Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Saturday 24 October [Ukrainian sources]

Boryspil International Airport (Kyiv), Ukraine's largest airport, has confirmed that Russian airlines will no longer fly to the airport on October 25 when bilateral sanctions of Ukraine and Russia on both countries' airlines come into force.

The press service of the airport told Interfax-Ukraine that flights of Russian airlines will be canceled from October 25 unless an individual airline is subject to further sanctions.

interfax.com.ua

A protest has been held outside Ukraine's constitutional court, as judges inside held a session to re-examine a law on clearing the government of corrupt officials. The so-called 'lustration law' was brought in following Ukraine's pro-EU uprising last year, according to Ukraine Today.

"This is a photo of the judgees who are now taking the decision on the 'lustration' law who are themselves being investigated under the law," said one of the protesters, Maksym Trynyeev, Ukraine Today reported.

The majority of Ukraine's judges are subject to the anti-corruption law, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. They are, reportedly, the same judges who help Ukraine's ousted former president Viktor Yanukovych come to power in 2010 in an election which many said was rigged.

None of the judges have shown any interest in stepping down voluntarily. Meanwhile, some 47 MPs, many closely aligned with the ousted president Yanukovych, claim the law anti-constitutional and is a form of discrimination.

unian.info

Ukraine Today correspondent sat down with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, international journalist and expert on Eastern Europe Anne Applebaum about the development of Ukrainian nationalism over the past century and how the country's EuroMaidan protests in late 2013/early 2014 led to a civil society drive.

“I would like to recapture the word ‘nationalism' and give it the old, positive meaning which is closer to the word we call patriotism. In order to have a democracy, you need some kind of patriotism, whether you want to call it nationalism or national identity or something else, you need people to feel some responsibility for and link to the state in which they live,” said Applebaum in an interview with Ukraine Today. “If they don't have that, why would they participate in elections or participate in public life?”

unian.info

No country in the world will go to war with Russia, said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in an interview with the Ukrainian newspaper Segodnia.

"No one would resort to military action against a nuclear power like Russia. I mean, not only Ukraine wouldn’t," Klimkin said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs said, the complicated situation that has developed in Crimea, will affect the mood of the local residents.

"And now in Crimea, many things are changing for the worse. Delays started with payment of social benefits. And of course it affects the mood of the Crimean people. But I have always said that we need a clear strategy in relation to Crimea. Our people live there, whether they’ve been drugged by the Russian propaganda, or not,” Ukraine’s top diplomat.

.unian.info

Ihor Mosiychuk, a Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Radical Party, may face imprisonment of up to 12 years if found guilty of the charges brought against him, says Vladyslav Kutsenko, a prosecutor from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office.

"We have several counts [on which Mosiychuk has been charged]. In line with the charges that our investigators have worked on, he may get a maximum of up to 12 years in prison. But this is not for a prosecutor but for a judge to decide now," Kutsenko said at a news briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

The pretrial investigation in the criminal case against Mosiychuk has been completed, Kutsenko said.

"The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office yesterday completed a pretrial investigation in a criminal case related to the charges brought against Ihor Mosiychuk, a Ukrainian people's deputy of the Radical Party of Oleh Liashko," he said.

It was reported earlier with reference to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office that the charges brought against Mosiychuk included 'accepting a proposal, promising, or receiving an unlawful benefit by a public official', 'disorderly conduct', 'a threat or violence in relation to a public official or a citizen performing a public duty', 'interference in the activities of judicial bodies', and 'a threat or violence in relation to a judge, a people's assessor, or a juror'..............

interfax.com.ua

The attacks on information systems of the Security Council of the Netherlands in September and early October 2015 a group of hackers suspected Pawn Storm. This was reported on Friday, October 23, on its website the company Trend Micro, which develops anti-virus programs. According to her, cybercriminals tried to steal the materials of the investigation of the crash of a passenger plane Malaysia Airlines in eastern Ukraine.

