Ukraine News. Thursday 13 September. [Ukrainian sources]

THURSDAY HEADLINES:
Ukraine's sovereign state and the constitutionality of the NATO membership course are the domestic affairs of the country.  The intelligence told about Russia's overthrow of military and powerful weapons to the border with Ukraine.  EU court rejected Gazprom and Russian state banks in abolishing sanctions.  The EU continued individual sanctions against Russia for another six months.  US fighter aircraft intercepted two Russian bombers near Alaska.  Poland will vote against possible EU sanctions against Hungary.  US State Department condemns "election" to "L / DNR": It is unacceptable and grossly contrary to Russia's obligations regarding Minsk agreements..  LNR is ready to hand over 50 people convicted by 2014 to the OSCE.  Apparently victims of imperial wars: the network shocked the video of the mass burial of unknowns in Russia.  In the United States, it was known that Syria did not lose all the chemical weapons.

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The Alliance confirms recognition of Ukraine's aspirations to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Ambassador Alejandro Alvargonsales, Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Political Affairs and Security Policy, states that the consolidation in the Constitution of the foreign policy course on joining the Alliance is an internal affair of Ukraine. He said this in Kyiv at a joint press conference with Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klimpush-Tsintsadze, reports Censor.NET with reference to UNIAN.

"At the last summit, NATO clearly stated that the conclusions of the Bucharest Summit were reaffirmed, so we largely take into account your aspirations," Alvargonasales said.

"But as far as constitutional reform is concerned, it is an internal process that depends on your deputies. You are a sovereign state, and for this reason, I do not dare to intervene in your discussions," said NATO Deputy Secretary General.

He recalled that at the last Alliance summit held this July in Brussels, "NATO allies recognized Ukraine's aspirations for membership in the Alliance."

"NATO's doors remain open, and Ukraine is one of NATO's closest partners," Alvargonasales said.

Also, the Under-Secretary-General of the Alliance said that in order to move closer to membership in NATO, Ukraine should focus on achieving genuine progress in the reform process.

In this regard, he noted that Ukraine has done a lot in recent years, but "some important challenges remain ahead."

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Russia increases the number of forces of the RF Army near the borders with Ukraine.

This is reported by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

In particular, under the guise of participation in the maneuvers of the "East-2018" in separate areas of concentration along the Ukrainian border from the eastern regions of Russia, individual military units were transferred to regular equipment, including Artillery units, which are armed with the RSA Hurricane.

At the same time, in these areas, expanded military field camps, on the basis of which are formed special units to provide covert rotation and strengthening the advanced positions of the units and parts 1 and 2 of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces. According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, part of the units of the so-called "Recruits" is completed exclusively by representatives of Dagestan and Chechnya. At the same time there are formed so-called "Cossack detachments", some of which have already come under the jurisdiction of 1 AK occupation.

In addition, under the guise of maneuvers, the command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carries out transportation to the border with Ukraine of new batches of weapons, engineering equipment and other assets for the covert transfer to parts and units 1 and 2 of the Russian occupation troops.

apostrophe.ua/ua  In Ukrainian/український

The Court of General Jurisdiction of the European Union, located in Luxembourg, refused to meet the requirements of Russian state-owned banks, as well as subsidiaries of Gazprom, to abolish sanctions.

This is stated in the court decision.

As it is noted, Russian "Sberbank", "VTB", "Prominvestbank", "Gazprom Neft" and "Rosneft" filed a lawsuit in an EU court requesting to recognize the sanctions imposed against them unjustified and cancel them. The lawsuit came to court in 2014.

"In essence, the court found that the EU Council sufficiently substantiated the challenged legal acts. The declared goal of the disputed acts is to raise the price for Russia's actions, which undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as support the peaceful settlement of the crisis", - said in a court decision.

Also, on September 13, it became known that the EU Council extended sanctions against 155 citizens of Russia and 44 legal entities instituted for violating Russia's territorial integrity by March 15, 2019.

