Ukraine News in brief. Monday 18 December. [Ukrainian sources]

MONDAY HEADLINES:
US plans to spend more than $ 200 million on building military bases in Eastern Europe. Russia spread controversial tweets after British terrorist attacks.  Delivery of weapons to Ukraine from Canada: the ambassador made an important clarification.  Moldova has withdrawn an ambassador from Russia for an indefinite period. Dodon was outraged by the loud decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova in Russia.  Donbas reintegration: the EU explained which steps are expected from Ukraine.  Putin's attack against Ukraine: Kravchuk made an alarming statement.  New data on the attitude of Russians towards Ukraine, the United States and the EU appeared.  The war on the Donbass: for the past day, killed three Ukrainian soldiers.  Russia has sent to Ukraine a request for the extradition of the accused in the assassination of the Russian leader Forbes.

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The United States plans to spend over 200 million dollars on repair and construction of military structures at air bases in Eastern Europe. In Washington, they noted that such a decision is part of the initiative to curb Russian aggression.

It is reported by Air Force Times.

The defense budget in 2018, which has already been signed by the country's president, Donald Trump, gives the United States Air Force permission to buy land and build facilities outside its own state.

In 2018, the US plans to spend about $ 214 million on defense to build its facilities in Iceland, Norway and most of Eastern Europe.

"As we continue to work on a dynamic security environment in Europe, EDI funding (European Threat Reduction Initiative - Ed.) Increases our ability to deter and protect Russian aggression," the report said.

According to the official representative of the US military command in Europe, Juan Martinez, it is said, in particular, about the transfer of fifth-generation F-22 Raptor and F-35 Strike Fighter to military bases.

In the United States, they stressed that such significant investments would contribute to the support and collective defense of the United States Allies in NATO.

Earlier, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that in the United States recognized an active threat from Russia . He also called the issue of Ukraine the only obstacle to establishing relations with Russia.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia spread controversial tweets after British terrorist attacks

Twitter accounts linked to Russia have been used to spread controversial messages after the four 2017 terrorist attacks in the UK

This is stated in a new study by Cardiff University, BBC reports.

The researchers found hundreds of posts from 47 accounts previously linked to Russia, and some posts were anti-Muslim, while others contained criticism of those who followed such views.

The BBC cites examples of such tweets: "Another day, another Muslim terrorist attack. Do a retreat if you believe that Islam should be banned!"

Otherwise, the @TEN_GOP user allegedly residing in the US has published a photo of a woman in a hijab, who allegedly cares about the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack.

"She will be responsible for her actions and lack of sympathy. Would you walk past, would you offer help?" - says on tweets.

However, another account associated with the RF, took the opposite position in his message: "This is what the world looks like in hacking glasses - a poor woman is judged only for her clothes."

"The organization's methods, such as the Internet Research Agency supported by Russia, are becoming more and more obvious. Through our investigation of fake news, I am determined to be open," said Damian Collins, chairman of the special parliamentary committee on digital issues , culture, media and sports.

-Recall, according to CNN, in November 2016, Russians ordered Facebook ads targeting the key for the victory of Donald Trump Michigan and Wisconsin.

-Advertising "Russian trolls" on Facebook looked 10 million people.

-Google has found evidence that Russian operators have exploited the company's platforms to try to intervene in the 2016 US presidential election.

-Russians spent more than $ 10 thousand on advertising in Google before the 2016 election.

-Barack Obama warned the founder of social media Facebook Mark Zuckerberg of the danger of Russian interference in the US election.

-Twitter has banned advertising from accounts of Russian propagandists RT and Sputnik.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Vashchuk said that after Ukraine's inclusion in the list of states whose country is allowed to deliver firearms , it is now from Kyiv that the AFU will receive weapons from Canada.

UNIAN reports.

Responding to the question why Canada introduced Ukraine in the list only after four years of Russian aggression, Vaschuk said: "We, people, do not make unexpected spontaneous decisions." We have been monitoring the situation for a long time. Ukraine - ed.) And came to the conclusion that it is rational as part of wider military technical assistance to Ukraine."

The diplomat stressed that Canada has no intention of earning enormous financial funds for arms sales to Ukraine, but is interested in selling arms in some segments.

"We are not going to make any incredible million to make it. We are aware that in fact Ukraine is a major arms manufacturer and exporter than Canada, but in certain segments, the key components identified could be sales and joint projects here." Our armed forces I learned better during the exercises, and we realized that we can mutually complement each other in certain ways, "the ambassador said.

Answering the question of when Ukraine could directly obtain weapons from Canada, Vaschuk said: "The ball in the field of Ukraine, it all depends on buyers."

"As far as we know, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have got more opportunities to buy in the budget. Now it depends on Ukrainian specialists: when, what and how", - the ambassador of Canada has summed up.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Moldova has withdrawn its ambassador to Russia Andriy Negut for an indefinite period.

This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova.

Decisions were made "in connection with the persecution and intimidation of the authorities of Russia by official individuals and political figures in Moldova, the recent increase in these cases and the lack of reaction of the Russian authorities to the official requests of the Moldovan authorities in these cases."

"As part of the discussions, we will look for ways to overcome the current situation", - noted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova.

At the same time, Igor Dodon, President of Moldova, said he was outraged by the decision of the Foreign Ministry.

"This unfriendly campaign took place on the eve of my planned visit to Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. If the purpose of this provocation is to break my visit to Russia, then it will not have the effect: I do not intend to change my plans and the visit to Russia will happen in any case, "- wrote Dodon in Facebook.

