Ukraine crisis. News in Brief. Thursday 10 September [Ukrainian sources]

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News -
Only one attack by Putin's armed forces yesterday.
Update at 1400. 0 deaths. 1 soldier injured.
1830 - saying today 2 dead. 4 injured. Lugansk. Mine. Heard on tv only to date.
Clearly some change in plan from the mad dictator. But what now?
He will want to destroy Ukraine by another means. Internal terrorism? Annex the Donbas?

Weather -
Cool in the north, pleasant in the south. Kiev - maybe 18 today. But Odessa 24? We will see.
Bright sunshine where I am, which is nice. Update at 1400. Now 20C. ok.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2015/09/10/7080764/
[one attack by Putin, at the Adivka checkpoint - guns and mortar fire.]

http://www.5.ua/polityka/Normandska-chetvirka-domovylasia-pro-zustrich-na-naivyshchomu-rivni-92703.html
"Norman Quartet" during a telephone conversation agreed on meeting at the highest level at the beginning of October in Paris....
The parties agreed to schedule further contacts in Normandy format, meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin on September 12 and the Summit in early October in Paris.
...The President of Ukraine stressed the need for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the occupied territories and the restoration of full control over the state border of Ukraine.
The leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France agreed that the pseudo-elections in parts of Donetsk and Lugansk regions will breach Minsk agreements and jeopardize the whole process of further political settlement.
[Note - Russia does not agree with this, by the sound of it. Putin's next game one assumes - joke "Russian" elections observed by Shaun Walker and European fascist MPs plus Seumas Milne.]

8:08
http://nbnews.com.ua/ru/news/160370/
====
He's certainly getting in some air-miles.
He gets a lot of criticism because many Ukrainians have some idealistic view that paradise should have been attained shortly after Maidan.
In my opinion - he is excellent. An intelligent politician - very very rare in Ukraine.

Can't get enough photos of him in Chechnya?
http://news.liga.net/news/society/6593695-yatsenyuk_karatel_i_chechnya_podborka_luchshikh_fotozhab.htm

8:20
http://society.puls.kiev.ua/incident/348804.html
The city recorded convoy of army trucks, the order of 70 units, which are urgently loaded staff militants of the Russian Federation....
Residents of the occupied Gorlovka two days actively writing in social networks on a massive outflow of terrorists. There is an opinion that it is triggered by non-payment of money to militants, and the panic that Russia will build on its border "wall" and back to the Russian fighters will not get.
Recall that in Lugansk also talked about the mass departure of "militias".

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rewards-of-the-obama-doctrine-1441841431
Offering a helping hand to America’s enemies in Iran, Russia and Cuba will ruin lives and many more will die.
By GARRY KASPAROV
Sept. 9, 2015 7:30 p.m. ET
====
Unfortunately, have to pay to view.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-ukraine-crisis-exclusive-idUSKCN0R924G20150909
"They are building a military town," said Alexander Panchenko, a local resident whose house overlooks farmland where preparatory work is underway for a big construction project.
====
A dozen miles from the Ukrainian border.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/number-of-russians-living-in-poverty-nears-22-million/529769.html
Almost a seventh of the Russian population is living below the poverty line, official data published Wednesday show.
In the first six months of the year, the number of Russians living on less than the minimum income grew to 21.7 million people — a 14.8 percent increase from the same period last year, according to data published online by federal statistics agency Rosstat.
===
1 in 7 Living on just under 150 dollars a month - or less.
No wonder Putin is so popular in Russia.

Nelson wrote:http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rewards-of-the-obama-doctrine-1441841431
Offering a helping hand to America’s enemies in Iran, Russia and Cuba will ruin lives and many more will die.
By GARRY KASPAROV
Sept. 9, 2015 7:30 p.m. ET
====
Unfortunately, have to pay to view.

Try elsewhere! Copy/paste a few words into google and then:

Gary Kasparov says .....

