Kremlin critic fatally shot in Kyiv
KYIV – Denis Voronenkov, a former Russian lawmaker who defected to Ukraine and aired damning criticism of Russia’s leadership, has been gunned down in broad daylight in the heart of Kyiv in what Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko called “an act of state terrorism by Russia.” A city police spokesman told RFE/RL that the ex-Duma deputy was killed by a gunman as he and his bodyguard were approaching the five-star Premier Palace Hotel on March 23. An Internal Affairs Ministry spokesman at the scene, Artem Shevchenko, said the attacker fired at least eight shots at the 45-year-old Mr. Voronenkov with an “old Soviet pistol.” He said the incident was caught on security cameras. The attacker was shot in the ensuing gun battle with Mr. Voronenkov’s lone bodyguard and apprehended by police on the street nearby. He later died in the hospital, officials said, but there was initially no word on his identity. The Internal Affairs Ministry spokesman said the bodyguard, who was wounded in the exchange of gunfire with the assailant, was provided by Ukrainian authorities in the past month because there was “reason to fear” that Mr. Voronenkov’s life might be in danger. Kyiv police are in charge of the investigation, the Internal Affairs Ministry said, and it is being classified as an “assassination.” In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL last month, Mr. Voronenkov compared present-day Russia to Nazi Germany, called the seizure of Crimea “illegal” and said he had been “hounded” into exile. President Poroshenko said in a statement after the shooting that Mr. Voronenkov had been “forced to leave” Russia “for political reasons.” He added, in a reference to Moscow’s interference in Ukraine since the ouster of pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in early 2014, “Voronenkov was one of the main witnesses of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and, in particular, the role of Yanukovych regarding the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine.” (Christopher Miller of RFE/RL)
Munitions depot fire causes evacuation
KYIV – A munitions depot near the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv caught fire and was rocked by a series of explosions in a huge conflagration that the authorities have blamed on “sabotage,” prompting the evacuation of thousands of people living nearby. President Petro Poroshenko pointed the finger at Russia, saying it was “no accident” that it occurred on the day that a former Russian lawmaker who has criticized Russia’s government was shot dead in Kyiv. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said he was on his way to the depot at an army base in Balaklia, located near Kharkiv and around 100 kilometers from the front line in the conflict between government forces and Russia-backed separatists further southeast. The depot, which stores 138,000 tons of ammunition including artillery shells and missiles, is used to supply Ukrainian forces fighting against the separatists. Chief military prosecutor Anatoliy Matios wrote on Facebook that investigators on the scene believed the fire and subsequent explosions were the “result of sabotage.” Officials said some 20,000 residents in the area were being evacuated. Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said that one-third of the 368-hectare depot was on fire, adding that the situation might get worse if the fire reaches underground storage areas, where long-range cannon shells are being kept. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said that it had launched an investigation on suspicion of “sabotage.” Mr. Poltorak also said the blasts could have been set off deliberately, and that the same depot had been set on fire by saboteurs using drones in 2015. He added that security had been tightened around all military depots across the country. (RFE/RL, with reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, UNIAN and Begemot.media)
IMF postpones loan to assess blockade
KYIV – Ukraine says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has postponed a review of the disbursement of a new $1 billion loan following Kyiv’s imposition of a trade embargo on areas controlled by Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country. The Ukrainian Finance Ministry and the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) said on March 19 that the IMF board had postponed “for a short period” the review planned for the following day, saying the impact of the embargo must first be assessed. “Updated macroeconomic forecasts are to be provided to the IMF,” the NBU said in a statement. Reuters cited an IMF e-mail as saying that the board meeting was delayed in order “to allow staff time to assess the implications of recent developments for the program. Staff expect to announce a new date soon.” Kyiv on March 15 announced the suspension of all cargo traffic with separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine, prompting Russia’s warning to cancel the measure to avoid a “humanitarian catastrophe.” The $1 billion loan was to be the next installment of a $17.5 billion IMF package, which has been hit by repeated delays over Kyiv’s inconsistent record on reforms. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP and Reuters)
NBU downgrades GDP outlook
KYIV – Ukraine’s central bank said on March 21 that a blockade of the part of the country controlled by Russia-backed separatists will hit the country’s economy harder than previously expected. Just two days after the International Monetary Fund postponed a review of the disbursement of a new $1 billion loan to Ukraine pending further information on the effects of the blockade, the National Bank of Ukraine said output will rise 1.9 percent in 2017, well below an earlier forecast of 2.8 percent growth. The blockade cuts off the supply of coal and steel that industrial enterprises were still purchasing from territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists whose 3-year-old war against government forces has killed more than 9,900 people. In response to the blockade, the separatists have seized control of some businesses registered in Ukraine and demanded they pay “taxes” to them rather than the federal authorities. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and AP)
