Memorial center at Babyn Yar
KYIV – On the 75th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy, President Petro Poroshenko, together with civil activists and philanthropists, initiated the establishment of what is being called the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center. The memorial will be installed in Kyiv on the site of mass extermination of Jews, Ukrainians, Roma and members of other nationalities. A signing ceremony for the declaration of intent to establish the memorial center took place at Taras Shevchenko National Museum on September 29. “We, Ukrainians, understand the sorrow of Jews as our own,” the president said, noting that Ukrainians and Jews have been living on one land, in one country for centuries. “In the years of the second world war, Ukrainians also suffered multimillion losses, and we are well aware of the pain for our deceased friends and relatives, which lasts for decades,” Mr. Poroshenko emphasized. “The Holocaust is the most tragic page in the history of Jews and Ukrainians. The genocide of Jews took place on our land as well, contrary to the will of Ukrainians, because Ukraine was one of the main theaters of the cruelest war in the history of mankind.” He said the new memorial must become “a place of powerful vaccination, a symbol of respect of all Ukrainians irrespective of their nationality to the tragedy of the Holocaust.” President Poroshenko noted that today ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Jews are building a modern political nation and modern Ukraine jointly. “Together we are building a country where there is no place for anti-Semitism and our unity is a precondition of our victories,” he emphasized. (Presidential Administration of Ukraine)
U.S. on ban of Crimean Tatar Mejlis
WASHINGTON – The United States on September 30 issued a statement on the “Russian Supreme Court’s Illegitimate Decision to Ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.” The statement was delivered by Mark C. Toner, deputy Department Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. “The United States does not recognize the legitimacy of the Russian Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the ban of Crimean Tatars’ self-governing body, the Mejlis. We reject the characterization of the Mejlis as an ‘extremist’ organization and condemn the suspension of this democratic institution. This decision is particularly troubling given Russia’s systematic and unjust mistreatment of Crimean Tatars,” the statement noted. “Russia continues to subject Crimean Tatars to arbitrary arrests, abductions, politically motivated prosecutions, restrictions on freedom of movement, and police raids on their homes and mosques. We call on Russia to cease these unacceptable practices immediately. We do not recognize Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea, and we reiterate our call on Russia to return control of the peninsula to Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Moscow returns control over Crimea to Ukraine.” (U.S. Department of State
Ukrainian journalist seized in Russia
MOSCOW – A Ukrainian journalist is being held in custody in Russia on espionage charges. Federal Security Service (FSB) officials said on October 3 that Roman Sushchenko was detained in Moscow on September 30. The FSB claimed Mr. Sushchenko is a colonel with Ukrainian military intelligence who has been collecting classified data about Russia’s Armed Forces and National Guard. Meanwhile, Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court announced it had ordered Mr. Sushchenko be held in pretrial detention for two months. The reporter’s employer, the news service Ukrinform, said Mr. Sushchenko was in Moscow on vacation. The news agency said the accusations against its Paris-based correspondent “can only be described as… yet another flagrant and unlawful [Russian] act against Ukrainian nationals.” Mr. Sushchenko’s lawyer, Mark Feigin, said his client had no links to any spy agency. Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry demanded Mr. Sushchenko’s “immediate release and unhampered return home,” and called on Russia to respect the Ukrainian citizen’s rights. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Ukrinform, AP, UNIAN, RIA Novosti and Interfax)
IMF seeks results in graft fight
WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is urging Ukraine to show progress in fighting corruption and pushing through other reforms. “Tackling corruption and reducing the influence of vested interests on policy making remain key challenges,” the Washington-based lender said in a report published on October 3. “Progress in tackling corruption, privatizing state-owned enterprises, and advancing pension reform has been slower than envisaged against significant political resistance,” it added. The report also warned that resistance to reform will derail the conflict-wracked country’s economic recovery and bailout program from the IMF. Ukraine received $1 billion from the IMF last month, its third tranche of money under a $17.5 billion bailout program. The disbursement had been delayed for a year due to political upheaval and slow progress on implementing reforms. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg)
Russian officials dig in on MH17
