Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Wednesday 08 June. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News:

Russia’s revenue from Jan.- Apr. sales of gas drop by 30%, and that's why they want to broker a deal with Ukraine and seems Ukraine's wanting to get a deal that the rest of Europe gets.

A majority of Ukrainians consider Ukrainian their language.

Savchenko Says Willing To Hold Peace Talks With Separatists.

Update: 36 attacks by Putin yesterday. 7 Ukrainian soldiers injured.

WEATHER:

Odessa 18° RealFeel® 20°Sunny

Kyiv 18° RealFeel® 21°Sunny

There's a nasty storm moving southeast in Germany. Possible flooding expected.

Update: A pleasant day in Kiev. I had to visit my dentist. Waited a little on the banks of the Dnepr. Lots of people out cycling in the Minsk- Obolon area. Others running, exercising. Partly sunny. 20 mid-afternoon. Ok.

Russia’s revenue from the export sales of gas for the first 4 months of 2016 have dropped by 28% and amount to $10.781 bn, Russia’s Federal Customs Service June 8 report runs, Rosbalt reports.

Revenue from the sales of oil have dropped by 36%, or 1.6 times, reaching $19.749 bn.

In total, Russia’s foreign trade balance in Jan.- Apr.2016 amounted to $134.4 bn or 25.2$ less than in the same period last

 In Jan. - Apr. of 2016, Russia’s export stood at $83.8 bn, or a drop by 31.3%, with import at $50.6 bn or a drop by 12.5%.

zik.ua

60 percent of Ukrainian citizens consider Ukrainian their mother tongue, 22 percent - both Ukrainian and Russian, and 15 percent - Russian.

As reported by Censor.NET referring to Radio Svoboda, this is evidenced by a survey of the Center for Economic and Political Studies named after Oleksandr Razumkov.

According to the survey, 15 percent of Ukrainians consider Russian their native language, 22 percent - both Ukrainian and Russian, and 2 percent of respondents name other languages.

In 2006, 52 percent of the surveyed called Ukrainian their mother tongue, 31 percent - Russian. This indicates a growing number of those who see Ukrainian or both languages as native, pollsters say.

At home, according to the survey, 44 percent of respondents speak Ukrainian, 5 percent - mostly Ukrainian, 13 percent - Russian, 11 percent - mostly Russian, and 25 percent use both languages.

At the same time, outside the home, 40 percent of those surveyed speak Ukrainian, 6 percent - mostly Ukrainian, 12 percent - Russian, 11 percent - mostly Russian, and 29 percent communicate both in Ukrainian and Russian .

The survey was conducted on Dec. 11-23, 2015 in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea and the occupied areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 10,071 respondents over 18 years were surveyed. The theoretical margin of error makes 1 percent.

censor.net.ua   In Ukrainian/український

The Security Service of Ukraine is checking possible involvement of the All-Ukrainian Social Movement "Ukrainian Choice", led by infamous pro-Russian politician and oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, in separatist activities in Ukraine.

As reported by Censor.NET, this is stated in the SBU's response to an inquiry by Ukrainski Novyny.

"A check for possible involvement of Ukrainian Choice is carried out in the framework of criminal proceedings of April 25 instituted on the facts of criminal offenses under part 3 of article 109 (actions aimed at a violent change or overthrow of constitutional order or the seizure of state power), part 1 of article 111 (treason), and part 1 of article 258-5 (financing of terrorism) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the document notes.

Watch more: Activists filmed luxury estates of Putin's crony Medvedchuk, oligarch Surkis, and Central Election Committee Head Okhendovskyi in Kyiv suburbs. VIDEO

Earlier, the Pechersk district court of Kyiv ordered the Prosecutor General's Office to open criminal proceedings against leader of Ukrainian choice Victor Medvedchuk.

censor.net.ua   In Ukrainian/український

The United States is set to further toughen economic sanctions against Russia with a view to stop violence in Ukraine.

Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said at a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Censor.NET reports.

"These sanctions, combined with low oil prices and Russia's continued structural weaknesses, have imposed significant costs. While Moscow has not yet changed its approach to Ukraine, our readiness to toughen sanctions even further has likely played a role in deterring further Russian efforts to grab Ukrainian territory," Nuland stated.