EU slams Russia over Crimea
BRUSSELS – The European Union on March 17 condemned Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea territory, calling Moscow’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula a “direct challenge to international security.” The statement by EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini came one day ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s formal incorporation of Crimea that was dismissed as illegitimate by Ukraine, the United States and more than 100 countries in the United Nations General Assembly. “Three years on from the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, the European Union remains firmly committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ms. Mogherini said. Both the EU and the United States hit Russia with several rounds of sanctions in response to the land grab and Moscow’s backing of separatists whose war against government forces has killed at least 9,940 people in eastern Ukraine. That conflict continues to grind on despite a 2015 peace deal reached in Minsk, Belarus. Separatist leader Igor Plotnitsky vowed on March 17 that a referendum would be staged on the incorporation of separatist-controlled areas into Russia. Prior to annexing Crimea, Russia staged a referendum on the peninsula following the seizing of key government buildings there by unmarked Russian special forces. Moscow used the poll, rejected by Kyiv and the West as illegal, as justification for taking control of Crimea, claiming it represented the will of the people there. Addressing the anniversary of the Crimea annexation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia hopes that “sooner or later Kyiv will start to treat the will expressed by the several million Crimean residents with respect and will accept the results” of the 2014 referendum staged by Moscow there. Referring to the annexation, Ms. Mogherini said in her March 17 statement that the EU “reiterates that it does not recognize and continues to condemn this violation of international law.” She added, “It remains a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states.” The EU foreign policy chief also spoke out about the rights of Crimean Tatars, noting that they “have been gravely violated through the shutting down of Crimean Tatar media outlets, the banning of the activities of the Mejlis, their self-governing body, and the persecution of its leaders.” Ms. Mogherini called for the release of the First Deputy Chairman Akhtem Chiygoz and for the charges against Deputy Chairman Ilmi Umerov to be dropped, and the right to legal counsel to be fully respected. “Furthermore, the EU reiterates its call for the immediate release of Oleh Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko and all those who have been detained and sentenced in breach of international law.” (RFE/RL, with reporting by RFE/RL’s Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak, RIA-Novosti, TASS, Interfax, and Reuters; Eurasia Review)
Trump and Merkel discuss NATO, Ukraine
WASHINGTON – At a joint news conference on March 17, U.S. President Donald Trump gave NATO another strong endorsement but told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany and other allies must do more to contribute to the alliance’s collective defense. “Many nations owe vast sums of money from past years, and it is very unfair to the United States,” Mr. Trump said. “These nations must pay what they owe.” Ms. Merkel said that for Germany, “NATO is of prime importance to us.” She also raised the issue of Russia, which has stoked anxiety in Europe with its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Together with French President Francois Hollande, Ms. Merkel brokered the peace agreement known as the Minsk accords, aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Standing alongside Mr. Trump, she said relations with Russia need to be improved but not before the Ukraine crisis is resolved. “There has to be a safe and secure solution” to the Ukraine conflict, she said. Mr. Trump said a “peaceful solution” is needed to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. He thanked Ms. Merkel and Mr. Hollande for their work in brokering the 2015 peace deal, though violence between the two sides continues to grind on. “We ideally seek a peaceful solution” in Ukraine, the U.S. president said. (RFE/RL)
Haley: “We should never trust Russia”
WASHINGTON – The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says Washington should “never trust Russia,” the latest in a series of hawkish statements that have made her a leading Russia critic in President Donald Trump’s administration. The statement by Nikki Haley in a television interview broadcast on March 16 came on the same day that the U.S. State Department issued a stern condemnation of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea territory, which Ms. Haley has also publicly denounced. Ambassador Haley’s comments also came amid the ongoing furor over what U.S. intelligence calls a Kremlin-directed campaign to meddle in last year’s presidential election aimed at helping Mr. Trump defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. The Kremlin denies the charge. After expressing initial skepticism, Mr. Trump conceded that he believes Russia was behind a hacking-and-propaganda effort to interfere in the election but that the operation did not influence the outcome of the vote. Asked by the U.S. television network NBC what President Trump should do about Russia’s actions, Ambassador Haley replied: “Take it seriously.” She said, “We should never trust Russia,” while adding that the United States needs “all the facts” in order to formulate a proper response to Moscow. NBC asked whether Ms. Haley was on the same page with Mr. Trump “in terms of your level of distrust for Russia and [President] Vladimir Putin,” and she answered: “I would not say that. I’m not going to talk about where the president is, because I don’t know.” Throughout his campaign, Mr. Trump spoke positively about Mr. Putin and pledged to seek better relations with Russia. Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress expressed concerns that a potential softer U.S. line on Russia under Mr. Trump could effectively give Moscow a pass for its expansionism in Ukraine. (RFE/RL)