MOSCOW – A series of denials by Russian officials and state-media allegations of bias and foul play present a view that is starkly discrepant with international criminal investigators’ findings, announced last week, over the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014. The Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) interim conclusions were that the passenger jet was shot down by a Russian-made missile system smuggled into separatist territory then spirited back over the border into Russia. The Russian counternarrative after the release of the JIT report also introduces at least one new conspiracy theory and was decried by liberal opposition voices and the independent newspaper Vedomosti, which criticized the Kremlin’s perceived “politics of denial,” saying they would increase Russia’s international isolation. Russia has consistently rejected considerable evidence – including recovered pieces of shrapnel, phone chatter among Moscow-backed separatists, and the geolocation of telltale photographs, among other things – that points to the involvement of anti-Kyiv forces in eastern Ukraine in the shoot-down. Missile maker Almaz-Antey called a news conference immediately after the announcement of the JIT findings, challenging the probe in comments widely carried by online and traditional media. The defense manufacturer’s chief engineer, Mikhail Malyshevsky, said for instance that the JIT had ignored “technical” aspects of the investigation and analyzed the wrong type of missile, adding that Almaz-Antey’s tests showed the rocket was fired from territory controlled by Ukrainian government forces. “Journalists and experts pointed out one strange detail,” said the newscaster on state TV channel Vesti. “There are considerably more facts that the international investigators ignored than that they took into account. That is to say, the conclusions were drawn first and then backed up with fragmentary evidence.” The state news agency RIA Novosti, meanwhile, published an opinion piece late on September 28 titled “Investigation on Track Without Veering off Course,” in which it casts doubt on the findings because they appear similar to those initially expressed by the Ukrainian and Western governments soon after the downing of the plane. In comments carried by Russian news agencies, Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov also criticized the findings, claiming they were based on two sources: the Internet and Ukrainian security services. He also denied that any missile system crossed the border between Ukraine and Russia, as investigators concluded. The pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia on September 29 published what appeared to be an elaborate conspiracy theory in a piece titled Dutch Fog, in which the author also said the results were “predetermined.” Calling the Dutch “loyal vassals” of the United States, author Oleg Matveychev, who was cited as a political expert, alleged that Washington rigged the results of the investigation to help Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton beat Republican Donald Trump in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. (Tom Balmforth of RFE/RL)
Moscow summons Dutch ambassador
MOSCOW – Moscow summoned the Dutch ambassador on October 3 to complain about a criminal investigation the previous week that concluded that a missile brought in from Russia shot down a passenger jet flying over eastern Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was blown out of the sky on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 on board as it was flying from Amsterdam to Malaysia, the investigation found. Criminal investigators from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine said they had “irrefutable evidence” that a Buk missile hit the plane and was fired from a part of eastern Ukraine then controlled by pro-Russian rebels. Russia reacted angrily to the allegations and sought to shift the blame onto Ukraine for not closing its airspace during intense fighting – prompting Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders to summon Russia’s ambassador last week to complain about Moscow’s “unacceptable” comments. In a tit-for-tat move, the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry on October 3 said it explained to Dutch ambassador Renee Jones-Bos why the findings “could not be recognized as satisfactory by Russia.” The Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry responded by calling again for Russia’s cooperation in bringing those responsible for firing the missile to justice. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP, TASS and Interfax)
MH17 suspects to be known in months
CANBERRA – Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the people responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine two years ago could be known by the end of 2016 and will be prosecuted. Ms. Bishop told Australia’s ABC TV on October 2 that “by the end of the year, maybe early next year, the list of those that we believe should be held accountable will be confirmed and then there must be a prosecution.” International investigators said in a report on September 28 that the plane with 298 people on board was downed by a Russian-made missile fired from territory in Ukraine’s Donbas region that is controlled by Russia-backed separatists. Although most of the victims were Dutch, there were also 28 Australians who perished in the crash. Moscow has questioned the investigators’ findings and called them “preliminary,” countering earlier that Ukraine’s military shot down the plane. Minister Bishop said the findings counter Moscow’s suggestion that the flight, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July 2014, was brought down by Ukraine’s military rather than the separatists, adding that Russian theories on how the plane was downed were “improbable, implausible.” She said if Russia vetoed a U.N.-backed prosecution of the suspects then a “Lockerbie-style prosecution” was possible. The reference was to a tribunal set up to try suspects in the 1988 bombing of a Pan-Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AAP and Reuters)
