Ukraine News in brief. Monday 4 September. [Ukrainian sources]

MONDAY

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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
Putin made a threatening statement to Trump.  The US troops are not ready to fight Russia. Putin pledges a full-fledged military invasion of Ukraine or the Baltic States, it will be very serious consequences for him: Political scientist from Russia has estimated the chances of Putin's overthrow.  United States talked about the possibility of a breakthrough in the blockade of the Kerch Strait.  Several signs of Russia's rapid withdrawal from Donbass were named in Ukraine.  Dutch scandal surrounding Dutch companies' involvement in Putin Bridge construction.  Putin's withdrawal from the Donbas: Russia is talking about a serious conflict in the Kremlin.  Every third Ukrainian is denied visas to Canada. Merkel suspected Russia of hacking attacks on the eve of the election. United States and Ukraine will conduct an observation flight over Belarus and the Russian Federation. After first meeting with Russian President Putin, president Grybauskaitė received list of requirements to be fulfilled by Lithuania.

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The American Rapid Reaction Force in Europe is not well-organized and poorly equipped in the face of Russian military aggression

This is reported in the protocol assessing the capabilities of the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the US Army, located in Italy, according to Politico .

The publication received a copy of the document prepared after the brigade participated in military exercises with Ukrainian soldiers who had experience in fighting against pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine.

"The brigade lacks the essential capabilities needed to effectively and decisively deliver its mission," the report said.

It is noted that the US brigade lacks the means of air defense and electronic combat, there is an excessive dependence on satellite communications and GPS navigation systems, which are direct results of the combat operations of the unit in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the enemy did not have high-tech equipment.

At the same time, Russian separatists in the Donbass are using cheap unmanned aerial vehicles and e-war means to determine targets for artillery strikes and have modern Russian anti-tank missiles.

In the event of an attack, Russian troops will prevail over the US and block the systems of electronic combat satellite GPS systems, which will depend on US paratroopers, the report said.

Also, the report recommends the replacement of obsolete Humvees, designed to protect against roadside bombs in Iraq. They will be an easy prey for Russian armored vehicles, the document said.

In addition, it is proposed to provide a small contingent of light tanks to the brigade, which will provide the necessary protection from the PTKRs.

These changes will take several years. Meanwhile, the US military will have to rely on heavy weapons units that arrive in Europe on a rotating basis.

-In July, it was reported that Russian troops, who began arriving in Belarus to participate in the "West-2017" exercises, move around cities with weapons and no signs of distinction , just as at the beginning of the annexation of Crimea in early 2014.

-To participate in the exercises, already 10 times more troops than declared.

espreso.tv , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that not all US presidents stayed in office until the end of their term of office.

She said this in the program "Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov," a recording posted on YouTube.

"Not all, in general, American presidents arrived until the end of their term. This, incidentally, would be nice to remember in today's historical realities, with which state we are dealing with," said the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

She added that it is not about the impeachment of the US president, but about "how the state was built and how the struggle of the clans in various historical moments led to different political results."

Video in Russian. No translation version available.



apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

If Russian President Vladimir Putin pledges a full-fledged military invasion of Ukraine or the Baltic States, this will turn out to be very serious consequences for him.

This opinion was expressed in an interview with "Apostrophe" by Russian political scientist and publicist Andriy Piontkovsky.

He can scare him, but he can not go. Putin will scare the West for something, to bow to the same negotiations and milder conditions. He has no way to go to Kyiv and, moreover, do something in the Baltic region," says Piontkovsky.

He notes that the reaction to the invasion will be very tight. In the event of an invasion of the Baltic states, Russian troops will resist NATO.

"They will not send troops to Ukraine, but they will provide military assistance and carry out huge economic pressure on Russia as a whole, in which case they will not be waiting, and tens of billions of Russian elite will be arrested immediately," the political scientist predicts.

