Ex-NATO chief named Poroshenko adviser
KYIV – Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he will do his “utmost to promote security, economic reforms, and stronger EU ties” in his new capacity as an adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Mr. Rasmussen made the comment on Facebook on May 28, one day after Mr. Poroshenko announced the appointment. Mr. Poroshenko’s announcement did not specify on what issues Mr. Rasmussen would be advising. Mr. Rasmussen described the “security situation” in eastern Ukraine as “alarming.” He also said Ukraine must fight corruption and implement reforms. Russian Duma member Leonid Kalashnikov, deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax that Mr. Rasmussen’s appointment was “a hostile gesture” toward Russia. “It shows that Ukraine has chosen the West and NATO as the vector of its drifting movement,” he said, describing Ukraine as “a beachhead against Russia” that “will be used sooner or later.” Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Facebook that Mr. Rasmussen’s appointment, like many other Ukrainian moves, is “for show” because “Ukraine badly needs… attention from the outside.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by Interfax)
Ukraine’s defense in Russia loan case
KYIV – Ukraine has filed its defense with a British court over a $3 billion debt to Russia, arguing that the original loan agreement with its neighbor was invalid. The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs and Finance ministries said in a statement on May 27 that “Ukraine’s defense explains that the loan agreement is invalid and unenforceable for multiple reasons” and noted that, “As a matter of Ukrainian law, Ukraine lacked the capacity to enter an agreement that violated the borrowing limits then in place and… the agreement was procured through duress exerted by Russia on Ukraine throughout 2013 in order to prevent Ukraine from signing an Association Agreement with the EU.” The Eurobond in question was issued by the administration of former President Viktor Yanukovych just two months before he fled to Russia in February 2014 amid bloody street protests. The protests were sparked by Mr. Yanukovych’s decision not to sign the Association Agreement with the EU. Russia filed a lawsuit against Ukraine in February at London’s High Court demanding repayment of the $3 billion Eurobond, which matured on December 20. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on February 17 that the case will seek to recover the principal in full, $75 million of unpaid interest, and legal fees. Moscow declined to take part in a $15 billion restructuring that Ukraine negotiated with its other Eurobond holders last year. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters)
Gorbachev banned over Crimea remarks
KYIV – The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has imposed a ban against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that forbids him from entering Ukraine for five years. SBU spokeswoman Olena Hitlyanska confirmed the ban in an interview with Interfax on May 26, saying Mr. Gorbachev is not allowed to enter Ukraine for the next five years “in the interest of national security.” According to Ms. Hitlyanska, the decision was made in response to Mr. Gorbachev’s recent public statements in support of Moscow’s occupation and illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. In a recent interview with London’s Sunday Times newspaper, the 85-year-old Mr. Gorbachev said he supported the annexation, and that the hastily organized and internationally criticized referendum in Crimea represented “the free will of the people and most in Crimea.” Mr. Gorbachev said he would have acted the same way on the issue as Russian President Vladimir Putin if he had found himself in a similar situation. On May 26 Mr. Gorbachev declined to comment on the ban. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, DPA, TASS, pravda.com.ua, and Interfax)
Helsinki commissioners on Savchenko
WASHINGTON – Following the release of Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko from prison in Russia, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), co-chairman of the commission, issued the following statement: “We welcome Nadiya’s long-overdue release, but we must not forget about other Ukrainian citizens unjustly imprisoned in Russia. We must also remember that Russia still occupies Crimea and continues its aggression in eastern Ukraine, bringing misery and suffering to millions of Ukrainians. Russia should honor the Minsk agreements – which it violates with impunity – if there is to be peaceful resolution to the conflict. Above all, Russia needs to get out of Ukraine.” Last September, the House passed a resolution calling for Ms. Savchenko’s release, which was strengthened by Chairman Smith’s amendment calling for the imposition of personal sanctions against individuals responsible for the imprisonment of Ms. Savchenko and other Ukrainian citizens illegally incarcerated in Russia. A resolution sponsored by Co-Chairman Wicker and Helsinki Commission Ranking Senate Commissioner Ben Cardin (D-Md.) calling for her release passed the Senate in February 2015. (U.S. Helsinki Commission)
OSCE monitor on protecting children
