Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 19 February [Ukrainian sources]

FRIDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News -
Russian forces fire 55 times at the Ukrainian people yesterday.
22 times at the Marinka checkpoint.
Update - one soldier injured yesterday.

Weather -
Cool today and tomorrow, but then warmer again. 0 now. High of +3. ok.
Tomorrow zero predicted - freezing point. But then plus temperatures every day.
Could the temperature be above average every day this month? Chances.

Footie -
Shakhtar drew 0-0 against the German side Shalke in Lviv.
Not a bad result, but now they have to play next Thursday in Germany.
In the balance. Shakhtar are not the team they used to be.

Just a word on the current situation regarding the coalition in the Ukrainian parliament.
On Wednesday Batkivshina withdrew from the coaltion. On Thursday Samopomich did the same thing.
That leaves BPP (Poro block) and NF (Narodni Front - Yats) only. Between them they have 217 votes. They need 226 to pass bills.

There are some smaller parties who might support certain things.
Also, there are 50 non-attached deputies.
Furthermore, Samopomich have said they will support bills they approve of.

Tymoshenko has started counting down the days to the dismissal of the cabinet.
If there is no coalition after 30 days the President "can" dismiss parliament and call elections.
Tymoshenko wants to put pressure on Poroshenko. Tymoshenko wants to be President, so she needs to discredit everybody except herself.

Liashko is reportedly in talks with the coalition - yats and Poro - but whether he will join - I put at 30-70 chance. Likely not.
But his ratings have been falling, and this could give him the chance for more tv coverage which he positively craves. He is an out and out populist.

N.B. There are suggestions that Liashko's Radical Party never "officially" left the coalition, i.e. they never submitted the required documents.
[see about 5 posts' down for more on this]
If true, this could be an interesting development, and may also affect the "30 days" rule after which a President can, according to the consitution, dismiss parliament and call fresh elections - if no functioning coalition-government.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-02-18/germany-s-planned-nord-stream-2-gas-pipeline-to-russia-must-go
....Nord Stream 2 would double the capacity of a pipeline that brings natural gas directly from Russia to the German coast, across the Baltic Sea. Merkel says it’s a commercial project and therefore none of her business. Yet the project makes little commercial sense. At a cost of roughly 10 billion euros ($11 billion), it would expand pipeline capacity at a time when half of the existing gas-transit capacity from Russia to the EU is unused....
====
It is basically political. To bypass Ukraine.

7:56
http://kriminal.tv/news/blokada_dnr_prinesla_neozhidannyj_rezultatvve.html
....A long time since we have not heard about the detention of wagons in the ATO zone - the smugglers usually rely either on smaller machines, or on trains. But on Thursday, the SBU reported on the detention of the truck near Chastye with a trailer that was carrying 40 tons of sunflower seeds cost more than half a million hryvnia. It seems as if the driver was sure that it will miss.
But at a checkpoint in Svetlodarsk standard smugglers caught traveling at random small transport in the hope that they will miss without checking. But this time in the "Niva" and "Fiat" found 306 kg of sausage and 887 kg of cheese a total cost of 55 thousand hryvnia - too much for personal consumption....
====
Smuggling in food, alcohol, to the occupied areas is now big big business. Big profits to be made.
Another reason that there are people on both sides of the war who want it to continue for ever. Money, as always, rules.

http://en.censor.net.ua/news/375123/radical_party_faction_still_officially_in_coalition_rada_procedural_committee_head_pynzenyk
Acting head of the Procedural Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, People's Front MP Pavlo Pynzenyk refutes the statements of the Radical Party leadership that their faction has seceded from the coalition back in September.
He said this on the sidelines of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Censor.NET parliamentary correspondent reports.
"It is their opinion that no written document is required to secede from the coalition. It still remains just their opinion. Everyone agrees that the Radical Party faction technically remains coalition member since no relevant documents have been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada Secretariat." ...
===
Now that is interesting.
Because it means that, (IF TRUE,) theoretically, there is still a coalition of over 225 seats. So the 30 days hasn't started yet after which Poro can theoretically call an election.
Tymoshenko wants to put pressure on Poro, blaming him for keeping Yatseniuk going. And then become President herself.

