Ukraine News. Thursday 19 April. [Ukrainian sources]

THURSDAY HEADLINES:
The report of the experts on chemical weapons confirms Britain's findings on poisoning in Salisbury.  Trump on punishment for Russia's support of Syria's chemical attack: "We'll do sanctions as soon as they very much deserve it".  The SBU and the police say they have exposed the channel of arms smuggling from the EU and the US.  Actions aimed at split can not be approved, - Peskov on creating a local church in Ukraine. The US Embassy in Israel will move to Jerusalem next month, Trump.  The United States condemns the shelling of the civilian employees of the Donetsk filtration station. The legendary boxer made a statement about a possible battle against Lomachenko.  

WEATHER:
Kyiv, Ukraine
14c / 57f HI | RealFeel 12c / 54f
Precipitation 55%
Clouds and breaks of sun; windy with a shower

The report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirms the findings of the United Kingdom on the substance that was poisoned by escort reconnaissance officer Sergey Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury.

This was stated by the official US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

"An independent report of the OPCW, which was distributed last week, confirms the results of the British laboratory's analysis of the substance used in Salisbury," noted Nauert.

She added that the United States agrees with Britain's assessment that Russia is responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the territory of Britain.

"Only the Russian government has motives, means and experience for such an attack," the diplomat said.

Indeed, international experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have confirmed the findings of Britain that the former intelligence officer of Russia Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with neuro-paralytic substance.

The report of the Organization states that the poisonous substance was "particularly clean". At the same time, the experts did not confirm that it was just "Novice" - as previously stated by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Teresa May.

A 66-year-old citizen of Russia Sergey Skrypal was hit by a hospital with severe poisoning on March 4. With him was his daughter. British intelligence considers Russia involved in the poisoning of the Violinist .

The British police said that the Violinist was poisoned with a substance of neuro-paralytic action . The British investigation believes that the poisoning of the former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal would hardly have been carried out without the approval of the Kremlin.

British Prime Minister Teresa May announced that Russia is likely to be involved in the poisoning of the Violinist, and the crime was committed with the help of the paramilitary paralysis of the "Novice" class developed in the Russian Federation.

Sergei Skripal, Colonel of Military Intelligence of Russia on retirement in 2006, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for espionage in favor of Britain. He was found guilty of giving testimony to Russian agents working under cover of the EU, the Secret Intelligence of Britain.

The former intelligence officer was fired in an exchange between the United States and Russia in 2010. He was pardoned by then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Then Russia, besides Violinist, sent Igor Sutyagin, Alexander Zaporizhzhya and Gennady Vasilenko to the United States. At the same time, 10 people were charged with espionage in favor of RF citizens, among them Anna Chapman. Soon, Violin became a political refuge in the UK.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

U.S. President Donald on Wednesday said his administration would levy additional sanctions on Russia “as soon as they very much deserve it.”

As reported by Censor.NET, three senior administration officials and a source familiar with the discussions told CNN that Trump personally made the decision to abandon plans to impose more sanctions on Russia for supporting Syria's chemical weapons attack on civilians.

"We'll do sanctions as soon as they very much deserve it," Trump said a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida. "There's been nobody tougher on Russia than President Donald Trump."

"With the media, no matter what I did, it's never tough enough, because that's the narrative," Trump said. "But Russia will tell you there's been nobody tougher than Donald Trump."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed to CNN that the Trump administration notified the Russian Embassy in Washington that additional sanctions were not, in fact, coming. The news was first published in The Washington Post.

Trump's reversal once again raises questions about his affinity for Russia despite Moscow's meddling in the 2016 US election, its alleged use of chemical weapons on foreign soil to target a former spy and its backing for the Syrian regime as it conducts possible war crimes against its own people.

France, the United States and United Kingdom launched joint military action late on April 14, firing 105 missiles at the three sites in Syria. Shortly after the airstrikes began, President Donald Trump said all three sites were "associated" with the Syria's chemical weapon program.

On April 11, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad would still be held accountable for the recent chemical weapons attack in Douma regardless of Russia's threats to bring down any missiles fired at Syria and target launch sites.

Syrian activist groups on Saturday said toxic gas inside barrel bombs dropped from helicopters over a rebel-held city in Syria killed dozens of civilians and wounded scores more. Syrian state news said an "official source" denied the allegations.

In the early hours of Monday morning, Syria State TV reported that "several missiles" had been fired at the T4 air base in Homs, in the country's west, adding that it was "likely an attack by the U.S." The Pentagon issued a statement Sunday denying it was conducting air strikes in the region.

On April 9, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said that Moscow had warned the United States of "grave repercussions" if it carries out an attack against Syrian government forces over reports of a deadly chemical weapons attack.

"There was no chemical weapons attack," Nebenzia told the U.N. Security Council.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the council that Washington "will respond" to the attack on a rebel-held town in Syria regardless of whether the United Nations Security Council acts or not.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Law enforcers claim to have exposed a criminal group in Kiev, which illegally supplied weapons of foreign origin to Ukraine.

This was announced on April 19 by the deputy head of the SBU Viktor Kononenko at a press conference, the UNN agency reports.

