Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Friday 18 March. [Ukrainian sources]

FRIDAY

Please scroll down to view news items added during the day

News -
Russians attack 42 times yesterday.
Sadly again - one soldier died yesterday. Three wounded.

Weather -
Quite warm overnight. +5. But tomorrow will be cold. Maybe -2.
Partly cloudy sky.

Footie -
Excellent win for Shakhtar in Belgium. Anderlecht. 0-1.
Update. Quarter Finals, Braga v Shakhtar. Matches on 7 / 14 April. Also Dortmund v L'pool !! More details, links, below.

Observation -
Went to the market today - bought a rabbit, chicken. Had a good chat with a couple of men, politics.
They were asking me if I thought things would get better. I suggested that it would be a very slow process. I talked about the Czech Republic, Poland. Changes there from the communist system took many years to accomplish. The problem is, they want progress now - fighting corruption - but it is not going to happen overnight.

9:18
http://www.unian.ua/politics/1293552-vitse-kantsler-nimechchini-zagovoriv-pro-mojlivist-znyattya-sanktsiy-z-rf-vje-vlitku.html
===
Stupid statement by a big fat rich German Sigmar Gabriel who only recognises the power of $$$$. Too young to have understood what Hitler did. And too stupid to understand what Putin is doing. Idiot. First class with honours.

9:21
http://news.eizvestia.com/news_politics/full/688-izvestnyj-zhurnalist-rasskazal-kak-krymnashisty-razocharovalis-v-russkom-mire
"In 2013, the beer was 30 rubles. Lviv. Delicious. Now cheaper 100 rubles will not find "
The well-known journalist, author of the novel "Airport" Sergei Loiko spoke about how "Crimeans" are disappointed in the "Russian world", informs eizvestia.com.
"My roommate came from the Crimea, where he was in the past and the year before, before. There is something to compare. He said empty beaches. Many hotels, especially those where the owners were Ukrainians closed. His fellow small private hotel on the beach. He has invested three years ago, took the money in the debt - has built it into several floors with forty rooms. In summer, guests stopped only three rooms. I would like to sell - to pay the debt. There is no one wishing to buy ..

http://www.unian.info/politics/1293558-ex-police-top-officer-charged-with-high-treason.html
...former head of the Vinnytsia regional department of the National Police, Anton Shevtsov,...
===
No details.

http://en.censor.net.ua/news/379751/crimea_engulfed_in_mass_arrests_and_repression_occupants_bahavior_smacks_of_stalin_era_poroshenko
...."Over the past two years, Crimea has seen mass arrests and repression. The rights of the Crimean Tatars are cynically violated. Occupants' behavior in Crimea is reminiscent of the Stalin era," the president stressed....
===
I guess that's why people like the Greek communists, Marine Le Pen (French ultra-right-wing), Stalinist Seamus Milne the Guardian editor, side-kick of Corbyn, British labour party leader, why they all love Putin. The old fascist-communist idiology - oppression of the people.

http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/331596.html
..."We regard the plans to ban Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People on the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea as a deliberate step by Moscow to oust Tatars from Crimea," Betsa said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
She said steps taken by occupational authorities recall the deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944....

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/17/ukraine-topples-biggest-remaining-lenin-statue
...The 20m tall (65ft) bronze and granite monument fell victim on Thursday to a Ukrainian ban on Soviet symbols that was imposed in May 2015.
The statue, in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhia, weighed 40 tonnes and was one of about 2,500 similar ones scattered across the country since its Soviet days.
Most of those have since been toppled, with Ukraine’s tallest Lenin in the city of Kharkiv falling in September 2014, seven months after the removal of a pro-Russian leadership in Kiev....
===
We reported on this here yesterday. But more details from AFP via the Guardian.

http://ru.slovoidilo.ua/2016/03/18/karta/karta-ato-situaciya-na-vostoke-ukrainy-na-18-marta



Fighting mostly north of Donetsk. Lugansk area looks quieter.
Putin's army still fighting for a "bridge" to occupied Crimea.