A war that could begin between Russia and Turkey, it can grow into a conflict with nuclear weapons. This opinion was expressed Russian military expert Pavel Felgenhauer.

"The Turks have quite large capabilities in the sea, land and air. Assume that an accumulation of these forces will in certain areas. The Russian cruiser "Varyag" (replaced "Moscow" in the Mediterranean Sea) wins a missile attack, during which shoots down Turkish plane. In response, the Turks sink "Varyag", for example a torpedo from a submarine. How will Russia respond to this? It can bombard Ankara cruise missiles. But if it's conventional warheads, the damage will not be much. So, we need to use nuclear warheads, "- said the expert apostrophe .

"I do not know how realistic such a development, but it is not an exotic scenario. The nuclear threshold is close enough. Starts if the Russian-Turkish war, whether it will grow into the European and whether this will be a war of nuclear - in the future. The probability of the first, second and third is quite serious ", - said Felgengaueur.

glavcom.ua In Russian

Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to properly interact with the international community, what complicates the conflict in Syria. This opinion during a debate in the Federal Parliament expressed shadow defense minister of Canada James Beza.

"I do not think Russia's actions (in Syria - Ed.) Useful. Putin must take responsibility for its interaction with the international community, and it does not ", - he told Beza.

The MP stressed that Russia is not only causing indiscriminate attacks in Syria, but the fighting, in addition to LIH, even with the moderate opposition.

"Russian pursue not only LIH, and the Free Syrian Army. They pursue other organizations opposing the Assad regime in the civil war. We are committed to all the armed forces focused on LIH and we want to reach this decision through diplomatic and political channels. Unfortunately, Russia is not involved in achieving this common goal, "- said the deputy.

Beza added that Russia must respect its international obligations not only in Syria but also in respect of Ukraine.

"I continue to stress that Putin should withdraw from Ukraine to adhere to peace agreements and Minsk combat LIH from the standpoint of the coalition, instead of being so useless" - summed up the shadow defense minister.

glavcom.ua In Russian

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-blasts-eu-statements-on-sanctions-relief/559969.html
...“It is nonsensical to link the lifting of EU sanctions with bringing the Minsk process to its full resolution, to its logical end, because, I repeat, the ball is not in Russia's court,” Putin was quoted by Interfax as saying....
===
Putin lying, and lying and lying. I suppose it makes a change from Lavrov lying.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Spain Sergey Pogoreltsev in an interview with "Commander in Chief," he said that in Spain legally is about 100 thousand Ukrainians.

"According to reports, the number of Ukrainian citizens who sought asylum in Spain in 2014 amounted to 800 people. Within six months of last year the figure was about 600 people. But this data throughout Ukraine. That is very difficult to determine how many are here just falls on the natives of the Crimea occupied regions of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, "- said the ambassador.

According to him, almost all applications have been satisfied.

"In principle, generally satisfy all requests. The fact that someone has this process takes longer, someone - less. But from the moment the person has filed all documents it has received the form that he submitted the documents and can legally stay in the territory of the country ", - said Pogoreltsev.

glavcom.ua In Russian

http://newsru.com/finance/18feb2016/dohod.html
The real incomes of Russians in January 2016 compared with January 2015, the second decreased by 6.3 per cent, calculated in Rosstat. Compared with December 2015, the real incomes of Russians decreased by 52.2% in January. Real disposable income - is income minus the obligatory payments, corrected by consumer price index....
===
Please note, Russian source.
see also

Russian Incomes Accelerate Drop in January
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/russian-incomes-accelerate-drop-in-january/560024.html
in English

9:10
http://glavcom.ua/news/363026.html
...The lawyers of the "Fatherland" are working on the resolution on no confidence in Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. About this in the air "5 channel" said MP from the faction of "Fatherland" Alexander Kuzhel....
====
Tymoshenko doing everything possible to bring down the government and force new elections.