In this context, he notes that Moscow is well aware of the possible consequences. Therefore, most likely, further threats and bargaining will not go right.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Russian political scientist Andriy Piontkovsky commented on the possibility of overthrowing President Vladimir Putin with his entourage.

He said this in an interview with the "Apostrophe".

"You know, the Congressional sanction refers to the tens of billions of dollars of the Russian elite, including Putin himself. It is said in plain language that money will be confiscated, and the Russian elite will have the opportunity to think." They think and we'll watch with you," - said the political scientist.

He emphasized that in the United States I will confiscate not only Putin's financial assets, but all the oligarchs who will be identified by US financial intelligence.

Piontkovsky said that one of Putin's possible steps would be an attempt to escalate the conflict in the Donbass, but in this case, the United States will give Ukraine lethal weapons.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Russia began to gradually withdraw military equipment, and the leaders of the DPR-LNR militants are looking for housing outside of the occupied districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which may indicate the plans of the Kremlin to leave the Donbas.

This was stated in an interview with "Apostrophe" by the deputy minister on temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons Yuriy Grymchak.

"I have information from various sources that the so-called" leaders "of these faceless entities (the so-called DNR-LNRs -" Apostrophe ") have now begun to seek and try to buy housing in the territory of Russia. Or in some unrecognized republics - Abkhazia and the like, "- said the official.

He added that there is information on the withdrawal of valuable military equipment from the Donbas.

At the same time, Grymchak noted that it is not possible to fully check this information, but it comes from different sources.

"The last thing that has been - and this is already confirmed on many occasions - that the Russian Federation will cease financing these ORDLs next year, they do not set the cost for" people's republics "in the budget of 2018," the deputy minister added.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Russian political scientist Andriy Piontkovsky said that a significant part of the Russian political elite would agree to withdraw from the Donbas, provided that the international community closes its eyes on the occupation of the Crimea.

He said this in an interview with the "Apostrophe".

However, the political scientist emphasized, the West will never legally recognize the annexation by Russia of Crimea.

"But it is very difficult to do with Putin's life, because it is a loss of person for him. Therefore, such a gap is apparent between Putin and the majority of the ruling elite," says Piontkovsky.

He also drew attention to the fact that the issues of power in Russia are solved not in elections, but behind the scenes.

"These two processes - the ultimatum of the West on the one hand, and the need to make a decision on the other - cause a rather serious situation within the Kremlin's top, and it's hard to say how it will develop right now," the political scientist said.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

In the first three months of this year, Canada denied visas to 34% of Ukrainians

This was stated by the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Andriy Shevchenko in an interview with Tsensor.NET.

"We now have a catastrophically large percentage of refusals for Ukrainians in Canadian visas, with a critical percentage of failures: if last year the number of failures declined and reached 24%, this year, in the first quarter, we had 34% of the refusals to Ukrainians on Canadian visas," - he said.

In his opinion, this is a consequence of the outdated assessment of Ukrainians and the associated migration risks that prevail in the consulates and embassies.

"And it seems to me that the visa-free regime with the European Union should push our Canadian friends to rethink this story. Ukraine is now not among the countries with the highest migration risks," the ambassador said.

At the same time, according to him, in spite of the large percentage of visa refusals, it was possible to achieve positive changes.

"Canada has considerably reduced the time for processing visa documents.At present, the average time for processing visa documents in the Canadian Embassy varies from 5 to 6 business days, perhaps up to 7 working days, which is a much better indicator than in most countries where Canada issues visas", - said Shevchenko.

June 16, a Canadian MP from the Liberal Party, Boris Vzhesnevsky, called for the abolition of visas for Ukrainians , following the EU.

espreso.tv, Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The United States Mission to Ukraine will conduct an observation flight over the territory of Belarus and Russia within the framework of the Open Skies Treaty.

According to the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense , this is stated in a statement by Tsensor.NET .

"From 4 to 8 September, within the framework of the Open Skies Treaty, they are planning to conduct an observation mission to the United States and Ukraine over the territory of a group of participating States of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation," the agency said.