12:57
http://gordonua.com/news/politics/lyashko-zayavlyaet-chto-rossiya-ispolzuet-politicheskiy-krizis-v-ukraine-chtoby-ubedit-evropeycev-ne-prodlevat-sankcii-124477.html
....Russia is using the political crisis in Ukraine to convince the Europeans not to renew sanctions, said leader of the Radical Party in the Parliament of Ukraine Oleg Lyashko. He said this while talking to journalists in the Verkhovna Rada, the "GORDON".
"The Kremlin wants to convince our European partners that there is no need to extend sanctions because the Ukrainians are not able to build their own state and overcome the crisis," - said Lyashko.
Therefore, in his opinion, the statement made by the Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel in Germany that is necessary to create conditions for the abolition of the EU sanctions against Russia, Ukraine is a negative signal....
====
Interesting.
So what precisely is Liashko really trying to say here?
Is he paving the way for him going back, and joining the coalition. ??

I just watched the Europa league draw.
Shakhtar - not a bad draw. They avoided the strongest teams - in my opinion, Bor Dormund, and Sevilla. Liverpool are not bad either.
Incidentally, Dortmund drew Liverpool! That's a good tie.

Full draw from
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/season=2016/draws/
Quarter-finals: matches 7 and 14 April

Braga (POR) v  Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Villarreal (ESP) v Sparta Praha (CZE)
Athletic (ESP) v Sevilla (ESP)
Dortmund (GER) v Liverpool (ENG)

From the same website, the Champions League draw - Quarter Finals also
QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
5 & 13 April
Bayern München (GER) v Benfica (POR)
Barcelona (ESP) v Atlético Madrid (ESP)

6 & 12 April
Wolfsburg (GER) v Real Madrid (ESP)
Paris (FRA) v Manchester City (ENG)

http://www.radiosvoboda.org/content/news/27621376.html
===
Hard life for the deputies. Shoot them all, and start again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/12197242/Britain-signs-new-defence-pact-to-help-Ukraine-in-Russia-confrontation.html
... military training and intelligence ....
====
Socks.

Anonymous hacker group #FF (Falcons Flame) has published information extracted from a mobile phone of an employee of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

According to the hackers, the data has been retrieved from a Samsung GT-I9100 device with MegaFon SIM card (phone No. +7 938 105 18 57, Rostov Oblast), Censor.NET informs citing international volunteer community InformNapalm.

"The information retrieved is valuable because most of the photos from the phone of the FSIN employee include full EXIF data, including exact data of image creation. In addition, they provided videos made by an operative of the 'Mangust' special tasks unit of the Russian Federation's FSIN department in Rostov Oblast, who had repeatedly visited Donbas on short trips to take part in combat actions," InformNapalm notes.



All pictures and videos have also been transferred to the security forces of Ukraine and members of the Ukrainian 'Peacemaker' Center for study of signs of crimes against the national security of Ukraine.

The #FF hacker group reported that they had carried out an operation to track down the subject's personal data, which were confirmed based on captured information about a money order.

While analyzing and monitoring the received data, it was established that the owner of the photo and video archive is Reichenau Nikolay Vladimirovich (born on May 17, 1985). His humble wages or money received for killing of Ukrainians allowed him to buy the black Mitsubishi Eclipse car (license plate No. р011не, region code 161 - Rostov Oblast).

Hackers also managed to unveil correspondence in which Nikolay ordered himself a fake stamp for commendation documents. Perhaps, he later provided them to his bosses as a report of his 'heroic actions' in Donbas.

Nikolay's call signs are 'Shturm' [Storm] and 'Kolovrat' [Swastika], and it seems that he admires 'the Third Reich', which is supported by photos found in his archives:

To view ALL PHOTOS and read further go to this link:  censor.net.ua

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko made a statement at his meeting with the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides on Friday.

"The total amount of aid that Ukraine has obtained for humanitarian needs totals more than $649 million," said Poroshenko.

He noted that most of these funds has been directed to humanitarian mission in the occupied territories.

He added that donors were from the EU, the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, the International Committee of the Red Cross.....

ukrinform.net

Vladimir Putin feels the noose around his neck and he is paying through the nose to his agents to destabilize Ukraine and show the West that Kyiv is an unreliable partner, renowned expert Vitali Portnikov writes on the Espreso site March 18.

After meeting with Pres Poroshenko this week Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande stated the need to continue the sanctions against Russia until it abides with the Minsk agreements.

 “In practice, it boils to one clear thing – until the Kremlin withdraws its bandits from the occupied territories of Donbas and lets OSCE inspectors enter the area and Ukraine border guards to control the border Putin will sit under the sanctions. And expect his end,” Portnikov says.

