Ukraine News in brief. Monday 19 February. [Ukrainian sources]

MONDAY HEADLINES:
NATO Secretary General accused Russia of provoking a nuclear arms race. If the purpose of the Russian Federation was to create chaos in the US, then they made there wildest dreams, - Trump.  Ukraine is preparing a lawsuit against the UN International Court against the violation of the Maritime Convention. Ukraine will prepare to the UN court against Russia memorandum on the prohibition of racial discrimination and terrorist financing.  Merkel's party criticized the head of the Foreign Ministry, who wants to weaken sanctions against Russia.  US evaluates additional Russian individuals for possible sanctioning, State Secretary Tillerson says.  The conflict in Ukraine was a consequence of US and NATO policies, Lavrov. US Deputy Secretary of State Sullivan will speak at the Diplomatic Academy in Kyiv with a speech on US-Ukrainian relations.  In Russia there were pickets in support of Crimean Tatars and against elections in the occupied Crimea.  The memory of the Heavenly Hundred and the deaths of Ukrainian heroes in the struggle against the aggression of Russia was honored in Washington. SBU with the prosecutor's office detained a bribe of $20 thousand head of the village council in the Odessa region.  Jaresko about the expectation of the West from Ukraine: everyone is set to cooperate. Waiting for an Anti-corruption court. In September 2017, 54 military Russian mercenaries, the Air Forces, were killed in Syria. Ukraine’s nationalists stoned Kyiv-based branches of Russian agencies, banks. Olympics-2018: Due to a new case with doping, Russia risks falling outside the closing ceremony. Olympiad 2018: An athlete from Russia left the Games after suspicion of using doping. Facebook will increase control over advertising due to the possibility of Russian intervention in the US Congressional election.

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Russia violates the Intermediate-Range (short-range missile) elimination agreement (RSMD), which could lead to a new nuclear race in Europe.

This was announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with the German edition of Bild.

"By modernizing its nuclear arsenal, carrying out nuclear tests, Russia is in danger of provoking a new nuclear race in Europe, while the United States, which is party to the Treaty on the Destruction of Small and Medium Range Missiles, is convinced that Russia is breaking this treaty and is preparing to try a new one. medium-range missile", - said NATO Secretary General.

He noted that the NATO countries are rather concerned about this fact, and also called on the Russian Federation to comply with the PCM agreement and to ensure the transparency of its military exercises and defense projects.

Stoltenberg stressed that the PCM Treaty was a cornerstone of security, which for decades provided peace in Europe.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

US President Donald Trump believes that if Russia's goal was to create chaos in its country, it has been achieved through investigations and numerous congressional hearings in Congress.

As informs Tsensor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine , he wrote this on Sunday in his microblog in the social network.

"If the goal of Russia was to create dissonance, split and chaos in the United States, then, with all these hearings in committees, investigations and party hatred, they (Russia - Ed.) Made their most daring dreams, they are laughing to fall in Moscow, America, be smarter.!" - wrote Trump.

At the same time, the American leader rejected the allegations in the plot of his election headquarters with Russia.

"I have never said that Russia did not interfere in the elections. I said that" it could be Russia, China or another country or group, or a genius weighing 400 pounds (181 kg) lying in bed and playing on his computer "Yuter." The deception was that Trump Election Headquarters was in agreement with Russia - it never existed, "he wrote.

On Friday, the US Justice Ministry reported on charges of interfering in an American election to 13 citizens of Russia. Special Prosecutor Robert Muller conducts an investigation on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, the main purpose of which is to find out if there was a conspiracy during the 2016 election campaign between the headquarters of D. Trump and Russia.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a Decree on the representation of Ukraine in the consideration of the issue in the International Arbitration Court for violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This is reported by the press service of the presidential administration.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Olena Zerkul will defend Ukraine's interests.

"We have prepared an order on Ukraine's representation in the Arbitration Tribunal's review of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the absolutely clear position of protecting Ukraine's interests in connection with violation by the Russian Federation of sovereign rights of Ukraine in the Black and Azov Seas and the Kerch Strait," said Poroshenko.

He also said that the economic interests of Ukraine were seriously damaged, in particular, illegal mining of minerals, caused significant negative environmental, infrastructure and transport implications of the construction of the Kerch Bridge without the permission of the state of Ukraine.

The President stressed that" it is not about the consideration of the issue of Ukrainian sovereignty over the Crimea", because "nobody questiones this question".

Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin noted that the Memorandum, which will be transferred to The Hague today, contains almost 500 applications. He added that this Memorandum was the first, and in June there would be memoranda on the Convention on the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination and on the Prohibition of Financing of Terrorism.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, instructed to prepare documents for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to deal with war crimes in Russia, while Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin also announced the preparation of memoranda of the Convention on the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination and the Prohibition of the Financing of Terrorism.

This is stated in a statement on the website of the president.

"What we do is a comprehensive legal attempt to get Russia across the legal front. And most importantly, Russia will receive not only punishment for violating rights, but Russia will pay for it, "Klimkin said.

The Minister assured that the work will be consistently pursued and that the Ukrainian side has a strong team, which will represent it within the framework of arbitration and international court.

The president said that it was not just about maritime law, the elimination of racial discrimination, the responsibility for financing terrorism, and also set the task of preparing documents related to war crimes.

Earlier in the Presidential Administration, it was reported that Ukraine is preparing a lawsuit against the International Court of Justice of the United Nations against Russia for violating the Maritime Convention.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The members of the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDU) of the German Chancellors Angela Merkel criticized the proposal of the head of the Foreign Ministry, Sigmar Gabriel, on the relaxation of anti-Russian sanctions

Two politicians expressed their criticism of Bild am Sonntad, informs Spiegel.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said he is in favor of easing some sanctions against Russia if a ceasefire agreement with the UN peacekeepers is implemented in eastern Ukraine.

Gabriel carefully stated that this idea is his own opinion. "I know that the official position is different," the minister added.

"This requirement is contrary to the outcome of the coalition talks," said deputy head of the CDU / CSU faction, Johann Wadeful, adding that even the incumbent minister should not distinguish between his official and his own position.

The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, Norbert Röthgen, said earlier that while the Russian government is not implementing the Minsk treaties, heading towards Russia in the issue of sanctions would be an absolutely wrong signal.

Recall that on the eve of the Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin, announced the failure of negotiations with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the mandate of a peacekeeping mission in the Donbass.
Meanwhile, the US Department of State does not rule out the imposition of sanctions against new citizens of Russia.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

The U.S. government took steps that have already prevented a number of Russian military sales.
As reported by Censor.NET, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told in an interview with CBS News on Feb. 18.

Asked by the journalist why not implement the sanctions that Congress overwhelmingly says they wanna see put on Russia, Tillerson said: "We have and we are we've taken steps that have already prevented a number of Russian military sales as a result of the legislation. And we are evaluating additional individuals for-- for-- possible sanctioning."

As reported, the list of 114 Russian politicians and 96 "oligarchs" who have flourished during the reign of President Vladimir Putin fulfilling a demand by Congress that the U.S. punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election was released late Jan. 29.

The list was made public along with the Trump administration's surprising announcement that it had decided not to punish anybody - for now - under new sanctions retaliating for the election-meddling. Some U.S. lawmakers accused President Trump of giving Russia a free pass, fueling further questions about whether the president is unwilling to confront America's Cold War foe.

Known informally as the "Putin list," the seven-page unclassified document is a who's who of politically connected Russians in the country's elite class. The idea, as envisioned by Congress, is to name-and-shame those believed to be benefiting from Putin's tenure just as the United States works to isolate his government diplomatically and economically.

Being on the list doesn't trigger any U.S. sanctions on the individuals, although more than a dozen are already targeted under earlier sanctions.

Late July 2017, the U.S. Senate passed the new sanctions bill against Russia overwhelmingly and sent it to Trump for signature. Russia in response restricted U.S. diplomatic missions' access to several facilities and demanded to shorten the staff of the mission by 755 people by Sept. 1.

Trump signed the new bill on Russia sanctions into law on Aug. 2, but in a signing statement, he said he sees serious flaws in this document, although signs it for the sake of the national unity.

censor.net.ua  In Russian/русском

Russia's invasion of Crimea and the Donbas was driven by the policy that western countries, primarily the United States and NATO countries, led after the end of the Cold War.

As Tsensor.NET reports referring to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Serbian news agency "BETA".

"The Ukrainian crisis has not become the cause of current relations between Russia and the West; it has become a consequence of the policy that Western countries, primarily the United States and NATO countries, carried out after the end of the Cold War," the Russian diplomat said.

See also Tsensor.NET: Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Tymoshenko's meeting with the Russian Ambassador to Germany at the Munich Conference, in the "Motherland", they report provocation. PHOTOS

According to him, "instead of taking advantage of the unique historical chance and forming a truly pan-European security and cooperation framework, the West opted for NATO expansion in spite of all the promises made by the leaders of the United States and many European countries in 1990 that the Alliance was not an inch does not move to the East".

