Ukraine News. Saturday 20 October. [Ukrainian sources]

SATURDAY HEADLINES:
Russian "troll factories" used US startups to intervene in US elections.  This is an excuse for new sanctions - the Foreign Ministry of Russia responded to the arrest in the US of the accountant of the Russian "factory trolls".  We support the aspiration of Ukraine to create a local Orthodox Church - US Secretary of State Pompeo.  US Deputy Secretary of State called for effective work of the Supreme Anticorruption Court.  Death in the occupied Kerch: a psychiatrist described Roslyakov as "a healthy normal person". The fall of a Russian military aircraft in the Sea of ​​Azov: bodies found.  Russia, Iran and China are trying to influence the Congressional elections, the US secret services.  

WEATHER:
Kyiv, Ukraine
11c / 52f HI | RealFeel 10c / 50f
Cloudy

With the help of American Internet services, "trolls" hid the sources of messages that were distributed on the networks.

The Internet Research Agency, associated with businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was accused of interfering in the US presidential election, actively used the services of American startups to spread messages in social networks. About it, as the Censor.NET reports, the agency Bloomberg. His staff analyzed Twitter's database of suspected interference with accounts.

Among them - services from RoundTeam, Dlvr.it and IFTTT. To them, the Internet Research Agency (also known as the "troll factory") succeeded after the 2016 presidential election, mostly in the first half of 2017.

Last, IFTTT, in particular, allows you to distribute messages in several social networks simultaneously, which was used to conceal the source of messages. The distributed publications contained hyperlinks to third-party resources that, according to published Twitter data, are no longer available for viewing.

At IFTTT Inc. told the agency Bloomberg, which will check the data received from Twitter and will try to minimize potential abuse of the system.

Recall that on the eve of the US Justice Ministry accused the citizen of Russia, Olen Husseinov, in organizing and financing a conspiracy to intervene in the US elections in 2016 and scheduled for November 6, 2018, an interim election. According to investigators, Husaynova was an accountant of the so-called "factory of trolls", whose staff warmed up the mood of Americans on the Internet. In the United States, they say that this "troll factory" worked not only on American audiences. She also conducted propaganda in Internet segments of Europe and Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry of Russia reacted to the charges, saying that it was just an excuse for introducing new sanctions, and promised a "rigid answer".

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The agency blames Washington for lies and promises a "hardback".

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov considered US accused of accusing Russian woman Helen Husseinov as an attempt to fabricate a reason for imposing sanctions on Russia, reports Censor. NET with reference to Interfax.

"The US authorities, while continuing to intimidate their own and the world community," Russian hackers and bloggers, "accused another Russian citizen of attempting to influence the mood of American voters. More than two years since the last presidential election, spreading a dishonest lie about the mythical" hands of Moscow" Washington is now trying to play the same card on the eve of the US election day (on November 6, Americans will re-elect their Congress), "says Ryabkov's commentary, circulated by the RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.

According to Ryabkov, "Washington is fabricating an excuse to once again apply its proverbial sanctions against our country."

He emphasizes that "the US is clearly overestimating its own capabilities. By showing hostility towards Russia and contemptuously treating the whole world, they will only get a tougher rebuff."

On the eve of the US Justice Ministry, the Russian citizen accused Alen Husseinov of organizing and financing a conspiracy to intervene in the US elections in 2016 and in mid-term elections scheduled for November 6, 2018. According to investigators, Husaynova was an accountant of the so-called "factory of trolls", whose staff warmed up the mood of Americans on the Internet. In the US, they say that this "troll factory" worked not only on American audiences. She also conducted propaganda in Internet segments of Europe and Ukraine.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

American Secretary of State Michael Pompeo supported the desire of Kiev to achieve autocephaly for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

As informs Censor.NET, this is stated in the official statement of the State Department, which was received by Gazeta.ru.

According to Pompeo, the United States supports religious freedom. In the case of Ukraine, it is about managing its religion without external interference. It is emphasized that tolerance, understanding and restraint are necessary for the common existence and prosperity of people in the world.

"We urge representatives of the church and government actively to promote these values ​​in connection with the movement towards the creation of an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church," the statement says.

On September 14, an official statement was passed to the extraordinary Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow, in which it was said that in the event of the continuation of the "anticononical activity of the Constantinople Patriarchate in the territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church" will be compelled "to break the Eucharistic communion.

At the same time, the Synod of the ROC decided to suspend co-ordination with the hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and to stop its participation in the structures where its representatives presided. And do not mention more of the Patriarch of Constantinople during the liturgy.

On Monday, October 15, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church recognized that its further stay in the Eucharistic communion with the Constantinople Patriarchate was impossible.

On October 11, following a meeting of the Synod, a decision was announced stating that the Ecumenical Patriarchate continues the procedure for granting autochephalia to the Ukrainian Church. In addition, the letter of the synod was revoked from 1686, after which the Kievan Metropolitanate fell under the jurisdiction of Moscow, the restoration of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate Filaret was canonical status.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

Deputy Secretary of State of the United States shared his impressions of police reform, corruption and promises of Ukraine

This is reported by Radio Liberty.