In addition, on September 12, the Kyiv Court of Appeal froze the actions of Ukrainian subsidiary banks VTB, Prominvestbank and Sberbank to comply with the Hague Arbitration ruling on damages from the annexation of the Crimea.

Let's remind that in the government of Ukraine offer sanctions against 19 Russian companies for the construction of the Kerch Bridge.

In July, the European Union for six months extended economic sanctions against Russia.

For the first time, the EU imposed sanctions on Russia in July 2014 as a response to Russia's "destabilizing actions in Ukraine."

On June 29, the European Parliament passed a decision to extend sanctions against Russia for the annexation of the Crimea and Sevastopol.

Also, on May 14, 2018, the European Union imposed sanctions against five individuals through the organization of "elections" in the annexed Crimea.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The European Union on Thursday extended sanctions against Russia for six months - until March 15, 2019.

As informs Censor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine, this is stated in a statement published on the website of the European Council.

"The EU Council has continued restrictive measures through actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine for the next six months - until March 15, 2019," the statement said.

The sanctions apply to 155 individuals and 44 organizations.

The measures include freezing of assets and restrictions on travel.

The information on this decision will now be published in the Official Journal of the EU on September 14, 2018.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Not far from the Alaska coast, two F-22 Fighter aircraft of the US Air Force were intercepted and accompanied by two Russian strategic Tu-95 bombers.

This is reported by the press service of the Joint Command of the Air Defense of North America.

According to the department, the incident occurred at 22:00 local time on September 11 (05:00 on September 12, Kyiv time).

On May 11, American F-22 fighters intercepted two Russian Tu-95 bombers off the coast of Alaska.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Poland does not approve the use of fines against Hungary and will vote against any European Union sanctions against that country.

As informs Censor.NET with reference to ZN.UA , this is stated in a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, distributed on Wednesday, September 12.

The European Parliament has already approved a resolution calling for the application of disciplinary measures to Hungary because of the violation of European norms and principles of the rule of law. 448 deputies voted for the document, 197 voted against, 48 abstained.

"Poland will vote against possible sanctions against Hungary", - the statement of the Foreign Ministry emphasizes.

The report also particularly emphasizes that Warsaw decided with great concern the European Parliament on Hungary: "Each EU member state has the sovereign right to carry out internal reforms that it considers necessary," the Foreign Ministry writes, "this decision violates this sovereign right.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, measures against the EU member states "serve only to deepen the division in the European Union, reinforcing the current lack of citizens' trust in European institutions"; in the structure called for the abolition of the resolution and the search for a solution to the problem in other ways.

Recall that on September 12, almost 500 deputies of the European Parliament voted for EU countries to check whether Hungary violates the fundamental principles of the European Union. Against the bill was voted 197 deputies, another 48 abstained. The next step could be direct imposition of penalties against Hungary.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Washington has condemned the planned "elections" in the self-proclaimed "DPR" and "LNR".

According to the State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, Censor.NET reports, referring to the Correspondent.

"Given the ongoing control by the Russian Federation over these territories, the elections held there are unacceptable and grossly contradictory to Russia's commitments to the Minsk Agreements," Nauert emphasized.

She noted that "the so-called" national republics "that Russia has created is not a place in the constitutional order of Ukraine."

"The United States continues to be fully committed to the diplomatic efforts in resolving the conflict provoked by Russia in the east of Ukraine. The United States' support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine remains firm," the State Department spokesman said.

Earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that the intentions of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation to hold so-called "extraordinary elections" in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donbas roughly violate Russia's obligations as a party to the Minsk accords.

On September 8, the European Union condemned the intentions to hold elections, which were declared by the terrorist groups "DNR" and "LNR".

ua.censor.net.ua    In Ukrainian/український

The fighters of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" declared their readiness to hand over 50 Ukrainian prisoners sentenced to 2014 under the control of the territory.