This was not recorded in any contracts or legal documents (it must have been done), but then the so-called "gentleman's agreement", which was, in essence, trodden by our western counterparts, was achieved. Probably, for the future we will try to better understand who the gentleman is and who is not. But those official documents from the US archives, which have recently been declassified, clearly indicate that such iron assurances were given through the dialogue between the USSR and the US, through contacts between Moscow and Berlin, Moscow and Paris, "said Lavrov.

According to him, what happened in Ukraine was not a surprise for Russia.

"It has become, as I said, a consequence of the line that NATO has chosen. After the Cold War ended, there were three waves of Alliance expansion, and with each such wave its military infrastructure was approaching closer to Russia's borders," he said. he said.

Lavrov is convinced that now the Balkans want to pull this game, putting the Balkan countries in front of a choice: either you are with the West or you are with Russia.

"The same choice demanded to do from Ukraine, and eventually it was a scourge in Ukrainian society and the state," he emphasized.


ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan on Wednesday, February 21, will speak at the Diplomatic Academy in Kyiv with a speech on US-Ukrainian relations.

As informs Tsensor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine, this was reported at the US Embassy in Ukraine.

The start of the event is scheduled for 15:45. Accredited media representatives are invited, in addition, the performance of JS Sullivan will be streamed online.

Earlier, the State Department of the United States reported on the forthcoming visit of Deputy Undersecretary to Ukraine, where he plans to meet with President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Activists and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States with Ukrainian flags, flowers and candles lit on Sunday in Washington's central city to honor the memory of Heavenly Hundreds, as well as thousands of Ukrainians who died in the fight against Russian aggression.
A commemorative ceremony took place in one of the most crowded places in the American capital - near the Lincoln Memorial, Censor.NET reports, citing Ukrinform.

The participants of the action launched a huge yellow-blue flag on the steps to the memorial and laid out a Ukrainian trident on candles lit. The ceremony began with the composition "Plive Kacha" and prayers for Ukrainians from Heavenly Hundreds, as well as those killed in the battles in the east of the country who laid their lives for the sake of the future of Ukraine.

"If not these people who perished then (during the Revolution of Domineering - Ed.), The story would return in a different direction. And I can say that if under the pressure of our partners, in particular friendly, we then came to a compromise, then this would turn into a drama", - said during the ceremony Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Valery Chaly.

He emphasized that the heroes of Heavenly Hundreds perished, but these people "opened a completely different path to Ukraine."

At the same time, the Ukrainian diplomat noted that although four years have passed since the beginning of tragic events in Ukraine, now, unfortunately, "challenges and threats that stand not only to Ukraine but also to all our friends and partners remain." Therefore, the struggle continues, Chalia said.

Tetyana Aldave, an activist of United United Ukraine, a charity organization who, together with the Embassy of Ukraine, co-organized the event, said in a comment that the commemorative ceremony is held in Washington annually. "We initially held this event at the Embassy, ​​but for the second time it passes near the Lincoln Memorial. Each time several hundred people come here, bring candles and flowers with them", - noted Tetyana Aldave.

The initiators of the memorial ceremony in Washington, in addition to the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States and United Help Ukraine, also featured the US-Ukraine Foundation, Razom for Ukraine, US Russian Activists, and representatives of the Ukrainian community in the United States.  







ua.censor.net.ua    In Ukrainian/український

Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine together with the prosecutor's office exposed the bribe head of the village council of one of the districts of the Odessa region.

It is reported by Tsensor.NET with reference to the press service of the SBU.

"Special service operatives have determined that the chairman and employee of the village council demanded $ 20,000 from a local businessman, and this amount was estimated by the perpetrators to legalize ownership of 10 plots of land on the territory of the settlement council, on which the trader has already started his own business. when receiving the entire amount of a bribe at the exit from the district center", - said in a statement.

Criminal proceedings were opened under Part 3 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. During pre-trial investigation, other possible facts of illegal activity of officials are established.




ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Foreign partners are willing to cooperate with Ukraine, but would like more clarity on many issues that are unlikely to appear while the election campaign is in progress in Ukraine.

As informs  Tsensor.NET with reference to" Ukrinform", such an opinion was expressed by ex-head of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Aspen-Kyiv Natalia Jaresko.

"Everyone is set to cooperate, but they want to understand - when and how... Wait for the law to be law," said Jaresko.

Expecting the creation of the Anti-corruption Court, which has promise a long time ago. But the court - it's not the end of the case, it's just a part of the institutions that need to be created, she emphasizes.