Trend Micro also stated that the main objectives Pawn Storm in the network include government, military, and media resources the United States, Ukraine and other countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as databases of NATO and the sites of Russian opponents of the Kremlin. At the same time the company for the production of security software was unable to determine whether the cost of a group of hackers, the Russian special services. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the Pawn Storm could be a special unit of the Federal Security Service of Russia.

glavcom.ua In Russian

The head of the group "DNI" Alexander Zakharchenko said that the network of shops "Brusnichka" in the occupied Donetsk will be controlled by the militants, according to "News of Donbass".

According to him, all large enterprises and trade networks should be under the control of insurgents.

"At the last Council of Ministers, it was decided to take control of distilleries, production of alcohol and" Brusnichka. " In varying degrees of control. Maybe the state property or private, but under his own control of the state. Food security now - the main thing. In this case, all the commercial networks should be controlled by the state, "- said Zakharchenko.

Supermarket chain "Brusnichka" is a group of SCM, 100% owned by Rinat Akhmetov.

glavcom.ua In Russian

The decision by US President Barack Obama to veto the law providing for the allocation of military assistance to Ukraine, it is not surprising, and Kiev will soon receive the same military equipment to $ 300 million.

About this in his column for the "apostrophe" wrote Russian politician Konstantin Borovoy.

"The question is tripped on the conclusion of the prison Guantanamo prisoners. The prison is outdated, and needed resources to close it. It's pre-election promise of Obama. Besides, no one objected. The budget for these costs were simply not taken into account, which caused Obama such a reaction. This is a purely technical problem. I'm sure it will be very quickly and easily resolved, "- said the politician.

According to him, there is no doubt that the aid, which was promised to Ukraine, will be provided.

"Gone are hearing it for a long time been discussed. The decision was made, and to abolish it no one will, and not going. Ukraine in any case receive the promise of military equipment to $ 300 million. For Ukraine, it seems to me it will be very important, it is necessary and it is important because the recovery of the army, after all, is not finished, "- said Borovoy.

At the same time, Russian President Putin, of course, outraged by such actions of the United States, screaming that he had been deceived, to continue the policy.

"He has been now more international provocations and constant hints that it has nuclear weapons. But it is less and less heard. Putin procedure exhausted the international community for its manic ideas. Drinking it formed already, it seems, finally - a person who constantly lies that constantly provokes conflicts. Putin - the rose that is admired and already out of control. But it is now perceived as a person who represents a danger to the world, and which is necessary to watch. It includes, as a not very healthy person, who lives in a different reality, "- said Borovoy.

As reported by the "Observer", the US Senate passed a bill on defense spending in 2016, the year in the amount of 612 billion dollars.

For this decision to the US Congress voted 70 senators, 27 were against.

The document allows the Pentagon chief Ashton Carter, in coordination with the US Secretary of State John Kerry, use 300 million dollars on military assistance to Ukraine.

An important element of the bill is the provision that the $ 50 million given to the scrip can be used for the provision of the Ukraine defense weapons.

obozrevatel.com In Russian

According to the Russian side, the talks were held at the request of Ukraine, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

"The talks were held in connection with the requests received by the Federal Air Transport Agency of Ukrainian airlines to take steps to preserve the regular air links between the cities of Russia and Ukraine", - reported in the Federal Air Transport Agency.

Russian aviaregulyator said that all disputed issues should be resolved in consultations and not through curfews.

"In accordance with the agreement on air communication and cooperation, all outstanding issues should be resolved in consultations between the aeronautical authorities. Using this approach, in full accordance with international law, the Russian side proposed to lift all restrictions on direct flights and transit for Russian and Ukrainian airlines ", - stated in the Federal Air Transport Agency.

We also know that the representatives of Federal Air Transport Agency suggested not to fine the Russian air carriers for scheduled flights to the Crimea.

As reported by the "Observer", 25 September in Ukraine banned the flights of Russian airlines by introducing sanctions. October 12 in response to kontrsanktsii Russian State Aviation Service announced that from October 25 to completely stop flights between the countries.

obozrevatel.com

Children's Birthday Party Ends In Mass Brawl As MUMS Fight Near Soft Play Area

A group of mothers let toddler tussles get the better of them when a spat over their children's behaviour escalated to an all-out brawl.

The women, who were attending a birthday party held at a soft play centre in Serpukhov, a town just south of Moscow, Russia, were captured fighting on CCTV.

