Ukraine News. Saturday 31 March. [Ukrainian sources]

SATURDAY HEADLINES:
Murder in the US "Russian Goebbels": the journalist revealed new important details.  A close-to-Putin oligarch detained in the US Kremlin list.  Putin loses an important lever of influence on Russia: the United States made an unexpected conclusion.  Accelerating the collapse: Khodorkovsky prophesied Russia the fate of the USSR.  Ready for tough action: Russia gave an alarming outlook to Putin due to the expulsion of diplomats.  Putin's propagandist embarrassed with a rush against Britain, recalling Hitler: video.  Russia asks Britain to take another 50 diplomats.  Another US state has recognized the Holodomor as genocide in Ukraine.  Russia threatens to respond to the inspection of Aeroflot aircraft in London.  Armed terrorists did not let OSCE observers go to an object where unloading trucks from Russia.  "Deny of spies": Britain can close the Russian trade representation in London.  The issue of providing Ukraine with military assistance in the field of cyber security is not yet considered - the Government of Canada.  Moscow continues to interfere in our political processes and undermines our democratic institutions - NATO Head. Proponents of the construction of the "North Stream-2" are the accomplices of Russia in its hybrid war. We look forward to helping Ukraine: the West told about the crisis in the EU and its weaknesses. Canada is ready to impose additional sanctions to maintain pressure on Russia, the government.

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The main cousin of Russian President Vladimir Putin, former Russian press secretary Mikhail Lesin, who was killed in a hotel in Washington DC in November 2015 , collaborated with the US authorities.

About this BuzzFeed portal Anthony Cormier told America's Voice .

The journalist stressed that he was 100% sure that Lesin offered his services to the American authorities, as he was under great pressure after the publication of his property and finance in the United States.

"We communicated with people close to them (members of the family of Lesin," Apostrophe "), and I can say that Lesin really loved his children and was ready to do everything to protect them. Including, therefore he really wanted to save his life and hoped that the United States government would protect him if he would work together, "said Cormier.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russian billionaire owner of the Sumy group Ziyuvudin Magomedov, who is on the list of oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, was detained in Moscow.

Three sources of the Kommersant newsletter were informed about it at once.

It is noted that, in addition to Magomedov, several top managers of Sumy companies were detained - they were accused of fraud committed by a group of people, however, it is expected that the case will be retrained according to the article on the organization of a criminal group.

Details of the investigation have not yet been published, however, according to the media, the case is about theft of over 750 million rubles. At the construction of the Arena Baltika stadium in Kaliningrad, the Novorossiysk Sea Commercial Port is also mentioned.

Previously, the businessman was detained for 48 hours.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The tragedy in Kemerovo and its aftermath have shown that the Kremlin is deprived of one of the most important instruments in its domestic policy, which previously featured meetings of President Vladimir Putin with local residents and propaganda staging photos.

This is stated in the material of the private American intelligence-analytical company Stratfor, which is at the disposal of the "Apostrophe".

"The avoidance of relatives and staging photos are commonplace methods of the Kremlin when it comes to internal tragedies and, as a rule, have the desired effect in reassuring the protests, but this time they have only heated up public outrage," the report said.

Another obvious fact that points to the loss of control of the Kremlin are spontaneous rallies.

"Demonstrations spontaneously organized in 20 cities, and 15,000 protesters in Moscow, including many children and young people, were able to get together without official permission from the city authorities. Over the past year, Russia's population has become more politically active, and this tendency will continue, because internal problems The Kremlin continues to grow", - experts Stratfor are sure.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The tragedy in Kemerovo exposed the main problems of the country's management of the Putin regime.

This was written on his Facebook page by Russian opposition politician Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

According to him, at the moment in Russia there is no rigid control system that saves the country from collapse.

"In fact, the country did not collapse just because there is no" hard vertical", but there are territorial and branch" estates", managed by the" governors "at their discretion, which are responsible to Putin and his assistants for the grave, for voices and for silence. And those who do not respond in the other to anyone, unless the runaway population starts to make too much noise, but it's better than no control at all!" - wrote Khodorkovsky.

At the same time, such a system does not allow the country to progress and gradually bring complete decay. The tragedy in Kemerovo can make Putin "tighten the nuts", which will make the system more rigid, but less stable.

"What we get? Accelerating collapse: what to do? Globally, without changing the system, nothing is done, but locally we can try to protect at least the most vulnerable points", - summed up the politician.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The mass expulsion of Russian diplomats is a signal of the West 's readiness to move towards more decisive action against Russia.

This was stated by Russian political scientist, doctor of historical sciences, researcher Chatham House Lilia Shevtsova, reports Glavred.