Russia’s state-owned companies will have to repay tens of billions of dollars in debts to their western creditors, the money the Russian budget doesn’t have. This will trigger off their collapse and the falling apart of the Putin empire, the expert opines. 

Putin already feels the noose tightening around his neck. His decision to withdraw the troops from Syria clearly indicates his premonition of his coming end.

Putin took the decision after his stormy all-night meeting with the cabinet.

Now Putin has one goal – to delay the collapse, receive credits and have a deal with the West. It means he will withdraw from Donbas and bargain for Crimea – amid hectic attempts to save his face. 

 “Putin will not permit a major war. However, he can imitate the escalation – to frighten the West. And he will spend heaps on money on his spies in Ukraine to destabilize the country and prove to the West that deals cannot be struck with Kyiv,” Portnikov says.

Putin will use all the levers he has – starting from Viktor Medvedchuk to pseudo patriots to make his case, Vitali Portnikov says, Vitali Portnikov warns.

zik.ua

http://www.rferl.org/content/mironenko-state-archive-chief-removed-from-post-panfilov-legend/27619460.html
...The document published by the state archive, however, showed that Soviet officials recognized the legend was "fiction" after some of the supposedly deceased men were found to be still alive.
On July 20, Mironenko made an appearance on air with the Russian Service of RFE/RL in which he said that the Panfilov legend was not even a myth but a deliberate “falsification.”....
Mironenko had irked the authorities before. In June 2015, he stood up at an otherwise routine World Congress of Russian Press attended by powerful State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin and Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov and railed against Soviet myths.
Mironenko debunked the Panfilov legend at that time and also criticized Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, saying the Molotov-Ribbentropp Pact that carved up Eastern Europe between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II should really be called the Hitler-Stalin Pact.....

Russian authorities have created a pervasive climate of fear and repression in Crimea in the two years since it has occupied the peninsula, Human Rights Watch said today. It is crucial for key international actors to keep Crimea’s drastically deteriorating human rights situation high on their agendas.

This was announced by the Human Rights Watch organization it its report published on March 18, Censor.NET informs citing Ukrainska Pravda.

"Crimea's isolation has made it very difficult to conduct comprehensive human rights monitoring there," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "But serious human rights abuses in Crimea should not slip to the bottom of the international agenda."

"Since Russian forces began occupying Crimea in early 2014, the space for free speech, freedom of association, and media in Crimea has shrunk dramatically. In two years, authorities have failed to conduct meaningful investigations into actions of armed paramilitary groups, implicated in torture, extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, attacks and beatings of Crimean Tatar and pro-Ukraine activists and journalists," the report reads.

Authorities have required Crimean residents either to become Russian citizens or, if they refuse, to be deemed foreigners in Crimea. Two years on, it is evident that residents who chose not to accept Russian citizenship face discrimination in getting jobs and social services.

Under the pretext of combating extremism or terrorism, the authorities have harassed, intimidated, and taken arbitrary legal action against Crimean Tatars, an ethnic minority who openly opposed Russia's occupation.

"For the last two years, many Crimean Tatars have consistently, openly, and peacefully opposed Russian actions in Crimea," Williamson said. "Russia has been making Crimean Tatars pay a high price for nothing more than their principled stance."

Local authorities declared two Crimean Tatar leaders personae non gratae and prohibited them from entering Crimea; searched, threatened, or shut down Crimean Tatar media outlets and banned peaceful gatherings to commemorate historic events, such as the anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars.

The report also mentions Crimea's prosecutor Poklonskaya who petitioned a court to recognize the actions of Mejlis, the Crimean Tatars' elected representative body, as extremist. In February 2016, court proceedings began to determine whether to shut it down.

"Under international law, the Russian Federation is an occupying power in Crimea as it exercises effective control in Crimea without the consent of the government of Ukraine, and there has been no legally recognized transfer of sovereignty to Russia. The referendum, held without the authorization of the Ukrainian government or any broad-based endorsement by the international community, and Russia's unilateral actions afterward cannot be considered to meet the criteria under international law for a transfer of sovereignty that would end the state of belligerent occupation," the report reads.

"Russia bears direct responsibility for the surge in rights abuses in Crimea," Williamson said. "Russia's international partners should sustain constant pressure on Russia to stop human rights abuses on the peninsula."

censor.net.ua   In Ukrainian/український

Suggesting Putin may freeze the conflict in Donbas indefinitely.

http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/331713.html
===
The date changes by a few months every week. But this is the first time it has gone backwards. Some were saying 2017.
Actually, this is bad news - for Putin and Tymoshenko.
A visa-free regime will certainly make the government more popular. And Tymoshenko wants to bring down the government. She wants to be President.
If the government starts becoming popular she has no chance. Putin likewise.