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/11thOHCHRreportUkraine.pdf
===
pdf file. 44 pages - i.e., long.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
====
Having had a quick read -
1. A lot of ... "a woman who worked for the DNR claimed she had been abducted by Ukrainian forces, subjected to a fake rape, beaten, locked up.... " etc etc.
Of course, never any evidence.
2. At the end of the report, recommendations for the Ukrainian government, and also for Russia in Crimea. But no recommendations specifically for the Russian mercenaries in the occupied territories of the Donbas.
Therefore - one sided.
It is easy to tell the Ukrainians what to do - because they want to be part of the EU. Maybe.
But the UN doesn't bother to tell the terrorists anything.
The report also does not indicate how the lack of access to much of the occupied Donbass might impact on the report.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/new-investigation-exposes-glam-life-of-vladimir-putins-bling#.fmKZBbBDZ
==========
Well - we heard about 3 posts up that 22 million Russians were living in poverty, and this might explain why, in part...
Lots of photos. One quote...
Matvienko also has a Reine de Naples watch from Breguet. This one costs between $100,000 and $120,000, depending on the diamonds used.

http://www.eurointegration.com.ua/news/2015/09/10/7038059/
===
Paris. Poroshenko, Merkel, Hollande and the madman Putin.

http://www.eurointegration.com.ua/news/2015/09/10/7038060/
====
Can't he just send his missiles and mercenaries straight out of Donbas on a train to Assad?

10:10
http://ua.112.ua/ato/na-zustrichi-kontaktnoi-hrupy-boiovyky-vymahaly-u-zsu-zalyshyty-vazhlyvi-vysoty-bilia-mariupolia-shtab-oborony-257427.html
The representatives of the self-proclaimed "FSC" and "DNR" during yesterday's meeting of the contact group demanded that the Ukrainian troops left some strategically important heights in the area of ​​Mariupol. Reported staff "Defense Mariupol" in Facebook.
"At a meeting of the contact group to resolve the conflict in the east of Ukraine, representatives of non-existent" Republic "demanded that the Ukrainian troops left some strategic heights in settlements Shyrokyne, Starohnativka and others. Proposal of terrorists found no support among the participants of the negotiation process", - stated in message.
In the headquarters explaining that in this way the enemy keeps trying to move the dividing line deep into the Ukraine, to release well-fortified lines for creating conditions for a possible strike.

Odessite wrote:

Nelson wrote:http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rewards-of-the-obama-doctrine-1441841431
Offering a helping hand to America’s enemies in Iran, Russia and Cuba will ruin lives and many more will die.
By GARRY KASPAROV
Sept. 9, 2015 7:30 p.m. ET
====
Unfortunately, have to pay to view.

Try elsewhere! Copy/paste a few words into google and then:

Gary Kasparov says .....

==========


I thank Odessite for his "joke of the day". Good morning sir!!
Of course, as those of you with even the slightest experience of posting news items on a forum will know -
Most sites - such as Reuters, AP, AFP - will have news items posted at many different websites. And Odessite's advice would be the usual process.
However - as I am sure he is well aware        - and why I did NOT do what he said, of course,
Pay as you view sites are much more protective of their articles. So an exclusive by Karparov would be very very unlikely to appear anywhere else for a few days.
Parts of the article may well appear in another hour or six in a foreign language website. Ukrainian perhaps! - partly translated...

But doing a google search currently would simply lead you to lots of other short links - taking you round and round in circles, and back to the same article!
So -
don't waste your time doing what he says. Maybe in a day or two.
For those of you with experience, you will clearly realise he is "taking the mickey".
Odessite has a good sense of humor ! Or, in his case, humour  

10:30
http://viknaodessa.od.ua/news/?news=121765
====
Often in online translations, hrvynia gets mis-translated as dollars - but here - it really is dollars!
38 тысяч долларов На улице Богдана Хмельницкого - Bogdan Khmelnitsky Ulitsa.

10:41
http://gazeta.ua/articles/politics/_u-harkovi-na-viborah-mozhe-buti-bitva-titaniv-karasov/646639
"In Kharkov can be such a" Clash of the Titans ": Alexander Feldman," Our Land "and Gennadiy Kernes," Renaissance "- this expert said in a broadcast of" Radio "Era".
===
October 25. Local elections.