"This is a gesture that says: if you do not stop cutting our windows, we are ready for more rigorous actions." The Kremlin is now painfully looking for a response: on the one hand, the Kremlin can not retreat and lose its face, so it is necessary to respond to similar actions. The Kremlin does not want to deepen the confrontation,"- noted Shevtsova.

According to her, Russia is now in a difficult situation in which she can no longer use the old model of behavior.

As reported by the "Apostrophe", the Russian Federation began sending out foreign diplomats in response to a scandal with the ex-intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Julia, through which a number of countries decided to expel diplomats of the Russian Federation.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

An official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, was ashamed of the question of history, which was addressed to the head of the Foreign Ministry of Britain Boris Johnson.

This careless phrase was instantly picked up in social networks, laughing Zakharov.



An official spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Russia asked the head of the British Foreign Office: "What did the British lords make to visit Hitler?" At the same time Zakharova completely forgot about the fact of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Vyacheslav Molotov in November 1940 to Germany, when the Second World War has already begun.

"Maria Zakharova asked Foreign Minister in Britain that British lords did away with Hitler." PS So, so, Lord Molotov is visiting Hitler! PPS Molotov's visit was November 12-14, 1940. British Lord, then, have fought against Hitler more than 14 months,"- wrote in his Facebook Albert Safiulin.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia demands from the British one month to reduce the number of diplomatic workers in the RF for more than 50 people

This follows from the words of the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, in Facebook.

She reminded that Britain had expelled 23 Russian diplomats in connection with a poisoning in Salisbury of the former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

"Moscow responded to the expulsion of 23 British diplomats, and London campaigned for the expulsion of Russian diplomats from EU countries and a number of other countries," Zakharova says.

After that, she said, Russia demanded from the United Kingdom, in a month's time, to bring the total number of British Embassy and Consulate General in Russia in line with the number of Russian diplomats and administrative and technical workers who are on a long-term business trip in the United Kingdom.

"In other words, the proposed parity. The difference between the numerical strength of more than 50 people in favor of the British side," Zakharova said.

-Recall that on March 5, in the British city of Salisbury, former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter became ill in a shopping center, after which they were hospitalized with serious poisoning with an unknown substance.

-After the poisoning of Violinist and his daughter, the head of the British government announced the deportation of 23 Russian diplomats.

-March 26, US President Donald Trump ordered to send 60 Russians from the country and close the Russian Consulate in Seattle.

-As of the morning of March 28, 27 countries and NATO approved the expulsion of more than 150 Russian diplomats . Other countries continue to join this campaign in support of Britain.

-On March 29, it became known that diplomats from those countries that had announced the expulsion of Russian diplomatic staff would be mirrored out of Russia.

-In response, the State Department said that the US could respond to the deportation of 60 American diplomats from Russia.

-The White House stated that the decision of the Russian authorities to dismiss American diplomats further aggravated relations between the United States and Russia.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Massachusetts United States joined the recognition of the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-1933 as a genocide against the Ukrainian people

This was reported by the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States on its Facebook page.

An appropriate proclamation was issued by the governor of Mass. Charles Baker.

"We congratulate the state of Mass., And thank the people of the United States for their solidarity and support in restoring historical justice in memory of the millions of victims who died from the tyranny of the Stalin regime," they said at the embassy.

It is reported that the Holodomor in Ukraine is now recognized as genocide in nine US states: Washington, Wisconsin, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

After verifying the Aeroflot aircraft in London, Russia has threatened to apply similar measures to British air carriers.

It is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

The department also said that the Aviation Security Coordination Center would send a request to Britain for the reasons for the inspection of the Russian aircraft.

"In the absence of explanations, the Russian side will regard such actions on our aircraft as illegitimate, and also leaves the possibility of similar actions for British air carriers," the statement reads.

Recall that in London, a survey of the Airbus A-321 aircraft company Aeroflot, which arrived from Moscow on a regular flight to the airport Heathrow. The Foreign Ministry of Britain confirmed that it was a customs check of the flight of Aeroflot.

The Russian Embassy in the UK sent a note to the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting clarification of the reasons for checking the Aeroflot plane at the Heathrow Airport.

In a statement the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that British law enforcement officers allegedly tried to inspect the plane without the presence of the crew.

The Embassy noted that after the arrival of the Russian diplomat "managed to defend the participation of the commander of the ship in the review."

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Terrorists in Luhansk did not allow OSCE PMM observers to inspect "humanitarian cargo".

As informs Censor.NET with reference to LIGABusinessInform, this is reported in the mission statement.

Observers saw a carcass of ten trucks bearing the inscription "Humanitarian assistance from Russia". They drove a non-controlled Ukraine border crossing.