http://obozrevatel.com/society/43291-sinoptiki-obeschayut-ukraine-poholodanie-na-vyihodnyie.htm
For weekend in Ukraine predict cooling.
This is reported in the weather.
On Friday, February 19 will be a cloudy day. In western Ukraine, the air warms up to +5 degrees. In Transcarpathia the temperature rises to 10 degrees. In the Southern and Northern regions is expected between 2 and 5 degrees with the "plus". Cooler likely be in the center and Vostoke- -2 to 0.
Significant cooling starts from Saturdays.
====
Opinion -
However, the start of next week could be really quite warm. For a day or two.
UK Metoffice chart for Monday  www.metoffice.gov.uk



Winds from the west - across western Europe. +8 or more maybe for Kiev even.
Cooler again by the middle of next week probably, but still - above average every day! Amazing. No snow.

What it all really means - lower gas consumption than normal. Excellent news for Ukraine's financial reserves.
Ukraine can survive without Russian gas. Unless something really wierd happens in March. Very unlikely.
And gas prices should be yet lower in April - Q2, 2016.

http://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-politycs/1968444-mn17-za-pivroku-vstanovlat-akou-raketou-i-zvidki-zbili-litak.html
During the first half of this year, international joint investigation group expects to gather extensive evidence of any type of weapons and the point from which were shot down "Boeing" MN-17.
This is stated in the letter that the prosecutor's office sent the Netherlands to the relatives of those killed in the crash "Boeing" MN17, the press service of the Dutch prosecutor's office.
"Before the second half of this year, international joint investigation group expects to gather extensive evidence of any type of weapons and the location where it was shot down MN17," - said the prosecutor.
In the same period, international joint investigation group expects to gather more evidence about the perpetrators of the disaster....
===
I can help them on that last point -
Perpetrator - Влади́мир Влади́мирович Пу́тин - Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Address - Kremlin, Moscow, Russian Federation.
Wanted for Mass murder.

11:26
http://www.ostro.org/general/society/news/493110/
===
What a joke. Somebody else for them to arrest and blame in the future.
Trade - in occupied Donetsk? Contraband from Ukraine, and shipments of coal to Putin. That's it. And Akhmetov, of course.

11:46
http://censor.net.ua/news/375205/minkult_razreshil_upts_kp_provodit_bogoslujeniya_v_odnom_iz_hramov_na_territorii_sofii_kievskoyi
===
УПЦ КП = UOC-KP = Ukraine Orthodox Church, Kiev Patriarch

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/19/7099587/
Legally Radical Party faction is still a part of the parliamentary coalition.
This was stated by First Deputy Chairman of the procedural committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Paul Pynzenyk reporters on the sidelines, said "Ukrinform".
"The faction of the Radical Party of Ukraine made a declaration of withdrawal from the coalition, nevertheless the announcement of a chairperson of the meeting did not happen. So, legally, to formally argue that the faction " Radical Party " of Lyashko is not in the coalition, there is no reason" , - he said....
According to Art. 83 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the coalition factions must consist of the majority of people's deputies of the Verkhovna Rada...
===
Legal point that I mentioned yesterday.
So has Tymoshenko's countdown to dismissing the government actually started yet?
Or will she have to wait even longer to be President?

11:49
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/19/7099584/
February 18 in Donetsk region Novoazovsk Russian occupation troops Lieutenant Boris Dehtyarov committed suicide by blowing up a grenade in the distribution unit.
This was reported by the Intelligence Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
"He was killed in the explosion; three other RF soldiers were wounded ," - said in a statement.
According to intelligence suicide occurred during the inspection of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of Russia, parts of which, in particular - nine separate motorized rifle regiment - is present in the occupied Donbas....