It should be noted that Dodon is in opposition to the pro-European government of the country.

In March 2017, the Foreign Ministry of Moldova has already withdrawn the ambassador to Russia. Then this post was occupied by Dmitry Braghysh. Andrei Negutza was appointed Moldova's ambassador to Russia in early May.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Moldovan President Igor Dodon was angry with the decision of the Foreign Ministry of the country to withdraw the ambassador from Russia.

He wrote about this on his Facebook page.

"Angered by the decision of the Foreign Ministry of Moldova on the withdrawal from Russia for consultations of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Moldova to this country, Andriy Negucci. In fact, this means a decrease in the level of diplomatic relations with our main strategic partner, the Russian Federation, for an indefinite period," wrote Dodon.

He also said that the decision was a government provocation aimed at seeking loyalty from the West and breaking his visit to Russia.

"If the purpose of this provocation is to break my visit to Russia, then there will be no effect: I do not intend to change my plans and will make a visit to Russia in any case," Dodon said.

The president also promised to continue work on improving relations between Moldova and Russia.

As reported by the "Apostrophe", Moldova earlier called on the Russian Federation to withdraw its troops from Transnistria in accordance with international obligations.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Ukraine should develop a policy taking into account the problems and needs of the inhabitants of the occupied territories of the Donbas.

The head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador Hug Mingarelli, said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

The diplomat noted that the European Union stands for the full support and implementation of the Minsk Agreements and sees no alternative to a political solution to the conflict.

"Secondly, we believe it is in the interests of Ukraine to develop a policy that will take into account the needs of the population in uncontrolled territories," - said Mingarelli.

In this context, the diplomat pointed out the need to open new KPVBs on the line of differentiation, as well as to simplify the procedure for their crossing, so that Ukrainians could be more free to come to controlled territories to receive pensions and social benefits. He also stated the need for free access of OSCE observers to the entire territory of Ukraine, up to the border with the Russian Federation.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

To date, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, creates conditions and opportunities for a massive armed attack against Ukraine.

This was announced by the first Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, reports Ukrinform.

"He (Putin, ed.) Seems to be starting to act in a way to create a wider field for a possible deeper and larger attack on Ukraine," he said, commenting on the Russian counterparts' reference from the Joint Monitoring and Coordination Center (SCCC) to Donbass.

Kravchuk added that facilitating a peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine could be a peacekeeping mission, but for this purpose it should be organized in accordance with the norms of international law and the UN, and not as Putin wants.

"We want the mission to be on the whole territory, to ensure the return of control over the border, peaceful life and the restoration of the destroyed areas, which should be a large-scale mission, because we are dealing with such, say, an original neighbor," he said.

At the same time, the first president of Ukraine specified that compelling Russia to agree on the deployment of a really effective peacekeeping mission in the Donbass is possible only through international pressure.

In addition, he believes that the Minsk format is now ineffective and needs to be changed.

As reported by the "Apostrophe", Ukrainian journalist Vitaly Portnikov believes that the recent speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin may indicate his readiness to adjust his plans for the Donbas.

 apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Citizens of Russia are practically equally badly concerned with the United States, the European Union and Ukraine.

This is evidenced by the data of the poll conducted by Levada Center in December.

At the same time, there is a reduction in the share of Russians, who are good at the US, EU and Ukraine.

Thus, 22% of the citizens of the Russian Federation, "mostly bad" - 44%, "very badly" - 16% are "mostly good".

To the EU, "mostly good" are 26% of Russians, "mostly bad" - 39%, "very bad" - 15%.

And for Ukraine "mostly good" are 25% of Russian citizens, "mostly bad" - 39%, "very bad" - 17%.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

In the afternoon of December 17, three Ukrainian soldiers died in the area of ​​hostilities in the Donbas.

This is reported by the press center of the ATO headquarters.

As the Ministry of Defense added later, Ukrainian soldiers died in the Zaitsev area as a result of mortar shelling.

It is noted that in the Luhansk direction the Sitlander Arc was the epicenter of tension. Militants in the evening fired the outskirts of Lugansk with grenade launchers, machine guns and mortars. Also, Zaitsev and May were hit by fire.



In Donetsk, militants opened fire at the Azov Sea, in particular, near Lebedinsky and Pavlopol.



"In general, during the past 24hrs, the militants fired 14 times the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In half of the cases Ukrainian servicemen suppressed the fire activity of the invaders, "the headquarters said in a statement.

Earlier, the OSCE mission reported an escalation of the conflict in the districts of Mayavne and Gladosovo settlements near the delimitation line in the Donbass. Observers of the mission recorded the emergence of new trenches, armored personnel carriers and fortifications near the settlements.

On December 14, two Ukrainian fighters were injured in the fighting zone on the Donbass as a result of the bombing , and two more were injured.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

It is reported by the Russian federal news agency TASS.

It is noted that Russia has sent a request for the extradition of the accused Magomed Dukuzov to Ukraine on May 29.

Dukuzov is accused of murder on July 9, 2004 by the editor-in-chief of the Russian version of Forbes magazine, a citizen of the USA Paul Khlebnikov. The General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation adds that Dukuzov "acted as an organized criminal group acting for useful reasons."

Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine detained a Chechen native who was wanted by Interpol for participating in the murder of Russian editor-in-chief Forbes, a US citizen, Paul Khlebnikov.

Later, Russia reported that it was preparing a request to Ukraine regarding a detained Russian.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український