Ukraine News. Friday 17 August. [Ukrainian sources]

FRIDAY HEADLINES:
Russia may not return Donbas to Ukraine: the expert called the cause.  Ukraine appeals to US and EU partners to respond to Russia's detention of Ukrainian vessels in the Azov and Black Seas.  "It's a pity for the Americans, they're all deprived of it. I'm watching TV - I'm sitting and crying," my grandmother complains about Putin's supporters.  Russia is not interested in the liberation of its citizens in Ukrainian prisons: each of them is a blow to the thesis "they are not there".  29 Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses declared political prisoners amid mounting persecution in Russia & occupied Crimea.  Our missiles are capable of providing a reliable defense of the Black Sea and Azov coast, - Turchinov after the test of a cruise missile. Scandalous People's Deputies exchanged powerful strikes live.

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Ukrainian politicians who are trying to win the support of the Kremlin on the eve of the presidential elections in Ukraine can make the Kremlin do not hurry with the return of Donbass to Ukraine.

Such an opinion was expressed in an interview with "Apostrophe" by Deputy Minister for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Yuriy Grymchak.

"The messengers ran to Moscow from the fact that" we will come to an agreement, just support us in the elections. "I have information that some of our candidates and their messengers did so. If you look at all sides, you will see, that a lot of people go with the slogans "peace at all costs," they say, will provide peace as soon as I am elected", - says Grymchak.

He notes that the majority of politicians who promise a quick world are engaged in ordinary "talking".

"It's just talking about the fact that we need peace, I have a step-by-step plan, etc. But if you try to consider these steps and understand the details, you are in the best position to answer that this is a secret information and negotiations are in progress. Therefore, I think the Russians will be continue to keep Donbas at least until the presidential elections, and as a maximum - before the parliamentary elections, "he says.

At the same time, the official notes that it is extremely important for Ukraine not to overcome all "what the last four years - the army, reforms, changes" have done - and then, "as our and Russian experts say," Russia may not survive the second term of Petro Poroshenko."

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Minister of Infrastructure Vladimir Omelyan stated at a press conference, reports Espresso.

"The traffic flows coming from the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk are also the final customers of the EU and North America, that is, in fact, because Russian vessels without any reason stop shipping vehicles in the waters of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, shipowners are forced to pay for the simplicity tens of thousands of dollars each time at a stop, and, consequently, the final cost of production is more expensive for consumers, losses are borne by the United States and the EU, so we turned to our coalition partners against the Russian Federation so that they also took measures to respond from their eye", - said Omelyan.

The minister stressed that Russia's actions had already been criticized by the US State Department.

"The situation in the Azov and Black Seas has already been assessed at the level of the State Department's Statement, which clearly states that the Russian actions are aimed at destabilizing the Ukrainian part of the Azov region, which is an artificial limitation of the freedom of navigation," said Omelian.

The Head of the Ministry of Infrastructure also recalled the recent military exercises of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea, through which the Russians blocked part of the waterway for navigation.

"Just the day before yesterday, there were regular exercises in the Black Sea, when the passageways for ordinary ships were blocked, so we understand that pressure is increasing," - added Omelyan.

-Recall that on May 3, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine warned that Russia had resorted to stopping and inspecting ships going to Ukraine. On May 4, it became known about the arrest of Russian border guards of the Ukrainian fishing vessel YAMK-0041 with 5 Ukrainians aboard.

-Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Boris Babin, said that the Russian occupation authorities, having detained a Ukrainian fishing vessel, violated the norms of international maritime law. The official also noted that the Russian ship Amethyst, which detained YAM-0041, was not the first to pursue Ukrainian fishermen.

-On July 9, it became known that the Russian FSB detained 7 merchant ships in the Sea of ​​Azov, which traveled from or to Mariupol and Berdyansk. The Ministry of Infrastructure said that the RF special forces unreasonably and unreasonably increased the number of inspections of ships that go to ports of Ukraine through the Kerch Strait.