"The activities of the criminal group, which, with the involvement of their own accomplices from abroad, was specializing in the illegal import of weapons of foreign origin into Ukraine, was stopped. That is, we are talking about an international group that has acted within our country and the EU, "he said.

The investigation established that the resident of Kiev has established a supply channel for pistols and automatic machines Glock, Colt, Browning, Beret, Walter and others from the United States and European countries.

"The pieces of gun by the couriers were imported into Ukraine. In the workshops of Kiev, she was going to, was brought to a state of fighting and, if necessary, equipped with manufactured mufflers", - said Kononenko.

The cost of one piece of such weapons in the black market amounted to 2300-2500 euros, he specified.

The deputy head of the SBU said that during searches 5 members of the group were removed: 3 machine guns, 3 automatic machines, 2 rifles, 7 machine guns, 30 pistols and revolvers, 8 grenade launchers, 32 grenades, 5 mines, 3240 packs and sets of assembly parts. another 49 pistols.

In turn, the head of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police Vitaly Nevghad added that the organizer of the scheme was detained and he was declared suspicious of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The Kremlin stated that Russia could not support the creation of a local Orthodox Church in Ukraine and talked about a "split".

This was announced by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, reports Tsensor. NET with reference to UNIAN.

"You know the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, the patriarch of all of Russia on this issue. And of course, let us say, some actions aimed at splitting the church are unlikely to be supported and can hardly be approved," Peskov said.

Recall that on April 17, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko announced that he had decided to appeal to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew with a request for the granting of a tomos of the Ukrainian Local Autocephalous Church.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate urged the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate to support efforts to canonize the Ecumenical Patriarch of Ukrainian Church Independence.

In turn, the representative of the UOC-MP, deputy head of the Department of External Church Relations of the UOC Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, said that the attempt to establish the Ukrainian Local Autocephalous Church would not produce results.

On April 18 he met with the primate of the Orthodox churches of Ukraine and formally accepted the Appeal to convey to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew the provision of the Ukrainian church of tomos on autocephaly with the signatures of all the bishops who supported this decision.

On April 19, Verkhovna Rada supported the address of President Petro Poroshenko to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to provide the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with autocephaly.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The United States condemns the shelling of a Donetsk filtration station, which killed five people.
As informs Censor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine, the State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

"The United States condemns yesterday's shelling of civilian employees of the Donetsk filtration station in Ukraine, which resulted in the deaths of five people," the diplomat said.

She noted that "besides, the lives of innocent civilians were endangered, an attack on the station threatens to supply water to 350,000 Ukrainians living on both sides of the line of demarcation."

Noerte said that "the State Department, taking advantage of the opportunity, once again calls on Russia to withdraw its forces from Eastern Ukraine and fully comply with its obligations under the Minsk Agreements."

"Since Russia has inspired this conflict, it continues to arming, cooking, guiding and fighting on the side of its forces subordinate to the Donbass, it is responsible for worsening the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine," the diplomat said.

Recall that on April 17, as a result of a bombardment with the staff of the DFS, five people were injured.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The legendary Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao confirmed the information about his desire to fight the Ukrainians Vasily Lomachenko.

"My plans are a fight with Lomanchenko. I would like the match to take place in Manila, but it does not matter whether this will be Lomachenko or not, my next fight will be held in Manila. I'm sure it will be a very vivid spectacle," the words lead Pacquiao BoxingScene.

Recall that promoter Lomachenko Bob Arum did not rule out the possibility of a fight against Pacquiao this year.

However, at first Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KO) is waiting for a fight with Argentine Lucas Mattisse (39-4, 36 KO), which will take place on July 14.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is shocked by the shelling of the bus with the workers of the Donetsk filtration station on Tuesday, April 17.

This is stated in the organization's announcement on Twitter.

"Eastern Ukraine: We are shocked that the employees of the main station for water treatment in the Donetsk region, which serves 345 thousand people, was again attacked - the third time this year. It is enough to force innocent civilians to pay for this conflict," - said in a message.

Recall that five people were injured as a result of the bombing, one of them was in a difficult condition.

As reported by the "Apostrophe", earlier, January 21, a passenger bus hit the village of Olenivka, Donetsk region, under the shelling of militants near the checkpoint of entry-exit. Then one person died, the other one was injured.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The incomplete implementation of the Minsk treaties may lead to the lawful appearance of Russian military bases in Ukraine and the consolidation of the status of the DPR and LNR.

Director of military programs at the Razumkov Center Mykola Sungurovsky told about this "Apostrophe".

"After ceasing fire, they set up a truce and immediately held elections, which would prevent this newly elected government from appealing to Russia to conclude a military alliance, as happened in Abkhazia and Ossetia, and the emergence of Russian bases in that territory is a definitive freezing the conflict, and not its completion, and then you can speak as many as you like, why, and why you did not do other steps. "The troops are already there - on a legitimate basis, and everything," the expert said.

According to him, it is time to declare the Minsk agreements disrupted and recognize Russia as the culprit for this disruption.