People's Front faction ready to support resignation of Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin.

People's Front parliamentary faction leader Maksym Burbak said to Censor.NET correspondent on the sidelines of the Verkhovna Rada.

He said that next plenary week will show whether MPs will support the resignation of Prosecutor General Shokin.

He also said he was sure that the coalition still exists in the parliament.

"Yesterday we had this very important vote on the asset forfeiture bill. ... This again showed that the coalition exists and is acting," Burbak said.

He voiced his version of political crisis overcoming. "This [includes] resume of coalition operation, support of government's action plan. It's public and you can see it. 379 project that need be voted for this year for the purpose of reforms implementation. And we start working," the MP noted.

The deputy also insists that the Rada votes for Prosecutor General Shokin's resignation during its next week plenary session.

Burbak didn't say whether People's Front faction supports Yurii Lutsenko as a candidate for the position.

"We have not yet discussed it with the faction. Under the Constitution, the president has the right to make proposals. We would like to see the president's proposals," Burbak said.

censor.net.ua   In Ukrainian/український

18:57
Girkin admitted that he initiated the piggery and the mess in the Donbas (+ video) (Sled.net.ua)
Гиркин признался, что положил начало свинарнику и бардаку на Донбассе (+видео)
According to him, the militants and the locals are extremely dissatisfied with the current situation. "People who come to me say one thing: a pigsty and a mess - that's all that happens in the Donetsk and Lugansk. Here's what we have built in the Donbas. People do not have enough for bread, and they zababahivat [cool word for.. support, pay for expensive] concerts with guest artists. Believe me, Donetsk blossomed. He really blossomed before the war started, "- said the fugitive leader of" DNR ".
In addition, Girkin says that presidential adviser Vladislav Surkov, is deeply involved in the events in the Donbass. "He (Surkov, - Ed.) Last week came and held meetings there with Khodakovsky and Zakharchenko (leaders" DNI "- Ed.) - Girkin said.
Recall that Girkin once confessed that it was he who led the war in the Donbass, capturing Slavyansk
===
свинарнику in the heading - basically "pigsty". But doesn't translate so well into English.
A pigsty and a mess. Sounds like Transdniestr to me. And the Crimea now also. Everything Putin touches turns into pigswill.

An anti-smuggling squad and a civilian vehicle came under terrorist fire yesterday in the area of anti-terrorist operation (ATO).

This was announced by Presidential Administration spokesman on ATO matters Andrii Lysenko at a briefing on Friday, Censor.NET reports.

"As reported by the State Border Guard Service, a joint mobile squad, combating the illicit movement of goods across the contact line, got under fire last night. The incident occurred in the Bakhmut district, the Donetsk region. Terrorists fired small arms, in particular - a sniper rifle," he said.

censor.net.ua   In Ukrainian/український

http://www.unian.info/politics/1293848-poroshenko-administration-hopes-for-new-coalition-in-10-days.html
...Presidential Administration Head Boris Lozhkin hopes that the new coalition in the Verkhovna Rada will be formed in 10 days, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
"I hope that the new collation will be formed in 10 days. Ideally, its composition should be the same as it was before – five factions," Lozhkin told journalists...
===
No details. I don't see how this can be. Samopomich have already said that they will not be part of a new coalition.
And Tymoshenko certainly wants to bring down the government. Liashko?! Or 20 "independents"?

http://www.unian.info/politics/1294041-yatsenyuk-ready-to-give-groysman-premiership-under-certain-conditions-media.html
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is ready to step down in favor of the current Verkhovna Rada Speaker, Volodymyr Groysman if the People's Front party gets an acceptable quota in government, according to several informed sources in the different factions of the coalition, Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda has reported....
====
Probably complete and utter speculation.

The chairman of the Union of Theatrical Personalities of Ukraine, film and theater director and People's Artist of Ukraine Les Taniuk has died, the presidential representative in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, MP from the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko faction Stepan Kubiv, has said.....

interfax.com.ua

The militants have deployed main battle tanks and Grad multiple rocket launchers in the city of Luhansk and the towns of Krasniy Luch and Horlivka, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

"The Ukrainian side has informed representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission about the presence of tanks and 122mm Grad multiple rocket launchers in Luhansk, Horlivka and Krasniy Luch," the report says....

unian.info

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in winter 2015-2016 has lost about $6 billion in revenue because of Ukraine's purchases of reverse-flow gas from the EU, CEO Naftogaz Andriy Kobolev wrote on Facebook.