-SPSU spokesman Oleg Slobodian said that Russia detains Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait to inflict economic and reputational losses on Ukraine, as well as blackmail for the restoration of Crimea's water supply
.
-The Russian frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" was shot from the Caliber rocket complex on the surface of the Black Sea at a distance of 80 km from the launch site in an area blocked by Russians.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Russian TV channel "Rain" has published a video on which an elderly woman complains to Putin's supporters that she is very sorry for the "oppressed" Americans.

According to Censor.NET, grandmother calm down and promise her that Americans will help Putin.

A woman says she's particularly worried about Americans when she watches TV.

"I am so sorry Americans simply do not know much. Poor people work. They were deprived of everything. They are there for nothing ... Well, what about it? That look on TV - just sit and cry," - she said.



ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

22 Russians who wrote statements on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to return them to the Russian Federation through an exchange for Ukrainian political prisoners are "nameless" for the Kremlin people who do not need their homeland.

Such an opinion was expressed in the comments to the publication "GORDON" by the lawyer Mykola Polozov, reports Censor.NET.

"Let's just say that Russia is not interested in liberating its citizens in Ukrainian prisons." The slogan "do not throw away" is false. For example, in Minsk (a representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup of the trilateral contact group on conflict resolution in the Donbass region - Ed. .) Iryna Gerashchenko provided a list of Russian citizens for exchange, but the Russian delegation refused even to consider it. And this is a very clear point that reflects the Kremlin's position on the exchange of detained persons. In any case, this topic should be discussed. Auger push Moscow into action. But interest in the RF in exchange I do not see,"- said the lawyer.

He stressed that Moscow does not want to acknowledge the presence of its military on the Donbass.

"Why is Russia not in a hurry to exchange its citizens detained in Ukraine? They do not want to admit that there are Russian soldiers in the Donbass, and every such citizen of the Russian Federation detained - a blow to the thesis" they are not there. "It is clear that such Russians are much more than 22 people, these are only those who wrote the appeal. "Ukraine has a clear interest in rescuing its citizens held in the Russian Federation." There is no such thing as Moscow. "Russia violates the issue of its political prisoners linked to the authorities of the country and who are in the United States. And those Russians who are held in Ukraine, the Kremlin is scanty i. The only exception - it (the arrested leader "RIA Novosti Ukraine" Cyril. - Ed.) LEVIN. It is of interest. But on the other is not even mentioned. This nameless people who do not need their home country", - summed Polozov.

In total, 22 Russians have already written to Putin asking them to exchange them for Ukrainians, convicted in Russia. Such statements were previously filed by a citizen of the Russian Federation, Oleksiy Sedikov, who is serving sentences in the Bucha Penitentiary, Alexander Sattarov and Farukh Kamalov, who are in the Lukianivka SIZO of Kiev, Vyacheslav Vysotsky (Cherkassy Correctional Colony No. 62), Valery Ivanov and Alexander Valehidis (Drohobych Police Corps No.46), Vladislav Grechin (Odesa Penitentiary Enforcement Office No. 21), Victor Ageev (Romenska Penitentiary No.56), Oleg Doronin (Gorodischenska Penitentiary Colony No. 96), Denis Sidorov and Yevhen Shatalov (Zhytomyr Penitentiary Institution No. , Ruslana Mr. Hajiyev, Igor Kimakovsky (Bakhmut Penitentiary Establishment # 6), Yevgeny Mefodov (Mykolayiv Investigatory Isolator), Pavel Chernykh (Mariupol Insulator), Anatoly Busygin, Alexei Shibaev, Sergei Egorov, Olga Kovalis,

In July, First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Irina Gerashchenko voiced a list of 36 Russians, whom Kyiv is ready to exchange for Ukrainian citizens held in Russia. There are also those 22 people who turned to Putin. On August 16, journalist Olga Reshetylova said that two of the 36 Russians declared by the Ukrainian side to exchange refused to take part in the process.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia’s authoritative Memorial Human Rights Centre has recognized as political prisoners 29 Jehovah’s Witnesses, imprisoned for their faith. It warns that the number of people already facing persecution is higher and rising rapidly. Armed searches and arrests have so far been in parts of the Russian Federation, but it is only a question of time before they begin in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The methods used against law-abiding and peaceful Jehovah’s Witnesses are increasingly brutal, with masked men brandishing machine guns bursting into people’s homes/

On 27 July this year, there were armed searches of at least three homes in the Kemerov oblast, with two believers - Sergei Brytvin and Vadim Levchuk - arrested and remanded in custody. In one of the flats, the FSB began storming the premises from the balcony, even though the woman in the flat had already opened the door to another group of FSB officers. She was then injured by the glass they broke to burst in a second time.