She also stressed that the U.S. is now working intensively with Europe to ensure "EU sanctions are rolled over at the end of this month, and to support France and Germany in their lead diplomatic role to push for full implementation of the Minsk agreements."

censor.net.ua   In Ukrainian/український

Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, also told lawmakers on June 7 that Moscow remained in violation or "out of compliance with" some major arms-control treaties, including the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, known as the INF.

Coming just weeks before an important NATO summit in Warsaw, Nuland's comments before a Senate committee gave some indication of what that summit's agenda will include, with Russian military maneuvers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East likely to take center stage.

That summit will be preceded by a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels, where officials are expected to renew sanctions against Russia that were imposed alongside analogous U.S. measures following Moscow's forcible annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014.

U.S. and European officials have linked the lifting of those sanctions -- which, together with the drop in world oil prices, have pummeled the Russian economy -- to the implementation of the Minsk cease-fire accords aimed at resolving the conflict between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv's forces in eastern Ukraine.

"I think the largest piece of leverage that we have on Russia is the sustainment over two years of deep and comprehensive sanctions across the U.S. and the EU countries," Nuland told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"So again this is why we are advocating -- because Minsk is not being implemented -- that the sanctions have to be rolled over again," she added.

Pressed by Senator Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida) about the effectiveness of the sanctions, Nuland insisted that they have impacted Russian policy.

"We have deterred further land grabs in Ukraine, and that was a real risk when we first started with sanctions -- that they would try to run all the way to Kyiv and Kharkiv," she said. "I will tell you now that the Russians are now openly talking about the pain of sanctions, including when we work with them on the Minsk thing. So they know what it's going to take to get these sanctions rolled back."

Michael Carpenter, a top Russia official from the Defense Department who also testified before the committee, warned that Russia was adding more weaponry and military capability to the Black Sea peninsula in an effort to prevent the United States or its allies from operating in the region.

Both Nuland and Carpenter were also pressed by senators on Russian compliance with the INF treaty, as well as with the 2002 Open Skies agreements.

The State Department has charged that Russia is building a ground-launched cruise missile that violates the INF. Moscow has consistently denied those allegations and asserted that a U.S. missile defense system for Eastern Europe violates the treaty.

On the Open Skies treaty, which allows treaty members to conduct aerial inspections of one another's territory to review military facilities and troop positioning, Russia is seeking to conduct a U.S. flight using new high-tech cameras and surveillance equipment.

But some senators and Defense Department officials worry the overflight will reveal too much to the Russians. Moreover, the State Department has alleged Russia is improperly restricting U.S. flights over strategic regions in the Caucasus and over the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.

Both Nuland and Carpenter defended the treaty and its procedures for permitting overflights, and noted that a U.S. refusal to allow the requested Russian flight would potentially hurt future U.S. flights.

Nuland also touched on the Kremlin's longstanding accusation that NATO's eastward expansion in the 1990s is to blame for the current tensions in Europe, saying Moscow failed to take advantage of Western offers for greater collaboration................

To read further go to this link:  rferl.org

Seven Ukrainian soldiers injured yesterday in the ATO zone
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2016/06/8/7111135/

Here, report in English from the morning. 36 attacks from the Russian forces.
http://en.censor.net.ua/news/392273/militants_continue_to_use_grenade_launchers_banned_mortars_36_attacks_registered_over_past_day_staff

Decentralization needs new impulse. Those who stall it will be pushed, - Hroisman
http://en.censor.net.ua/news/392350/decentralization_needs_new_impulse_those_who_stall_it_will_be_pushed_hroisman
===
Some form of decentralization is needed to keep the west "satisfied" with "progress" in Ukraine.
This would also put the pressure right back on Putin. And ensure sanctions stayed in place. My opinion.

Statistics: Ukraine sees 0.1% inflation in May against April, 7.5% year-over-year
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/348881.html
...Inflation in April 2016 year-over-year slowed to 7.5% against 9.8% recorded in the previous month and 20.9% in March 2016....

====

This really is excellent news - BUT -
Groisman, Poroshenko - please don't stick gas and electric prices up another 20% this summer, or winter.
Ukraine now needs things to stabilize. And for inflation to fall to below 5%... hopefully by the end of the year.
Gas and oil prices have fallen massively on world markets, and I'm sure the IMF no longer requires the massive increases in prices it was demanding earlier.
I would think a suitable compromise can be reached, given the much much lower price of gas now in the EU.