"Last winter, our reverse cost Gazprom about $6 billion in lost revenue excluding court fines. How much – we'll know soon," Kobolev said.

According to him, this winter was the first in the history of independent Ukraine, when the country could survive through the heating season without gas purchases from Russia.......

unian.info

The Russian delegation was unable to disrupt the meeting of the UN Security Council Arria format on the problem of human rights in Crimea, said the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Vladimir Elchenko. "Despite all the attempts of the Russian delegation at the UN to dissuade other delegations to participate in the meeting, it has not brought the result itself, the Russian delegation did not come to this meeting, which was not surprising to me -. I told Elchenko at a press briefing in New York after the meeting. And today's visit of Russian President Putin in Crimea - a very strange way to celebrate the second anniversary of the annexation ". Elchenko also said that the meeting was attended by 11 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council. There were no representatives of Russia, China, Angola and Venezuela. According Elchenko, during a meeting, talking, in particular, the inability to live in the Crimea, in the absence of a Russian passport. "At first glance, it looks like a voluntary step, but if you delve into this situation, you will see that without a Russian passport, you can not do anything in the Crimea - said Elchenko -. You can not go to the hospital to go to university, send their children to school, buy a car, to register the property. you do not seem to exist. People need or receive Russian citizenship, or leave the Crimea. " According to him, the main signal from this meeting - in Ukraine still have a high level of support from the international community's position on the illegality of the annexation of the Crimea.......

dt.ua   In Ukrainian/український

Russian occupation authorities created in Crimea "the pervasive atmosphere of fear and oppression," which supports there for two years from the date of seizure Ukrainian peninsula, say observers Humans Rights Watch. According to a report published March 18 New York human rights group HRW, since the annexation of Crimea in March 2014 the space for freedom of speech, assembly and the media in Crimea sharply narrowed. Read also: Canada will continue pressure on Russia to de-occupation of the Crimea and Donbas Observers also note the practice of harassment, intimidation and oppression of the rights of Crimean Tatars - the local ethnic minority that openly oppose Russian aggression. Humans Rights Watch is one of the most respected in the world human rights organizations. HRW observers are monitoring and documenting human rights violations in more than 70 countries..............

dt.ua   In Ukrainian/український

On board crashed in Rostov-on-Don passenger aircraft Boeing 738 (also known as the Boeing 737-800 ") was 61 people, including crew. This " Tass " reported by the emergency services.

"According to updated information, on board were 55 passengers and six crew members," - said the source.

They all died. All passengers were supposedly Russian.

As reported by "Commander" , Rostov-on-Don while landing at the airport crashed Boeing-738 aircraft.

glavcom.ua In Russian/русский



All passengers crashed at the airport of Rostov-on-Don Boeing 737-800, in advance, the citizens of Russia, and the crew - the foreigners, RIA "Novosti" with reference to a source in the emergency services in the region.

"According to preliminary data, all the passengers who were on board the Boeing Rostov-on-Don, Russian citizens. Crew - foreigners "- a spokesman said.

By Boeing crash site are sent to the Minister of Transport of Russia and head of the Federal Air Transport Agency. Governor of Rostov Region Vasily Golubev arrived at the crash Boeing-738.

"The Governor of Rostov Region Vasily Golubev is located at the crash site, is the organization of the operational staff, the survivors in the crash is not", - said the minister.

glavcom.ua In Russian/русский

The international rating agency S & P affirmed the long-term sovereign credit rating of Russia at the level of «BB +» with a negative outlook.

The decision to leave him on the speculative level accepted despite the ongoing in recent weeks, rising oil prices and the strengthening of the ruble.

At the same time the long-term local currency rating was affirmed at «BBB-».

Thus, Russian bonds are still in the "junk" zone, where speculative securities fall, not worth the investment.

S & P expects in 2016 reduction of Russia's GDP by 1.4%.

The agency's analysts believe that the impact on Russia's rating has weak political institutions, which hinders the development of the competitiveness of the economy.

In addition, the decline in domestic purchasing power caused by the depreciation of the ruble and rising inflation, also inhibits the growth of the economy.

