Ukraine crisis. News in brief. Wednesday 22 March. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY

Please scroll to view news items added during the day.

NEWS:
Manafort received a large bribe for helping Putin.  Putin made a hysterical statement by the US to expand NATO.  The Daily Vertical: Putin's Plan B In Ukraine.  Russia wants to increase the number of occupation troops in Donbas 50 thousand people. The Council approved the request to the US Congress to grant Ukraine the status of Major non-NATO ally.  Ukraine could become a NATO member in 2008, if not then Prime Minister Tymoshenko.  The Kremlin responded to the scandal by Fillon meeting with Putin.

WEATHER:
18c / 63f HI | RealFeel® 18c / 6548f

The former head of election headquarters of US President Donald Trump, Paul Manafort received money Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska for promoting the interests of the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reported by the Associated Press .

According to the agency, in 2005 Manafort was a strategy that "could greatly assist the government of Putin." Contract Manafort Deripaska and lasted at least from 2006 to 2009, and annual payments on it was 10 million.

Manafort confirmed the AP, who worked on Deripaska, but criticized attempts to present the agreement in a negative light.

Earlier, representatives of Manafort denied accusations of MP Serhiy Leshchenko that the American spin doctor received money from "black cash" former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

apostrophe.ua, Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

Notice of meeting French businessman Patrick Puyanne with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which alleged bribe organized presidential candidate Francois Fillon remind fake.

The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

A spokesman for Vladimir Putin said that the President actually met the businessman, but the organization of this meeting Fillon is not involved.

"We have seen media reports. Frankly, they resemble another fake, what we call" feyknyus. "The meeting really took place. You know, the president traditionally attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, will present this year," - Peskov said.

As reported, "Apostrophe", formerly Conservative leader Francois Fillon gave the independent candidate for president of France Emmanuel macron in televised debates.

apostrophe.ua , Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

Letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with the proposal of the US Senate to ratify the membership of Montenegro in NATO is not left without attention of Russian politicians.

News of the message in his microblog Tillerson commented the head of the Russian parliamentary commission on information policy Alexei Pushkov.

Тиллерсон призвал сенат срочно ратифицировать вступление Черногории в НАТО. Без этого США не смогут защитить свои интересы в мире ! Ну никак

— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) March 22, 2017

Translation: Tillerson called on the Senate to urgently ratify the accession of Montenegro to NATO. Without it, the United States will not be able to protect their interests in the world! Well done,

"Tillerson urged the Senate to quickly ratify the accession of Montenegro to NATO. Without it, the US will not be able to defend its interests in the world! Well, nothing," - wrote Pushkov, ironizuyuchy on the justification of this step the message Secretary of State, under which the membership of Montenegro in NATO in the interests of the United States .

Earlier "Apostrophe" quoted statements Putin politicians on statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin on the liberation of Crimea.

apostrophe.ua, Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

The next summit of Heads of State and Government of NATO member states will be held in Brussels, NATO headquarters, May 25, 2017.

This is the agency UNIAN .

The date of the upcoming meeting of NATO speaker said Oana Lunhesku. According to her, earlier it was declared myself Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a meeting with reporters in the US capital Washington.

According Lunhesku, presidents and prime ministers representing NATO member states will discuss the adaptation of the Alliance to new threats affect issues of combating terrorism and pay attention to the possibility of increasing defense spending.

This Summit will be the first meeting of the political leadership of the Alliance, which will be attended by the new US president Donald Trump.

Earlier "Apostrophe" reported the letter Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to the leaders of the US Senate , a proposal on the ratification of the membership of Montenegro in NATO.

apostrophe.ua, Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

The Russian Federation wants to increase the number of occupation troops in Donbass to 50 thousand., Mainly by locals.

As the Tsenzor.NET about it on the page in Facebook informs the coordinator of the "Informational resistance," MP Dmitry Timchuk.

According to him, the Russian command ordered by the leadership of the Defense Ministry launched measures to increase the total number of fighters "1st AC DNR" and "2nd AK FSC" to 50 thousand. "Soldiers" (today - up to 38 thousand.). "With this in view of reducing the flow of Russian mercenaries bulk of the replenishment plan to get local residents of Donbass" - says Timchuk.