"They say: where is the new format? And the new format is the mandate of the peacekeeping mission. That's where all these steps are defined - from and to," Sungurovsky summed up.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Growth of exports became possible due to the results of the economic part of the signing of the Association Agreement

This was announced by EU Ambassador to Ukraine Hyuh Mingarelli, reports "Ua.Tv".

"Ukrainian exports to European markets have grown by 30%, which is a significant figure. In addition, the Free Trade Area promotes the integration of the Ukrainian economy into a single market of the European Union, which means that Ukrainian companies will no longer have any barriers to trade, exports, or investments in this market", - said the EU ambassador.

As a result of the consistent support of Ukraine, the European Union has once again confirmed its intention to provide macro-financial assistance in the amount of one billion euros.

"The European Parliament and the European Council are currently considering this proposal, so we are hoping for a positive decision in the next few months, after which the European Commission will be able to negotiate with the Ukrainian authorities on a memorandum of understanding, which will describe the conditions for the provision of this macrofinancial assistance," Hug added. Mingarelli

Recall that since the beginning of the year, Ukrainian exports grew by 18%.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has not ruled out the cessation of air traffic from the US because of the difficulty of obtaining US visas.

This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

"The situation with the issuance of American visas in Russia is extremely depressing. The official deadline for visa interview... has recently been extended to 250 days, ie 8 months. In other words, to apply for visas becomes meaningless,"- said in the Russian foreign office.

Russia accused Washington of "deliberate deliberate visa blockade as an additional lever of pressure."

"We can not even exclude that our countries will remain without aviation communication. Aeroflot, the only one that operates regular flights between Russia and the United States, may be forced to stop them, because crews are experiencing growing difficulties in obtaining American visas, "the Foreign Ministry said.

In August 2017, the US Embassy in Russia suspended the issuance of nonimmigrant visas in Russian regions. It should be noted that visas were issued to Russians, but only at the embassy in Moscow.

Such a decision by the United States was due to the limitation of the number of US diplomatic staff in Russia at the request of the Kremlin.

On July 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin said 755 American diplomats should leave the Russian Federation.

Later in the United States, they said they were preparing a response to the sending of US diplomats from the Russian Federation.

Donald Trump thanked Putin for sending American diplomats from Russia, as it would save a lot of money.

In December 2017, the US said that the US consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok will resume issuing visas to Russians.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

A spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, accused British secret services of involvement in the murder of Gregory Rasputin, a Tobolsk peasant who had a vision of the seer, and entered a close circle of the last Russian tsar Nicholas II on April 19.

This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to the  Present Time.

Zakharova said that such conclusions can be made after reading the book of the former Scotland Yard agent Richard Callen, which provides archival documents of British intelligence officers. Also, according to Zakharova, London was involved in the death of Russian emperor Paul I and Congolese politician Patrice Lumumbi. All these killings the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called "state orders".

In addition to all the above, Zakharov called the UK "world record holder for genocide", because, according to her estimates:

The British were killed by up to 95% of Aboriginal Australians during colonization, genocide Zulus in the Cape colony.

in 1954-1961, they carried out a "genocide of the Kikuya people in Kenya".

Total official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced 17 pages of "archival data" on crimes of British authorities.

According to her statements, Zakharova's statements were made in response to the British authorities' accusations that the Kremlin was involved in the poisoning of the former GRU agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury. These allegations are officially denied by Russia.

Recall that an investigation into an assassination attempt by Sergei Skryptal and his daughter, Julia, continues. Sergey Skryple, former Colonel of the GRU stockpile, who lived in the United Kingdom and was convicted in 2006 for espionage in favor of British intelligence services, was  injured as a result of poisoning with an unknown substance at the Salisbury shopping mall.

It should also be noted that on March 12, Prime Minister Teresa May announced that  the British government had come to the conclusion that the responsibility for poisoning in Salisbury, a former GRG employee Sergey Skrypala and his daughter, most likely, lies in Russia. She also reported that the victims were poisoned by the nerve-paralytic substance "Novachok", which was developed in the Russian Federation.

On Wednesday, March 14, May  announced the decision of  London to send 23 Russian diplomats who work for intelligence: "This will be the largest single expulsion in more than 30 years. This (this measure) reflects the fact that the Russian state is not the first time acting against our country."

On March 20, 23 employees of the Russian Embassy in London, as well as their families  left Great Britain.

At the EU summit, which ended March 23, the EU countries supported the United Kingdom. Some countries, including Poland, are considering the expulsion of Russian diplomats.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that 13 Russian diplomats are signing solidarity with their British partners and transatlantic allies and in coordination with the European Union.

The deportation of Russian diplomats was  announced by the United States , Canada and  14 European states,  including Germany, France, Italy, Czech Republic and others. In the statements of Washington and Ottawa, the expatriate diplomats who were expelled were accused of having links with Russian intelligence and "abusing diplomatic powers." In addition, the United States announced the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Seattle.

As of March 28, after the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia in Great Britain, 28 countries and NATO have  expelled 152 Russian diplomats suspected of working on Russian intelligence.

ua.censor.net.ua    In Ukrainian/український