In Luhansk, members of the SMM saw how they unloaded these trucks. Ten men in the form with the emblem of the Ministry for Emergencies of the Russian Federation got plastic wrapped in boxes.

An armed man in military uniforms did not allow the SMM patrol to enter the site.

March 29, the 75th so-called humanitarian convoy from Russia's aggressor country illegally crossed the state border of Ukraine in temporarily occupied districts of the Donbas.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The British government plans to consider closing the Russian trade mission in London, calling it a "spy lego".
As informs Censor.NET with reference to LigaBusinessInform, this is reported by The Telegraph.

The reason could be accusations of the British in a "provocation" (a search of the Aeroflot plane, which flew from Moscow to Heathrow).

The UK police said she did not search. The Russian service told the BBC that she had been confirmed by a search in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Britain and the Russian embassy had already sent a note.

There are no official notifications and confirmations from Britain.

On March 14, 2018, Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats through the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Canada strongly supports Ukraine, but will not provide military assistance to the country in the field of cybersecurity.

This is stated in the response of the Government of Canada to the report of the Standing Committee of the Federal Parliament on Defense, informs Censor.NET with reference to Ukrinform.

"Canada supports Ukraine's actions in the field of cybersecurity, in particular the development of a national strategy for cyber security, alignment of legislation with EU and NATO standards, and the improvement of internal processes for the exchange of information related to threats to critical infrastructure. However, the provision of military assistance in this area is currently is not considered", - the document says.

At the same time, the government added that "Canada is concerned about the increasing cybernetic intervention in Ukraine, in particular, in important civilian infrastructure, such as electricity grids."

The government response states that "Canada and its key allies share the view that international law must also be applied in cyberspace, both in peaceful and wartime." "Canada also supports the development of voluntary international standards of behavior in cyberspace, especially in peacetime," the document said.

In a statement released last December last year by the Canadian Defense Committee's Canadian Standing Committee on Canadian Support to Ukraine during the crisis and armed conflict, deputies urged the government to send military personnel to Ukraine to help cyber attacks.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

NATO will return to classical cooperation with Russia after the Kremlin begins to comply with international law.

This was stated in an interview with Aktualne, published March 30, by the head of the Alliance's military committee, General Peter Pavel, informs Censor.NET with reference to Gordon.

According to him, "Moscow continues to interfere in our democratic political processes and undermines our democratic institutions." At the same time, NATO witnessed both a cyberattack on the part of the Kremlin and an attack on former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in British Salisbury.

According to him, this is an unacceptable violation of international norms and rules.

He added that the Alliance can not agree that "terrorist acts and actions" in Salisbury are normal. According to him, NATO can not allow the performers and organizers of the assassination to undermine the value of modern society.

At the same time, Pavel emphasized that the attack in Salisbury was "a background of irresponsible behavior in Russia": in 2014, the Russian Federation annexed the Ukrainian Crimea, violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and continued to destabilize the Donbas.

According to him, NATO's approach to Russia is based on "deterrence and defense policies", as well as readiness for dialogue. Pavel also noted that relations between the Alliance and Russia are seriously deteriorating due to lack of trust. "It's impossible to return to classical cooperation, while Russia will not abide by international law," Pavel added.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, believes supporters of the construction of the North Stream 2 pipeline as Russia's allies in its hybrid war.

According to Cenzor.NET, referring to DW, he stated in an interview with the publication of the media group Funke, which will be published on Saturday, March 31.

According to the head of the Ukrainian state, the construction of the "North Stream 2" is a serious danger for Ukraine. On the one hand, Kyiv annually will lose $2 billion of fees charged for the transit of Russian gas to Europe. On the other hand, the Russian concern Gazprom is likely to reduce volumes of gas supplies to Ukraine and thus "weaken" the country, Poroshenko said.

He stressed that for Russia, "North Stream 2" is "an instrument of political pressure," and Germany and the north-west of Europe will depend more on Moscow.

The president also noted that the construction of the pipeline violates the principles of the European Energy Union.

According to Poroshenko, the case of poisoning of the former double agent Sergei Skripal will lead to the consequences for laying a pipeline to unite Russia and Germany.

Recently, Nord Stream 2, the founder and sole shareholder of which is Gazprom, received permission to lay the North Stream 2 site in the German economic zone.

On March 21, MEPs backed a bill by the European Commission that extends the rules of the EU internal gas market to non-continental gas pipelines, a northwest stream of 2 that in its present form does not comply with the rules of the so-called third energy package of the EU, since it is wholly owned Russian Gazprom.

Earlier, on March 11, the parliaments of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland made a joint statement against the construction of the North Stream-2. Estonia later joined them.

At the end of January 2017, the German authorities of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern agreed to the construction of the North Stream 2 gas pipeline under the foot of the Baltic Sea.