To fulfill the commitment to reform and, above all, to ensure the effective work of the Supreme Anticorruption Court, Kirsten Madison, US Deputy Secretary of State and Head of the Bureau for the Development of the Law Enforcement System and Trafficking in Drugs, addressed the Ukrainian authorities with such an appeal to the Ukrainian authorities. Madison spoke to the media after meeting with NABU director Artem Sitnik.

As reported, the Undersecretary of State of the United States positively commented on the reform of the Ukrainian police.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

Vladislav Roslyakov, who was suspected of mass murder in a college in the occupied Kerch, was in medical examination at the Kerch Psychoneurological Dispensary before obtaining permission for a weapon. The psychiatrist assured that the adolescent was healthy.

This is reported by Russian "Novaya Gazeta", reports Censor.NET.

Roslyakova examined the district psychiatrist Stanislav Bulayenko. He said that at the time of the examination, the teenager seemed to him a "healthy normal person".

"Yes, he went through a commission, but you know how many of them are there, and I say: he was healthy." I said: if he was sick, I would not give him a certificate! "So he fell ill later on," the psychiatrist said.

Roslyakova is buried after conducting all examinations.

Recall, the 18-year-old student of the college, Vladislav Roslyakov, made an explosion on October 17 and opened a gun shooting at a polytechnic college, after which he committed suicide. The victims of the tragedy were 21 people, including the arrow. In addition, 46 people with wounds of varying severity are in health care facilities.

The Russian occupation authorities initially opened the case under the article "terrorist attack", but later re-qualified it for the article "murder."

The Crimean Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation under the article "terrorist attack".

Three-day mourning was announced on October 18 in the occupied Crimea.

The day before in Kerch, they said goodbye to the dead during the attack.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український

At the scene of the disaster of the training aircraft of the L-39 Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the Azov Sea, fragments of bodies were found.

This is reported by TASS agency with reference to a source in the aviation circles.

"Two fragments of the body were discovered, there were ongoing searches, about 50 fragments were taken from the plane," said the journalist's interlocutor.

Recall, the Russian plane L-39 "Albatros" fell on October 18 at around 5:00 pm when performing a planned training flight. The cause of the disaster could be a technical malfunction.

The plane was flying without ammunition. Presumably, the L-39 fell in the area of ​​the Dolzhansky Spit 1.5 kilometers from the coast, both pilots managed to catapult.

On October 19, a source at the Russian Defense Ministry's commission investigation into an accident reported that pilots of the L-39 "Albatross", according to preliminary data, were killed.

As the "Apostrophe" reported , a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter was crashed near Vinnytsya during international exercises . Both pilots were killed.

apostrophe.ua  In Ukrainian/український

The US government said on Friday that Russia, China and Iran were seeking to influence the interim congressional elections in November, while the Justice Ministry accused Russians of participating in such a scheme

The Washington Post reports.

"The operations of these countries are aimed at using mass media and social networks to promote misinformation and advertising in order to increase discrepancies in American society," the statement said in a joint statement of 4 special services and law enforcement agencies.

"External interference with the US elections is a threat to our democracy. Identifying and preventing this intervention is our top priority," said the National Intelligence Agency, the Ministry of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

The departments stated that they currently have no evidence of a violation of infrastructure that could be used to undermine the voting process and change the results, but this does not mean that these threats do not exist.

As reported, the US Department of Justice has accused 44-year-old Russians Olena Husyanov of organizing a conspiracy to intervene in an interim US Congressional election that will take place in November 2018.

The US Department of Justice states that Husyanova worked as the chief accountant in the Lakhta project, funded by Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin and two companies controlled by him, Concord Management and Concord Catering.

The department believes that Russian controlled financial documents on expenses for activities in the United States, including the work of activists, advertising in social networks, domain registration and promotion of news in social networks.

As it was reported, Russia is trying to complicate the lives of all Americans, says Pompeo.

espreso.tv  In Ukrainian/український

When it succeeds, it will become the second European country after Romania to buy such a complex.

Poland has filed an official request to buy a powerful missile system in the United States, Censor said.NET with reference to Voice of America.

According to the declaration of the Ministry of Defense of Poland of October 19, the country sent a letter to the United States requesting the purchase of a high-powered artillery missile system M142 or HIMARS.

The country said in July that it plans to accelerate the procurement of the system.

Poland planned to purchase the Lockheed Martin manufacturing system from 2015 onwards, however, initial co-production plans faced obstacles in the negotiations.

This summer, the country announced its decision to purchase the HIMARS system from the US government through direct military procurement, just as Romania did earlier this year.

Romania became the first Eastern European country to acquire HIMARS. Poland will be the second.

Both countries, like the rest of Eastern Europe, are working to strengthen air defense in order to contain Russia's aggression in the region after the illegal annexation of the Crimea by Russia.

The State Department in November 2017 granted permits for a possible sale of 56 launchers HIMARS for a total of $250 million.

Poland has also signed an agreement this year to purchase the Patriot defense system in the United States.

ua.censor.net.ua  In Ukrainian/український