For this, as noted in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Lugansk regions occur mobilization activities involving reservists.

"As of March 21 agenda of" military offices "were about 10 thousand. Residents of military service" DNR "and" FSC "at the age of 50 years, which mostly report that while they cause only to" fees "- says Timchuk .

"According to the report" MGB DNR "in the" DNR "mobilization measures could cause a backlash and opposition from some sectors of the population, as before, in early February, the leader of" DNR "Zakharchenko publicly promised to forcibly engage in" military service "citizens only in the distant future, the near future acquisition planning "1st AC DNR" only "volunteers" - wrote coordinator IP.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

The leader of the Radical Party, Oleg Lyashko blamed the leader of the "Fatherland" Yulia Tymoshenko for the failure of Ukraine towards NATO.

He said, speaking from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada during the discussion of resolution on appeal to the US Congress on security guarantees to Ukraine, reports Parliamentary correspondent Tsenzor.NET .

"Ukraine could become a NATO member if the 2008 Bucharest Summit then Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko blocked the receipt of an action plan for NATO membership for Ukraine. Ukraine could defend themselves if in 2008 the then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko blocked in the parliament decision to support Georgia, which suffered from the Russian aggression. Ukraine could become stronger if at the time when Russian troops killed Georgian children, the elderly, women, the then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to Moscow hyhotila Putin not to laugh over aggression against Georgia, "- said Lyashko.

Also Lyashko said that, in his opinion, Ukraine could become stronger if in 2008 the then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko "has not given permission to withdraw from Sevastopol military Russian ships, which fired Batumi and Sukhumi."

"If we stop Putin in Georgia, he would not go to the Crimea. When he came to the Crimea, then had to defend the Crimea. But Yulia Tymoshenko, even then not prime, but the same Moscow cuckoo, because not called to defend the Crimea, urged not to provoke his friend Putin urged not to extract weapons to, God forbid, to provoke her friend. ... And by the way, you have three years not vote for the budget of the army. your affairs show you Moscow cuckoo " - he turned to the faction "Motherland".

Meanwhile, Speaker Andrew Paruby at the request of representatives of the "homeland" of them refused to remark, noting that Lyashko called Tymoshenko name, not someone else faction, and because of its lack of room, right on cue, "Homeland" does not provide.

ua.censor.net.ua, Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

Parliament adopted the resolution and overall appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the Congress of the United States of America on security assurances (№6111).

Reported parliamentary correspondent Tsenzor.NET .

For a decision voted 232 MP.

The authors of the appeal stress that granting Ukraine the status Major non-NATO ally contribute to the implementation of security guarantees provided under the Budapest memorandum.

ua.censor.net.ua, Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

Report that former campaign chief Paul Manafort hired to ‘promote’ Putin’s interests

A business deal between President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and a Russian billionaire deepened the scrutiny of Mr Trump’s relations with Moscow on Wednesday, after a report that Mr Manafort had been hired to “promote” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s interests. 

Mr Manafort was hired by Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire industrial magnate and one of Russia’s richest men, to conduct activities that would “greatly benefit the Putin government,” the Associated Press reported citing leaked documents. 

The report comes two days after James Comey, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, confirmed that the agency was probing ties between Mr Trump’s campaign aides and Russian officials as part of an investigation into interference by Moscow in the US election, which included the hacking of the Democratic National Committee. 

Mr Trump has faced scrutiny over his relationship with Russia since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015. He has confounded Democrats and Republicans with his refusal to criticise Mr Putin, which has fuelled speculation about his motives. 

When asked whether Mr Deripaska had hired Mr Manafort to help promote Mr Putin’s interests, a representative of the billionaire declined to comment. .......................

Access complete text of the editorial:   (Financial Times) 

The United States do not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and is set to maintain sanctions against Russia.

Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly told Holos Ameryky, Censor.NET reports.

He said Trump administration supports the Congress in this aspect and offered reassurance that both parties will do their best to retain the stance.

Connolly is known to be the author of the bill to prohibit the U.S. government from recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

The document allegedly confirms that former advisor to fugitive Ukrainian president Yanukovych and former head of Trump's presidential campaign Paul Manafort could have been hiding funds received from Yanukovych.