KYIV – On June 1, the International Day for Protection of Children, Ertugrul Apakan, chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) called upon the sides to do their utmost to bring normality to children’s lives in Ukraine. “Since the beginning of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, lives and livelihoods of children are at increasing risk, with dozens falling victims to different forms of violence, including shelling and explosive remnants of war,” said Mr. Apakan. “This is a gross violation of basic children’s rights.” Contamination of populated areas with explosive remnants of war, including across the contact line, in addition to restrictions of the freedom of movement at the checkpoints, directly affects children’s access to education, health, recreation and social protection. Children in situations of internal displacement require special attention due to the particular risks they may face. “Children are innocent victims of this conflict. Violence must stop and the sides should intensify their efforts to allow conditions for a happy and healthy life for the children of Ukraine,” said Mr. Apakan. (OSCE)
Kyiv says fighting in east intensifies
KYIV – The Ukrainian military says that fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatists has intensified in eastern Ukraine. Senior government official Andriy Lysenko said on May 28 that one soldier had been killed in recent fighting. The uptick in violence saw a patrol from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission shot at in the Donetsk region on May 27. The mission’s chief monitor, Ertugrul Apakan, condemned the attack, in which nobody was injured. Amid the increased violence, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for greater foreign assistance and has appointed former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen as his adviser. On May 29,
Ukrainian officials said five Ukrainian soldiers were killed and another four wounded during the previous 24 hours in fresh clashes with Russia-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. On May 30, Col. Lysenko said three more soldiers had been killed and eight wounded. He said that fighting had intensified compared to a month ago and accused separatists of “actively using heavy weapons,” including a Grad rocket launcher. The next day, Col. Lysenko said yet another soldier was killed and three wounded over the most recent 24-hour period. Last month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said it could take years to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 9,300 lives since it erupted in April 2014. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP and Interfax)
Russian vacations to Crimea down 25%
MOSCOW – Fewer Russians are booking vacations to Ukraine’s Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula this year as compared to 2015. Kommersant quoted Russia’s leading travel agencies on May 16 as saying the number of tickets booked to the Crimean capital, Symferopol, at some travel agencies had declined by 25 percent this year. Meanwhile, some travel agencies have raised the average cost of vacation packages in Crimea by as much as 30 percent over 2015 prices. Agencies reported that only 20 percent of the Russian tourists who traveled to Turkey and Egypt – the most popular holiday destinations for Russians in 2014 but to which the Kremlin has since banned direct flights – decided to instead vacation in Russia or on the Russia-occupied Crimean peninsula. Among those now opting for a vacation within Russia or Russian-occupied territory, the most popular destinations are resorts in Sochi, Anapa and Gelendzhik. Holidaymakers say there is better infrastructure and quality of service in those locations than in Crimea. Crimean resorts had been more popular than those Russian cities last summer. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Kommersant)
Moscow to upgrade coastal artillery
MOSCOW – The Russian Defense Ministry has opened bids on a contract to repair and upgrade a Black Sea coastal artillery system that is adjacent to the Russia-occupied Crimean peninsula. The 130-millimeter self-propelled Bereg artillery system is based near the village of Utash in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region. It is operated by forces from Russia’s Black Sea naval base at Novorossiisk. The artillery vehicles are positioned where they can attack ships passing through the Kerch Strait that links the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. With a range of 20 kilometers, the Bereg artillery system is designed to destroy small and medium-sized warships, as well as provide support for ground troops and counter an amphibious assault. Worth an estimated 5 million rubles, the contract calls for repairs and upgrades to four of the wheeled vehicles that carry the coastal gun mounts, along with a command-and-control vehicle and combat support vehicles. (RFE/RL, with reporting by TASS and Interfax)
Ukraine detains suspected IS militants