11:49
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/19/7099581/
Thus, the magazine tells about a monster named "Big Pig" [Poroshenko]. "Greedy Rabbit " [Yatseniuk] and " Ugly Turchin " [Turchinov] who planted so much "dill" [derogatory term for Ukrainians in Russia] that it blocked out the sun, and there was no bread.
In addition, the magazine is a picture that clearly resemble the images of President Vladimir Putin, depicted as a father.
In the magazine is also a "fairy tale" about "polite men" who defended "Edge Hill".
===
Mentioned this - with one photo posted - about 10 posts' above.
In the photo below, Uncle Sam gives the US lady - looks amazingly like Victoria Nuland - a bag of money... and it goes to greedy pig Poroshenko etc...
How sick can you get? Propaganda for children. Putin and his regime are seriously sick in the head.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/19/7099609/
Friday, February 19, 2016, 14:04
Leader of the Radical Party, Oleg Lyashko revealed in Parliament a letter out of his faction from the coalition.
The document, he demonstrated from the rostrum of Parliament.
====
That is it. No further info at the moment. What document is it?
And did he give it to his boyfriend by mistake after one of his parties?
Link has been slightly updated - with a typical Liashko photo.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/02/19/7099610/
Friday, February 19, 2016, 14:05
Today, the coalition has 226 votes. Legally it operates.
This was during a session of the Parliament Vice-Speaker Andrew Paruby.
"The grounds for declaring the dissolution of the coalition is not" - he said.
===
That's all the information the report gives!
Report now updated - all to do with Liashko withdrawing - or not - from the coalition.
Liashko has presented a document showing that he withdrew.

http://www.unian.info/economics/1270123-food-imports-to-ukraine-decreases-by-42-in-one-year.html
====
Not a surprise. Due to the fall in the value of the hryvnia, imported goods are about 3 times more expensive!
Good for the balance of payments, however.

http://apostrophe.com.ua/news/politics/2016-02-19/rukovodstvo-radyi-otkazalos-obyyavlyat-raspad-koalitsii/50249
...First vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Andrei Paruby refused to declare the termination of the coalition, citing the fact that it is still necessary number of deputies.
Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of the Word "Interfax-Ukraine".
According to the first vice-speaker, parliamentary coalition formally has more than half of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada deputies, that does not give grounds to declare its decay
"The creation and disintegration of the coalition - it's not just policy statements, but also the legal format as of today under the coalition (the signature on the entry into its structure - IF). There are more than 226 signatures today legally coalition exists.", - He said before closing plenary session of parliament on Friday....

14:42
http://www.unian.ua/politics/1270306-u-radi-obgovoryuyut-kandidaturu-yuriya-lutsenka-na-posadu-genprokurora.html
===
I think he would be good - but...
This job is a poisoned chalice. Like the PM job. In the end, everybody will blame you.
He would be mad to take it on.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/marine-le-pens-party-asks-russia-for-27-million-loan/560066.html
France's far-right National Front party has asked Russia for a 27-million-euro ($30 million) loan, claiming that the party needs it to finance its election campaigns in 2017, The Times newspaper reported Friday, citing the party’s treasurer....
Le Pen's party claimed that the results of the Crimea referendum in 2014, followed by the annexation of the peninsula by Russia, were legitimate, and also criticized the implementation of European Union's sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine....
===
It never ceases to amaze me.
The mega-far-right wing - basically fascist party of France - supported by Putin.
And yet also - Seumas Milne, and Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party - ultra left-wing Stalinists - also supporting Putin.
Fascists and communists united!! Here's the link to the original article

Le Pen’s party asks Russia for €27m loan
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article4693936.ece
The National Front in France has applied for a €27 million loan from Russia to help it to fight presidential and parliamentary elections next year, the party’s treasurer has said.
The loan request follows claims that €11 million worth of loans to the far-right party from Kremlin-owned institutions in 2014 was a reward to Marine Le Pen, the party’s leader, for her support of President Putin’s Ukraine policy...
[Have to pay to read more]

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putins-pre-emptive-strike-kremlin-moves-to-liquidate-foreign-agents/559897.html
Activist Pavel Chikov could react only with sarcasm when a court handed down a winding up order against his Agora legal advocacy association. "As the first NGO ever to have been liquidated in a Russian court, we are so proud," he wrote on Twitter.
The next day, another organization, the Golos Democracy Foundation, fell under the same spotlight when the Justice Ministry issued almost identical proceedings. ...
Agora and Golos have been a nuisance for the Kremlin for many years.
Agora's sharp legal minds engaged in legal advocacy for the most high-profile, politically motivated cases. They defended those who participated in mass opposition rallies over 2011-2012....
====
The road to North Korea.

http://tyzhden.ua/News/158937
====
For some reason google translate gives it as "Ukraine asks Russia"... Not so. РФ попросила Україну...

http://www.unian.ua/society/1270377-epidemiya-gripu-ta-grvi-v-ukrajini-yde-na-spad-ses.html
...During the week, the intensity of the epidemic has decreased by 20%....
===
But still some deaths. 313 sadly, to date.