10:40
http://nbnews.com.ua/ru/news/160484/
===
Joke of the day from Putin.
Dialogue with Zakharchenko? Is the guy ever sober enough to be able to hold an intelligent discussion? No.
Is the guy intelligent enough to hold an intelligent discussion? No.
Will Putin replace him tomorrow, just as reently happened with Purgin? Who knows. Waste of time.

http://vesti-ukr.com/odessa/114292-v-odesse-u-shtaba-nacgvardii-nashli-bombu
It is reported that a package with TNT blocks weighing 400 grams found on duty at a check point around 7:40 am. To detonate the explosive device was planned using a mobile phone.
The explosion was averted. Now the scene works investigative team and forensic experts, and representatives of the explosives service dog.
====

It looks for the moment as if Putin is stopping the war on the frontline.
Therefore expect him to launch many more provocations now - He is such an idiot, he thinks it will help him in negotiations.
All it does is build further and further and further hate towards Russia and all things Russian.

http://www.charter97.org/ru/news/2015/9/10/168329/
September 12 at 12 noon in front of the former State Administration in Donetsk, we call on the leadership of the republic to come out and respond to the people how they see our common future....
Also, people are interested in, on what basis is conducted removal from office and a set of officials in the state apparatus, who heads the department and report on each department, and another important point - answers to questions about the protesters, because the deputies - the servants of the people. Who and what candidates will be on the election, who formed these people in local government. I would very much like to hear of future candidates report on their work before the election, "- protested the residents of Donbass in social networks.
====

I am sure Comrade Putin will decide their candidates and the election winners very shortly. Will anything happen at 12.00? Half an hour or so...

11:32
http://gazeta.ua/articles/politics/_ekspert-poyasniv-chomu-kreml-zrobiv-acenyuka-islamskim-fundamentalistom/646643
to divert attention from events in the Middle East.
===
My immediate response to that is boll@cks.
I would suggest that they are simply incredibly stupid; and clearly running out of even moderately intelligent ideas.

The one and only thing - in my opinion - that controls Putin - the oil price. The funds for his manic war machine.
I read elsewhere that Iran has just cut its price. Sales were at the lowest for half a year for them. They needed to do something.
Today - prices steady -

WTI Crude Oil (Nymex)
USD/bbl. 44.38 +0.23 +0.52% OCT 15 04:30:39
CO1:COM
Brent Crude (ICE)
USD/bbl. 47.66 +0.08 +0.17% OCT 15 04:30:29
===
www.xe.com
Currencies stable. Ruble at 68.
The hryvnia - wierd. .. The euro is down from 1.11 to 1.12 to a dollar.
But the uah is up against the dollar to 21.6995 . Which all makes the uah quite a bit stronger against the euro.
Really now Europe and the EU are important markets for Ukraine. Major fluctuations do not help... unless they plan to buy some gas in the next week...

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/kremlin-refuses-comment-on-reports-of-russian-troops-in-syria/529863.html
Peskov said Putin would talk about Syria and Islamic State during his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York later this month.
===

Will the war against the "islamic state" be the next thing Putin uses to distract the average Russian from their own miserable economic plight in Russia?

I clicked on Odessite's link and it took me to a repost of the full article. Google searching for paywall articles doesn't always work, but often it does.
Always worth a try.

The man is a genius. I couldn't find a thing - honestly ))

The Kasparov article

========

Interesting that if the US doesn't do anything, they'll get bashed for it. IF they do something they'll get bashed. The US as the old saying goes "can't win for losing".

Interesting Europe's hardly ever mentioned. Aren't most of NATO's members from Europe? Why does the US always have to police the globe? Why not Europe?

US goes in to help civilians with a limited effort, then they're bashed for not doing enough. The US uses drones which have taken out some key ISIS leaders, but then people start complaining that innocent civilians are being killed. So the US gets bashed for it. But where's Europe and other supposed peace loving regions and governments? Many love to hate the US, but at the same time they'll say "where's the US?" I say, "where's Europe, Australia and others?".

Ukraine's no exception. How many Ukrainians you know despise the US? How many times have you seen photos and articles bashing the US from within Ukraine. Why don't they bash Merkel, Hollande, Cameron and the rest? For those asking where's the US when it comes to Ukraine. "Can't win for losing?". When did Ukraine become a US state in the union? OH WAIT! Ukraine's a European country. They love to hate Ukraine, but then expect/demand the US to help them. Get bashed for doing something and also for doing nothing. WOW!!!!

How about if the US just protected its own country and not got involved in ANY foreign conflict, and to each his own, will we be loved? Less American lives lost and more emphasis placed on internal defensive responsibility to protect those foreign countries within themselves. Will it change their sentiment towards the US?

"Can't win for losing."!