Just watch the big brainless guy punch a child and then again. If anyone needs evidence that Putin is turning the population of Russia into thugs, here it is.

God alone knows what serious psychological damage this has done to the poor children.

Russian, Western officials say elite units being sent to support Assad forces

Russia has sent a few dozen special-operations troops to Syria in recent weeks, Russian and Western officials say, redeploying the elite units from Ukraine as the Kremlin shifts its focus to supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia in late September launched a campaign of airstrikes in support of Mr. Assad’s government, and President Vladimir Putin has said Russian troops won't play a role in ground combat. But Russian military experts and officials say small numbers of special-forces units—whose missions are rarely acknowledged publicly—are also on the ground in Syria.

“The special forces were pulled out of Ukraine and sent to Syria,“ a Russian Ministry of Defense official said, adding that they had been serving in territories in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russia rebels. The official described them as “akin to a Delta Force,” the U.S. Army’s elite counterterrorism unit.

A senior Western official also said a contingent of elite Russian forces was on the ground in Syria from eastern Ukraine. A U.S. defense official said one of their roles is to provide coordination between Syrian troops and Russian aircraft conducting airstrikes in support of the regime’s ground offensive..................

To read further go to this link: wsj.com

The leaflets with threats have been spread in the Donetsk region, especially in areas close to the demarcation line.
Censor.NET reports citing Hromadske radіo

"Ukraine, on the instruction of 'Yankees', is trying to push us into its juridical framework and force to us vote in Ukrainian elections in order to get a legitimate excuse to bring its punisher troops in our free Donetsk People's Republic! What will happen next, after the invasion - you all know very well! Blood. Death. Hunger. Ruin. But the enemy is completely wrong! Despite the treacherous mood the DPR and LPR leaders see through punishers' schemes," the leaflet reads.

Moreover, the militants equate participation in the Ukrainian elections to a "state treason" and promised to "severely punish" local residents for participation in them.

censor.net.ua In Russian

"From October 25, there will not be air traffic with Russian cities," Minister Andrei Pivovarsky told Russian news agencies.

Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Brussels October 23 as part of a Russian-led effort to prevent the Ukrainian-initiated ban on flights between the countries.

Russian Transportation Minister Maxim Sokolov told reporters that his country would continue to push for the bans to be removed, arguing that Ukraine should go along because 75 percent of air travelers between Russia and Ukraine are Ukrainian.

Ukraine announced late last month that it would ban flights from Russia starting on October 25. Russia quickly retaliated with a
tit-for-tat ban that would go into effect on the same day.............

rferl.org

The average annual price of gas for Ukraine in 2016 is projected at 146.47 dollars per thousand cubic meters. This was reported in the calculations of the State Duma.

The volume of gas exports to Ukraine, a toll in 2016 is expected to reach 10 billion cubic meters. The rate of export duty on gas is 30%.

The export price of gas for the CIS countries in 2016 is forecasted at the level of 199.02 dollars per thousand cubic meters. The total volume of gas exports, subject to export duties, - 127.80 billion cubic meters.

The volume of oil exports, duty-free in 2016, is expected to reach 197.6 million tons.

The total amount of export duties in 2016 is projected at 38.747 billion dollars (at an average rate of the dollar at 63.3 rubles - 2,452 trillion rubles). Including from oil exports - 18.915 billion gas - 7.524 billion dollars; goods manufactured from oil (gasoline and diesel), - 11.706 billion.

As of October 23, 2015 gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Ukraine increased by 0.25% - up to 16.662 billion cubic meters. m.

glavcom.ua In Russian

British Lord, a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament Richard Balfe was robbed in Ukraine.

This was stated by the victim during a press conference in Dnipropetrovsk, reports BBC Ukraine.

"His luggage I passed at the airport in Kiev. Get it in the Dnipropetrovsk airport, I found the stolen money and things. This does not happen in European countries, where everything is organized. If that happened in the UK, the perpetrator would be immediately fired, and so did would in most European countries ", - said Balfe.

The incident occurred during a flight observer group from Kiev to Dnepropetrovsk.

Started criminal proceedings on the fact of theft of personal belongings of the international election observer.

obozrevatel.com In Russian