At the end of January 2015 the rating agency for the first time in a decade has lowered Russia's rating to "junk" - such a decision entails a reduction in investors' demand for securities and the rising cost of borrowing on the international markets for the country.

However, if the oil price situation was more favorable for Russia: while March futures for Brent crude mixture comprised of about 48-50 dollars per barrel.

Now the price of Brent futures hovering around US $ 41.5 per barrel.

glavcom.ua In Russian/русский

When landing in Rostov-on-Don Airport, the plane fell. According to the agency TASS on board was 61 people.



According to RIA Novosti , the plane crashed at the airport near the runway. He served as flight number 981.

According to the online scoreboard on the website airport of Rostov-on-Don, FZ-981 flight was supposed to land at 01:20 Moscow time. According to Tass, the board came to the second landing, because he could not get the first time due to bad weather. Bad weather conditions and the crew error - the main version of the investigation. The day before it was announced warning of a cyclone with a snowstorm and wind 22-27 m / s.

According to " Interfax ", the plane was owned FlyDubai airline.

TASS The source said that all the passengers were killed. According to the agency, the plane when hitting the ground on fire, the fire has been extinguished.

The site EMERCOM in the region said that the information about the crash came at 03:50. According to rescuers, crashed "737".

According to RIA Novosti, the passengers were only Russians, but the crew were foreigners.

At the crash site came Rostov Region Governor Vasily Golubev.

The airline, according to RIA Novosti news agency , confirmed the plane crash. "We affirm that our flight FZ981 crashed in Rostov-on-Don", - said the Fly Dubai.

tvrain.ru In Russian/русский

Ukraine is launching a campaign to promote the European Union of agricultural products of the Ukrainian manufacturers. This was announced by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin on the results of the meeting with the Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on Friday in Brussels, reports "Ukrinform" .

"We started to implement the initiative in organizing special events for the presentation of our potential suppliers of agricultural products, already have EU certificates. Since we have to achieve that on the shelves of European supermarkets were Ukrainian products, "- the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

It is reported that the first such event held in Austria and Germany.

"We will establish a connection between European supermarkets and Ukrainian producers, who are ready to supply products according to European standards," - said Klimkin.

glavcom.ua In Russian/русский

While Hawkeye aircraft landing on an aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower off the coast of Virginia suffered eight sailors, the Associated Press reported, citing the statement of the US Navy.

It is noted that all eight victims are in stable condition, none of them received injuries that threaten their lives. At the same time the two get the necessary assistance aboard the aircraft carrier, and six were taken to hospital by helicopter.

According to the agency, at the time of the incident was carried sailors work on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. During the landing of one of the aircraft braking device on the deck of the ship, with which aircraft carry out landing, disconnect.

After the incident the plane resumed its flight after landing at the naval base in Norfolk. According to preliminary data, neither the crew nor the aircraft were not injured itself.

glavcom.ua In Russian/русский

The US State Department officially announced the date of the visit to Moscow, Secretary of State John Kerry - his visit to Russia will start 22 and end on March 25. This was reported on the website of the American authorities.

"US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Moscow <...> March 22-25, where he will meet with the Russian leadership," - said in a statement.

It is noted that the parties "will discuss the ongoing efforts of the International Support Group Syria to maintain the ceasefire, assist and improve and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid, assistance to the political transition in Syria, as well as the fight against the IG," - noted in the State Department.

Kerry also plans to discuss with the Russian side Ukraine and "the need for full implementation of the Minsk agreements."

glavcom.ua In Russian/русский

The law on the return of illegally acquired assets is an attempt to divert the attention of Ukrainians from "political and economic collapse," said the ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. His comment sent Yanukovych Reuters international news agency in writing.

According to Yanukovych, talk about his "mythical billions" - is "an attempt to present political losers Ukrainians divert attention from the fact that they brought the country to ruin."

The ex-president also said that the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has confirmed that he did not have any bank accounts abroad.

Yanukovych is confident that if the law is adopted, policymakers will be able to confiscate any Ukrainian whatever they want, "without proof of guilt or a court decision."

glavcom.ua In Russian/русский

This thread now continued for Saturday 19 March at
https://ukraine-english-news.forumotion.com/t2364-ukraine-crisis-news-in-brief-saturday-19-march-ukrainian-sources

or go to
https://ukraine-english-news.forumotion.com/
and select Ukraine news