The North Stream 2 system consists of two parallel lines of the pipeline with a throughput of about 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

To date, many heads of state that are members of the European Union have no idea of ​​Europe in their hearts: they are interested in some kind of financial support, and the rest are not very interested.

This was stated in an interview with the "Apostrophe" by the president of the International Peace Institute, the former member of the European Parliament from the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Hannes Freedom.

According to him, this situation needs to be changed, and Ukraine can help this EU.

"It would be absolutely fair to say that there was no clear, strong defense of the project of the European Union and of the world that we were able to achieve." Within the EU itself, there was not such a long period of peace. The First World War ended in 1918, and the next war began in 1939 that is, it lasted just over 20 years. Now in the EU itself, since the year 1945, myrrh is going on and economic development takes place, but people have to defend it, and politicians have to make it clear, but that's what was not done, "he said.

Freedom noted that the entry of the "Freedom Party" in Austria into a ruling coalition, on the one hand, is somewhat dangerous, since right wing parties have a slightly different concept of democracy.

"They think that we can just make a referendum, vote, we will get out with slogans and win. On the other hand, there is a chance that the right populists will be forced to accept the democratic rules of the game and the European Union," he added.

The politician clarified that since 1996 the European Parliament has received more power, influence, and it is very good.

"The European Union as a whole has also changed a lot, but I think that in the last two or three years there has been a rollback in the EU, including the European Parliament, because there is not enough strong leadership. We lost some of our competence and vision, and Europe was too involved. to all the possible small settlements that were very annoying to people and lost some things that are bigger and more important: strong economic, foreign and security policies, including joint border control, to give Europe a sense of community, "said Freedom .

He added that the common vision of the European Union has now been lost.

"And this happened, among other things, because European institutions - the European Commission, the European Parliament and, in part, the European Council of Heads of State - have lost a lot of energy to think about the next steps for Europe. Maybe Mrs Angeli Merkel (Chancellor of Germany, ed. ) and Mr Emmanuel Macron (president of France - ed.) will be able to revive the process by the European Council, but many other leaders of the states will have to follow their example, and here I see a lot of weaknesses, "summed up Freedom.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

If pressure is needed on Russia, Canada is ready to impose additional sanctions on supporters of the Kremlin regime.

This is stated in the response of the Government of Canada to the recently published report of the Standing Committee of the Federal Parliament on Defense, informs Censor.NET with reference to Ukrinform.

"The Government of Canada is ready to impose additional sanctions that will be needed to maintain pressure on Russia. Canada will decide on sanctions in close cooperation with international partners and allies, in particular the G7, NATO and the EU," the document said.

At the same time, the government stressed that more than 300 Russian and Ukrainian natural and legal persons are subject to Canadian sanctions. "These measures will remain in effect until they are lifted, and their duration is directly tied to Russia's full implementation of its obligations under the Minsk Agreements, as well as respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," the text says.

At the same time, Canada is proud of its response to the international community's response to poisoning in the British Salisbury. This is stated in the message on the page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada on Twitter.

"Canada is proud to be part of the collective response of 29 states to the use of chemical weapons in Salisbury - a disgraceful, malicious and reckless breach of rules based on rules," wrote the Foreign Ministry.

The ministry added that they consider the decision of the Kremlin to expel 4 Canadian diplomats "unjustified." "Canada regrets over the unjustified expulsion of 4 Canadian diplomats, and we will try to make their departure as easy as possible," the statement said.

On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Canadian Ambassador to Moscow John Kura and announced to him that four members of the diplomatic mission should leave the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his Russian patrons carry out war crimes in Syria. This was stated by a deputy from the ruling Liberal Party Boris Vzhesnevsky during a speech at the International Human Rights Subcommittee of the Federal Parliament of Canada.

"We need to name things by their names, clearly stating that the Syrian regime and its Russian patrons - generals and diplomats - are involved in systematic, consistent, conscious, well-planned and thoroughly executed war crimes," said Vzhesnevsky.

He also cited several examples of these war crimes. "Use of forbidden weapons and tactics, civilian shelling, denial of UN documented cases of intentional massacres," the MP said.

According to him, Russian aviation was actively used to strike weapons with civilian targets in Syria. "At a time when UN diplomats discussed what was happening, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov talked about peace, phosphorous bombs were loaded on planes to be dropped off at Rakka, and bunker bombs were loaded onto Russian planes to drop them to Aleppo for civilians, children, which hide in the basements", - stressed Vzhesnevsky.

The MP urged the international community not to be "outsiders" behind the tragedy of the Syrian people. "I have a question to all of us: what will we do with this?" - he appealed to the audience in the hall.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український