Ukraine News in brief. Tuesday 9 January. [Ukrainian sources]

TUESDAY HEADLINES:
The Azov regiment already has American weapons - BellingCat.  Ukrainian intelligence services employee turned out to be a spy recruited by the KGB of Belarus.  Nuclear weapons are aimed only at the United States: Russia and China are in safety.  The government named those who are guilty of exacerbating relations between Ukraine and Poland.  In Ukraine, 60 new schools have appeared since 2014.  Russia is arranging provocations at the border through the introduction of biometric control.  The court forbade Akhmetov from paying no more than 20 thousand euros a month.  Rossoshansky's father said son left a note about his willingness to take the blame for the murder of Nozdrovsky.  Yatsenyuk was told what a unique opportunity is given by Canada's presidency at the G7.  

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A BellingCat research project announced an article on the availability of US-made weapons in the Azov regiment.

A spokeswoman for the BellingCat project on Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Arique Toler, wrote on Twitter.

"A lot of hype was raised around the official consent of the US government to sell Javelin Ukraine anti-tank missile systems, but the Azov battalion already has a lethal weapon in the United States on the front line in the Donbass. Watch the new release of our #MinskMonitor," Toller said.

There's a lot of noise around the U.S. approving Javelin sales to Ukraine, but there are *already* American-made lethal weapons on the front lines of the Donbas with the Azov Battalion. New #MinskMonitor coming soon.

— Aric Toler (@AricToler) January 8, 2018

He also noted that the article could be talking about grenade launchers of American production.

Earlier, the "Apostrophe" reported that the Senate and House of Representatives commissions agreed to allocate $ 350 million for Ukraine's military assistance in the 2018 fiscal year.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Employees of the SBU seemed recruited by the KGB of Belarus as a citizen of Ukraine.

This is reported by the Belarusian TV channel "Belsat".

"A citizen of Ukraine, after 11 years of residence in Belarus and returning to Ukraine, came to the management of the SBU in the Chernihiv region and admitted that he was recruited by the State Security Committee of Belarus," the statement reads.

It is noted that during 2006-2017 the Ukrainians lived with his wife in the Khoyniki district of the Gomel region. But in the summer of 2017 the Ukrainians were deprived of their residence.

During a regular trip to Belarus, under the threat of deportation and prohibition of entry into the Belarusian territory, Ukrainians were offered a cooperation.

The husband agreed to transfer to the intelligence services of Belarus data on motor transport and personal belongings of the State Border Guard Service and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, located on the territory of the Ripkin district near the border with Belarus.

A voluntary statement on cooperation with the special services of Belarus and the absence of losses caused to the state interests of Ukraine, her husband was released from criminal responsibility.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

A DPRK spokesman for South Korea said that their nuclear weapons are now threatened only by the United States

This was stated by the head of the DPRK delegation on the first over two years of talks with South Korea, Ri Song Gwon, reports Reuters.

He noted that the discussion of their nuclear program with the South Korean representatives would only negatively affect the relations between the two countries.

"Weapons of North Korea are aimed only at the United States, not our brothers (South Korea - ed.), China or Russia," the official said.

Note that South Korea and the DPRK have started talks that are taking place at the border of the countries. During them, the latter agreed to send to the Winter Olympics, which will be held in South Korea, their athletes and representatives.
North and South Korea have also agreed to restore a military hotline between countries.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Pavel Rosenko said that nobody other than Russia was involved in the destruction of Ukrainian monuments in Poland and the plundering of Polish monuments in Ukraine

He said this on the air of Channel 5, the Government portal said.

"We are well aware of who wants to take advantage of this exacerbation, we are well aware that no one other than Russia is involved in the destruction of Ukrainian monuments in Poland and the plundering of Polish monuments in Ukraine," he said.

The Vice Premier is convinced that during the bilateral dialogue between the governments of Ukraine and Poland, it will be possible to solve all controversial issues and to find an understanding between the two states.

According to Rosenko, the meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and Poland, held at the end of last year, has shown a desire to reach agreement and resolve disputes between the two states.

"The meeting between the two presidents is a powerful signal, including hot heads, that no one will succeed in breaking up the good-neighborly relations between Poland and Ukraine. We will do everything to prevent the third party from rejecting the relations of the two states a century ago," the Vice- the prime minister

He also noted that the process of finding an understanding should be as depoliticized as possible.

"We need to depoliticize this process, we must separate internal Polish and internal Ukrainian processes from the topic of bilateral relations, especially with regard to the uneasy issues of history. We must give an opportunity to discuss historical issues first and foremost historians, we must not twist the society by slogans or critiques of each other," - he stressed.

Rozenko stresses that this should be an absolutely equitable joint dialogue - "not a monologue, not an ultimatum or a threat from any sides, namely a dialogue between the two parties."