This was announced by the coordinator of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Tony Frisch, who visited the occupied territories of the Donbas.

"I heard that there are many people who want to be transferred to controlled areas. At the very least, I know about 50 cases. But it seems to me that they will be bigger after an important step by the ORLO is made. And I have confirmed to ORLO that they are ready to move these people, "said Frisch, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

Earlier in the self-called "LNR" they said they were ready to convey 44 convicts to Ukraine. The Ukrainian ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova said she does not know exactly which convicts are talking about. At the same time, the head of the working group on the exchange of captives of the self-called "LNR" Olga Kobtseva said that the Ukrainian side allegedly "did not show up in the process of transfer of convicted prisoners" and said that "the transfer of convicts was blocked by the Ukrainian side".

On September 5, Russia's representatives in the humanitarian subgroup of the Tripartite Contact Group in Minsk refused to discuss the issue of the exchange of Russian citizens, prisoners in Ukraine, on Ukrainian political prisoners.

As you know, already 22 citizens of Russia have appealed to Putin to exchange them for Ukrainians.

Recall Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is ready to pardon the Russians convicted in Ukraine for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners.

On August 15, Russian serviceman Victor Agiev, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Ukraine, appealed to the Russian president to exchange them for one of the Ukrainian political prisoners.

Earlier Gerashchenko named 23 Russians , whom Ukraine is ready to exchange for political prisoners of the Kremlin. Later, she said that Ukraine was ready to transfer Russia with 13 more convicted persons with dual citizenship, with the exception of 23 agreed earlier, in order to release Ukrainian political prisoners. Thus Kiev is ready to give Russia 36 people in exchange for 23 Ukrainians. Oleg Sentsov, the director, is in the list whom Ukraine expects to exchange.

The Kremlin commented on the possibility of exchanging Sentsov and other Ukrainians on Russians convicted in Ukraine.

In April 2018 Gerashchenko claimed that Moscow was delaying the process of liberating Ukrainians from Russian prisons.

It should be noted that in Russia and in the annexed Crimea, there are 64 Ukrainian political prisoners, 27 of whom are in Russia.

58 - detained in the Crimea or in cases related to the Crimea. These figures do not take into account the prisoners held in the territory of self-appointed republics.

hromadske.ua  In Ukrainian/український

In the network there was a video showing the place of mass burial of Russians, some of the graves do not even have a name or a surname - only the number.

The corresponding video has been posted to YouTube.

The graves at the grave are all fresh, dated in recent years. Voice over the air reports that in the Rostov region (Russia) suddenly appeared about a thousand graves.

The videos featured two women who came to look for their own number.

Recall Kolpino - a city in Russia, an inner-city municipality within the Kolpinsky district of the city of federal significance of St. Petersburg, a city of military glory of Russia.



As reported by the "Apostrophe", social networks were published photos of the tomb of Russian militant Dmitry Vorotin, who died in the spring of 2017 in battles on the line of collision in the Donbas.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The Barack Obama administration knew that the Syrian government did not get rid of all the chemical weapons stockpiles.

As informs Censor.NET with reference to " Correspondent", about it on the air of the channel Fox News declared former US secretary of state John Kerry.

"We said they got rid of 100% of the declared chemical weapons, which was tracked by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)," Carrie said.

He emphasized that "Assad has saved some" and the United States tried to leave the UN Security Council, but did not reach it, "because Russia started its games."

Kerry agreed with the policies of the incumbent president, Donald Trump, that the use of force against Syria under the circumstances was acceptable, but complained about the lack of diplomatic efforts.

According to him, without the involvement of Iran, Russia and other countries, settlement in Syria is impossible.

Earlier, at the White House, they said that the US and allies intend to respond quickly in the case of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian authorities.

The ambassador of Russia to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, warned the State Department that militants are preparing provocations in Idlib using chemical weapons to subsequently blame Syrian authorities.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український