KYIV – Ukraine announced it has detained two suspected Islamic State (IS) militants who Kyiv says were planning to travel to Western Europe to stage terror attacks. In a statement on June 1, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said the two, allegedly from Syria, were detained in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, although it was unclear when. “The Kharkiv national security service of Ukraine has uncovered an attempt to send supporters of the Islamic State international terrorist organization from Syria by transit through Ukraine to western European states,” the SBU said in the statement. The SBU said the two were assisted by an individual from an unnamed “neighboring country” who was in the country illegally and is wanted by Kyiv on suspicions of possible terrorist activity. A senior source told the AFP that the individual was a Russian national. The SBU said it could not provide further details because an investigation was still ongoing. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP)
France gives visa to blacklisted minister
PARIS – France’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has confirmed that Paris granted an entry visa to Russia’s Agriculture Minister Aleksandr Tkachev, despite his appearance on a European Union sanctions blacklist imposed in response to Moscow’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014. Politico.com quoted a ministry spokesman as saying the decision to grant the visa was permitted because Mr. Tkachev was traveling to an international event in Paris. Mr. Tkachev headed a Russian delegation at an assembly of the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris that began on May 22. His name was added in mid-2014 to a list of Russian individuals banned from entering the EU. He had been the head of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region at the time and was awarded a medal “for the liberation of Crimea” by the acting head of Crimea’s Russian-controlled government for support he provided during Russia’s seizure, occupation, and illegal annexation of the Ukrainian territory. Some politicians in France have since voiced support for lifting sanctions against Russia. Last month, France’s lower house of Parliament voted to lift sanctions against Moscow in a nonbinding vote that went against the Socialist government’s recommendation. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and TASS)
Kyiv wants to replace Russian rockets
KYIV – Ukraine has proposed that Kyiv and the United States jointly develop and produce a rocket engine to replace Russian rocket engines currently used to launch U.S. military satellites. The head of the National Space Agency of Ukraine, Lyubomyr Sabadosh, said on May 31 that he proposed the plan to replace Russian RD-180 rocket engines, which the U.S. Congress has ordered to be phased out by 2019, on a visit to the United States last month. “We have proposed using our capabilities for implementing a joint design solution. …It’s quite a complicated task, but we can cope with it,” he said. Mr. Sabadosh said the United States expressed an interest in the idea. He said further talks will be held in Kyiv in November and will address the time frame for development, conducting tests, and funding. Congress directed the U.S. military to find alternatives to the Russian rocket engines in 2014 after relations between the United States and Russia deteriorated sharply with Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. The Pentagon has said U.S. private contractors need time and incentives to develop alternatives, however, and trying to replace the Russian engine immediately would be costly. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by TASS and UNIAN)
Will two Ukrainians be released?
MOSCOW – The Kremlin says it can’t confirm reports that Moscow and Kyiv have reached an agreement to hand over two Ukrainian nationals serving prison terms in Russia. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 30 that he had “no information that would allow me to confirm this.” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had said in a televised interview a day earlier that “a preliminary agreement” had been reached with Russia to extradite Yuriy Soloshenko and Hennadiy Afanasyev. Mr. Afanasyev’s lawyer Aleksandr Popkov said on May 30 that his client and Mr. Soloshenko had officially written letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking him to pardon them. Mr. Afanasyev was sentenced to seven years in jail on terrorism charges in April 2015. Mr. Soloshenko was sentenced to six years in jail on spying charges in October. (RFE/RL, based on reporting on UNIAN, TASS and Interfax)
Crimean Tatars plead not guilty
ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia – Four Crimean Tatars suspected of terrorism have pleaded not guilty at their trial in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. The suspects rejected the charges of being members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization at the North Caucasus regional military court on June1. The four men were detained in Crimea in January-April. Four other Crimean Tatars were detained on May 12 on suspicion of being members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Russia has been heavily criticized by international rights groups and Western governments for its treatment of Crimea’s indigenous Turkic-speaking people since Moscow annexed the peninsula in March 2014. Arrests, disappearances, and killings of Crimean Tatars have been reported. Crimea’s Moscow-backed de facto authorities are currently looking for Crimean Tatar activist Ervin Ibragimov, who disappeared on May 24. (RFE/RL)