-Against the background of rigorous statements by representatives of the Polish authorities to Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko initiated an extraordinary meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Presidents of Ukraine and Poland.

-The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine stated that the Ukrainian authorities have no politicians with anti-Polish sentiment.

-On November 17, deputy head of the Presidential Administration's Administration, Kostyantyn Yeliseyev, met with the head of the office of the Polish President, Krzysztof Szczarski, in Krakow, on which the parties agreed to lift the moratorium on exhumation of mass graves.

-At the same time, on November 18, Polish border guards did not admit to the country the responsible secretary of the State Interagency Commission for the commemoration of the participants in the anti-terrorist operation, the victims of the war and political repressions Svyatoslav Sheremet. In an incident with Sheremetya, Ambassador of Poland in Kyiv, Jan Pecko, was summoned to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

-The head of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) of Poland, Yaroslav Sharek, said that Warsaw could not tell Kyiv which heroes to choose, but that the -UPA's crimes against the Poles in Volhynia could not remain silent either.

-On December 13, the presidents of Ukraine and Poland agreed to reduce the black list of people who did not come to both countries , and also discussed the restoration of Ukrainian monuments.

-In Poland, they said that the visit of their president to Kiev somewhat reassured the tension in the bilateral Polish-Ukrainian relations and unblocked the channels of communication.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

In the period from 2014 to 2017, the number of built educational institutions has sharply increased due to decentralization

This is announced by the press center of the "Decentralization" initiative.

In the period from 2014 to 2017, 60 new general educational institutions were built in Ukraine. Most of them, namely 25, were built last year.

The significant growth of the construction of schools in the Ministry of Regional Development is explained by the increase of state financial support for the development of territorial communities and the development of their infrastructure, as well as the growth of revenues to local budgets.

It is known that in 2014 the government directed only half a billion dollars in social and economic development. In 2017, this figure has increased to 15 billion hryvnia.

"The situation has radically changed since 2015 - the year when the Government has implemented the first stage of financial decentralization. Since then, local budgets and public financial support for the development of local communities and infrastructure development has been increasing," said the First Deputy Minister for Regional Development, Ichaslav Negoda.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Vasyl Servatyuk, First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service, said that the Russian side responds with provocative actions to introduce biometric control by Ukraine

This is stated on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"As we expected, during the holidays, provocative actions were taken against our citizens on the part of the Russian Federation in connection with the introduction of biometric control. Only during this day, the Russian side refused to skip 18 of our vehicles without drawing up the relevant documents and explaining the reasons", - said Servatiuk.

He stressed that the STSU is waiting for more provocation on the part of the aggressor country, so the checkpoints are strengthened by equipment and personnel.

The first deputy head of the State Tax Administration said that since the beginning of the year, 29,000 foreigners have been receiving biometric control, of which 24,000 are Russians.

Basil Seratyuk stressed that only in the past three days the border guards recorded 48 incidents on Interpol databases.

-Biometric control of foreigners at checkpoints on the Ukrainian border began on January 1.

-Employees of the State Border Guard Service record fingerprints of 5 fingers of the right hand. The mandatory fixation of biometric data is used in accordance with the list of 70 countries, including Russia, that are assigned to the risk category in accordance with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The rest of the foreigners - based on the analysis and risk assessment

-The system of biometric control was installed at 157 checkpoints and at 3 checkpoints of entry-exit at the administration with the temporarily occupied Crimea.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

The owner of the SCM company, the Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, was banned from spending more than 20,000 euros a month

This is stated in the decision of the District Court of Nicosia (Cyprus) on the freezing of Akhmetov's assets in the case of Ukrtelecom, reports Tsensor.NET.

In particular, the court decision states that defendants may "use and dispose of a sum of EUR 20,000 each month to cover their own legal expenses."

Earlier it was reported that the District Court of Nicosia decided to freeze the business of Rinat Akhmetov for $ 820 million in the case of Ukrtelecom.

The court decision on Akhmetov and nine others was passed on December 27 following a lawsuit filed by Raga Establishment, which is owned by the former chairman of the Rodovid Bank Denis Gorbunenko.

In Raga, they said they sold Ukretelecom Akhmetov $ 860 million in 2013, he paid $ 100 million, and the company did not receive more money from it.

Raga also provided a list of Akhmetov's assets that could be frozen in the event of a national court decision.

It includes, in particular, 100% of the equity capital of UATelecominvest (Cyprus), shares of PUMB Bank, 100% of the share capital of SCM-Invest, SCM Sport Limited (Cyprus), 90.25% of the share capital of Shakhtar Stadium, 100% of the share capital of SCM Management (the Netherlands), 100% of the share capital ESPV Limited (owns the corporate rights of Esta Group (SCM's real estate holding).