Often it is asked about land reform. This was also the case in Munich at the fields of the Munich Security Conference, which was attended by Jaresko. "They ask when it will be possible to privatize, I can not answer them. I know that it is impossible for the elections, because there will be no major changes in politics before the election," the former government official said.

At the same time, she hopes that "there will be concrete changes, and in this area, in particular, after the elections."

Recall that on Sunday in Munich there was a private meeting between the leadership of Aspen-Kyiv and Aspen-Germany, which, according to Jaresko, was also attended by the Special Envoy of the State Department of the United States Kurt Volker. "They discussed the situation in Ukraine not only from the point of view of the war, which is obviously a hot topic, but also the economic stability and importance of Ukraine for global stability," the agency's interlocutor explained.

She noted that many countries have many questions for us, about our possibilities, about our next possible steps.

ua.censor.net.ua    In Ukrainian/український

In September 2017, at least 54 military private military companies in Russia were killed in Syria.

This was learned by the Russian Air Force service due to documents that passed to the mother of one of the victims Yevgeny Alikov.

The Air Force notes that 54 dead mercenaries from Russia are more than official figures for all 3.5 years of the campaign. According to official data of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, during the operation in Syria, the loss of the personnel of the armed forces of was 44 people.

The publication, citing four Russian fighters who fought the Donbass, wrote that the FSB was collecting volunteers returning home, a five-year five-year petition for non-disclosure. Otherwise, in Russia they are faced with criminal prosecution for the article "mercenary".

Mother of the deceased said that in mid-September 2017, she received documents after her son's death. As the publication finds out, among them there is a receipt for receipt of the token of the Wagner PVC - which states that on May 19, 2017 he received his personal number M-3601. The standard token number issued by the military to the Ministry of Defense consists of a capital letter of the Russian alphabet and a six-digit number, and the numbers of the PKK fighters from Syria are reduced to four digits.

In October 2017, Reuters reported that at least 131 Russian citizens were killed in Syria in the first nine months of 2017, without taking into account official losses reported by the Ministry of Defense.

The document is numbered 131 th. Reuters reported that in each of the departments that register death, the numbering of such documents begins with the beginning of the calendar year and is conducted consistently. Accordingly, the number of each certificate corresponds to the number of deaths before the death recorded during the year.

The certificate of the death of Yevgeny Alikov was number 77. He died in Tias on September 2. At the same time, the document issued by the Air Force said that there are no "traces of any infectious diseases" on his body.

Recall that on February 7, an international coalition led by the United States attacked the grouping of Syrian troops supporting President Bashar al-Assad, which killed hundreds of soldiers.

First, the CBS channel said that, in addition to other military men, there could be Russian Wagner mercenaries in the air strike zone.

The number of killed Russian mercenaries is unknown. According to various data, it varies from a few military to "about 600 people". In particular, the Russian edition of Novaya Gazeta reported about 13 dead Russians as a result of the US air strike.

The group of independent investigators, the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), named the names of several Russian fighters "PKC Wagner", who were killed in Syria on February 7 as a result of the strike by the forces of the international coalition led by the United States.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Activists of the Ukrainian nationalist movements showered stones and eggs upon the office of a Russian federal cultural agency, Rossotrudnichestvo, Russian Alfa Bank and Sberbank branches as they held an anti-Russian rally in Kyiv’s Podil neighborhood.

As reported by a correspondent for Censor.NET, the activists of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and other nationalist movements Sunday held a protest against operation of Kyiv-based Russian federal agency and banks.

The law enforcers did not interfere when the rally participants started smashing up a Russian federal cultural agency, Rossotrudnichestvo, branches of the Russian Alfa Bank and Sberbank in Podil. After that, the column of protesters headed back for the Maidan Nezalezhnosti square.


















ua.censor.net.ua    In Ukrainian/український

An athlete from Russia Alexander Krushelnytskyy, who had previously won the bronze medal at the Games in Pyongchang, handed over the Olympic accreditation and left the Olympic village because of suspicions of using molodonia.

As Censor.NET reports, reports Reuters.

As the representative of the Russian delegation Konstantin Vybornov told the agency, Krushelnytsky expects the results of the second test, after which it becomes clear whether he used doping.

On the eve of Vybornov said that a Russian-Russian doping test at Pyongchan Olympics turned out to be positive. "Today, the headquarters of our delegation received a letter from the IOC on alleged violation of anti-doping rules. We do not name the name of an athlete or athlete, as well as a sport, to the results of the disclosure of the test B, which will be known for about 24 hours," Vibornov said. The media reported that it was about Krushelnytsky, who, along with Anastasia Bryzgalova, received bronze in the double-mix. This was the first olympic award in the history of Russian curling.