Ring of document forgers arrested
PRAGUE – Czech police say they have broken up a criminal network that was producing and distributing forged Lithuanian documents for migrants to gain access to the European Union. Pavel Hantak, spokesman for the Czech organized crime squad, said on May 31 that 10 suspects from former Soviet republics were arrested across the Czech Republic. Five of them were from Ukraine, but he didn’t specify the nationality of the others. The suspects were charged with forgery and facilitating illegal sojourn in the Czech Republic. They face up to 10 years in prison. Mr. Hantak said the forged documents – passports, IDs and driving licenses – were transported by the group from Lithuania, where they were produced, to the Czech Republic and other EU countries. Mr. Hantak said seven migrants using such forged documents were arrested in the Czech Republic. He didn’t give details about the migrants, saying only that they didn’t qualify to stay in the EU. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AP and AFP)
NATO defense spending to rise
LONDON – Spending on defense by European members of NATO will grow for the first time in a decade, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the Financial Times in an interview published on May 31. “The forecast for 2016, based on figures from allied nations, indicates that 2016 will be the first year with increased defense spending among European allies for the first time in many, many years,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “We are faced with uncertainty. We are faced with more threats, more security challenges, than in a generation,” he noted. Last year, NATO’s European allies spent $253 billion on defense compared with U.S. military spending of $618 billion. That amounts to about 1.43 percent of the allies’ gross domestic product, thus putting them about $100 billion under their 2 percent annual spending commitments, The Financial Times reported. NATO did not provide exact figures for 2016, but Baltic states which border Russia have announced large military spending increases this year, with Latvia’s spending surging by 60 percent, Lithuania’s jumping by 35 percent, and Estonia’s and Poland’s both increasing by 9 percent. The United Kingdom’s military spending is also expected to increase this year. “We still have a long way to go, but the picture’s better than it was before,” Mr. Stoltenberg told The Financial Times. Also on May 31, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said after meeting with Mr. Stoltenberg in Warsaw that four battalions are to be stationed in Poland and in the three Baltic states to give the region a greater sense of security. A July 8-9 NATO summit in Warsaw will decide how many additional NATO troops will be deployed on the eastern flank, and where exactly, to counter what Mr. Stoltenberg said was a “more assertive Russia, intimidating its neighbors, and changing borders by force.” Responding to Mr. Stoltenberg’s statements and the news of increased European spending on defense, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said Russia will respond to the growing NATO military presence near its borders. “We have to ensure the security of our state,” he said on May 31, but provided no details of Russia’s plans. (RFE/RL, with reporting by The Financial Times, Reuters and TASS)
Tatar journalist cited for ‘extremist’ views
KYIV – A prominent Tatar journalist says she was warned by Crimean prosecutors over “extremist” views for writing about the plight of Tatar children whose parents were arrested. Lilia Budzhurova, deputy director of the Crimean Tatar channel ATR and a contributor to AFP, posted the warning from the Russia-annexed peninsula’s authorities on Facebook on May 31. Ms. Budzhurova spoke out against the increasing arrests of Crimean Tatars and wrote an appeal for children of the detained. “Soon Crimean Tatars will be caught in the streets, on public transport and at the markets. We’re less than a step away from being forced to wear a yellow band on our sleeves, to differentiate us,” she wrote on Facebook in April. She wrote last week that 18 Tatars had been jailed. “Most of those now in prison have children who are minors,” she said, proposing the creation of a fund to support them. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP and CrimeaSOS.com)
17 die in fire at home for elderly
KYIV – At least 17 people have died and one is missing after a fire broke out at a home for the elderly in a village near Kyiv, Ukraine’s state emergency service said in a statement on May 29. “Emergency services units saved 18 people, five of whom have been hospitalized with burns of varying degrees of severity,” the Ukrainian emergencies ministry said in a statement. It said the fire broke out in the early morning hours of May 29 in a privately owned two-story building, which housed 35 people, in the village of Litochky, 50 kilometers north of Kyiv. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman expressed condolences to the families of those who died in the “terrible tragedy” and called for an immediate investigation into the cause of the fire. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and AFP)