EuroParliament to Russia: free detainees
STRASBOURG – The European Parliament is calling on Moscow to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who are in prison or other conditions of restricted freedom in Russia, Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists. In a resolution adopted on March 16, the Parliament urged Russia to “release without further delay all illegally and arbitrarily detained Ukrainian citizens, both in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and to provide for their safe return.” It listed 30 people, including filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who is serving a 20-year sentence in a Russian prison after being convicted of plotting terrorist attacks in a trial supporters called absurd, and reporter Roman Sushchenko, held on suspicion of espionage. The list, which the parliamentary statement said was not complete, also included several leaders of the Crimean Tatar minority, which rights groups say has faced abuse and discrimination since Russia seized the peninsula from Ukraine in April 2014. The nonbinding resolution called on Russia “to allow all the above-mentioned people to travel freely, including Mykola Semena, who is being prosecuted for his journalistic work for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.” Mr. Semena, an RFE/RL contributor in Crimea, went on trial at a Russian-controlled court there on March 20 on separatism charges based on an article he wrote on his blog that was critical of Moscow’s seizure of the peninsula and expressed support for strengthening a blockade of the peninsula initiated by Ukrainian activists. The European Parliament resolution was adopted on the third anniversary of the referendum that Russia staged in Crimea as part of its operation to seize control of the Black Sea peninsula. EU lawmakers also called for more sanctions against Russian nationals “responsible for gross human rights violations, including the freezing of assets in EU banks.” Estonian lawmaker Tunne Kelam, speaking before the vote in Strasbourg, said the bloc needed to “strike with all force on secret bank accounts of those responsible and deny them entry into the EU.” The resolution also calls for “EU support for Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar media projects” and initiatives to protect Crimean Tatars’ cultural heritage. (Rikard Jozwiak of RFE/RL)
EU releases aid for Ukraine’s economy
BRUSSELS – The European Commission has agreed to send Ukraine 600 million euros to shore up its deteriorating economy, ending months of delays over conditions linked to the loan. With Ukraine in a third year of war, the European Union softened demands that Kyiv first lift a ban on Ukrainian wood exports, saying the money could now be sent because the government had submitted a bill to change that policy. “Ukraine has done a remarkable job of stabilizing and reforming its economy, despite the armed conflict unfolding on its soil,” Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said on March 16. The conditions the EU has attached to the aid are aimed at modernizing the economy and ridding Kyiv of entrenched corruption. The aid payment takes the total of EU loans to Ukraine to 2.8 billion euros since 2014. Kyiv badly needs the money. It estimates that a blockade of trade with eastern areas held by Russia-backed separatists that was announced this week would cause the economy to shrink by 2 percent. In February, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker promised to release the aid to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman. A final 600 million euro disbursement is still available under an aid package that expires next January. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by AFP and Reuters)
National deputies approve language quotas
KYIV – Ukrainian lawmakers have approved a bill that requires national television and radio stations to have at least 75 percent of their programming in the Ukrainian language. The issue is controversial among Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population, and pro-Russia separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine claim Kyiv is deliberately reducing the use of the Russian language. Kyiv denies the allegation. The legislation is still going through Parliament and requires presidential approval. The first reading of the bill was approved on March 16. The bill also requires local TV and radio stations to have 50 percent of their content in Ukrainian. The language quotas would be in place between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. The bill also requires that foreign films aired on Ukrainian television channels, including Russian movies, must carry Ukrainian subtitles. Viktoria Syumar, chairwoman of the parliamentary Committee for Freedom of Speech and Information Policies, told a session that some Ukrainian broadcasters have up to 90 percent of their programming in Russian. She added that the Crimean Tatar language was included in the Ukrainian language quota. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Interfax and UNIAN)