Naftogaz hopes prices of gas in Q1 [??3] 2016 to be less than $200
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/348847.html
National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy expects that the price of imported gas in the third quarter of 2016 will be less than $200 per 1,000 cubic meters, Naftogaz Head Andriy Kobolev has said....
He said that in the second quarter of 2016 the company bought as less [little] gas as possible as lower prices on international markets could be seen in the third quarter 2016....
====

Intelligent logical thinking - my opinion. But expect Tymoshenko to criticise. She wants to be President.
I think the heading is a typo... or mis-translation. Surely it should read "Q3".

====
Found the original -
"Нафтогаз" рассчитывает на цену закупки газа в III квартале менее $200
http://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/348666.html
Yeah III kvartal = 3rd quarter

Gas prices in Europe moved above $ 180 per thousand. cubic meters. m
http://interfax.com.ua/news/economic/348680.html
Spot prices for gas on the British National Balancing Point trading platform this week exceeded $ 180 per thousand cubic meters.
On Monday, the NBP contract with delivery "during the day" closed at 36.5 pence per therm, which is equal to $ 183.7 per thousand. Cubic meters. m, on Tuesday quotes adjusted to 35 pence ($ 178).
Continuous price growth continued throughout the last decade of May and beginning of June.
In May, the price of Russian gas exports amounted to $ 153 per thousand cubic meters.
====
The "last decade of May"..... последнюю декаду мая
That confuses me. Theoretically an accurate translation. But... what does it really mean..
Maybe the last 1/10th of the month? Or... last 10 days... ? I'm guessing. I've asked some Russian speakers - but they don't know either ))!
===
Wiki
Дека́да...
Период времени длительностью в 10 дней, десятидневка, третья часть месяца. Используется преимущественно в статистике и экономике;
10 days - particularly in economics !
In the English language it typically means 10 years. !! You learn something new every day - well - at least I try to!

Terror beyond imagination.
#Russia burns residential area in #Anadan with WP.
Читать
Julian Röpcke
‏@JulianRoepcke
===
WP = White phosphorus. Quite quite barbaric. And on a residential area.
I realise this is a little off topic, but Ukraine is at war with Russia and needs to know what the mad Russian dictator might do next to the Ukrainian nation.

This Tank Has Become an Icon of Russia’s Secret War in Ukraine
The T-72B3 helps breakaway regions keep Kiev at bay
https://warisboring.com/this-tank-has-become-an-icon-of-russias-secret-war-in-ukraine-19711a6b7bae#.2m0mls1th
....“The modernized T-72B3 main battle tank has been an example of military equipment that is out of place in a conflict where Russian government actively denies military involvement.”

After seizing Crimea from Kiev in March 2014, Moscow quickly moved to support separatist rebels in Donbass. Despite the Kremlin repeatedly denying their presence in disputed areas, Russian “volunteers” had flowed over the border to help, bringing heavy weapons — such as T-72B3 tanks — with them.....

====
Recommended

Raids in Germany, Switzerland in MH17 probe
https://www.yahoo.com/news/raids-germany-switzerland-mh17-probe-160457366.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw
...."It's possible that the suspected culprits behind the firing on MH17 may have been in contact with" the detective's office, de Telegraaf said, citing what it said was the Netherlands' request to Swiss authorities for help.
According to the Dutch paper, the private detective was paid some 17 million euros ($19 million) by a rich donor -- whose identity remains unknown -- to investigate the causes of the crash.
Identified only as Josef R., the detective began his inquiries two months after the disaster, having been initially promised a fee of some 30 million euros.
"We are hoping to get some information about this. That's why the raids at his home were carried out," the spokesman for the prosecution service, Wim De Bruin, told AFP.
After the private eye's home in Bad Schwartau in northern Germany was searched, a safe deposit box in a bank in Zurich, Switzerland, was also emptied and its contents seized.
"We don't actually know what was in the box. The Swiss judge must now decide if its contents can be handed over to Dutch officials," de Bruin added.....
====
Might be nothing - but might be very very significant.