Ukraine photos vandalized in Moscow
MOSCOW – At an exhibition in Moscow, a Russian man has vandalized photos taken from a conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. On September 28, Anton Belikov sprayed photographs taken by two photographers – Alyaksandr Vasyukovich of Belarus and Ukraine’s Serhiy Loyko – with red paint during the exhibition organized by the Center of Documentary Photography. The photos were taken from Ukraine’s regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, where Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting against Russia-backed separatists since April 2014. Mr. Belikov, who described himself as an artist, called the authors of the photos “fascists.” On September 29, Mr. Belikov wrote on his page in the VKontakte social network that he is ready to cooperate with police if a lawsuit is filed against him. (RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, with reporting by REN-TV)
Panetta on weapons for Ukraine
OTTAWA – Speaking at the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kyiv, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (2006-2011) stated: “I think it is very important for Ukraine to not only continue to strengthen its economy, and its government, but to also strengthen its military. The United States, obviously, along with NATO, is providing trainers, equipment and training exercises. But I would take the next step, and provide defensive weapons to Ukraine, to make very clear to Russia that if it tries to do anything militarily, it will have to pay a price.” Mr. Panetta also noted: “You cannot deal with a bully from a position of weakness. I have dealt with the Russians, I have dealt with their intelligence people, I have dealt with the leadership there, I think you can deal with them, but you have to deal with them from strength… We have to build strong alliances that make very clear to Russia that they are not just dealing with the United States or with Ukraine, but they are dealing with a coalition of nations.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
Georgian president to Russia: stop meddling
MOSCOW – Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said Russia must treat former Soviet republics as full-fledged members of the international community. In an interview with RFE/RL on September 30, Mr. Margvelashvili said Russia considers that “international laws are not fully valid or valid in a distorted way on territory defined by Russia’s foreign policy as the ‘near abroad.’” Russia recognized Georgia’s breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states after a brief war against Georgia in 2008. Moscow has thousands of troops in the regions. Mr. Margvelashvili said “the West has not understood fully the absurdity and the tragedy of what happened in 2008, which led to what happened in Ukraine in 2014.” In March 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and has been backing separatists in the country’s east. Mr. Margvelashvili urged the West to make clear that Moscow’s use of force against the sovereignty and independence of the former Soviet republics is “unacceptable.” (RFE/RL’s Russian Service)
Forces withdraw from frontline city
KYIV – The Ukrainian military and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have announced a pullback from a frontline city as agreed upon in a demilitarization deal agreed to last month. Ukrainian military spokesman Valentyn Shevchenko said on October 1 that both sides had moved their forces several kilometers away from the town of Zolote, recently the scene of fierce fighting. Mr. Shevchenko added that some members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observer mission in Ukraine’s Donbas region had “confirmed the retreat.” Mikhail Filimonenko, a separatist representative, said that “not a single soldier remains at the positions which they previously occupied, conforming to what is required by the Minsk peace accord.” Representatives of the Ukrainian government and the separatists had reached an agreement in Minsk in September to withdraw all heavy weapons and fighters from Zolote, Stanytsia Luhanska and the Donetsk region town of Petrovske. No withdrawal was reported in the other two towns. The pullback should create a two-kilometer perimeter around the three frontline towns. It would be first progress registered in months toward the Minsk peace process. (RFE/RL, based on AFP and Interfax)
Slave labor in Russian-occupied Donbas
OTTAWA – The BBC reported that human rights activists in Russian-occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts have stated that there is evidence that slave labor camps of prisoners are operating in the Russian-occupied territories. The BBC reported: “A newly published report alleges that 5,000 people in the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic are held in solitary confinement, beaten, starved or tortured if they refuse to carry out unpaid work. … About 5,000 people work without payment every day in order to preserve their life and health, to receive visits from relatives and not to die of hunger.” The director of the Eastern Human Rights Group, Pavel Lisyansky, told the BBC he has evidence that a similar forced labor system is employed in prisons in the neighboring Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), affecting a further 5,000 prisoners. “It’s hard to believe that we are witnessing slave labor in the middle of Europe in the 21st century. But this is happening, and something needs to be done,” Mr. Lisyansky said. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress, based on BBC)