Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Sunday 25 October [Ukrainian sources]

SUNDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the course of the day.


NEWS:

Seems the Kremlin's begging for Ukraine not to stop the flights between the countries. If they're requesting not to stop the flights and also offereing Ukraine a price for gas for 2016 of $146, it's definitely and indication they're hurting for budget money, or his oligarch are complaining of the money they're losing via the sanctions. They brought this upon themselves.

The elections within some cities isn't going smoothly. Mariupol, Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk are just a few. Voters being offered $23 or 500 UAH to change there votes. Buckwheat must be hard to find, with that also being the big item that's been used in the past to buy votes. Mariupol is asking to reschedule elections. A CEC worker/officer was arrested for bribery.

But! Overall, if these elections in the majority are a success, it'll piss-off Putin immensely, as it'll be a sign he's lost all chances on trying to bring Ukrainians to his side. Years ago, 59% of eastern Ukrainians wanted to be independent from Russia and didn't want to be a part of it. I take it, it's much higher now. Pray for Ukraine, as this eleciton if it ends in a positive way can acknowledge what kind of country Ukrainians want which doesn't include the Kremlin's vision.

According to Opora NGO, a driver of a white van prior to voting engaged voters in Kahovka, Kherson oblast, in a talk and offered them a drink of vodka. He also instructed them what candidate to vote for.
One of the proxy of mayoral candidates recognized the driver who didn’t deny he had instructed the voter and offered them vodka.

The proxy called the police who came and questioned the driver.

zik.ua

The termination of air traffic between Russia and Ukraine entered into force on Oct. 25.


As reported by Censor.NET citing Ukrainski Novyny, no flights to Russia are scheduled in the airports located on Ukrainian-controlled territory.

This fact is due to the previous decisions by the aviation authorities of both countries.

Meanwhile, Russian airlines are not banned from using Ukrainian airspace for flights to other countries.

The decision of the National Security and Defense Council on imposing personal sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities took effect on Sept. 22.

Aeroflot, Transaero, and a number of other airlines hit the sanctions list.

Read more: Consultations with Moscow will not affect our previous decision, - Minister Pyvovarskyi on termination of air traffic with Russia

Ukraine explained that the sanctions were imposed as these airlines had been flying to the Russian-annexed Crimea.

Sept. 29, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency banned Ukrainian airlines from flying to Russia effective Oct. 25.

Oct. 12, the State Aviation Service of Ukraine responded by banning all Russian airlines from Ukraine effective Oct. 25.

Read more: Ukraine disrupts air travel with Russia from Oct. 25 - Ministry of Infrastructure

During eight months of 2015, the passenger traffic between the two countries totaled about 800,000 people.

As previously reported, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Andrii Pyvovarskyi confirmed the termination of air traffic with Russia at midnight on Oct. 25 due to the sanctions imposed against several Russian airlines.

censor.net.ua In Russian

As of noon Oct. 25, the average turnout in Ukraine's local elections made 18.5 percent.


Censor.NET reports referring to NGO "Opora."

According to observers, the highest turnout was recorded in the central regions of Ukraine, making 20 percent. In the southern and eastern regions of the country 18 and 18.6 percent were respectively registered.

In the western regions, as of noon, the turnout was about 16.6 percent.

censor.net.ua In Russian

Poroshenko Bloc faction chairman Yurii Lutsenko calls on the leaders of parliamentary coalition to meet on Monday, Oct. 26 to elaborate a mechanism for elections in Mariupol.

As reported by Censor.NET, it is stated by party's press service.

"Chairman of Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction Yurii Lutsenko urged the leaders of coalition factions to convene the Coalition Council on Monday, Oct. 26 to work out a legislative mechanism for local elections in Mariupol to be held until the end of this year," the statement notes.

As reported earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko urged the Verkhovna Rada and the Central Election Commission to set a new date for elections in Mariupol.

censor.net.ua In Russian

“We are continuing talks on the format of economic cooperation at the level of experts,” Ukraine Transport Minister Andry Pyvovarsky writes in Facebook Oct. 24.
Ukraine and Siemens will also cooperate in the railway sector, automobile road construction, Silk Way development and exchange of expertise, the minister said.

Following his recent visit to Germany’s ministry of the economy, Pyvovarsky said Germany is prepared to extend a credit to restore Donbas infrastructure.

zik.ua

The night of Oct. 25 in Donbas was very tense as the rebels opened fire on our positions near Pisky at 2.30 a.m. and kept firing for one hour.
The rebels fired from small arms, AA guns and grenade throwers, Ukraine army press center reports.

A short flare up in fighting also happened on Oct. 24 south of Avdijyvka from 16.45 through 17.07 as the enemy used small arms and grenade throwers.

The Ukrainian army did not return the fire.

zik.ua

The West has formed a proper vision of Russia president Putin as a provocateur of conflicts and liar, Russian opposition member Konstantin Borovoi writes in his Oct. 24 article for Apostrof.
Commenting on the US military aid to Ukraine, Borovoi says Putin is enraged. He is involved more and more in staging international provocations, permanently hinting that he has nuclear weapons.