Yarosh and Savchenko meet
Photos posted by Yarosh on facebook.
via Pravi Sector website, I believe



https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1034068856669998&set=pcb.1034072223336328&type=3&theater
Dmitry Yarosh and Nadia Savchenko met at the frontline
June 6-7, deputies Dmitry Yarosh Hope Savchenko and together visited the Ukrainian soldiers from different units stationed in the hottest spots of Donetsk - a city Avdeevka and the village Shyrokyne. During the trip, the deputies met with the head of the military-civilian administration m.Avdiyivka Paul Malykhina.
Hope Savchenko also visited the base of the 5th and 8th battalions UDD particularly experienced at the site a unique experimental weapon in the armory which is made UDA and there is still a single ekzemlyari.
Fighters Ukrainian Volunteer Army and the Armed Forces volunteers who communicated with Nadezhda Savchenko, primarily interested in one thing: when we go on the offensive? Hope position today rather cautious and moderate, she believes that we must do everything to make shone as little blood Ukrainian and Ukrainian prisoners to come home as soon as possible, and advocates of war subversive groups.....

see also, from the Pravi Sector website



Дмитро Ярош і Надія Савченко зустрілися на передовій
http://sectorpravdy.com/ua/news/duknews/1723-dmytro-yarosh-i-nadiia-savchenko-zustrilysia-na-peredovii

Commenting on Nadiya Savchenko’s June 7 statement that Pres Poroshenko should enter into negotiations with the Donbas rebels leaders, political expert Taras Berezovets says this is what Kremlin wants Ukraine to do.

Not only is Savchenko’s statement discouraging but it also runs counter to Ukraine’s attitude and the attitudes of its foreign partners, Berezovets says in Facebook June 7. 

“I do hope this is Savchenko’s mistake. It is due to her beginner’s knowledge of politics. I would like to hear the comment of Batkivshchyna party of which Savchenko is a member," he said.

zik.ua

Beware, Propaganda!': Russia's Independent Media Take On State TV
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-ntv-independent-media-strike-back/27786923.html
...."Beware!" the warnings read. "Under the guise of journalistic materials on the NTV channel you may receive distorted information or propaganda."
Th e man behind the campaign is Valery Bezpyatykh, the editor in chief of Gorodskie Vesti, a weekly newspaper in the small Urals town of Revda.
"We are seeing a disquieting number of materials that are potentially disputable in terms of journalism," he told RFE/RL. "I don't think there can be any change without such campaigns."....

Jailed For Social Media Posts In Transdniester
http://www.rferl.org/media/video/moldova-transdniester/27786468.html

Good video report. Transdniestr borders Ukraine. Another "hell-on-earth" place, created by Putin and his nutters. This could be how Donbass ends up in time. An unrecognised wasteland.

The price Russia will pay for the grab of Crimea and war in Donbas will far outweigh the benefits, renowned Russian journalist Aleksandr Nevzorov told LTV June 8.

“The price will be very high. Russia won’t be able to take part in the world development. It’s a big price for a spa region [Crimea].

Russia will again be viewed as an ancient pithecanthropus with a rusty nuclear club.

Russia will get a horrendous revenge for Donbas because what she did there cannot be tolerated. It all boiled down to a criminal repulsive story.

It will be an absolute humiliation for Putin. No one wants it to happen, save for some criminal gangs that are just plundering the region,” Nevzorov said, eizvestia.com reports.

zik.ua

French Senate, the upper house of the National Assembly adopted a resolution with amendments calling the government for a gradual scaling down of the EU’s sanctions imposed against Russia on Wednesday. However the resolution provides for maintaining restrictions until full implementation of the Minsk agreements.

As reported by Censor.NET citing Ukrinform, 302 French senators voted in favor of the resolution, while 16 voted against the initiative.

Senate's resolution is more balanced in contrast to the one adopted by the National Assembly (lower house of the French parliament) which proposed a gradual lifting of the sanctions. One of its main provisions stipulates for the Senate to confirm its continued commitment to the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine and condemn the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The document was developed by members of the Senate Committee on European Affairs, Senator Yves Pozzo di Borgo (UDI-UC parliamentary group) and Senator Simone Suture.

In general, a total of 28 amendments were submitted for the Senate's consideration besides the text of the resolution itself. Regardless of the vote results, the resolution is not legally binding and will not have an impact on the decision of the French president and government as for the continuation of sanctions against Russia.

censor.net.ua   In Ukrainian/український