In the Federation of Curling of Russia, the edition of "Sport-Express" said that the members of the Russian team do not use melted land from 2015. Krushelnytsky himself announced on the eve that he "did not know" what was happening. The vice-president of the federation Andriy Sozin said that it "it is not clear", from which there was evidence of a positive Russian doping test. "Today, from the very early morning, this situation develops, it is not even clear where it came from. I was told that this information has gone somewhere in Pyongchang. Now we find out," he said in a conversation with "Championship.com".

As part of anti-doping tests, Olympic athletes donate blood and urine tests. The results are divided into two samples - sample A and B. First, test sample A. In the case of detection of violations reveal the second sample. The Russians at the Games in Pyongchang act under the neutral flag. The Russian team was dismissed from the Olympics because of an alleged violation of anti-doping rules in Sochi.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The Russian delegation at the Olympic Games in Pyongchang risking the second time to go without its flag and other distinguishing marks, now at the closing ceremony on February 25.

It is reported by Tsensor.NET with reference to Crimea. Realia.

This can happen due to a positive doping test given by the prizewinner of the competition, the Russian Olympic athlete Oleksandr Krushelnytsky.

The official representative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Mark Adams, said that if the offense was confirmed by Krushelnytsky, this case will be considered by the IOC team, which analyzes the return of Russia as a team, rather than its individual representatives as "Olympic athletes from Russia".

"If this is confirmed, this will be taken into account along with many other factors," Adams said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially informed the team of Olympic athletes from Russia in Pyongchang about a possible violation of anti-doping rules by one of the athletes. This was confirmed on February 18 by the press attache of the team Konstantin Vybornov.

The newspaper "Sport-Express" previously reported that a positive doping test was handed over to the keyringer Alexander Krushelnytsky, who won the bronze medal at the Olympics. In his trial, according to the newspaper, found traces of meltedonia.

On December 5, 2017, the International Olympic Committee dismissed the Russian national team from participating in the Winter Olympics-2018 in South Korea. Two investigations confirmed that the Kremlin has organized a doping system in sport. Russian athletes, who proved that they did not use doping, allowed to compete under a neutral flag. As a result, 169 Russian athletes were registered to participate in the 2018 Olympics.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Facebook will introduce additional tests for buyers of advertising due to fears of Russia's interference in the US Congressional election with fake and paid news.

This was reported by Associated Press.

Users who want to place an advertising post with the names of candidates for congressional elections in the United States need an additional test - to enter an automatically generated password from the image to continue advertising.

Representatives of Facebook believe that in this way they will be able to protect the social network from the bots that publish advertising posts. Additional verification will be introduced during the interim elections in November 2018.

Earlier, it was reported that Facebook would double its security after the US investigation into Russian interference in the election.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

In the near future, the US adviser for the development of the defense industry will be added to the Ukroboronprom Supervisory Board.

This was announced at a meeting "Of Records" with Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman media executives, the correspondent "Tsenzor.Net" wrote on his page on Facebook Glavred Tsenzor.NET Yury Butusov.

"An interesting precedent is being set in. The Americans are beginning to introduce their people directly into the state administration structures related to defense," he commented.

"Previously, Western experts acted only as advisers and advisers, the introduction of a higher level of cooperation in the Supervisory Board, supervisory board controls reporting, audit.The experience of the formation of the Supervisory Board of authoritative foreign specialists has already been implemented in Naftogaz," Butusov said.

As reported by "Tsenzor.Net", the demand to replace the leadership and reform of "Ukroboronprom" became one of the key requirements of the US to Ukraine.

"I hope that the prime minister's words will be justified, the introduction of American advisers in the supervisory board of Ukroboronprom will unambiguously increase confidence and quality of work," the journalist concluded.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The country's Ministry of Defense has confirmed to the Serbian First TV channel the arrest of four people who tried without permission to take over the building, which is currently based on the Military Intelligence Agency and the Serbian Military Agency. The case is under consideration by the prosecutor's office and the police.

The arrest of foreign citizens was also confirmed by Serbian President Aleksander Vucic, who said that it was not "something dangerous".

At the same time, the Serbian edition of Alo! writes that detained Ukrainians came from Russia-occupied Luhansk.

According to the Serbian media, the building is important in the command system of the Serbian army. Minister of Defense Alexander Vulin carries out a significant part of his work there.

Earlier, the SBU handed Serbs the surnames of 23 Serbs who fought on the Donbass on the Russian occupation side against the Ukrainian Army.

espreso.tv    In Ukrainian/український