Interesting that if the US doesn't do anything, they'll get bashed for it. IF they do something they'll get bashed. The US as the old saying goes "can't win for losing".
===========
I am for ever struck by the depth of hate in some people - who should know better - for the USA.
Seumas Milne is a case in point.
His main reason for supporting the Soviet empire - and even now - Russia - is because he can't stand the US.
Millions killed by Stalin - but all forgiven because he "stood up to the USA". Madness.
A rich kid, from a rich family, who has never done a real day's work in his life.
"Journalist" - Graham Phillips - that idiot in the Donbass - is another case in point.

As for Ukraine - I would say there is very little anti-American sentiment here. Maybe only in the Russian influenced areas - far east.
But there Putin has pushed the idea that the Donbass is at war with America. Complete garbage, as we all know - but it works for some.

In fact, I would go further and say that Ukraine is mostly pro-European and pro-American.
The hatred is shown - almost exclusively now - for obvious reasons - towards Russia. 8000 Ukrainian dead and counting.
The real figure - likely to be well over 10,000 now, for sure.

Nelson wrote:10:40
http://nbnews.com.ua/ru/news/160484/
===
Joke of the day from Putin.
Dialogue with Zakharchenko? Is the guy ever sober enough to be able to hold an intelligent discussion? No.
Is the guy intelligent enough to hold an intelligent discussion? No.
Will Putin replace him tomorrow, just as reently happened with Purgin? Who knows. Waste of time.

Putin wants for his puppets to be legitimized and this is the way he'll try to get it. Poroshenko and party have mentioned many times, they won't negotiate with terrorists. Poroshenko doesn't want to duplicate what Georgia did. Why give Putin another big victory?

The Romanov rule will be coming to an end soon, and Russians might just end it themselves, as they did with Nicholas.

Agree. As somebody once said - you can't talk sense to a fool.
Putin is simply trying to use them as a go-between. To cover his lies that he isn't involved.
Zakharchenko... absolute alcoholic. What can you say to a twat like that?

http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-slovakia-nord-stream-pipeline/27237467.html
Yatsenyuk said his country would lose $2 billion and Slovakia $800 million in transit fees if the project, known as Nord Stream-2, is implemented.
======
German business.

http://hvylya.net/news/digest/yarosha-gospitalizirovali-i-gotovyat-k-operatsii.html
===
Read in other article, probably operation next week. If I understood correctly, some elbow injury.
Yarosh - Pravi Sector leader. MP also.

17:50
http://zn.ua/UKRAINE/propavshimi-bez-vesti-v-donbasse-sbu-schitaet-804-cheloveka-188243_.html
====
Known missing.
As I said, I believe the death toll - to date - of Putin's war is well over 10,000 people.

http://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/zakarpatskoy-obl-otkryto-novoe-gazovoe-mestorozhdenie-1441896539.html
====
Small field, but every little helps.

17:51
http://gordonua.com/news/war/Lavrov-Doneck-i-Lugansk-gotovy-provodit-vybory-na-osnove-ukrainskogo-zakona-97437.html
====

Putin's new game becomes clear.
Elections - as in Crimea - under the Russian gun.
Ukraine needs to hold out. No elections until all foreign forces - i.e. Putin - leaves. And the border is secured.
OSCE have already said that they will not observe any Russian joke elections in late October or early November.

There is no alternative for Putin in Donbas but to create another TransNistria. That is, Donbas will remain unrecognized and Russia will never formally annex it, Russian political expert Dmitri Oreshkin writes in Novoje vremya Sept. 10.

In the harsh words of Donbas residents Putin is dumping them, like he did separatists’ Purgin, Girkin and Bezler before.

The big problem for Putin is that Russia has no real diplomatic and economic muscle to grab Donbas.

The naïve Donbas locals believed that, first, things in Russia were going well and they would be afixed and, second, that Vladimir Putin is true to his word and won’t let them be harmed. It turned out, however, that everything is bad in Russia, there is no money, and Putin does not care much about the plight of Donbas locals.

Putin only needs a tool to influence Kyiv. There is no better tool than a smoldering conflict tailored on Karabakh or TransNistria.

Putin will never annex Donbas – he will try to push this hot potato to Kyiv to prevent Ukraine to build an effective economy.

