Ukraine News in brief. Wednesday 17 January. [Ukrainian sources]

WEDNESDAY HEADLINES:
Ukraine has seriously started to prepare for Javelin from the United States.  Putin spitting on his citizens: Avakov estimated the prospect of the release of Ukrainians from Russian prisons.  2 Ukrainian servicemen killed, five injured in blast as their armored vehicle tripped unidentified explosive device in Donbas today.  Russia planned an aggression against Ukraine in 2005.  Russia planned to buy 12 Swiss ships to circumvent sanctions.  Conflict resolution in the Donbass is one of the priorities of the year for the UN.  In Russia, the priest was sentenced to pedophilia. Pacquiao Boxing Champion wants to fight with Ukrainian Lomachenko.

WEATHER:
Kyiv, Ukraine
-4c / 25f HI | RealFeel -5c / 24f
Light fog

The Ukrainian armed forces began preparations for the adoption of weapons for the preparation of the American anti-tank missile systems Javelin.

This was announced by the head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko on his Facebook page.

"I have been given orders to work out the preparations for the operation and acceptance by the Armed Forces of the American anti-tank missile complexes Javelin," he wrote.

Today, while in Brussels, Muzenko confirmed that Ukraine is preparing to receive Javelin, but this will only happen after the appropriate procedure.

"The only thing is: it's about Javelin, there is a proper procedure for getting it, it's not as fast as we would like, for this we need the work of the relevant experts on the issue of testing Ukraine's readiness to take such weapons," he said.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

At the moment, the process of exchanging Russian prisoners of war on Ukrainian Politans who are in Russia is in a state of distress because of the reluctance of Russian President Vladimir Putin to lose such a bargaining lever for blackmail.

This was stated in an interview with "Apostrophe" by Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs Zoryan Shkiryak.

"We must realize that this is an element of political bargaining for him, and in the event of possible agreements on the return of our political prisoners to Ukraine, they will try to bargain for themselves as much as possible. There are Russian citizens convicted of terrorist, spyware and others illegal actions, and we are ready to exchange them for our political prisoners, but you yourself know the attitude of the Russian Federation towards its citizens - they do not care about it, "said Skyryak.

According to him, Russia deliberately refuses to exchange prisoners in the Donbass under the scheme of "everyone at all" and has still not fulfilled any clause in the Minsk agreements.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Two anti-terrorist operation (ATO) fighters were killed and five more were injured in a blast that occurred when their armored vehicle tripped an unidentified explosive device on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

As reported by Censor.NET citing the statement by the ATO headquarters press center, the military were accomplishing combat mission in the Luhansk section of the forefront.

"We are sad to report that two servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine received fatal injuries in a blast of an unidentified explosive device triggered by their armored vehicle as they were fulfilling a combat mission in Luhansk direction today, Jan. 17. Five more soldiers were traumatized. Their health condition is satisfactory," the spot report reads.

The wounded soldiers were promptly taken to a local hospital where they received all the necessary medical assistance.

"The ATO forces’ command offers condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased soldiers who gave up their lives for Ukraine," the statement reads.

The cause and details of the incident are being investigated. The ATO headquarters alarm response force is on the scene.

Earlier, the Russian mercenaries fired upon the Ukrainian troops thrice on Jan. 15.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The college of judges of the Obolonsky district court of Kiev has completed the questioning of Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislytsia in the case of state betrayal of former President Viktor Yanukovych

Kislitsa said in her shows that the threat from Russia for Ukraine existed always, but it was particularly aggravated in 2005 when Victor Yushchenko became President of Ukraine, UNIAN reports.

In his opinion, just with the start of Yushchenko's presidency, the Russians began to develop plans to control Ukraine, and in 2014, they began to actively implement such plans.

Kislytsia noticed that on February 28 and March 1, 2014, the then Russian representative in the UN Security Council, Vitali Churkin, was unhappy because he could not explain to the international community what was happening in the Crimea and why there were Russian troops.

But already on March 3, after the Russian Federation Council authorized Russian President Vladimir Putin to use troops on the territory of Ukraine, Churkin demonstrated to the international community a copy of Yanukovych's statement, where he asked Putin to enter Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine.

-It should be noted that during the interrogation in court, the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland Andriy Deshchytsia said that not only Yanukovych wrote letters to Putin regarding the introduction of troops into Ukraine.

-Also, Deshchytsa added that the request of the ex-president-fledger Viktor Yanukovych to Putin to use the army on the territory of Ukraine was used only to justify the world community of military aggression.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Vessels sailing under the flag of neutral Switzerland would allow Russians to use them to transport weapons to Syria

An associated Estonian businessman, Timo Sass, wanted to buy 12 Swiss ships to help Russians circumvent international sanctions.

Shipowner-bankrupt Hans-Jürg Grunder intended to sell a bankrupt Enzian Shipping AG to a 45-year-old Estonian from Tallinn, according to the Swiss edition Aargauer Zeitung.

He had to take over the debts of the company.

On November 15, 2016, the Swiss press published a notice that Enzian Shipping AG was renamed TS Investor AG. TS meant "Timo Sass". The contracts were supposedly signed. Thus, Shipowner Grunder wanted to save his 12 ships and stay in business.