U.S President Donald Trump's ex-campaign chair Paul Manafort is facing fresh allegations over his links to former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Censor.NET reports citing CNN.

Ukrainian lawmaker Serhii Leshchenko claims a document found in a safe in Kyiv may be evidence that Manafort tried to mask payments to him from Yanukovych's party.

The claim comes as the FBI told the House Intelligence Committee on Monday that it is officially investigating whether there was any coordination between Trump's campaign team and Russia during the 2016 U.S. election.

Leshchenko showed CNN a six-page document that appears to bear Manafort's signature on a contract and invoice for 501 units of assorted computer equipment, yielding a payment of $750,000.

CNN has been unable to verify the document's authenticity, and Manafort said through a spokesman that he did not recognize the document and that the signature was not his.

But, if genuine, it could be another piece of the puzzle in an investigation launched by Ukrainian authorities looking at whether Manafort and others received millions of dollars in illegal payments from Yanukovych's party.

The document is dated Oct. 14, 2009, during the years when Manafort worked for Yanukovych as a political consultant in Kyiv.

The date of the invoice and the $750,000 listed on it match the details logged in an off-the-books ledger, first reported on by the New York Times, which purports to be from Yanukovych's party, listing the series of secret payments now under investigation.

An entry in a ledger of off-the-book payments allegedly from Yanukovych's party shows a payment of $750,000 made to Manafort on Oct. 14, 2009.

Manafort's name appears in the handwritten ledger 22 times as the recipient of payments amounting to $12.7 million, according to anti-corruption authorities in Ukraine.

With this new document, Leshchenko believes he has evidence that Manafort personally invoiced at least one of these payments from Yanukovych's political party.

Anti-corruption investigators in Ukraine have alleged Yanukovych and members of his party ran a corrupt regime. He fled to Russia following a public uprising in 2014.

, Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

Ukraine's military counterintelligence and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have detained members of a Russian spy ring in Odesa.
Counterintelligence agency director Serhii Levchenko told a briefing, Censor.NET reports.

The group was headed and coordinated by a Ukrainian female citizen with pro-Russian views. Ukraine's counterintelligence says she had been trained in temporarily occupied Crimea and participated in the events of May 2, 2014 in Odesa.

She was ordered by her Moscow curators to organize pro-Russian movements and gather data on Ukraine Armed Forces units, including at the border areas.



SBU official Oleksandr Tkachuk said nine members of the ring have been detained. Four of them have been put under arrest, the rest are being controlled by the SBU.

The agencies have not specified whether all of the detainees are from Odesa. All of them have Ukrainian passports, but it is not yet known if they possess passports of other countries.

The aim of the ring was to penetrate into strategic and military facilities in Ukraine's south. They were supposed to gather information of Ukraine military units redeployment. In addition, the spy ring was to commit terrorist attacks and sabotage against Ukrainians in the south of the country, Tkachuk said.

ua.censor.net.ua , Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові

Russia's involvement in the Syrian war costs more resources than claimed by Moscow.

Russian forces in Syria have suffered losses since late January three times higher than the official toll, Censor.NET reports citing Reuters.

Eighteen Russian citizens have been killed since Jan. 29 - a period that coincided with intense fighting to recapture the city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group.

The Russian defense ministry has publicly reported only five servicemen's deaths in Syria over the same period, and its officials' statements have not mentioned any large-scale Russian ground operations in the fight for Palmyra.

The toll was revealed in interviews with relatives and friends of the dead men, cemetery workers, local media reports of funerals and evidence collected by a group of investigative bloggers, Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT).

In each case, Reuters has independently verified information about the death by speaking to someone who knows the dead man.

The casualties since the end of January represent one of the highest tolls for the Russian contingent in Syria since the start of Moscow's military intervention 18 months ago. Most of the dead were not regular Russian soldiers but Russian civilians working as private military contractors under the orders of Russian commanders.

Moscow has not officially acknowledged the presence of the contractors in Syria.

ua.censor.net.ua, Original in Ukrainian / на українській мові