Because Putin’s worst nightmare is the democratic Ukraine with a strong economy – like the Baltic states are. Of course, Putin can continue to lie that the Baltic states are the hotbed of Fascism. But the people there, including many Russian speakers, realize that their life is better than in Moscow.

The average salary in the Baltics is Euro1,000 or RUR80,000, while the average salary in Russia is RUR30,000, with all the gas, oil, wood and gold they have.

Putin has found himself in a stalemate – he cannot leave Donbas same as he cannot annex it and make it part of Russia,” the Russian expert says.

zik.ua

But you can see what Putin and Lavrov are pushing for now -
they want elections when the area is completely under their control. Russian-style elections, under the Russian gun, observed by Russians, Shaun Walker, and a few right-wing nutcases from Europe and a token communist or two - if two can be found - like Seumas Milne.
Putin is clever - and he knows the west go crazy over elections. The problem is - most idiots in the west don't understand what elections in Russia are really like. They are in no way "free" elections. Completely fixed.

Ukraine and Boeing make a deal to buy rockets and booster engines made by Pivdenny and Yuzhmash plants, TCH reports Sept. 9.

Boeing will buy the goods on condition Ukraine does not cooperate with the countries under US sanctions, head of Ukraine space agency Luybomyr Sabodash says.

Currently, the US is buying Russian boosters.

Ukrainian makers will supply boosters for Zenith and Antares rockets.

The memorandum with Boeing is to be signed late October- early November.

The United States is interested in cooperating with Ukraine in the Sea Launch program and will assist in creating a new satellite for Ukraine telecommunications program, Sabodash says.

zik.ua

Just watching 2+2 news now. Lead story.
Sadly in Lugansk - patrol - Ukrainian - hit a mine. 2 dead. 4 injured.
Haven't seen this in print yet.

Now in the article above, Lapdog (Lavrov) said according to Ukrainian law. And Poroshenko will say with controlled borders and Kremlin military out.

I don't think Ukrainian law includes non-controlled areas for elections.

An article earlier I saw stated, voters in those areas want to know who's going to be running for election. So it seems they're not going to vote if the candidates are drunkards and criminals and non-Ukrainians. With proper observation from international orgs, it's going to be a tough plan to have the same thing that happened in The Crimea, as in The Crimea, there was already a pro-Russian sentiment, much more than in Donetsk and Lugansk. Remember, many in those regions left town as they weren't pro-Russian. And I take it, many those that remained behind know what has happened in The Crimea. I doubt they'll want the same. So IMO, the odds are against any pro-Kremlin candidates to be successful. If there's any foul play, Poroshenko will jump on it bug, to not allow the results.

Possibility of the bilateral meeting between presidents of Ukraine and Russia during the 70th session of the UN General Assembly is still open.
This was announced by Ukraine's Permanent Representative in the UN Yurii Serhieiev in his interview to Ukrinform, Censor.NET reports.

"All bilateral meetings are being planned in the capitals; we at our level [Ukraine's Mission at the UN - ed.] only coordinate the matters. Now, the coordination between the capitals must be taking place," the diplomat said.

Read more: Poroshenko, Merkel, Hollande, and Putin to meet in Paris in early October

He also noted that there had been no confirmation so far of additional meetings of the 'Normandy Four' countries' leaders during the UN General Assembly in New York. "These matters are within the capitals' cognizance," Serhieiev stressed.

As known, the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations Organizations starts on Sept. 15. Leaders of over 100 countries are expected to take part in it.

censor.net.ua In Russian

A monument to Vladimir Lenin in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk was painted yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian national flag, - for the second time this year, Krym. Realiji reports Sept. 8.

The police have opened an investigation for vandalism.

In April, the monument was covered with yellow and blue paint. Sept. 2, the police arrested a 27-year old local accusing him of vandalism.

In 2014, a star on the top of a Moscow sky-scraper was painted yellow and blue by a Ukrainian migrant worker and roofer residing at the time in Moscow. To avoid arrest, he had to return to Ukraine. The Russian authorities detained a group of amateur jumpers who showed the Ukrainian the way to the building top, accusing them of assisting the Ukrainian roofer.

zik.ua

In a resolution backed by the European Parliament's major political groups on September 10, the lawmakers condemn the "blatant violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Estonia through the illegal kidnapping of citizens of both countries."