According to people familiar with the cause, Sass is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is evidenced by information that has become public due to the origins of Panama Papers. Sas is one of the shareholders of Triza Express Incorporated, registered in the British Virgin Islands. The owner of this company is Russian Sergey Zelensky from St. Petersburg, director of the marine fuel department at Gazpromneft.

According to sources, the purchase of 12 Swiss vessels would allow the RF to circumvent international sanctions. Vessels sailing under the flag of neutral Switzerland would allow Russians to use them to transport weapons, for example, to Syria.

However, this agreement was never implemented. A suspected investor was warned by the Swiss government. In addition, according to the secret documents of the Swiss Bundesrat, Sas has not fulfilled his contractual obligations. For some reason - not reported.

glavcom.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Among the main activities of the United Nations in 2018 is the settlement of conflicts in Europe, including in the east of Ukraine.

According to Cenzor.NET, referring to the League, the head of the organization, Antonio Guterres, told the UN News Center.

According to him, the European countries have levers necessary to resolve conflicts on the continent.

"In order to resolve these situations, it is necessary to confront a dangerous wave of nationalism and revitalize the work of the relevant mediation initiatives, including the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group on Eastern Ukraine, the Minsk OSCE Group on Nagorno-Karabakh, the Geneva international discussions on Georgia and the" 5 + 2 "process on Transnistria ' yu, "said Guterres.

Among the UN's tasks this year is also the settlement of conflicts in the Middle East, the settlement of the refugee problem in Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine Roman Bezsmertny stated that the conflict in Ukraine is almost the only one in the world where the UN does not take any participation at all.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The first and only world champion in eight weight categories, the Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao has shown a desire to fight in a fight with Ukrainian boxer Vasily Lomachenko.

About this Pacquiao himself spoke on the air of the Filipino channel ABS-CBN.

"The talks on the fight against the leader of the rating P4P Vasyl Lomachenko are currently under way. While we are discussing the limit of weight, "said the boxer.

He stressed that it was not too time to "send him to retire".

As the Ukrainian online magazine about boxing Vringe writes, negotiations about the fight between Lomachenko and Pacquiao took place earlier.

"The whole problem with the difference in weight - the Ukrainian side did not agree to rise above the limit of light weight, the Philippine side does not want to beat below the limit of the first semi-weighted weight - up to 63.5," the report said.

Lomachenko stands at the limit of the second semi-light weight (up to 59 kg), but previously voiced the possibility of switching to light weight (up to 61.2 kg). Pacquiao held the last fights in the welterweight limit (up to 66.7 kg).

In April 2016, Manny Pacquiao overtook American Timothy Bradley and stated that it was his last fight . It was reported that after completing his career, Pacquiao could go to politics.

However, he subsequently made several statements about plans to return to the ring.

hromadske.ua    In Ukrainian/український

Gleb Grosovsky, a priest, was found guilty of pedophilia and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in a colony of strict regime.

It is reported by Interfax.

The verdict to Grozovsky, detached from the service of the Russian Orthodox Church, was pronounced by the Priozersky District Court of Leningrad Oblast. The case was listened to in closed mode.

The defendant was found guilty of violent acts of a sexual nature (Section B of Part 4 of Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The report of the SC states that Groosovsky acted "with a special cynicism".

The court also ordered Grozovsky to pay three families of victims at 400 thousand rubles. During the sentence of the priest, the court counted the detention from September 2014.

Groosovsky was accused of three episodes of abuse of minors in Orthodox camps in 2009 and 2013.

The prosecution, according to the source of the agency, asked to condemn Groszovsky to 15 years imprisonment with the prohibition for 12 years to engage in activities related to the upbringing of minors.

Speaking with the last word, Grozovsky said that, in his opinion, "the very crust of the crime is not like this" and that he is counting on "human understanding and a fair decision."

Groosovsky has already said that he will appeal the verdict.

The criminal case against Gleb Grosovsky was instituted in November 2013. He was accused of several episodes of deprivation of the juvenile.

Grozovsky, who left Russia, was declared an international wanted. In September 2014, he was detained in Israel, and then extradited to Russia.

hromadske.ua    In Ukrainian/український

Statement by Vladimir Putin on the return to the mainland of Ukraine of ships and aviation from the annexed Crimea can be used to hinder the delivery of Kiev to American weapons.

This is on the air Hromadskoe.Krim said the leader of the human rights movement "The Force of Law" Andriy Senchenko.

"Putin, in such a step, is trying to strengthen the status of a" peacemaker ", which he himself has thought over. He can use this transfer (fleet and aviation - ed.) To prevent Ukraine from transferring American weapons to Ukraine. They say why they "Javelin" for "civil war", as he thinks. This trap can not go "- said Senchenko.

He also stressed that over the years, the annexation of the Crimea and ships and aircraft have been brought to a non-military condition.

In early January, Putin said that Russia was ready to transfer warships and aviation equipment to Ukraine , which are in the annexed Crimea. At the same time, he suggested that Ukrainian troops arrive and take them away.

Recall that the State Department of the United States declared a willingness to provide Ukraine with defense weapons . At the same time, US media outlets said the United States was concerned about the possible introduction of weapons to Ukraine by militants.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український