research group Bellingcat said it had evidence that Russian soldiers and officers were involved in firing the missile or had knowledge of who did it. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and AFP)
EU extends sanctions against Yanukovych
BRUSSELS – The European Union has extended an asset freeze against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and 15 of his close associates for alleged misappropriation of state funds. The restrictive measures, put in place two years ago after Mr. Yanukovych fled Ukraine during the Euro-Maidan protests against his government, were extended until March 6, 2017. Other prominent figures on the EU blacklist include two former prime ministers, Mykola Azarov and Serhiy Arbuzov, and the former head of Mr. Yanukovych’s Presidential Administration, Andriy Kliuiev. Former Health Minister Raisa Bohatyriova was removed from the blacklist after returning stolen assets to Ukrainian authorities. EU ministers approved the extension of the sanctions at a meeting in Brussels on March 4. The decision became official after being published in the EU’s official journal on March 5. (RFE/RL, with reporting by TASS)
Kremlin ‘regrets’ extended U.S. sanctions
MOSCOW – The Kremlin has expressed “regret” about U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to extend sanctions against Russia for another year in response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. Mr. Obama announced on March 2 that he was extending the sanctions. He said Russia’s actions in Ukraine “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” The sanctions initially were imposed in March 2014 in response to actions by the Russian government in Ukraine that “undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation” of Ukraine’s assets. U.S. sanctions specifically mention Russia’s “purported annexation of Crimea and its use of force in Ukraine.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by TASS and Interfax)
Paris talks on Ukraine peace fall flat
PARIS – Progress was seen, but no breakthrough was made during talks aimed at jumpstarting a fragile peace deal in Ukraine, ending with Moscow and Kyiv failing to agree on a proposal to hold elections in eastern Ukraine this year. Following the multiparty talks in Paris on March 3, Russia said it was prepared to support the election proposal presented by Germany and France. But Ukraine quashed early optimism by saying polls would not be possible until security was established. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who described the four-hour meeting as “frank, direct and without holding back,” announced that the talks had underlined the importance of adopting an electoral law to hold elections in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region in June. But when asked by journalists if there had been a breakthrough, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Pavlo Klimkin responded by saying: No, I don’t have that impression.” Mr. Klimkin said Ukraine continues to insist that all commitments for a ceasefire and withdrawal of weapons be carried out before such elections are held. “We must be able to ensure these elections are organized safely; we need our territory to be secure. Without security we can’t deliver on anything further,” he added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was prepared to push separatists in the east to abide by the ceasefire and participate in the polls. But he said Ukraine’s refusal to go along with any hard deadline thwarted a consensus on the matter. Mr. Lavrov said the group agreed on beginning mine clearance in 12 areas in the conflict zone, and banning all firing drills and military exercises near the contact line. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed frustration after the negotiations in Paris, saying he was “not satisfied with the way Kyiv and Moscow are operating the negotiations here… I’m afraid the situation in eastern Ukraine really isn’t being viewed seriously enough… It can escalate again at any time.” A Western diplomat said France and Germany would continue to push Ukraine to adopt elections laws and hold polls in the first half of the year. “Failure to reach a consensus on elections does not mean that there is no progress at all,” the unnamed diplomat said. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, DPA, TASS and Interfax)
Kyiv: separatists use Grad launchers
KYIV – Kyiv has accused separatists of using large-caliber weapons despite a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine that required both sides to pull back those arms. Ukraine’s military released footage on March 3 purportedly showing Russia-backed fighters firing Grad multiple-rocket launchers against government army positions outside the separatist stronghold of Donetsk. It said the Grad attack came along with more than 60 ceasefire violations along the front line. Meanwhile, the separatists accused government forces of shelling Donetsk suburbs, killing one fighter, burning down a house, and damaging others. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP and AP)
U.N.: Civilians still suffer in Ukraine
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations said on March 3 that the war between Ukrainian government forces and Russia- backed separatists in eastern Ukraine is continuing to “significantly affect” civilians – despite a reduction of fighting under a ceasefire deal. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein said on March 3 that full implementation of the Minsk accord was crucial “for resolving the human rights crisis in Ukraine.” In an updated toll, the United Nations said at least 9,160 people have been killed and 21,000 injured since the conflict began in 2014. The updated casualty figures include civilians, Ukrainian government troops, and armed fighters. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP)
Ukraine retracts ombudsman’s appointment
KYIV – Ukraine’s government has retracted the recent appointment of Adrian Bukovynsky to the post of family ombudsman after activists complained he is biased against homosexuals. Mr. Bukovynsky’s appointment to the post had been announced on February 24. But the Ukrainian government’s website announced on March 8 that Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was reopening a search to fill the post. The website said Mr. Bukovynsky was never confirmed as the government’s family ombudsman because he failed to pass a background check. Mr. Bukovynsky’s nomination sparked harsh criticism from gay rights activists in Ukraine who compiled material from 2013 showing he had publicly expressed “homophobic” views. Those statements included calls to defend “traditional values,” as well as condemnation of laws protecting the rights of gays in the European Union and the United States. Mr. Bukovynsky also publicly defended legislation in Russia banning what lawmakers there have deemed as “gay propaganda.” He had said he would endorse a similar law in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, with reporting by khpg.org)