Also, UMBH (Ukrainian Machine Building Holding) (Cyprus) owns more than 50% of OJSC Doneckhirmash, 100% Vesco Limited (Cyprus) (owned by Vesko - the largest Ukrainian open-clay mining enterprise with high plasticity, white 100% Parallel Nafta (Owned by the corporate rights of the fuel group Parallel (refueling), 100% of the fuel used for the production of ceramic tiles, porcelain, earthenware, glass, crystal, electrical insulators, sanitary ware, bricks and tiles) SCM Finance, 100% stake in DTEK Holding and other assets.

-In October 2017, Ukrtelecom switched from Akhmetov to state ownership.
Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko called the ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich and former finance minister Yuriy Kolobov among the guilty in privatization of the telecommunications group.

-In 2017, Renat Akhmetov entered the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his wealth estimated at $ 4.38 billion.

-On January 5, it became known that the Cyprus court froze assets of Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov for $ 820 million because of allegedly non-payment of funds for the privatization of Ukrtelecom.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Arrested on suspicion of murder of human rights activist Irina Nozdrovs'ka - father of suspect in the murder of sister of the deceased in an accident Yuriy

Rossoshansky. According to his wife, he left a note stating that he was ready to take the blame on himself so as not to touch the family.

The press service of the Vyshgorod court confirmed that the suspect was Yuri Rososhansky.

"We are sad for 2.5 years, you know, not today, not tomorrow? In my opinion, he could not do it. Could not. This could only be done by a man, brought to extremes. Everywhere they say about these threats. That's if you give me a video of one threat - I believe. Do you know about scraps? Any notes. Two families have been destroyed, "Olga Rossoshanskaya Gromadskaya said.

The neighbors of Rossoshansky say that he could not kill Nozdrovsky.

"He is afraid of blood. He could not do it. He could not even kill the chicken. Calm. Glorious Always coming out, greetings. In the note that left the woman wrote that he will take everything to himself, so that they do not touch their family", - said the neighbor Maria Nesin.

"But he could not do it. Good man Drudge. My whole life worked for "Kyivenergo" driver. Jura wrote dying notes to keep his family in touch, not to be terrorized. Recently, they found one and yesterday his wife Olya found at work in his clothes in his pocket. There's even a scheme at Baykovo Cemetery where he will be buried. He writes that he did not kill,"- said another neighbor Lidia Neostanova.

On December 29, a lawyer Irina Nozdrovska disappeared in Kyiv, who investigated the case of the death of her sister as a result of an accident. On January 1, the body of Nozdrovsky was found near Kiev in the river. The police consider this murder to be intentional .

On December 27, the defense of the perpetrator of the accident, in which the sister of Irina, Dmitry Rossoshansky, died in the Appeal Court of the Kyiv region, almost achieved his release from custody by amnesty. However, the court decided to send the case for review and continued his arrest for 60 days. Nozdrovsky personally led the case and reported threats.

On January 2, in Kiev, about 200 people gathered with a demand to find and punish murderers of lawyer Iryna Nozdrovsky, who was conducting the case of the death of her sister. They demanded to investigate the murder of the Nozdrovsky Chief, and not the police of the Kyiv region, under the procedural guideline of the GPU.

On January 8, the Interior Ministry said that the police had detained a lawmaker suspected of murdering Irina Nozdrovsky. Currently, evidence is being verified of his involvement in the murder. The police did not name a suspect, but indicated that he was a resident of the Kyiv region. Police have announced suspicions of the detainee.

On January 9, the Kyivan land was buried in Nozdrovsky.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

There is a chance to sharpen the attention of the leading countries of the world to Russia's aggression against Ukraine

Under the auspices of Canada, which has been chairing the Seven Group since the beginning of the year, a new international platform should be launched to discuss the situation in Russia seized in the Crimea and in the occupied part of the Donbas. About this in his article in the newspaper "Day" said Daniel Lubkivsky, diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk in the years 2015-2016, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014).

He recalled that on January 1, Canada began an annual presidency in one of the most influential world unions - the Group of Seven (G7), the informal club of the seven most developed democracies and economies in the world.

Canada's chairmanship at the G7, he stressed, is a unique opportunity to sharpen global attention to Russia's aggression against Ukraine: "The Government of Canada has every opportunity to become an influential initiator of new efforts to restore peace and security in our region, to protect international law on the examples of Ukraine and other states that were subjected to an attempt by Russia, and the defense of human rights in the occupied Ukrainian territories", - stressed Danylo Lubkivsky.

According to him, under the auspices of Canada, a new international platform should be set up to discuss the state of observance of human rights in Russia seized in Crimea and in the occupied part of the Donbas: "large-scale persecution; political and national repression; harassment of the Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and other national environments; suppression of freedom of speech, choice and religion".

"The essence of such a plan is to bring the world's attention to unexplained and often not well-known world human suffering as a result of Russia's aggressive policy and its attempt against a civilized world order," the article reads.