15:54
http://obozrevatel.com/politics/89320-lutsenko-prokommentiroval-svoe-vozmozhnoe-naznachenie-na-mesto-shokina.htm
...."There are no official proposals on this occasion I did not get I do not comment on rumors and do not plan on living according to rumors." - He said....

Rada may take a no-confidence vote on Premier Yatseniuk, if he fails to propose a new cabinet or resign within 3 non-plenary weeks, head of BPP faction Yury Lutsenko told journalists on Thursday, Interfax-Ukrayina reports.

“Rada has 3 non-plenary weeks ahead, and the premier has to either submit his new cabinet and a new program which can get 226 votes in support or hand in his resignation. Failing this, Rada will have to pass the no-confidence vote in the premier, not the cabinet,” Lutsenko said.

The Poroshenko-led BPP faction will not leave the coalition, and will not work with the present cabinet, Lutsenko stressed.

“We don’t believe the present cabinet can deal with fighting corruption, implementing reforms, defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” he said.

Batkivshchyna leader Yulia Tymoshenko announced earlier that her faction would initiate a motion to dismiss Yatseniuk by the weekend.

zik.ua

Analysts at investment bank Goldman Sach Ukraine predict a new wave of capital outflows and weakening of the hryvnia due to distrust of the political regime, according to Interfax .

"Despite the failure of a vote in Parliament for the resignation of the government, continuing political uncertainty could trigger another outflow of capital and deposits from banks. This, in turn, will increase the pressure on reserves and the hryvnia exchange rate which, according to our estimates, will decrease to 30 UAH ./$ 1 to the middle of the year ", - stated in the analytical review of the bank.

Analysts regard the removal of the question of a change of the cabinet as a temporary victory, able to open the way to getting the next tranche of financial aid from the IMF.

"The direct economic benefits of Ukraine is to continue work on the completion of the second review of the cooperation program with the IMF, it is necessary to obtain a $ 1.8 billion financing. Judging by the statements of the Ukrainian authorities, they have fulfilled most of the requirements for completion of the review, including those relating to political stability ", - the document says..................

newsdaily.com.ua In Russian

Duda commented on the statement of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev

President of Poland Andrzej Duda accused Russia of stoking a "new Cold War" by its actions in Ukraine and Syria. This Duda said in an interview with Reuters.

Duda commented on the statement of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev , who last week described the relationship between the East and the West as a "new cold war" and said NATO was "hostile and closed" in relation to Russia.
"If Mr. Medvedev says the Cold War, then looking at the actions of Russia, of course, who are looking for a new Cold War," - said Duda.

"If someone is pursuing an aggressive military operations in Ukraine and Syria, if someone is strengthening its military presence on the territory of its neighbors ... then we have a definite answer as to who wants to start a new Cold War. Of course, it's not Poland or NATO "- said the Polish president.

Duda Polish confirmed pursuit of "intensive" NATO presence on its territory, to be agreed at the July summit of the Alliance in Warsaw.

Read also: Hungary is ready to be fenced off by a fence and by Romania Poland does not want to be associated with the crimes of the Third Reich Moskal calls on the Cabinet to resolve the situation with the blocking of Russian Fur Best photos from around the world for a week in Poland to build a railroad from chocolate Poland has announced its intention to take part in the fight against LIH at the Ukrainian thermal power plants produce twice as much electricity than it needs on the border Ukrainians have accumulated dozens of Russian trucks Russian ambassador surprised the Polish Foreign Ministry "sudden" Happy New year in February, Poland re-investigating the plane crash near Smolensk Poland closed its borders for Russian trucks in Poland detained 58 Ukrainians.

segodnya.ua In Russian

A discussion of possible appointment of Yurii Lutsenko, head of the Petro poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction, for the position of Prosecutor General is currently underway within the faction.