As noted, the purpose of the observation flight is to control military activity in the territories of these states.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

The Netherlands will investigate the involvement of its two companies in the construction of the bridge across the Kerch Strait .

This is reported by the Dutch television and radio company NOS with reference to the words of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development of the Netherlands Lilianne Plaumen.

The minister noted that even if their participation in the construction of the bridge was legitimate, the Dutch government "expects companies to conduct international business in a socially responsible manner" and noted that the Netherlands adhere to the strict policy of non-recognition of the annexation of the Crimea.

Earlier, the Dutch media reported that the Dutch company Dematec Equipment built one of the cars for the construction of the bridge. Another company - Bijlard Hydrauliek - has created the "most important part" of this car.

Vantage Haven, director of Dematec Equipment, said construction was taking place on the territory of Russia, so the company did not break anything. At the same time, the director of Bijlard Hydrauliek noted that he did not know where the equipment would go.

The Crimean bridge is being built for a year and a half, recently the "Apostrophe" reported that the builders installed the arch of the railroad bridge.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Representative of the Conservative Party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Julia Klckner, declared Russia's involvement in hacking her site.

This policy wrote on his Twitter.

"Today, my home page was attacked by hackers - with a greetings from Russia. [How], is it about the election," said Klokner.

The CDU spokesman said that about three thousand email addresses required unauthorized access to the rights of the site administrator Klokner. He noted that with great probability letters were sent from the Russian server. However, who is behind the attack, it's not clear yet.

As reported by the "Apostrophe", the head of the federal service for the protection of the constitution of Germany did not rule out the intervention of Russian intelligence in the elections to the Bundestag with the help of cyber attacks.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

Lithuania is ready to maintain a level playing field with all its neighbors, but after the first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president received a list of requirements to be fulfilled by Lithuania.

As informs Tsensor.NET , this was stated by the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė in an exclusive interview with DELFI.

"From the very first term of office, I have always said that we are ready to cooperate and be friends with all our neighbors, but on an equal footing, only if they are mutually respectful. From the very first meeting with Mr Putin, I have received a list of requirements that must be fulfilled. Lithuania: do not build a nuclear power plant, be sure to co-operate with them, etc. It was not a proposal to be friends or collaborate - either you become on your knees and you perform, or you're an enemy. I could not accept such a relationship, "she said.

Grybauskaitė also believes that while Russia is looking at its neighbors or small countries in such a way, good and just friendly relations will never be able to establish themselves with this country.

Grybauskaitė discussed the situation in the Donbass: "It is extremely important that sanctions against Russia remain"

"As long as Russia, and especially today's Russia, does not understand that all countries are primarily independent, with their statehood, no matter how large or small they are, that all countries need to cooperate with respect, relations will be complicated, especially if it is still able to fight, take away territory, act aggressively, interfere in the political situation or elections in other countries, this country will undoubtedly always be regarded as an aggressor ", - added the President of Lithuania.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою

More than 500 kg of gold stolen and taken out of Ukraine by cronies of fugitive president Viktor Yanukovych have been arrested in cooperation with a European country.

Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yevhen Yenin told Insider in an interview, Censor.NET reports.

"Several weeks ago, in cooperation with a European country, we received information about a big batch of gold arrested. More than half a ton," Yenin said answering a question about assets stolen during Yanukovych tenure.

A total amount of damage caused by the Yanukovych regime is about $40 billion. $1.5 billion have been arrested in Ukraine and returned to the state treasury, Yenin said.

He added that a total of $200 million of assets belonging to Yanukovych cronies have been arrested in various European countries.

"It's too early to say that we have lost the possibilities to find more assets stolen by the Yanukovych regime," the prosecutor said.

Earlier, Prosecutor General's Office showed a document proving that $1.1 billion confiscated from Yanukovych were returned to the state budget.

ua.censor.net.u , Original in Ukrainian / Українською мовою