Danylo Lubkivskyi noted that such a form of work would not be contrary to existing negotiating formats or means of consolidated international pressure on Russia. On the contrary, such an approach "will allow to overcome the artificial delimitation of the occupation of Crimea and Donbass." The nature of occupation is one. The essence of human rights violations is one. The aggressor is the same. And sooner or later the aggressor must be held accountable for his crimes, "he stressed.

"In 2018, we need a strong mutual political will to really move towards peace and security," added Daniel Lubkivsky.

glavcom.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Bishop Pavlo, the deputy of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, said that Crimea, which is now occupied by Russia, has allegedly never been Ukrainian.

According to Cenzor.NET, on January 8, during a conversation with the participants of the campaign against "the work of the Laurels on the FSB of Russia," the video was posted by the leader of the nationalist organization C14, the ATO fighter Eugene Karas on his  Facebook page.

"Crimea has never been Ukrainian," said the governor of the Lavra.

He also called the Crimea's accession to Ukraine in 1954 "illegal". "It was illegitimately done in his time for Stalin, you know the history that the Crimea has never been Ukrainian," said Bishop Pavlo, addressing the participant of the action.

After that, the participants of the action clarified that this happened during the days of Nikita Khrushchev (former secretary-general of the Central Committee of the CPSU, ed.), But Bishop Pavel continued to state that "everything was done for Stalin." Answering the question of who Ukraine is fighting on Donbas, Bishop Pavel said that he was "not in war." "It's not known to anyone and anyone," he added.


Pavel's statements from the 11 minute video

The representative of the UOC-MP reminded that the church helps to free Ukrainian hostages. At the same time, he clarified that there is no "Moscow Patriarchate" in Ukraine. "There is the Russian Orthodox Church, not the Moscow Patriarchate," - said the governor of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

As reported earlier, the reason for the picketing of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on January 8 was the fact that activists of the "C14" earlier became in Zaporozhye, the priest of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate, to refuse to sing a two-year-old child because he was baptized in the UOC-KP Patriarchate, after which the incident at the funeral began to bring toys under the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate, and similar events were held under the walls of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

ua.censor.net.ua    In Ukrainian/український

The Washington City Council voted to award the name of Boris Nemtsov to the Quarter near the Russian Embassy.

Russian journalist Volodymyr Kara-Murza-Jr. has reported about this in Facebook.

"The Washington City Council unanimously voted for the accelerated procedure for adopting a bill on Boris Nemtsov Square in front of the Russian embassy," he wrote.

According to Kara Murzii Jr., the renaming will take effect before February 27.

Earlier it was reported that the square near the Russian embassy in Kiev will be named in honor of Boris Nemtsov .

Boris Nemtsov was shot dead in Moscow on February 27, 2015.

Five people were charged with the murder case, including a former military staff member of the Chechen battalion "North" Zaur Dadaev.

In June 2017, the jury trial in Moscow found the main suspect in the murder of Nemtsov Dadayev guilty. In July, the accused Dadaeva and four other suspects were sentenced to 20 years in prison. All defendants in the case of the murder of Boris Nemtsov do not recognize their guilt.

Although on the video records of the first interrogations Dadaeva and Gubasheva the defendants found guilty and claim that the motives behind the murder were the political views of the Russian opposition, as well as allegations that allegedly offend the feelings of Muslim believers.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Enterprise Lindab will check possible discrimination against employees from Ukraine.

The newspaper Wyborca writes about it, referring to the statement of the representative of the Polish office of the Commissioner for Human Rights Leslava Novatski.

According to him, the ombudsman will appeal to the Labor Inspection to carry out inspections at the Lindab plant near Warsaw, as the requirements for Ukrainians "may have a discriminatory character".

Recall that at a factory near Warsaw, where a subsidiary of the international Lindab company is located, Ukrainian workers work in a different color than Poles.

The "Never Again" Association, which opposes the manifestations of any kind of discrimination, condemned such actions at the enterprise.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Glenn Simpson, a co-founder of Fusion GPS, said that "someone has already been killed" after the publication of a dossier on contacts with Russia from the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

The lawyer said this during a private hearing involving his client at the Senate Legal Committee, according to The Hill.

These hearings were held last year, but some of the content of the conversation became known now.

In particular, Simpson was asked if Fusion GPS made any steps to assess the reliability of the sources used by a former employee of the British intelligence service Christopher Stilius.

Recall that Christopher Styles is the author of a trilogue of people from Trump's surroundings with Russia during the US election campaign. The document also states that Russia intervened in the course of the American election to help Trump with the election.

"Yes, but I'm not going to disclose information sources," answered Simpson.

His lawyer Joshua Levy said that Simpson "wants to be very careful to protect his sources."

"Someone has already been killed as a result of the publication of this dossier, and nobody should be harmed by this true work," Levy said.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український