This was announced by faction member, MP Mustafa Nayyem, Censor.NET reports citing 112 TV channel.

"As for Yurii Vitaliovych Lutsenko, there is this information, we know of these rumors, it is being discussed within the faction and in the parliament. Yurii Vitaliovych himself has neither confirmed this information nor refuted, nor commented. But I think that if he is offered by the president, the Verkhovna Rada should consider this candidate," Nayeem noted.



censor.net.ua In Russian

Russia's government is considering cutting spending on defense procurement this year by 5 percent, a move that would extend the budget squeeze to a sector that up to now has been immune from real cuts.

Four official sources told Reuters, Censor.NET informs.

The proposal has support across several ministries and in other state institutions, enough for it to go forward for discussion at a cabinet meeting, the sources said. Until now, the idea has not gained traction beyond the finance ministry.

That it is now about to be put on the agenda of the full government is a sign that, as Russia begins its second year of recession caused by low oil prices and Western sanctions, no area is safe from budget cuts.

Cutting defense spending is symbolically important because President Vladimir Putin has made restoring Russia's military might a priority, a stance reinforced by military engagements in Ukraine and in Syria.

Russia spent 1.65 trillion roubles ($21.60 billion) on defense procurement in 2015, according to defense think tank CAST. That represented about half of total budget spending on national defense, it said.

A 5 percent cut in defense procurement spending is unlikely to bring in significant additional budget revenues. The saving would be not more than 100 billion roubles, according to an estimate from one of the officials who spoke to Reuters.

"But this is not about money, it is about a political precedent," the official said.

censor.net.ua In Russian

Former Russian mercenary, who used to fight in the Donbas, told about decadent moods among “LPR/DPR” militants and their future prospects.

In his interview to Rosbalt, a disappointed militant named Alexey told that there has been no stardust on the occupied territories of the Donbas, Censor.NET informs.

"There was this dirt of fratricidal war. Many of those who arrived recently return back after a week. It's very harsh there at the moment, there are no more units of insurgents, Cossack outlaws. If you want to fight, you go to a local military recruitment office, file a report, lease a room and wait until they check you up and decide whether to sign a contract with you… There are few people left there, and half of those who remain are locals, who will fight no more…

"Some of the local guys that I served with have contacted me asking whether they could find a job here. They would like to come to Russia. They have nothing good to expect there, especially after the [Ukrainian - ed.] authorities return. Everyone knows everything about them - who did what, who lives where, where parents are…" the Russian said, noting that record files of insurgents are in Kyiv, and he himself saw a picture of his contract on a Ukrainian website.

He said that no one among terrorists believes in amnesty.

"Everyone will flee here; all who were silent there would come here, to my home [Russia - ed.]. And who will be guilty of all their misfortunes? Ukraine? No! Russia, who lured them and betrayed afterwards. We should certainly expect various surprises from them," former insurgent noted.

censor.net.ua In Russian

Territorial Forces Center of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continues comprehensive inspection of Russian troops based in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donbas.

As reported by Censor.NET, this is announced in a statement by Defense Intelligence press service.

According to the authority, during the inspection period at the 9th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment (Novoazovsk) of the 1st Army Corps of the Russian Army, a suicide took place (regiment commander - Colonel Dmitriy Bondarev, by cover documents - Yevgeniy Kovalenko).

"On Feb. 18, platoon commander, Lt. Boris Degtyarev committed suicide by exploding a grenade at the unit's base. As a result, the man died, three other soldiers received injuries," the report notes.

censor.net.ua In Russian

On Thursday, Feb. 18, during a planned operation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, director of the State Innovation Financial-Credit Institution was apprehended at his workplace on suspicion of embezzlement of state property in especially large amounts (more than UAH 14 million (approx. $514,000)) by abusing his office (part 5, article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

On the same day, the apprehended official was notified of suspicion under article 278 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and furnished the measure of restraint in the form of up to 60 days detention, Censor.NET reports citing NABU press service.