Kohver was kidnapped in Estonia in September 2014 and was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison in Russia. Sentsov and Kolchenko were sentenced to 20 and 10 years, respectively, after being arrested in the Crimea in May 2014.

The resolution says Russian courts are not "competent to judge acts committed outside the internationally recognized territory of Russia.".............

rferl.org

A large natural gas trader has expressed its interest to supply European gas to Ukraine.

State-owned company Naftogaz of Ukraine's business development director Yuri Vitrenko told reporters at a press conference held at Ukrinform, Ukrinform reports.

"Now there's an interest demonstrated by a large gas trader to supply European gas to Ukraine," the Naftogaz representative said.

time-ua.com

“…these means [the claims against Yatsenyuk] just underscore how poorly Moscow typically reads Ukrainian domestic politics, as these efforts are likely to be counter-productive.”

LONDON, Sep 10, 2015 (UBO) – Of all the peculiar misinformation that appears to spring like the monsoon season rains from the Kremlin fog factory, the attacks claiming that Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk played a role in Chechnya including killing Russian soldiers appears the most bizarre.

Nomura International’s top emerging market analyst Timothy Ash offered the following comments on this situation yesterday – but we believe they are still timely and appropriate today:

Pretty remarkable – even incredible – comments from Moscow, claiming that Ukrainian PM, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, fought in Chechnya. It leaves the question as to what exactly Moscow is trying to achieve - clearly they want him out of government, presumably to see a new coalition formed with the Opposition Party, which is thought to be more amenable to dealing with Moscow, and offering concessions. But these means just underscore how poorly Moscow typically reads Ukrainian domestic politics, as these efforts are likely to be counter-productive.

I think anyone having followed Yatsenyuk’s career over the past 20 years or so will be very, very sceptical of these claims (frankly almost laughable – if the current situation facing Ukraine was not so serious) – he is an economist, banker and former central banker - it is almost like imagining George Osborne as some form of Bear Grylls (not a pretty sight, I give you that). Indeed, some might remember that when he ran in the 2010 presidential election campaign – perhaps unfortunately at the time – his campaign managers adorned every street corner with images of him in combat fatigues. I think the aim at the time was to turn his then image as a geeky economist, into a much stronger one – albeit no one really took it seriously, as the Rambo-image trying to be portrayed just did not fit his appearance and character – and he did poorly in those elections. It is somewhat ironic that at the time those images appeared completely out of touch with the country in 2010, but unfortunately now visions of Ukraine’s president in combat fatigues is an all too familiar image as he inspects troops fighting in the East.

I guess the only way to explain the fact that these claims about Yatsenyuk are being made is the fact that, after the Popular Party left the ruling coalition in Kyiv, there has been talk of a cabinet reshuffle. Former Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, has been mentioned in dispatches as perhaps someone who could replace Yatsenyuk. But given the political mix, I think that is unlikely at this stage – difficult to see the ruling coalition in Kyiv sustaining then.

Strangely enough, that these claims are coming out of Moscow – from the prosecutor’s office – in a way cements Yatsenyuk’s position in office. The fact that Moscow seems to want substantive change at the top of the Ukrainian government, probably makes that change even less likely.

Generally, the mood music from Western official creditors around this Ukrainian government has turned decidedly upbeat/positive, particularly about macro reform and stabilization – note both Lew and Lagarde’s recent glowing endorsements, over the “remarkable” achievements of Jaresko and the team at the NBU. There is concern over slow progress at fighting corruption – note Saakashvili’s scathing comments in those regards – and I wonder if there will be pressure for Saakashvili to take a larger role in this administration to fight corruption.

ukrainebusiness.com.ua

Admin wrote:

In 2014,  a star on the top of a Moscow sky-scraper was painted yellow and blue by a Ukrainian migrant worker and roofer residing at the time in Moscow. To avoid arrest, he had to return to Ukraine. The Russian authorities detained a group of amateur jumpers who showed the Ukrainian the way to the building top, accusing them of assisting the Ukrainian roofer.

That was only ONE member of the painting team. The others, or 3 of them, I believe were sentenced to 3 years prison today. Needs confirming.

NewsMax - Russian Gets Prison for Painting Star in Ukraine's Colors

Yahoo News - Russian court hands out tough jail term for Ukrainian flag stunt

I was told you sponsored them, eh?

Good man!