But the world gives Putin less and less attention, tired of his maniacal ideas.

Putin is viewed by the world community as a leader who poses a threat to the world.

zik.ua

Azov and Right Sector activists detained Oct. 24, on the administrative border with the occupied Crimea the head of a fund aiding separatists.

As reported by Censor.NET, it is stated by Azov civil corps - Krym press service in Facebook.

"This morning, the guys from Azov civil corps together with Right Sector activists detained a separatist at the administrative border with Crimea. "After checking the information about the detainee in available databases, it was established he was included in the so-called "E" lists, meaning he was a Russian extremist," the statement notes.

According to the report, the activists took urgent measures to clarify his identity. As reported, the man had two internal passports (Russian and Ukrainian) with him.

"He appeared to be the head of "Molodaya Gvardiya" [youth wing of the United Russia party - ed.] in Alushta. Also, it turned out he was the head of a charity fund raising money and aid for separatists," the report reads.

Watch more: Russian invaders redeploy military hardware to Crimea again, convoys head towards Feodosia. VIDEO

As noted, the man admitted his involvement in the said organizations. As soon as these circumstances had been clarified, the activists conducted a civil detention and called the Security Service.

"Our task is to make the case public, since all the detained separatists, who have been taken to the local SBU to date, have been released within a short period of time," the press service added.






censor.net.ua In Russian

The fact of bribing voters by an unknown woman near the polling station in the premises of Odesa secondary school No. 67 was reported to the Suvorov district police department.

Censor.NET reports citing authority's press service.

Before the arrival of an investigation group, the said citizen had been detained by the members of the public and held at the polling station. During the scuffle, which occurred in the process of detention, one person suffered injuries.

Law enforcers seized a notebook from the woman with names and addresses.

The fact has been entered in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Articles 125 (intentional light bodily injury) and 160 (bribery of voters, referendum participants) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Investigation is underway.

censor.net.ua In Russian

Canada's new prime minister, Justin Trudeau might be the sexiest politician alive at the moment, but if you're asking the mirror on the wall who's the most popular, on home ground at least, President Putin would be the clear winner.

President Putin could write a handbook on "popularity for dummies," as his ratings continue to rise. In Moscow, Fiona Clark looks at how he's using textbook moves to win the hearts and minds of the Russian public.

According to a poll by Russia's government owned by publically funded VTsIOM research center, Putin's popularity is now almost 90 percent. Yes, you read that right - almost NINETY percent.

"Vladimir Putin's approval rating has set a new record at 89.9 percent," a press release claimed, exceeding the previous June 2015 maximum of 89.1 percent.

Since the annexation of Crimea his approval ratings have risen steadily from about 80 percent to today's high. It's baffling in a country where the economy is tanking, inflation is growing by 12 percent and real wages are buying less and less every day. But clearly the art of distraction never fails. In a textbook patriotism-building move the president has managed to find an enemy on home ground and joined a war in a foreign country, Syria, to defeat it.

Foiled threats

As contradictory as that sounds, the common threat is Islamic extremism and over the past couple of weeks Russian media have made much ado about the security forces and their recent bids to find and foil potentially deadly terrorist threats. A few days ago they announced they had arrested one man and detained about 20 more who were allegedly members of the radical Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir. According to the news agency Interfax, several dozen more Central Asians were under investigation for their involvement with the group.

Russia has outlawed the group whose aim is to establish a caliphate in countries with large Muslim populations. Russia has more than 20 million Muslims.

A week earlier a raid on a Moscow apartment yielded an explosive device with the equivalent power of five kilograms of TNT and resulted in the arrest of between six to eleven Russian citizens. According to Russia Today, two of the men admitted the bomb was to be used on public transport. Initial reports of the raid were contradictory and hazy, and residents in the area were surprised that so many people were in a one-bedroom apartment as they'd never seen anyone come and go. They admitted, however, that they could have come and gone at night.

Skepticism aside, Russia's decision to bomb Syrian terrorists does undoubtedly increase the risk of terrorist attacks at home. And in recent history it's certainly had more than its fair share of bombings and hijackings. Statistics show it's had around 3,000 deaths from more than 100 attacks in the past decade.

Boosting nationalism

But it also fuels nationalism, rallying support around the leadership. The same poll shows 47 percent of respondents support Russia's role in fighting IS and backing Syrian President Bashar Assad with airstrikes in Syria. No doubt Assad's surprise trip to Moscow and the subsequent talks with other Middle East leaders will add another point or two as Russians see the balance of power shift away from the US.

And Russians' view of America has deteriorated significantly. According to the US based Pew Research Center only 15 percent of Russians have a favorable opinion of the US at the moment, down from 56 percent in 2011.

Leaving home....................

To read further go to this link: time-ua.com

The Kyiv coordination center as of 16:00 had received 222 reports on violations, however, most of them are related to the illegal placement of election campaign materials and cannot significantly affect the outcome of the elections, chief of staff of Kyiv City Council Volodymyr Bondarenko has said.