The judge has also set a bail amounting to 10,000 minimal wages (UAH 13.78 million (approx. $505,745)).

The pre-trial investigation is supervised by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Investigative activities to establish persons in whose favor the suspect alienated state property are underway. An indictment will soon be filed to court.





censor.net.ua In Russian

"The Vice President urged President Poroshenko to continue on this positive trajectory, to include successful implementation of the new legislation, and continued visible progress on anti-corruption reforms" backed by the United States and European Union, it said on February 18.

The IMF had threatened to halt delivery of Ukraine's $40 billion bailout package from the IMF and EU unless it cracked down on corruption.

Biden also applauded Poroshenko's efforts to replace Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin, "which paves the way for needed reform of the prosecutorial service," the White House said........

rferl.org

The political situation has gotten even more chaotic over the last 24 hours with major shifts in the structure of the ruling coalition. Nomura International economist Timothy Ash, always a good barometer for judging the political weather in Kyiv, offered the following comments at 19:51 today:

This is all turning into something of a fiasco. I am even hearing Prosecutor General Shokin at this stage is not intending to step down as requested by President Poroshenko. I think if we end up with the ruling coalition being maintained in office by factions such as Lyashko's Popular Party, Nasha Krai, Renaissance, and other parties close to oligarchs such as Kolomoisky and Akhmetov (support of the OP). Then I think that some of the well-known reformers (Jaresko et al) will be seriously considering their positions. If Yatsenyuk ends up surviving, then he and Poroshenko will have to spring some real positive surprises in terms of new technocratic reform blood re-joining the cabinet. But after the experiences of Abromavicius, et al, this might be difficult in practice. Poroshenko talks about rebooting the cabinet, but at the moment it all looks more like a case of old boots. And if Jaresko goes I think we will be into a whole new ball game, with a bigger market impact than with Abromavicius' departure.

ukrainebusiness.com.ua

Russia is mounting a far-reaching cyber espionage campaign against Syrian opposition groups and NGOs, as Moscow seeks to influence the flow of information on the country’s humanitarian crisis and obscure the full extent of its military operations there.

Targets include some of the most important human rights organisations and aid groups operating in the country, such as the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, which reports on military incidents and is frequently cited in western media outlets, the Financial Times has learnt. The operation shares many of the hallmarks of Moscow’s sustained hacking campaign against the Ukrainian government in 2013 and 2014......................

To read further go to this link:  ft.com

The Head of the Fatherland faction in the Ukrainian parliament, Yulia Tymoshenko, is going to initiate another attempt to dismiss PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk, she told journalists on Feb. 17, Concorde Capital informed clients in an online advisory today. "By the end of this week, our faction will submit a draft resolution to parliament to vote on dismissal of the prime minister, which will lead to dismissal of the entire Cabinet”, she said.
 
Earlier the same day, the Fatherland faction (consisting of 19 MPs) exited the parliamentary coalition. With this exit, the coalition consists of three factions of 243 MPs, with a required minimum of 226. Another small coalition faction, Self-Reliance (26 MPs), is going to announce whether it is leaving the coalition on Feb. 18.
 
Recall, the Ukrainian parliament tried to dismiss the Cabinet with a vote of no-confidence on Feb. 16, but failed to do so, because of the last minute refusal of some pro-president MPs to support the resolution. The parliament cannot attempt another no-confidence vote until September.
 
Concorde analyst Alexander Paraschiy add: “””’Tymoshenko’s initiative to dismiss Yatsenyuk is impossible to realize, as far as we understand Ukrainian legislation. After the failed vote for no-confidence, there are only three ways Yatsenyuk could leave his position soon: his personal resignation request (approved by the parliament), his loss of ability to work due to illness, or his death. None of these are options are probable.......................