On July 6, a couple from Omsk - Sergei Polyakov and his wife, Anastasia – were arrested and remanded in custody. For the moment, Anastasia Polyakova appears to be the only woman in custody for being a Jehovah’s Witness, but given the wave of repression unleashed since April 2018, there will certainly soon be others.

Russia’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but it espouses many other rights and freedoms which effectively exist only on paper. The constitutional norm was certainly ignored by the Russian Supreme Court which, on 20 April 2017. Banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The ruling declared this faith and its adherents to be ‘extremist’, though Memorial HRC stresses that the Court did not provide even one example where believers had breach public order, shown aggression or violence, or in any way indicated that their activities were a threat to the security of the Russian Federation.

The only activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that the Court cited as ‘extremist’ were that they circulated religious literature which other Russian courts had already banned. However such bans were based solely on the claim that the Jehovah’s Witnesses incite religious enmity and denigrate other religions by virtue of their confidence that their faith is the right one. One of the ‘expert assessments’ used to justify the Supreme Court ban pointed to the conviction that the path taken by the Witnesses makes them the chosen of God. As Memorial points out, this is essentially a feature of all religious faiths.

As of 3 August 2018, at least 23 Witnesses are in custody, with no less than six others under house arrest. Memorial HRC is aware of ten others who are facing prosecution, but not as yet deprived of their liberty, however warns that the list may not be comprehensive, and certainly likely to increase.

Virtually all of them are charged under Article 282.2 § 1 of Russia’s criminal code (with organizing activities of a religious organization which has been banned as ‘extremist’). This absurd charge can carry a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment. 10 believers are facing the slightly less serious charge of ‘taking part’ in such activities, with this potentially resulting in a sentence of up to six years’.

Two people have also been charged under Article 282 § 1 (inciting enmity, and denigrating a group of people’s dignity on religious grounds, with this carrying a sentence of up to 5 years’ imprisonment.

Memorial had earlier declared Dennis Christensen, a 46-year old Danish citizen and a Jehovah’s Witness Elder, to be a political prisoner, He was arrested on May 25, 2017 and has been in custody ever since, with his ‘trial’ continuing since April this year. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years’ under Article 282.2 § 1. Memorial called the charges discriminatory, and in violation both of Russia’s Constitution and of international legal documents, particularly those enshrining the right to freedom of conscience and religion...................

khpg.org Click here for full access of entire article in English

In the south of the Odesa region, another stage of the Ukrainian cruise missile test took place.

Attendance was attended by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov, the CNS.NET reported in the press service of the National Security and Defense Council.




"Today, during an important phase of the flight test, a cruise missile of Ukrainian production has fully implemented the planned program," said O. Turchinov, adding that the maritime target was exactly affected at a distance of 100 km.

The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine stressed that rockets of this class are powerful high-precision weapons, "capable of destroying any sea and land targets."

"Ukrainian cruise missiles are capable of providing reliable defenses of the Black Sea and Azov coast, affecting enemy vessels at distances up to 300 kilometers, if necessary, even at the ports of their base," he said.

According to O. Turchinov, military and infrastructure facilities, in particular, "strategic bridges and ferry crossings in case of their use by the enemy for aggression against our state" may also be destroyed with the help of cruise missiles.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

People's deputies Sergei Shakhov ("Our land") and Igor Mosiychuk ("Radical Party") staged a spectacular fight on the Ukrainian television channel during the live broadcast.

The video has been published by TV presenter Pavel Rolnik on his Facebook page.

"I came to work on his head in the evening!)))", - he wrote in the comments to the video.



The conflict arose after Shakhov reminded Mosiychuk, who helped him and his associates in 2014 when they participated in the ATO.

"Do not go in gay parades and be a man," Shakhov said.

After a phrase and a reciprocal image, a fight began.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український