"The elections in the city are being held as normal. There have not been fixed violations that could dramatically affect the electoral process," he said at a press briefing on Sunday........

interfax.com.ua

"The flights by all airlines to Russia and Ukraine have been discontinued on the Ukrainian government's initiative. It's a fine example that shows that the Ukrainian top officials are fighting their own people: three-fourths of the passengers were Ukrainians. It's a strong act!" the prime minister said on Facebook on Sunday.

According to earlier reports, flights between Ukraine and Russia stooped at 00:00 Moscow time on October 25 after the sides imposed mutual sanctions on airlines.

In September 2015, the Ukrainian administration found Russian airlines to breach the Ukrainian legislation by flying to Crimea. On the basis of a presidential decree, the Ukrainian administration made a decision to ban 25 Russian airlines from flying to Ukraine from October 25, 2015. Russia responded by taking symmetrical measures and banning Ukrainian airlines from flying to Russia from October 25, 2015...........

To read further go to this link:  interfax.com.ua

Police in Odesa on Sunday detained a man dressed as Chewbacca, a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, for disruption of public order near a polling station during the local election, according to a spokesperson for the police.



The incident took place near polling station No. 511107 (district No. 133) located at a secondary school at 1 Hlushko Avenue in Odesa, Press Secretary of the Odesa municipal police department Anastasiya Yakubenko told UNIAN.

"A car with 'Chewbacca' and 'Darth Vader' got arrived at the polling station. They stopped and blocked the traffic. A police patrol arrived in response to a call. A protocol was drawn up," Yakubenko said.

In her words, the police asked the two to submit documents for the car that was used to block the road. However, both 'Darth Vader' and the 'member of the Wookiee species' ignored the police's requests.



The police had to invite 'Chewbacca' the driver and 'Darth Vader' to the police department to clarify the circumstances of the incident.

Information about the administrative offense was included into the state register of pre-trial investigations on charges of disruption of public order.

Eyewitnesses claim 'Chewbacca' refused to disclose his real name to the police and did not want to go to the police station..................

unian.info

Addressing Ukrainians in his regular ’10 minutes with the premier’ appearance, Premier Yatseniuk said 42% of top officials of the State Fiscal Service must be dismissed on Monday, the government website reports Oct. 25.

“I instructed the justice ministry to screen SFS staff. It turned out that 42% of top officials in the central apparat are subject to immediate dismissal.

At the oblast level 15% of SFS top officials also must be dismissed. I have sent the appropriate order to SFS, and on Monday, Oct. 26, all these officials are to be dismissed,” the premier announced.

zik.ua

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be able to count on the support that the Russian military will realize that Russia is facing a conflict with NATO. This was stated in an interview with "Polish Radio" former Russian chess player and now a human rights defender, Garry Kasparov.

"Vladimir Putin will stop only an internal coup in the Kremlin" - said Kasparov.

Kasparov argues that the international community is not able to stop Putin in his aggressive actions. "The way Putin acted in Ukraine, and now works in Syria shows that it will go as far as we let it. Everyone needs a dictator generals, colonels and majors. When they realize that this is not a question of the bombing of the Syrian rebels, or the attack on the Ukrainian soldiers and the issue of the conflict with NATO, I do not think that Putin will be able to count on the support of 100%, "- he believes.

According to Kasparov, Russia today there are no conditions for the protection of democracy. "Such a dictatorship like Putin, does not allow the opposition to act. Murder Nemtsov was the point of the "i". Now we have to live with it. The end of the Putin regime will be bloody and violent, it will be a blast. I think it will be more painful than the collapse of the Soviet Union ", - he said.

Garry Kasparov was one of the main guests was held in Warsaw conference "Dialogue for Democracy" organized by the Polish Foreign Ministry and was attended by about 200 human rights defenders from around the world.

glavcom.ua In Russian

Deputy Head of the Odessa Administration Maria Gaidar was expelled from a meeting of one of the district commissions. This Gaidar said on his page on Facebook.

"Only the members of the Commission at 286 site, where I was present at the counting of votes, voted that I should leave the site and not to interfere with the electoral process. And it all started with the fact that our observers have pointed to the discrepancy in the numbers of voters - the difference between the real number and that is drawn on the ballot - about a hundred. The rest of the committee members and observers of the democratic forces of such violations, as it turned out, do not confuse. It's a shame that Self has given way to intimidate the observers that are not contradicted Chairman and did not approach the table where were counted, "- said Gaidar.

According to her, she is writing a statement about violations in the Primorsky district police department.

"Soon I will lay out photos and video. The main struggle is for the second round of mayoral elections, there is nothing to panic other members of the committee, I can not explain. I appeal to all observers and members of the Commission: please do not be afraid and do not be lazy. From your integrity today depends whether the city Truhanov surrender without a fight. Pay attention to all violations and fight for their choice ", - said Gaidar.

glavcom.ua In Russian