To read further go to this link: ukrainebusiness.com.ua 

Being quite familiar with her past shenanigans, I wouldn't put it past her, he'd meet an end like Litvinienko did. She's ALWAYS been obsessed with being president of Ukraine, whatever it takes. Some will disagree because they don't know any better. The same that want to see Poroshenko take a dive. And YET, not one can give a name on who can do better. Do they know the individual improvements within Ukraine, since Yanukovich was removed? No they don't. They either don't pay attention, or DON'T WANT TO. They can't be denied a victory in seeing Poroshenko fail. Clear and simple. Pride gets in the way of the truth AND facts. Ask them where the country's GDP is and how much has it improved in the last year. They don't know. Ask them how much the exports of agriculture has improved in the country. They don't know. Ask them what has gotten Ukraine closer to being side-by-side with the EU. They'll deny it is. If they read this, they'll deny all that's written, till the cows come home. But who can do better, with a war, terrorists consuming an entire region, the cost of that war, the many businesses that have been swallowed up broken down and moved to Russia, the pressure they're getting from the likes of the IMF, the corruption that's SO DEEP in the Parliament, that it'll make anyone's head spin, and those from within the coalition that can't make decisions as one, for the sake of greed. They don't know who can do better, as if there's no war going on. Then they call themselves proud patriots. Sure! All they can do is, think negatively 24/7. It's the life they've lived. There's nothing good about life. I see it on a daily basis on social media. I don't pay attention to it as they don't know any better. And this is from a non-Ukrainian that seems to know more about the inner workings of Ukraine. If course, I probably have more time to indulge than they do, but that should be no excuse for someone to think so negative about their own country. I excuse them. One day they'll realize they were totally wrong, because they didn't open their eyes wide enough and didn't have an open mind. I've seen that attitude periodically from my wife, because they've lived most of their lives not being happy about much, so that sets their negative mindset constantly. And some will believe I'm very wrong about Tymoshenko, because they don't know all about her and her dealings.

So heed my cry. Open your eyes and support your country as a whole, not as just one mind. Life will be much better if all did. Yes! I'm very disappointed in many in social media, for the way they think blindly. It's just a mirror of their lives. Oh well!

"The unofficial figure is about 35,000 people, and half of them are Crimean Tatars," Chubarov said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

In his words there was no exact number of those who have left Crimea. Human rights activists estimated it to be around 25,000-30,000 people, while figures of official statistics include only those who have turned to the authorities for registration.

According to Chubarov, the Mejlis believes that "no one of the Crimean Tatars should leave [Crimea] unless he or she is ousted or imprisoned."

Repressions against individuals of different nationalities who disagree with the Russian occupation are continuing and will continue, he said........

interfax.com.ua

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk says that now there are no budget funds for a 12% increase in 2016, but the gap can be closed if $1.5 billion seized on bank accounts of former President Viktor Yanukovych's allies is confiscated.

"I'd like to tell you frankly that we've got no additional resources at the moment," he said during a Q&A session in parliament on Friday.

Yatseniuk called on MPs to pass a bill authorizing law enforcement agencies to confiscate the $1.5 billion from the former authorities, who, as he claims, keep the money at state-run Oschadbank.

In his words, as soon as the assets are confiscated, they will be transferred to the national budget and spent not only on raising social standards in the country, but also on financing the army and creating new jobs......

interfax.com.ua

President Vladimir Putin has removed the head of Russia's ailing state development bank VEB.

The instution is said to be in need of a bailout of nearly USD 16 billion. Analysts say the dismissal of Vladimir Dmitriev is down to Russia's poor economy, which is struggling under the weight of a weak rouble, low oil prices and Western sanctions.....

uatoday.tv

to the United Nations Samantha Power and Francois Delattre Permanent Representatives of the United States of America said that the Russian resolution on Syria submitted to the UN Security Council, "has no future", he said, on Friday 19 February, Reuters.

Russia has called the UN Security Council to submit a draft resolution, which refers to the need to respect the sovereignty of Syria and an end to attacks across the Syrian border. Russia also asked the international community to abandon plans to invade the territory of Syria.

In the present draft resolution, Russia expressed concern over the aggravation of fighting on the Syrian-Turkish border and Turkey plans to launch a ground operation in Syria.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Kavusoglu said that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and some European countries are ready for a ground invasion into Syria.

February 13 Turkey shelled Kurdish positions in Syria.

glavcom.ua In Russian